Apart from the Native Americans that dot the population; The United States is a country founded and built on the backs of immigrants. Whether our forebears were brought here (slaves), forced to flee their motherland, or came just to create a better life, immigration in this nation's blood. I am an immigrant; I moved to this country when I was ten. Back then I noticed that there was tension between the people who were born in the U.S., with immigrant parents, and those who just immigrated. I think the conflict was instilled by the parents–having a lot to do with competing for jobs. That is just how it was then, always was, and will probably continue to be. Martin and Midgley (2013) noted, there has always been underlying tension in this nation regarding immigration since the days of our founders–fearing economic, political, and cultural changes (p.3). The fear of immigrants became more noteworthy in the 1960s through the 1990s when the immigration demographics shifted from predominantly European to Latin and Asian. Takaki (as cited in Halford, 1999) wrote, America’s propensity to distinguish between race and culture helped to fuel that fervor (p. 8-13). New influx of immigrants were being judged and generalized for their appearance rather than what they could offer to the community …show more content…
Ronald Reagan’s 1986 Immigration Reform Act was an an example of political party using its influence to change immigration law in an attempt to garner votes. Reagan (as cited in ontheissues.org, 2015) stated, “ The Republican Party's overriding priority in the years ahead must be to expand and diversify its shrinking demographic base, embracing immigrants generally and Hispanics in particular”. Today both parties have their goals, ideas, and priorities for immigration. Clinton’s plans according to hillaryclinton.com (2016), include some actions such
Immigration has always been a complex issue in the United States. Previous and current administrations have had great difficulties in setting policies and programs in place to address this problem. During the course of American history, laws were enacted to address such issues. There were numerous legislative milestones in regards to immigration in the United States. In order to understand the current issues regarding immigration, we have to look back at the policies that were in place along with the goals that they intended to serve. According to (Barusch, 2012), the United States had an open immigration policy; which means that anyone could relocate to this country. As a result of this policy, the government had to redefine
Many immigrant children are coming from different countries to the US and entering schools here that do not provide them with the support they need in order to be successful. Schools in America that accept these immigrant children in their school should provide more support to them. Newcomers should have a counselor that could help them with problems in school such as Bullying and discrimination. Also school districts should invest money in special programs that could focus on these children to help them succeed academically in school.
From the very day, the U.S. attained its sovereignty over two centuries ago, it has been in the middle of an immigration wave. Immigrants from various distant lands have continued to move to the U.S. shores to start their lives seeking economic opportunity, political refuge or religious freedom. Since 2000, the number of immigrants has hit the highest level ever. Over seven million people entered the country in the first five years of the 21st century, beating the peak decade of 1910-1919, when over eight million individuals migrated into the U.S. Approximately, one million people; both legally and illegally, migrate into the country each year since the late 1980s.
The influx of the immigrants should have made the police department recognize the needs of being as diverse as the community. It is necessary that those who are policing the city reflect the demographics of that city. Miami was not prepared for the rapid demographic change and the lack of trust in the Cuban government made matters worse because the incoming immigrants didn’t trust those who worked for the government already. The Cubans were represented in the Miami Police Department but the mishap was that there were cops both Hispanic and non-Hispanic participating in drug trafficking. The issue that may have let this happen was the relaxed screening process that the police department started to use during the 1980’s. In order to get more men and women in law enforcement they made a quick decision to change the standards on getting into the department and it came back to haunt them. The famous police officers known to be corrupt happened to be a group of nineteen Hispanic officers known as the River Cops. This group exposed the corruption that had penetrated the department since the influx of Cubans during the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. The police officers took control of the drug trafficking in each of their assigned areas and by the time they were caught there were several State and Federal crimes including murder, threats that involved murder, robbery and various conspiracies. At the end of the 1980’s an astounding ten percent of the entire Miami Police Department was
Immigration in the United States continues to increase rapidly year by year. According to an analysis of monthly Census Bureau data by the Center for Immigration Studies, the immigration population in the United States, both legal and illegal, hit a record of 42.1 million in the second quarter of this year, an increase of 1.7 million since the same quarter of 2014 (CIS.org). Clearly, Immigrants make up a large part of the population in the United States, and for most immigrants, migrating to the United States contains one main purpose: to pursue a better life with more opportunities, a purpose also known as “the American Dream”. The concept of immigration is embodied with different viewpoints that can be based on facts or subjective reasoning, but overall, the viewpoints on immigration are narrowed down to two general perspectives. For some Americans, Immigration, especially illegal immigration, impacts the United States in a negative way. People with this perspective argue that immigration has a negative impact on the country’s security, economy, education, and public health. On the other hand, supporters of the presence of immigrants in the country suggest that immigrants contribute to the well-being and development of the country. Supporters of immigration argue that immigrants help boost the economy of the United States rather than hurting it, and believe that the moral thing to do is to give people the opportunity to better themselves in a country filled with the
Then, immigrants must fill out the official naturalization application called the N400 form. Within this form, there are several questions asking about the immigrant’s life, family, employment, and criminal background. After completion, immigrants must send in the N400 form with a passport and application fee. Next, the immigrant has to have his or her fingerprints taken and participate in an interview.
Immigration has been around since the early 20th century. Right now there are more than 11 million immigrants living in the United States. They come from all over the world but a lot of people think they all come from Central America or South America. They come to the United States looking for a better life than what they had back home. Most of them either come alone or they bring their families with them. If they are closer to the border, they might even try to cross the border illegally. They come through a coyote, a guy who helps them sneak in, and they have to cross a hot dessert. Not everyone survives the trip and most of them might even get caught and get deported back to their countries. Some of them come to the United States with a visitor visa and they just over stay their visa. Most people do not want illegal immigration in the United States and actually most of them do not want immigrants even if they come legally. They say that immigrants take jobs, government money, and they are criminals. What they really don’t know is what immigrants really do to help the economy, why they even come to the United Sates in the first place, and what deportation does to immigrants and the United States.
One of the biggest debates among the American people as well as political leaders is the topic of Immigration. The question at hand is about whether immigrants coming to America for a better life truly helps or hurts the United States economy. The other question at stake is whether or not immigrants are taking jobs away from natives and creating a job shortage. Should immigration in the United States be controlled and if so what should be done to help illegal immigrants? Jeanne Batalova writes in her article “Immigration Reform in the United States: Raising Key Questions” that “the current number of immigrants, 38 million, is at a historical high. According
The United States of America is often known as a melting pot due to the variety of cultures and immigrants that reside here. Even though immigrants account for approximately “…13 percent of the total U.S. population of 316.1 million” (Zong and Batalova), they are not always welcomed. Immigration has been an issue in the United States since it was first established. Most natives to the United States take issue with this many immigrants because they fear that immigrants drain resources, or they believe that there are too many people in the country already or that more immigrants will cause them to be uncomfortably overcrowded. The most widely believed reasons among natives that were opposed to allowing more immigrants into the United States
Immigration has been a hot topic for many years in the U.S. and illegal immigration has become very concerning to many Americans. Immigrants are people who move to different parts of the world from their country legally or illegally. Most of this immigrants come from Europe and Latin America, every year millions of immigrants enter the U.S. Once this immigrants enter to the U.S. soil they must live for five years before they can get their citizenship. For some America is a temporally place and for the majority it becomes permanent.
In my opinion immigration is a problem within the United States, and it desperately needs to be reformed by our government. So much tax money is used to help those who decide to immigrate while some of our native people are denied the same advantages that are given immigrants. Immigration from Mexico into the United States has been a phenomenon that has been ongoing for quite some time now. There is always an increasing number of immigrants who come into the United States to make a living for themselves (Creek and Yoder 680). People from Mexico are attracted to the United States because of the promise of a better life and opportunity. This opportunity is one of the principles that America is founded on, but I think we should not provide this opportunity when we have so many Americans already in need. There are various ways through which the Mexicans immigrate into the United States. Additionally, there are also various ways through which the Mexican immigration into America has impacted on America. Currently, there are more immigrants going into America from Mexico more than any other country. The main reasons why the immigrants go into America, is so that they can exploit better opportunities that exist in the region and chase the “American dream” (Creek and Yoder 680). Most of the immigrants who go into America regardless of their financial status usually go into America so
Most people think to themselves “why immigrate?” Although there are multiple answers to this question, many people face different challenges in life, and this just might have been what pushed the French and European to settle in the New World. Since the colonial era, America has seen a wave of immigrants migrate in search of freedom and equality. Is this the same immigration today? Nearly 11.6 million immigrants from Mexico reside in the U.S. Today Immigration has a significant impact on many aspects of life in the United States, from the workforce and the classroom to communities across the country. Not all immigrants come to America legally whether as naturalized citizens, legal permanent residents, refugees
Although the United States has absorbed and benefitted from the contributions of the undocumented, their presence has imposed harm to the country’s economy and political stability. Immigrants have taken over American jobs by retrieving several advantages that come along with the country’s policies, as well as harming the country by not assimilating to the culture and sustaining their identities. The influx of immigrants from other parts of the world has prompted an overwhelming change in society and the immigrants themselves due to more opportunities available in the United States. These immigrants have different motives for entering the country, hoping to obtain a better life in the land of opportunities. There is a greater chance of freedom, protection, and benefits, which are a priority to the migrants to achieve the American dream. Although the immigrants are advancing to achieve their goals, the government is advancing towards stabilizing the overcrowding population due to the hazards caused to the environment and the country. Many of these aliens have aspirations and hopes for a better future in this country, and they do not plan to harm it. On the other hand, some are a threat, but they come to reach that goal of self- independence and a new opening of opportunities. The only way to know that their goal has been achieved, is when they first arrive at Ellis Island and they see that symbolic figure of freedom which is The Statue of Liberty. Illegal immigration has been
Immigration is an increasing problem in the U.S. making the issue a minor detail to be concerned about in the year’s upcoming election. Because of increased immigration a variety of problems have resulted. The first is education. When an immigrant comes into this country he or she doesn’t have to have any knowledge of English and they need to do is stumble through some papers and they are in. This means that their children don’t know how to speak English, so they are going into public schools with no knowledge as to what they rest of the students are saying or doing. This creates a conflict and a disruption to the rest of the class. There are two ways to solve the problem, they can either educate teachers in several different languages, which in order to do they would probably have to increase teachers salaries by an extremely good portion, or they can slow down the rate of immigration. Figures show that the U.S. population grew by almost 2.5 million people last year. Of that number one million of those people were immigrants. These are just the legal ones. There is no way of telling how many illegal ones made it across the U.S. and Mexican Border.
According to former President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, “immigration presents the possibility of bringing new skills, new talents, new blood…” (“France Seeks”), though others think differently. Immigration, the act of abandoning one’s homeland to establish a new life in another country, was not a concept that has suddenly erupted in present time. In fact, immigration is a process, not an event; it never had an actual start date, nor will it have an actual end date. Knowing the background of immigration across the world, the history of immigration in the United States, the immigration process, and the controversies and debates immigration carries are important aspects to consider to knowing when, why, and how immigration was, is, and will continue for centuries as a form of human migration.