Mexican Descent In America

America as we know it today has been shaped by immigrants. It can be argued that America shapes immigrants as well. It is a nation that people, nationalist or foreign-born, desire to assimilate partially or fully into. According to a New York University professor, “Immigration, however, played a key role not only in making America’s development possible but also in shaping the basic nature of the society” (Diner, p. 2). It is a nation built on this idea of the “American dream” which varies depending on the person. However, it is something that holds steadily in an immigrant’s mind that is possible to achieve. America’s past, present and certainly future will be formed by immigrants, and once they get here America will coincidentally form their being as well.

    Many immigrant and minority narratives concentrate their efforts on the positive side of the American dream. These particular stories narrate a person's struggle and rise through the ranks of the Am6rican hierarchy focusing on the opportunities that seem to abound in this country. While these stories are well and good. they do seem to soft peddle the flip side of this country's attitude toward the immigrant and minority. America is a land of milk and honey and opportunity, but unfortunately most new officiates or unwilling participants in the American culture face an American nightmare that leaves its effects on the individuals, families and cultures

Immigration is one of the most important issues that the United States faces and thus has misperceptions such as how immigration affects the workforce and economy, the size and composition of the immigrants, and the budgetary impact of unauthorized immigration. As of 2012, more than 40 million immigrants lived in the United States, the population accounting for about 13 percent of the total population of U.S. The same year showed that unauthorized immigrants were 11.7 million, accounting for 3.7 percent of all the people of the U.S and roughly 5.2 percent of the labor force. Most of the illegal immigrants are Latino who is primarily from Central America and Mexico. 46 percent of all the immigrants in the

From the moment I was born, as any high-middle class white American, I was told America is the melting pot of the world. Being American means you can do anything. One can start from nothing and turn it into a whole different life. In America there are numerous possibilities and it is capable for anyone to better themselves, because America is about inclusion and opportunity. English class this year has totally reversed my perspective on the “issue” of what it means to be American. Through literature such as The Great Gatsby, The Catcher in the Rye, The Declaration of Independence and Tortilla Curtain I have come to contrasting conclusions on what it means to be American than the typical person. It is a more cynical outlook then I thought I would ever have thought I would have about my country, but nonetheless true. Although Americans put on a veneer of inclusion and total capability, reality portrays the America

America is largely made up of immigrants, and thus it is referred to by many as an immigrant’s nation. The rise in immigrants of the first generation and those of second or third generation is changing the demographics of the United States each day. Duncan and Stephen observe that about “a quarter of U.S. residents are either first-generation immigrants or the second-generation children of immigrants” (109). Most of these immigrants move to the country with the aim of achieving the American dream through career success. We would like to believe that the nation follows through with its American ideology that immigrants are welcomed with open arms, and they will have economic opportunities. However, the process of integration and assimilation of these immigrants has for long been a common debate question. The immigration waves into the United States have occurred in several waves over the past years. In the earlier years, most of the immigrants were from Europe and their assimilation was rather smooth. But, the recent wave of immigrants groups prevalently from Asia and Latin America do not face similar acceptance and open arms as their predecessors.

In “The Right Road to America?,” Amy Chua informs her audience about the possibility of America’s national identity becoming lost due to the influence of immigrants. Chua’s defines her thesis by stating “Around the world, nations face violence and instability as a result of their increasing pluralism and diversity,” (336). The key points of the text includes Chua explaining why America and other nations could lose their core identities, how the United States could become unglued from its true meaning, and how citizens can fix this imminent problem. The information in this text is significant, especially in today’s society. With all of the issues about immigration coinciding with our current president, this text relates to current subjects

Mexican Americans (Spanish: mexico-americanos or estadounidenses de origen mexicano) are Americans of full or partial Mexican descent. As of July 2013, Mexican Americans made up 10.9% of the United States' population, as 34.6 million U.S. residents identified as being of full or partial Mexican ancestry.[1] As of July 2013, Mexican Americans comprised 64.1% of all Hispanics and Latinos in the United States.[1]

Stereotypes are present within the Mexican community. The United States is currently facing issues where people from mexico are illegally crossing the border without the proper certification and documentation to access the United States. Opposing viewpoints stated the following “Criminal aliens—noncitizens who commit crimes—are a growing threat to public safety and national security, as well as a drain on our scarce criminal justice resources. In 1980, our federal and state prisons housed fewer than 9,000 criminal aliens. Today, about 55,000 criminal aliens account for more than one-fourth of prisoners in Federal Bureau of Prisons facilities, and there are about 297,000 criminal aliens incarcerated in state and local prisons. That number represents about 16.4 percent of the state and local prison population compared to the 12.9 percent of the total population comprised of foreign-born residents.” This statement supports the stereotype that all Mexicans are bad people and considered illegal or aliens. This encourages society to view Mexicans as bad people and want to get rid of them. Donald Trump is the current republican running for president. He shared his plans to get rid of illegal Mexicans due to them causing crimes and disturbing the peace. Not all illegal Mexicans cause crimes and disturb the peace. Some Mexicans crossed the border illegally because they didn’t have any other choice, America was there only hope now everything they have worked for is at stake and can be

Nearly 11.6 million Mexican immigrants reside in America and nearly 70% of these are not naturalized citizens of the United States (migrationpolicy.org). Immigration is a major issue in American politics and it will only get bigger, with current presidential candidate Donald Trump seeing it as a major issue that cannot continue. However, despite many of these views Mexican immigrants should be granted amnesty (given they haven’t committed any past crimes) and more Mexican immigrants should be allowed in America.

America is a land of immigrants. In 2014 The Census Bureau indicates that 1.3 million foreign-born individuals moved to the United States. Regardless of the different political ideas between government official on this subject; There has been a gradual increase on the number of legal immigrants entering the united states. In the last 5 decades, we have seen an increase of 32.8 million authorized

Immigration in the United States has had a contentious history since this country’s first settlers, with overtly exclusive and xenophobic policies being de rigueur throughout colonialism until the mid 20th century, and arguably today. Anti-immigrant sentiment has reigned with each historical immigration wave, intensifying as the demographics shifted from Northern and Western Europeans during Colonialism to more “unassimilable” races like Southern and Eastern European, Asian, African and Middle Eastern ("History of Oppression: Lesson 4- Cultural Imperialism", 2016). Policy is inescapably shaped by public sentiment, and the American white majority believed in the objective supremacy of the “Nordic race” to exercise political, economic and social control over “inferior” races (Grant, 1916). This is in stark conflict with the Constitutional values that America is built on, and to whom many have gestured to in the same breath as their anti-immigrant vitriol. It is in this contrast that one must look at the social constructions of immigrants, race and who is worthy of citizenship, and how our country has historically sought to deny and restrict those considered a threat to “the American way of life” (Jimenez, Pasztor, Chambers, & Fujii, 2015, p. **).

The myth of the melting pot, similarly to The American Dream [i] , brings a lot of immigrants to America hoping to find equality, freedom and opportunity. The promise of a new race in which individuals of all nations are melted into one, and whose labors would change the world, eludes people all over the globe. The drama of becoming an American requires that immigrants take on a new identity, because they want

The American Dream: Immigration in the United States Starting in the 1600s, people began fleeing their home countries and entering the United States in search of freedom and stability for their families. Fast forward to modern times, immigration is becoming more popular for immigrants who are in search of “The American Dream.” Unfortunately, this “American Dream” is not exactly what the immigrants had in mind. Immigrants entering the United States are not being treated as equals in the eyes of Americans; this goes against James Truslow Adams’ definition of “The American Dream.”

The United States, commonly known as the boiling pot of the world, a place that values and accepts people from all over the world, has been in the headlines regarding their immigration policies. President Donald Trump has been scrutinized for his comments regarding Mexican’s coming into this country and what they represent. As people looked over the President’s twitter account, they uncovered old tweets that read, “The Mexican legal system is corrupt, as is much of Mexico. Pay me the money that is owed now - and stop sending criminals over our border.” Even throughout his campaign, the idea of keeping people from Mexico out of the country was a very prominent idea. Along with Trump’s idea as how Mexican’s bring nothing positive, Breibart News

Immigration is a controversial topic that has impacted our society for decades perplexed by policies media coverage, perceptions based on one’s own lack of knowledge, personal experiences and a host of other factors that influence how our society views immigrants and immigration policies. The United States is a diverse population of people and filled with experiences that come from various walks of life that contribute to enhancing our social culture, economic development, and cultural acceptance.