Migrant Workers and Xenophobia

Mawi Asgedom, an author, public speaker, and a refugee from Ethiopian origin, in his TEDXGRANTPARK talk, How Immigrants Make America Great (2016), addresses the topic of immigration in the United States of America and argues that immigrants make America “more safer and prosperous” and bring “stronger values” because they are simply living in the nation. He backs up this claim by doing the following: first, he refers to examples on how immigrants make sacrifices to make this country safe; next, he gives staggering statistics on the percentage of immigrants living in America today; last, he provides many cases of companies founded by immigrants that creates thousands of jobs for Americans. Mawi Asgedom, an immigrant himself, wishes to convey to readers the importance of how the “bedrock values” of immigrants, which are generosity and entrepreneurship, make them a “10” and how immigrants make America’s economy better overall. The author’s audience likely consists of those interested in immigration policies as is evident through his references to the immigration statistics and the response of the increased job market here in the United States due to the immigrants; he addresses readers with a tone that is very formal and serious but adds some humor to capture his audience, the viewers of TEDXGRANTPARK and other interested in the approach to immigration in the United States.

When most immigrants move into America, they are greeted with much tension and conflict. There is still some discrimination between races, as much as American’s

“At a time like this, the retreat to one’s own kind is seen by more and more of my peers as an advance. And hat retreat has given rise again to the notion that there are essential and irreconcilable differences among the races” (413 Liu). Liu’s elaborate use of words are what really sway the people reading his argument. He describes the sociology of how people react to immigrants and how unjustified it is. By doing this, he portrays how similar everyone is to each other or how equal they are.

In the essay “Our Fear of Immigrants,” Jeremy Adam Smith writes about why it is we fear immigrants. Smith divides his essay with numerous examples and comparisons, through biological, sociological and psychological explanations. As unorthodox as it sounds, our hesitation towards outsiders can be explained in various ways we never believed imaginable; in Smith’s investigation, he unveils the bewildering reality about the contrasts between ourselves, as adults, and children when it comes to immigration. He begins with a distressful story of a classroom of 4th graders from Berkeley, California, who missed their classmate named Rodrigo when he didn’t return from Christmas break, due to his parents’ expired visa. Rodrigo’s classmates thought that it was so unfair, that they complained to their congressmen. Smith then contrasts this response of empathetic children to unsympathetic adults from Berkeley, California, who protested against immigrants who seek shelter in the U.S for the families. Smith pondered the questions: “Why do immigrants provoke such strong feelings of both empathy and revulsion, a polarization that pits fourth graders in Berkeley against the citizens of Murrieta?” and “What characteristics and qualities do Rodrigo’s classmates possess

Racism is built on the ‘othering’ of people from different races, cultural backgrounds, or traditions in order to oppress and maintain the structures which support a ‘dominant’ race. By othering immigrants and portraying them as different and less-than citizens who were born in America, the ideology that Americans are superior to other nationalities prevails. By analyzing the institutions that perpetuate anti-immigration, racist, and other discriminatory

Fear of immigrants might be the most intractable of people, and they believe it is strongly linked to survival and natural selection. The most common human reaction is to monopolize resources. Some people might feel that having immigrants or foreigners in their counters are Threat. In “Our Fear of Immigrants” by Jeremy Adam Smith, one of the reasons or a real threat posed by the immigrant’s ability to distressed the power or the rich people of that country. Those rich people never think carefully about what other individuals can offer and contribute, and this leads them to embrace stereotypes. One of the most common stereotypes about immigrants is describing some Latinos or Mexican as rapists, killers and drug dealers. Fear and misinformation

To begin it is helpful to understand that the word “migrant” is a rather contested concept, one that changes over time, and varies depending on the criteria used to assign it.(Raghuram & Erel, 2014, p.133)

Have you ever given mind to why it is important for us as human beings to protect one another and to share the same rights we have. Furthermore, receiving fair share of pay in jobs or labor from working the same hours as to a white or black person. Finally, to feel that as human beings that have the right to live away of their countries without being segregated, discriminated or even ignored from public needs. Well, in this paper I will talk about the whole process of the discrimination and some of my personal experiences with the topic.

Human rights and new opportunities are important for people in countries with social issues; however, Canada is accepting a significant responsibility letting these people in, and this is an important point that the writer does not mention. It is crucial to understand why the United States is rejecting Somali immigrants and the key arguments the Canadian government has to let them in, and this is other point that the author did not develop. This issue needs a complex solution, one is to educate society about the situation in which immigrants live, and present them the stories behind immigrants. North American society should understand the situation and the effects of discrimination because if people know what is happening it is easier to do something about it. Society must comprehend the situation to feel concern and then try to

As the two biggest migrant countries in the world, United States and Canada do have some organizations to help migrant workers protect their rights. According to the CBC News, “Citizenship and Immigration Canada states that “Canadian laws protect every worker in Canada. This includes temporary foreign workers.”(cbc.ca) Government insist that those employers who “employing temporary foreign workers must ensure they are covered by provincial or private health insurance” (cbc.ca). The Migrant Workers Alliance for Change (MWAC) is a coalition of national migrant worker groups, grassroots organizations, unions, faith groups, activists and researchers that have come together to fight for justice and dignity for migrant workers. (migrantworkersalliance.org).

The Fourth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America in simple terms protects Americans from irrational searches and seizures made by government officials in situations where one would expect a certain degree of privacy. Except if the official suspects probable cause, in which case they can, legally search you or they could obtain a search warrant from a judge that allows a police officer to search for specific items at a particular place and time. However, most government officials allow their biased views and racist thoughts to penetrate into their work and make them the gears social injustice. In recent news most of the social

mind. Certain political and social conditions have to be present to desensitize the general population to the point where this violence toward children is publically sanctioned rather than criticized. The framing of legal status by both legislation and the media could serve as one partial explanation of this atmosphere of apathy toward the plight of the undocumented. Prins and Toso (2012: 456) researched receptivity toward immigrants in rural Pennsylvania. They found racism. Moreover, the respondents in the study indicated that current political discussions about illegality did cause them to suspect that the Latino newcomers to their community were, in fact, undocumented. Fernandes et al. (2012:781) specifically examined language use

Additionally, the author says that migration to the US is not random, but it is the result of both international structures of inequality and the international reputation of America as “the first among equals.” Lastly, Rana gives his ideal situation regarding equality and inclusion, and foreign intervention. He portrays a country that does not view social groups as instruments, both inside and outside the borders, and where political and economic hierarchies are

A social issue that I would like to bring attention is the xenophobia against the law-abiding immigrants, documented and undocumented, in the United States. With the recent stigma against immigrants and immigration by our government, I believe that immigrants are under attack. They are also perceived badly due to the one-sided media representation based off the wrongdoings by those who are not law-abiding.

In the twenty-first century, the world has been turned into a global village due to advanced technology and globalization that have helped to serve the current economic and social needs. Lee (1966) has defined migration as ‘a permanent or semi-permanent change of residence’ (49). The spatial mobility is dictated by factors such as the area of origin, destination, obstacles, and personal interests. A global city is marked by cultural, racial, and ethnic diversity due to immigration and settlement. Capitalism invoked the concept of dominance, power, and racial prejudice within a capitalist society. The idea of the class system was reinforced, whereby the capitalist class has control over the means of production while the working class is exploited for labor. Class conflicts exist between the workers and the capitalist system. The capitalist society created a division between white and black workers, reinforcing racial oppression and exploitation (Conrad et al., 2005; Bowen, 2008). Toronto city comprises of approximately 50% people of color and immigrants. The plight of ethnic minorities in Toronto is addressed by Bauder (2012) who insists that they are characterized by high rates of unemployment, poor access to social services and poverty due to issues of prejudice. These issues have shaped state policies in political systems, although underrepresentation of racial minorities is still apparent in the Canadian political sphere (Bauder, 2012). The new Sino-African ties have