The Importance Of Immigrants Role In Society

Eleanor Roosevelt said, “the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” That statement holds strong for immigrants in America. Equal access to opportunities allows immigrants to achieve the American dream. Their success correlates with America’s success because of the contributions immigrants provide to America. Unfortunately, the current immigration policy in America denies many immigrants the American dream. It is crucial to understand the historical context of immigration in America. Initially, most immigrants were from Europe and were not restricted by any immigration laws. Now, most immigrants come from Latin America but are restricted to severe immigration laws. The Latino/a community is one of the most

Since the start of our country, America has been known as a land of immigrants, a melting pot of different cultures and ethnicities working towards the American motto of the land of the free, home of the brave. Since colonial times, immigrants have been an integral part of society, majorly contributing to U.S culture and economy, yet many Americans have always had very conflicting ideas on immigration. Many people look past the benefits immigrants bring to our economy and society and instead scapegoat them for many of the United States’ problems surrounding unemployment and budget. The positive effects of immigrants, both legal and undocumented, in our country far outweighs the negative effects because of their important impact on society and the economic help that American relies on.

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.

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.

When most people think about immigration to the United States, they think of the U.S. as being the “land of opportunity,” where they will be able to make all of their dreams come true. For some people, immigration made their lives richer and more fulfilled. This however, was not always the case. A place that is supposed to be a “Golden Land” (Marcus 116) did not always welcome people with open arms. Even after people became legal citizens of the United States, often times the natural born Americans did not treat the immigrants as equals but rather as outsiders who were beneath them in some way. In some situations, people’s lives were made worse by coming to the “land of opportunity.” Often times people were living no better than they

Illegal immigration has been a controversial issue that has benefitted and harmed the country in several ways; however, many issues dealing with the subject have transformed the future for America dramatically. 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. They 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.

There have been some common misperception that have led to immigration taking a center stage in America, as Bonnie Honig examines in “Democracy and the Foreigner,” Honig points to several myths that keep immigration as a forefront issue and deceives some if not most Americans about the issue of immigration. Let’s first begin with the myth that immigrants are only here to “take” and not be true members of the nation and be inclusive (pg. 79), though we know this is not true as most immigrants actually come to America for better lives. In doing so they contribute to our economic system and who is anyone to say they are taking more than their fair share, we must keep in mind this is still the United States we are talking about. Yes, many immigrants still have ties to their foreign nations and do indeed help family abroad in these

Immigrants renew our nation by injecting new capital, businesses, workers, and consumers into our economy, stimulating its growth. Immigrants offer to us a new, rich, and possibly exotic culture that gives us new insights into the deep histories and traditions of other nations. Immigrants give new perspectives on the journey of life, giving us the knowledge of the horrors of persecution and violent war that still persist in our world today. It is said that the success of our community is tied to the success of the people who make it up. As more and more people come to the United States in search of a better life, we must remember that it is our patriotic duty to welcome them and aid them in their quest to fulfill the American Dream. Indeed, we even may echo the famous words of “The New

Over hundreds of years, immigration has shaped America into who she is today. July 4, 1776, was the day immigrants first stepped onto North American soil and claimed the land as theirs. The impact of migration on a country this big can’t be ignored, especially because the people coming to live in America are usually from Third World countries and are looking for employment and to be shown a better way a life. Like anything else, there are both huge pros and cons to Third World immigration. Once, America was known as the land of opportunity for people anywhere in the world, however, Patrick Buchannan worries that America is allowing too many immigrants at a time which is preventing them to be assimilated properly into a culture. He fears

Along with its economic classes, American is known for its freedom, its liberty, and the melting pot of ethnicity. This ethnic diversity comes form the immigrant population in the country. However this perfect country is a major falsehood. These untrue ideals of harmony, freedom, success, and equality are deceptive and do not show the struggles that immigrants face when coming to this class dominated country. The immigrants of today do not come from just Europe, but overwhelmingly from Asia and Latin America. “They are driving a demographic shift so rapid that within the lifetimes of today 's teenagers, no one ethnic group – including whites of European descent – will comprise a majority of the nation 's population’ (Colombo, Cullen, Lisle). These immigrants challenge the social myth that everyone has an equal chance in life. They

According to Immigration Myths and Facts, immigrants have “...revitalized many communities” and “...replenish the U.S. labor force”. In today’s society, we believe that many immigrants ruin our chances at gaining more power, but what they really

In recent years, a large number of immigrants moving into the United States, has jumped up the growth rate of population. “Over the last three decades, socio-economic conditions, especially in the developing world, in conjunction with U.S. immigration policy, have caused 25 million people to leave their homelands and emigrate legally to the United States. Additionally, the Immigration and Naturalization Service estimates that the illegal alien population grows by 400,000 to 500,000 each year. The current influx has caused an enormous growth in the immigrant population, from 9.6 million in 1970 (4.8 percent of the population) to 35 million (12.1 percent of the population) in 2005.”(Steven A. Camarota, 2005) By 2014, there are 42.4 million immigrants living in the U.S. (Zong, J. & Batalova, J.2016) With this large number of immigrants moving in, it has caused significant social problems, especially on the parts of these immigrants and their next generation. Immigrants themselves regularly face enormous pressure due to work and financial issues, racial discrimination,

An Immigrant is a person who has citizenship in one country but who enters a different country to set up a permanent residence. Immigrants are motivated to leave their former countries of citizenship, or habitual residence, for a variety of reasons, some enforcement to leave their homeland because of exile, escape from prejudice climate or environmentally induced migration, but the majority came voluntarily because of a lack of local access to resources, a desire for economic prosperity, to find or engage in paid work, to better their standard of living, family reunification, retirement, conflict or natural disaster, or simply the wish to change one's quality of life. Some scholars claim that today’s immigration in American society are debating

Immigrants have played a significant role to strengthen the U.S. economy. There are some distinct factors that would further stimulate the U.S. economy due to immigration. These include; the increased productivity and GDP level, provision of a large number of unskilled, semi-skilled and skilled labors, entrepreneurs and technological innovators, demand for goods and services and the positive fiscal impact on American revenue.

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.”