The Importance Of Immigration In The United States

Immigration, the word that seems to keep coming up on the news every day. Many people around the United States think of different things whenever this word comes to mind. Throughout the years, the immigration system has tremendously changed, and so have some people’s views on immigration. People no longer come from crowded boats, but some still get treated as they do. People no longer have to take an education test or medical test, yet if one lacks in those areas they get treated similarly to how they were treated during the Progressive Era. America has changed, but it hasn’t really changed in ways. America may have replaced some laws, but it’s new laws have a similar impact as the older ones did. Although some of America’s immigration policies have changed over the years, immigration to America still remains a broken system. Immigration laws still prevent people from getting jobs, discrimination towards immigrants is still around, and many immigrants are not given good jobs or living conditions.

Imagine you’re on a big crowded ship that’s swinging back and forth, seeking for a better life, for protecting on U.S. You are considered as an immigrant. In the 19th and 20th centuries, many people around the world started immigrating to U.S for a new life. The time period of industrialization of the 1800s caused economic growth, and social changes in U.S. Immigrants provided an unskilled workforce fueling prejudice among the American citizens. Industries grew a big gap between the rich and poor. Many started to wonder whether the immigration policy should be open or restricted. Some say that the immigration policy should be restricted because it makes U.S over populated and creates job problems. Other say that there should be

The United States of America is one of the most advanced countries around the world. It is a country full of opportunities where most of its citizens have a high standard of living unlike many other countries around the world. It is a country that ensures its citizens with “the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” The qualities of this country are the leading cause for the increase in immigration. People from Mexico, Asia, Europe, South America and the rest of the world immigrate to the U. S. for reasons, such as freedom and the desire of a better life. Immigration is not a recent issue. There were thousands of immigrants coming into this country years ago. Immigration waves mostly began in the nineteenth century. However,

Immigration is something that has been a part of the country’s history since it was found it. The first Immigration Act was found in 1980; those seeking asylum or refugee statuses are admitted to the United States if they have “a well- founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion (DiNitto, 2014). Since the 1986 amnesty, more than 11 million illegal aliens have now settled in the United States, and the country knows very little about whom they are or what their intentions may be (Immigration News& Activism, 2015). In the 20th century, the United States government established the illegal immigration reform and Control Act. Which forced on the enforcement to deal with the illegal undocumented immigrate and amnesty (Center for Immigration Studies, 2010). When this bill was passed it brought a lot of attended to the growing immigration problem. In the 21st century, the immigration policy was a change in the wake of September 11th. The United States has poured many more dollars into increased southern and northern border and port security to

The United States has been a country filled with immigrants ever since it began to flourish a few hundred years ago in the eighteenth century. Everyone, to begin with, had their eye on the United States. They were all in search of a bright future with a new life in a new place, just as the many immigrants we see here today are. People were curious about life here and what later on was called the “American Dream;” they wanted to know what it was really like. However, over the years, legal residency in the country became hard to achieve. This was when illegal immigration really became a big deal in the United States. These individuals, over the years, have found their own ways into the country contrary to the different processes they are

Immigration has been an ongoing event in America since the start of this country. America used to allow immigrants from all over the world to freely come into the country because back when United States was just starting out there was so much land to settle on. After the civil war happened more laws were starting to pass to regulate the amount of immigrants that would come into the United States. Once World War 1 began immigration slowed down because it was harder to travel out of the country. However, right after it ended immigration became a lot heavier and new laws had to be passed. One of the laws that were passed was called National-Origins Quota System, which basically said that there was a specific quota that needed to be met for each nationality of immigrants to come into the United States. Over the next years immigration slowed down a bit, and then in 1986 congress passed an act called Immigration Reform and Control Act. One of the biggest parts of this act was enforcement to prevent illegal admission into the United States. The act banned hiring and harboring illegal immigrants. However, because of poor enforcement this act did not really succeed. About a decade later they tried to enforce more laws in order to prevent these illegal immigrants from entering the country, the passed a law called Illegal Immigrant Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act. The main purpose of this act was to aid border control by hiring better border patrol and more agents to enforce

The United States of America was founded on the principles of immigrants becoming citizens to chase after the dream. Immigration plays a pivotal role in the development of the country through assimilation of those immigrants into society providing diverse skillsets needed in the job market. Many economist claim that a benefit to allowing more legal immigration would allow for more economic growth which would help tremendously chop off some of the $16 trillion dollar debt the nation is currently in (Furchtgott-Roth, 2015). While many illegal immigrants do not pay federal income taxes due to them not being in the system, they still have to pay state and local tax (Mooney et al., 2015, p.284). Companies would not have to worry about paying higher

Although America was built upon immigrants, American citizens had varying degrees of toleration of new immigrants. America was seen as a place of opportunity and freedom which led many travel to America to better their own lives.

“Immigration to the United States has occurred in waves, one of the largest of which consisted of nearly 28 million people between 1880 and the late 1920’s. “The newcomers living in various countries throughout the world decided to leave there root of origin and immigrate to the United States for various reasons, some of which included freedom from political and religious persecution, famine, or to experience the American Dream of perceived economic opportunity. Once settled; immigrants were often stereotyped and discriminated against because they were “different”. Social Justice was nonexistent as Employers often took advantage of immigrants, men were paid less than other workers and women were paid less than men. (Library of Congress, 1990) The numbers of newcomers dropped dramatically in 1924, when Congress passed highly restrictive immigration legislation.”(Bankston, Carl L., 1999). “As time has passed the United States Immigration laws have made it increasing more desirable for individuals to seek illegal entry as opposed to the legal process. High regulation and subject to numerical limitations and eligibility requirements consisting of necessary family or employment relationship and lack of access to humanitarian protection, such as refuge or asylum status have played a significant role.”(American Immigration Council, March 2012)

What are the benefits of having immigrants in the United States? What is the impact of immigrants in the United States economic system?

Immigration has radically changed a religion picture in the United States. At the present time people with their unique culture, specific habits and traditions participate in our society. America is their home as well as ours. To live in peace together we have to understand, communicate and integrate with each other. But sometimes unforeseen events happen and crash the whole global hope for productive cooperation.

Now, just as the topics of race or ethnicity play a role in the quality of education a person receives or the amount of income a person earns, it also has affected the outlook on issues such as immigration. First off, it is crucial to understand what immigration is and why people migrate, in this case, more specifically to the United States. One of the reasons why people migrate to the United States is labor migration, which in the book Social Problems: Community, Policy, and Social Action, it is defined as “the movement of people from one country to another for employment” (Leon-Guerrero, p.76). This takes place because there are individuals who are clearly not surviving, or do not find the money that they are making to be enough. Through the exasperation of not being able to financially support themselves or their families, individuals seek to escape to a place where they will have more success than they currently do. The United States is viewed by many as a country with a lot of economic opportunity, yet many do not realize the amount of scrutiny that they will face because of their race or ethnicity. After many years of constant immigration from many countries, and the passing of laws to regulate not only the immigration, but the discrimination many faced when entering the country, there continues to be criticism and prejudice over this topic. In the article “The History of Racial Exclusion in the U.S. Immigration Laws,” Randall states that there is an eminent danger of not only anti-immigration laws, but racial discrimination within the laws themselves (Randall, 2012). This means that while even more laws are being made, they are laws that are not very accepting of immigration. Furthermore, they may also contain clauses that involve discrimination towards some races. In “Immigration and Its Relation to Race and Ethnicity in the United States” by Bean and Bell-Rose, this idea is also brought up. Racial and ethnic relations will hold various implications in the new immigration laws (Bean and Bell-Rose, n.d.). Now, through the current presidency, this is a topic that has been highly scrutinized as well, but these type of laws, or bans in this case, have taken place. Moreover, Randall states that

Immigration in the United States is often a subject of political and public debate. With the growth of immigration in the United States each year, the role of immigrants in the labor market, enforcement and humane policies, and benefits and cost are questions that primarily come up. With that being said, it is important for the public to have accurate historical information regarding immigration. Now as president-elect Donald Trump has stated his stance on immigration, it is important to keep in mind that there are still some who oppose his views and are in support for immigration in the U.S.; for example, many mayors and police chiefs have come out and stated that they are continuing sanctuary policies despite federal threats. Sanctuary cities are cities in the United States that shelter undocumented and illegal immigrants.

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

Since the inception of the United States, it has and continues to be a country of immigrants. For a country founded on immigrants, immigration policy has long been an issue debated by politicians and political parties. United States immigration laws tended to favor Europeans in the 18th and 19th century. In high school U.S. history classes we learned about the great influx of immigrants in the late 18th century and then a following wave in the late 19th century. With each new wave of immigration, we saw the composition of major cities change. With each influx we learned to live together and grow as a nation. Although after some time these new groups of people learned to live together, there was a struggle to get to that point.