The Problem Of Immigrants In America

For many decades the history of the United States and immigration has always been a very talked about topic of debate. Many Americans did not like the collision that immigrants would have upon the native-born American people, while others welcomed the flow of people as adding to America’s multiculturalism of difference. According to Immigration: Good or Bad for America (2016), a large amount of immigrants try to enter the U.S. borders without proper documentation, in this manner being labeled as illegal immigrants. In addition, the United States unusual position as a nation of immigrants is being questioned by

Globally, the United States has been known as "a nation of immigrants" almost from its inception. Beginning in the 1600s with English Puritans and continuing today, America is a melting pot of culture and ethnicity. In fact, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, immigration was the major source of U.S. population growth. Looking over our 200+ years we find that to clearly be true, with approximately 1 million immigrants coming to America during the 17th and 18th century. Almost 3 million arrived during the 1860s, and another 3 million in the 1870s. In the next four decades, the number of immigrants rose to over 25 million people, most from various European nations, most arriving in New York or one of the Eastern seaports (Damon, 1981). Despite the politicization, as of 2006, the United States actually was the number one country globally to accept legal immigrants into the country, with a current immigrant population of almost 40 million (Terrazas and Batalova, 2009). In fact, the peak of immigration was 1907, when over 1.2 million Europeans entered the country beginning a push towards legislation limiting immigration in the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1924 and the 1921 Congressional Quota Act. These immigrants came for two sociological reasons: the push factor (wars, famine, persecution and overpopulation) and the pull factors (jobs and the promise of freedom). Most came by ship, and a passage often cost the equivalent of an entire life's savings causing many

Immigration has been a major topic since the beginning of the United States of America. This phenomenon is what helped the establishment of this country; and even today it continues to have an impact in in most aspects of the lives of North American’s. The subject has also brought much criticism and created divided opinions about its immediate and long term impact. Migration itself it’s not a problem, but the modern dilemma of who is allowed to migrate and reside permanently in a country “legally.” It is interesting to explore this subject under three basic theories that Sociology deals with: symbolic interactionism, conflict theory and social functionalism. Each theory brings us closer to understand some of the reasons why “illegal immigration” is controversial today. The purpose of this paper is not to persuade but to explore and expose some ideas on a recurrent social issue.

Immigration is an issue that many people see as small and insignificant. Many believe that it doesn’t concern or affect them in any shape or form. Truth is, it doesn’t matter if you're African American, Caucasian, Asian, Mexican, or another race, immigration is an issue that affects everyone. Immigration affects the economy, the workforce, families, and the individual’s themselves whose main goal and dream is the “American Dream” that they come to the US looking for.

Millions of immigrants over the previous centuries have shaped the United States of America into what it is today. America is known as a “melting pot”, a multicultural country that welcomes and is home to an array of every ethnic and cultural background imaginable. We are a place of opportunity, offering homes and jobs and new economic gains to anyone who should want it. However, America was not always such a “come one, come all” kind of country. The large numbers of immigrants that came during the nineteenth century angered many of the American natives and lead to them to blame the lack of jobs and low wages on the immigrants, especially the Asian communities. This resentment lead to the discrimination and legal exclusion of immigrants,

“More than any other nation on Earth, America has constantly drawn strength and spirit from wave after wave of immigrants. In each generation, they have proved to be the most restless, the most adventurous, the most innovative, the most industrious of people. Bearing different memories honoring different heritages, they have strengthened our economy, enriched our culture, renewed our promise of freedom and opportunity for all” (Clinton 146). Those are some wise words from a former president who explains the importance of immigrants and has the mentality of a person who has reason. For many, or everybody, walking through a hot, dry desert with no water or even through a cold, windy and rainy desert would not be an activity that they would like to engage. Even though this dangerous and severe weather goes on, several people still immigrate illegally because they want what is going to be best for them. Some make it all the way and unfortunately some we do not hear about ever again.

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.

Our racial ethnicity is influential in what we do in life, whether it be with school, personal relations, or even job opportunities. There are some, Americans today who hold racial prejudice against people of different color and ethnicity, which as a result narrows opportunities that minorities can actually have. In the essay “Race in America: “We Would Like To Believe We Are Over The Problem” Maryann Cusimano Love, an associate professor of international relations in the Politics Department at Catholic University, addresses the idea that “To get over racial problems” we need to acknowledge them as well as the history of difficult racial problems in order to move forward as a multicultural society.(387) Love reveals a study conducted

“The United States has more than 20 million foreign-born people, more than double 20 years ago. Last year, 1.2 million immigrants came [to the U.S.], a 17-percent jump over the year before. About 76-percent came legally” (Volgenau et. al). With the dawn of the new presidency, a movement has emerged once again, and it does not benefit the immigrants of this country in any way. This movement called the Anti-Immigration Movement is the protesting and hate towards people who are not native born. Hate crimes and discrimination are results of the Anti-Immigrant Movement which are difficulties immigrants have to deal with when they decide to pursue the American Dream. There are many reasons why Americans started this terrible movement; these include,

Immigration is one hot topic in today’s conversation and society. Many think that immigrants coming to America are taking many jobs away from who need them. Some also think that there are jobs being taken away are not ones that Americans would not perform due to the horrible working conditions, low pay, and lack of important medical coverage. The immigration issue has come to a point where the United States must make a decision to spend a lot of money to curtail the amount of immigrants coming here.

Many different individuals can view immigration in many distinct ways. Some view it as a chance to improve ones life and as a way to secure a bright and prosperous future for their children and loved ones. While others refer to immigration as the downfall of this country, and with the continuous increase will cause the unanimous destruction of pure American ideologies and life styles. The most obvious way for me to start this essay is in a way to relate to the topic of immigration. In order to speak for myself I must first clarify, I was born in the United States but I am as Hispanic and very connected with my roots as is possible for someone born in this country. From a very young age I was always told how my parents traveled to this country in two different ways, my mom came with permission to enter the country and become a resident; this was something that was considered very rare at the time, and my father had to travel various different countries using fake passports with a different identity in order to reach our beautiful country. While their paths to the United States where different their goal was the same, freedom, liberty, and the hope for a bright and prosperous future. Like my parents there are millions of immigrants who come to this country to achieve there dreams and provide a stable and secure life for their families. In my personal opinion I do not believe that the right of migrating to this country should be removed, that being said I do consider that as it

The mention of immigration in large groups can immediately engender heated debate as people, informed by their personal experience, pose simplistic solutions to the problem or mourn their absence in this highly complicated situation. To some degree, immigration creates two camps: those who believe immigrants should be embraced and those who perceive immigrants legal or otherwise, as a threat to society. While it may be easy for some to declare immigration a black and white issue, that illegal immigrants and their progeny should not be here, this ignores children born in the United States to illegal parents who have never known life in another

So the problem in the case of large immigrant non-employment is not the immigrants themselves, but the fact that these people in many cases are not given the opportunity to prove themselves—either because they have not gotten the right education, or because they cannot speak Swedish. To solve these problems Swedes could provide a better education and language based training for those in need of it. This way, the immigrants coming in to Sweden would have a better opportunity of getting employed and thereby contributing more to Sweden’s economy.

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.

This paper will examine the problem of Immigration and Immigration Law. I will first discuss what Immigration Law is and how it works, then I will define the number one problem of immigration laws, “illegal immigration” and why it’s so important to follow procedures. It will also address the consequences after violating the laws. Next the paper discusses three policy solutions to the problems of illegal immigration: Legalization of Immigrants, Strengthen Border Security, and Immigration Amnesty. The paper will first explain each policy solution. Then it will analyze the pros and cons, and potential strengths and weakness of each solution. Last this paper will offer some personal observations on the problem of immigration.