Omer Arshad
Williams
ENG 102
18 November 2018
Immigration in the United States
In these days, numerous media centers are talking about immigration, which has existed since the beginning of the United States, and it is central to the history of the United States. It is sometimes even referred to as the Nation of Immigrants. However, because of our recent political state, this topic has been quite a popular topic of debate among politicians. While some tell the facts on immigration, others try to manipulate them to use to their own political advantage. This can be seen in the most recent presidential election, where many facts about immigration have been manipulated, and the public has begun to view immigration from a different perspective. The officials in the United States government are elected by the people, for the people, and represent the people, so it is crucial that they speak nothing but the truth, especially on the topic of immigration, which the United States depends on. This cycle of the manipulation of facts needs to change so that the American citizens can make truly informed decisions about the people they elect to the government and decide whether their representative can truly bring about positive change.
Beginning in 1800, many migrants travelled to the United States, which was seen as the land of the opportunity in the face of their own countries’ job shortages, rising taxes, and famines. Others came seeking freedom from political and religious persecution. With hope for a brighter future, nearly twelve million immigrants arrived in the United States between 1870 and 1900. (Website reference and source). The vast majority of these people were from Germany, Ireland, and England. The migrants entered the United States through several ports. Those from Europe generally came through East Coast facilities, while those from Asia generally entered through West Coast centers. More than seventy percent of all immigrants, however, entered through New York City, which came to be known as the Golden Door. ( ) {Commentary or transition}Although immigrants often settled near ports of entry, many found their way to the inland, some because their family members had already immigrated and established themselves in the inland states, while other wanted to move closer to their communities established by previous settlers. This led to immigrant enclaves where people of a similar ethnic or national background could earn a livelihood while also maintaining their own cultural practices. {Transition into the controversy surrounding immigration today}
Today, despite the country’s cultural and ethnic diversity, immigration is the most contested policy in the United States. This is due not only to the current political situation, but also to many Americans’ misunderstanding of how immigration has been conducted in the past. According to the US Census Bureau, the United States had 42.4 million immigrants (both legal and illegal) in 2014, the highest ever in American history. The 13.3 percent of the nation's population comprised of immigrants in 2014 is the highest percentage in 94 years. (Source)
“The sending countries with the largest percentage increases in immigrants living in the United States from 2010 to 2014 were Saudi Arabia (up 93 percent), Bangladesh (up 37 percent), Iraq (up 36 percent), Egypt (up 25 percent), and Pakistan, India, and Ethiopia (each up 24 percent). (Source).” Many of the countries which are sending the immigrants to the States do not have a well-established democratic social structure of their own, and some of them are categorized as third-world countries, lacking developed economies. There are many other reasons why citizens of other countries may migrate to a developed country. Some are leaving their homes and land to find better standards of living, other fleeing from civil wars and violence in their home countries, such as in the case of the Syrian Refugee Crisis, which is still a major problem today. Those families and individuals who immigrate to escape war or sectarian violence may be considered for refugee status or asylum.
Climate change and natural disasters are also becoming a common motivating factor for immigration to the United States, as more and more seek refuge in the face of unpredictable weather patterns. The problems disproportionally affect people living in poverty. Those who fit this description are dubbed climate “refugees,” but the name does not necessarily imply they have, or can receive, refugee status. As this is a newer phenomenon, many countries are still trying to determine how to respond to this growing issue. In fact, Source reports that one billion people could be displaced in the next fifty years as the effects of climate change worsen. (Source)
Another reason that people may migrate to the United States is to seek superior healthcare. In many impoverished, developing countries, it is very difficult to gain access to healthcare at all, much less adequate healthcare that would meet American standards, which is why many people of these countries will often migrate to the United States to utilize its healthcare system when they have serious health problems.
Perhaps one of the most common reasons for immigration is to seek out the American education system and opportunities provided to the students because first world countries such as the U.S. often have better education systems. Because of this, many parents will make the difficult decision to leave their country and move to the U.S. so that their children may benefit from its superior education system and plentiful job opportunities. Moreover, many people migrate to the United States for their college degree, seeking out better educational opportunities than the ones available in their home countries, while others simply want the thrill of living in an exciting, new place. During their time in college, international students make connections in the U.S. and have better job and business prospects. In some cases, people migrate with the knowledge or hope that more opportunities will be available to them in their particular field here than at home.
Another reason that many people migrate to the United States is because they have employment offers there already. Many migrants come from poor, unstable countries with little economic opportunity and inadequate education systems and are unable to find a job to support themselves and their families in their home countries, so when they successfully seek employment in the United States, where there is much more opportunity and stability, the most logical option is to migrate there. Therefore, by immigrating to the United States, these immigrants are now able to financially support their family and better their future.
Despite all of this, many Americans have quite a different view about immigrants, whether it is from personal experience or simply just following the crowd. There is a large group of people in the United States who believe that immigrants take jobs from hardworking Americans; however, this point is very debatable. According to statistics, immigrants have driven two-thirds of U.S. economic growth since 2011. Immigrants account for thirty percent of U.S. firms, and they account for fifty percent of startup businesses valued at over one billion dollars.
There are numerous statistics indicating that immigrants have helped the economy overall. Moreover, the impact of immigration can be seen in technological and scientific fields. One reason that they tend to gravitate towards these two fields is because they require less communication. If we can compare the newly arrived immigrant to the native born, it can be seen that they have problems communicating; therefore, they are less likely to seek jobs which require strong communication skills. However, in industries such as media and management, Americans do not face much competition from immigrants. (Treyz, F. & Evangelakis, P. Bus Econ (2018) 53: 134)
Although there are countless benefits to immigration, there are several negative impacts of immigration as well, such as the effect on American workers without degrees. For example, in the agricultural industry, which comprises of many jobs that do not require a bachelor’s degree, immigrants held forty-three percent of agricultural jobs. In some industries, immigrants are willing to work for lower wages than the native born American, therefore driving out Americans from the industry and pushing them into other fields, such as sales and personal services, that require superior communication skills.
Immigrants in the workforce pay taxes into social security and Medicare. They improve the age dependency ratio, or the number of working people who support the nation’s senior population. This ratio, which was much higher in the past, is worsening because the Baby Boomer generation is aging and beginning to retire, exiting the workforce. When this large generation begins to retire, a large portion of the U.S. population becomes dependent on Social Security and Medicare, which are paid for through income taxes by the American citizens, and with a decreasing population left in the workforce to support the retired population, it becomes increasingly difficult to support the aged community. Naturally, if there are not enough people in the workforce to support government programs like Social Security and Medicare, the only two ways for the government to be able to afford its budget are to either cut spending on Social Security and Medicare or to increase taxes. However, immigration can greatly help to ease this strain, having more immigrants will improve the age dependency ratio. According to a research, immigrant women have forty-four percent more children than the average American woman. Therefore, as more immigrants enter the United States workforce, the dependency ratio improves. (Spotlight on immigrant women)
Contrary to the claims, immigrants are not more likely to commit crime than the native-born population. Immigration and crime have been intertwined in political and public discourse in the United States almost since the founding of the country, with fears of crime by one wave of immigrants quickly replaced by suspicions about the next. Moreover, it has been closely entangled with race, culture, gender, and religion, even since the founding of the United States. Public discourse suggest that immigrants are an important source of crime and violence in the United States. However, if we refer to research and case studies, they suggest that immigrants are less likely to commit crime than U.S. born Americans. Immigrants are usually motivated by their status to stay out of trouble with the law because of how difficult it is to gain immigration status and how strict the immigration laws are. In addition, immigrants are likely to reside in shared cultural enclaves that serve to protect them from risky behaviors. All of these factors combined help to explain why immigrants are less likely to engage in criminal activities.
When referring to the present situation, it can be seen that the Trump administration has written immigration policies based on the claims that immigrants bring crime into America. According to Gallup Polls, half of the Americans thinks that immigrants make the crime rate worse. This raises the question, “Do the statistics show that immigrants make the crime rate worse?”
In a study conducted in the article named; Immigrants commit crime and violence at lower rates than the US-born Americans. All these factors taken into account were age, gender, race/ethnicity, household income, education level, marital status, region of the United States, urbanicity, and parental history of antisocial behavior. Immigrants were between two and three times less likely than the US-born to report involvement in violent and nonviolent behaviors since the age of 15. Their research also revealed that up-bringing and childhood experiences of immigrant children and Americans were the same. These results also show ancillary findings that immigrants are less likely to report having been arrested as adults. These number have been quoted from cited source. (Michael G. Vaughn, Christopher P. Salas-Wright, Pages 58-60.e1, table 1)
Another example American discourse with immigration is the current conflict concerning the caravan coming from Honduras to the U.S. and how the majority of U.S. politicians have portrayed it as a threat to the public. However, the caravan can be viewed from a different perspective. Many of the people in the caravan are fleeing a destabilized country, with an unstable economy and political system, and no health care system. Many of these people are also starving, and these factors are common to immigrants around the world and not just from immigrants in Honduras.
Moreover, immigration facilitates the exchange of new ideas and culture, which greatly improves our standard of living and is the reason we have many of our goods and technology that we have today. For example, Google was cofounded by Sergey Brin, a Russian, and its current CEO is from India. The next time you stop by an ATM, remember to thank Luther George Simijan, who is from Turkey. These are just two of the countless examples of inventions created by immigrants, showing just how crucial immigration is to any country.
Immigration continues to be the subject of intense national debate and it is a issue which cannot be neglected. More than one million immigrants arriving each year have a very significant effect on many areas of American life. Despite the fact that a large share of immigrants have few years of schooling and low incomes, most immigrants do work. This fact can not be ignored too, the share of immigrant men holding a job is higher than that of native-born men. Whatever one’s view of immigration, it is critically important to understand that its effect on America represents a choice. Selection criteria can be altered, as can the total number of people allowed into the country legally. Moreover, the level of resources devoted to reducing illegal immigration can also be reduced or increased. The goal of this paper has been to provide information about the impact of immigration on American society.