Immigration_to_the_United_States

Immigration to the United States The United States is a land of immigrants. Presently, there are about 38 million foreigners (Wikipedia) who moved there for different reasons. Generally, they search for better opportunities or freedom and that is why they decide to settle in America. Yet, from the nation’s founding, immigration has been a controversial issue, particularly when the newcomers were in some way “different” from the dominant group at the time. Today, anti-immigration sentiment remains very strong but despite many anti-immigration arguments, increased immigration is important for both the cultural and economic well being of the United States. Those who argue against immigration often make seemingly common sense arguments. They claim that immigration is threatening not only the English language, but also American culture. Thomas E. Lehman, Professor of Economics and Western Civilization from Indiana Wesleyan University, said: “Traditional culture is being sabotaged by an influx of immigrants who are unfamiliar with and perhaps even hostile toward its institutional framework. Immigrants of the late-twentieth-century variety do not possess the same ethnic characteristics of earlier immigrants, and therefore do not have an appreciation for the American way of life” (Lehman). Such an argument may suggest that recent immigrants who come from Third World nations controlled by regimes have no understanding of the traditional institutions that have made America great. Allowing these immigrants of considerably different culture and ethnic heritage into the United States will cause divisions of American society into distinct racial groups that will ignore political and economic institutions of United States. Apart from this, religion also has been part of anti-immigration sentiments. The largely Protestant new nation proclaimed religious freedom, but the arrival of many Roman Catholics caused anti-immigration sentiments early in the nineteenth century and the entrance of still more Catholics, plus Eastern Orthodox and Jewish immigrants later in the century, caused it anew. Eventually those groups gained acceptance, but the fact that many of today’s immigrants practice non-Western religions - they are Muslims, Buddhists, Bahaists, Shintoists, and Hindus - has revived this sort of prejudice (The Immigration Controversy). Other arguments against immigration focus on its economic impact. First of all, it is claimed that immigrants are poor, uneducated and able to do only low-paid jobs: “The welfare dependency and poverty among immigrants and newly naturalized citizens are higher than for the native-born. Thirty percent of immigrants now lack a high school diploma; with one out of five of them not speaking English, they qualify for only menial jobs and their poverty rate increases” (The Immigration Controversy). Apart from this it is often said that immigration leads to driving down the wages of native workers. Immigrants usually came from very poor areas and they do not demand for high salary what makes them very attractive to American employers. It is more beneficial for an American to employ cheap foreigner rather than expensive and demanding compatriot. This situation leads to extreme competitiveness between immigrants and native workers. As a result American employees have to accept lower salaries to won that competition. Anti-immigration attitudes stemming from cultural concerns are completely unfair. America has always been a nation with a large immigrant population. The expanded variety in foods, music, art and traditions is one of the things that makes America the great country. Thanks to immigrants American culture is very unique: “Immigration has made the nation richer and that the evolution of American life has not been adversely affected. Of course, the nation’s culture has also changed in the process, absorbing the best that newcomers bring to it, but it remains solidly founded in the principles enunciated in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Culturally, ours always has been a civilization in process and that has been its strength, keeping it dynamic and open to new ideas” (The Immigration Controversy). The National Immigration Forum, an immigration advocacy group, issued a report this year, that offers evidence of continued assimilation: “Within the last quarter century, more than 7 million immigrants have become citizens, three quarters of all immigrants spoke English proficiently within ten years of arrival, and three fifths owned their own homes within 20” (The Immigration Controversy). What is more, the claim that immigrants have negative impact on tradition in the USA seems to be an attack on the main human right – liberty. As Thomas E. Lehman wrote: “Expanding the power of government in order to preserve tradition is a sure path to the destruction of liberty. Americans ought to be particularly aware of this fact since the American tradition is bound together so tightly with the philosophy of freedom and limited government” (Lehman). Liberty has always been the most important feature in American society and by limiting immigration we reject thousands of people who seek freedom. The economic arguments against immigration have also many shortcomings. The extreme competitiveness on the market leads to decline of the cost of production and eventually to improve life in America. According to Thomas E. Lehman: “As the cost of labour (itself a cost of production) decreased, entrepreneurs and producers could produce more efficiently, enabling them to offer products and services at lower prices as they compete for consumers' dollars. Lower prices in turn increase the purchasing power of the American consumer, and thus enhance living standards for everyone. This is happening even now as some small business owners use “illegal” immigrant labour to lower their operating costs and thus lower consumer prices” (Lehman). The arguments about low-skilled workers also have many deficiencies. Low-skilled immigrants take the least desirable jobs, but they do not compete with native workers, who refuse such jobs. Apart from this, The United States needs immigrants, particularly skilled ones to take technical jobs. The reason for that is because fewer American students seek technical careers and as a result America has fewer people with a B.S. in computer science than a decade ago. The lack of these people is supplemented by immigrants: “Half the doctorates in computer science go to foreign-born students, half of whom remain here. Two out of five engineering graduate students are foreign born and many of them end up enlarging the domestic pool. Current demographics offer a partial explanation: a higher percentage of American youth may be going to college, but the universe from which they are drawn is much smaller. There are only 17 million in today’s college-age generation, and the percentage of college students in the U.S. population has been dropping” (The Immigration Controversy). Definitely, highly skilled immigrants fill necessary jobs, but they also help to create new jobs: “A just-released report of the Public Policy Institute of California, written by Professor Anna Lee Saxenian, UC-Berkeley, finds that about a quarter of Silicon Valley’s high-tech companies, such as Yahoo and Sun Microsystems, are headed by Asian immigrants. These entrepreneurial immigrants have helped to create new markets and technologies that benefit the entire nation, and, indeed, the world” (The Immigration Controversy). To conclude, The United States has always been ideal land for those who seek liberty and freedom. The contribution of immigrants to American culture and economy is enormous. Immigrants are responsible for economic and cultural exceptionality of America and any anti-immigration sentiments would be quite illogical. Bibliography: 1. ”The Immigration Controversy” Industrial Relations Counselors, Inc. 2 Dec. 2007. 2. Lehman, Thomas E. “Coming to America: The Benefits of Open Immigration” Foundation for Economic Education. 2 Dec. 2007. 3. “Immigration to the United States” Wikipedia. 2 Dec. 2007.