United States Immigration

Currently, many people from all walks of life have moved and they share the same opinions on the political system. The immigration issue also centers on undocumented immigrants that entered the country via the Mexico-US border. Cultural discussions on the right side of the political spectrum include race advocacy as well as civil rights organizations. The number of residents who arrived in the United States without passports outnumbered those who arrived with visas directly from Mexico. Despite the fact that immigration can stress the economy in some states, there are some fields that prosper in economic and cultural terms because of the immigrants’ labor. This essay elaborates the effects of immigration on the United States.

The Positive Impacts of the Immigration Policy

In recent years, the U.S immigration policy has not been efficient in providing an effective and robust measure for reducing the number of refugees as well as authorizing the high level of illegal immigration (Novotny 884). As a result, there have been numerous illegal trespasses in the United States since the year 1960. From that time, the public polls had been indicating that most of the U.S citizens favored the illegal immigration causing the immigration act to be established. In 1990, the law had a tremendous impact. The immigration policy made America increase its wages and GDP because most immigrants drove the economy positively by creating jobs, entrepreneurship, and innovation (Novotny 886).

The Negative Impact of the Immigration Policy

Upon the signing of the Act into law in 1990, President Bush elaborated the benefits of the legislation for the nation. In his speech, he stated that “the act notices that the fundamental historical importance of immigrants to the United States is good for businesses, families, for fighting crime and good for America in general” (Rieder 257). In the process of signing the immigration quota law in 1924, the president Coolidge also claimed that ”America must remain America.” However, today, America is not kept as promised because many immigrants came and changed the way the country operates. For instance, the signboards on highways no longer appear to be in English only but also in other languages. Therefore, the immigrants have totally infested the United States and have become burdens to the social welfare system by completely threatening the culture of America.

The Impact of Immigration on the American Life

In the U.S communities, there is a rising sense of economic and social uncertainties (Rieder 261). However, immigration was also beneficial to the local economy because the aliens’ performed better jobs that always stimulated the growth within the neighborhoods of the USA The economy even remained competitive globally because it drew a more significant number of industries. Immigration, at the same time, had its negative effect because some immigrants wanted to do more for less. They drove the wages of the neutralized citizens lower than what was needed for the local cost of living.

The Elements of Immigration that Could Be Improved

The elements that would improve the immigration process include the application of a principled and sensible-based law that would protect the American borders. The law should also be merit-based and straightforward, enhance national security, and offer a solution that would neutralize the illegitimate immigration issue. The only way the adverse effects could be reduced in America is by stopping immigration (Roberts, Alden and Whitley 277). The USA should also enforce laws that apprehend any illegal crossing of the border either through the age, a family, or fingerprints. All people that cross without the permission should be deported back where they came from. The existing fences should also be incorporated with surveillance cameras at the entry points (Roberts, Alden and Whitley 279). The border patrols should also be increased at every portion of the border to avoid having harsh environments. Finally, the United States government should strengthen the cooperation between the border patrols, the police, and the National Guards.

The Change in Immigration and National Borders

Immigration is more than any other political, social, and economic processes; it is a notion that has changed the United States for many future years. The related transformations of the country’s social and economic landscape have been occurring during the distinct historical periods. After 1970’s, the large-scale settlement was the one in operation until the recent recession. The change was also marked by decreasing the employers’ demand for the high skilled labor and the illegal immigration. The recession also diminished the urgency of enacting the immigration reform but failed to place it in the top tier of the legislative priorities (Reider 269). The change in national borders and immigration emphasized the modernization and the naturalization of the systems that supported the legal immigration. Moreover, the amendments also broadened the border control efforts not just for immigration but also in uniting with Mexico so that the drug-war violence and the arms trafficking would be reduced.

The Refugee Immigrants

The illegal immigrants entering the United States had been one of the most controversial political issues. Its problem in the United States should be of high concern because it is unfair to both Americans and the legal refugees. According to studies, the USA could not continue taking all the immigrants coming into the country illegally because the country is in a predicament of whether it should learn how to accept illegal immigrants (Hayes 145).

In the 1980s, eight million immigrants were accepted by the United States. Approximately 800,000 immigrants were entering the country each year including both those who were legally admitted and the illegal entrants who obtained the amnesty and the legal residence. From the 1990s, the volume increased to about 900,000 people (Hayes 148). During the 1950s, most immigrants were coming from European countries while in the 1990s, the majority was from Asian and Latin American nations (Hayes 152). By 2007, an estimated 12 million illegal foreigners were living and working in the United States (Wong 146). Most settlers usually have poor educational backgrounds and low paying jobs, which most of the native-born Americans did not accept.

In the year 1996, 911,000 immigrants were granted legal status by the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) (Wong 149). This number included 595,000 family reunifications, 198,000 for humanitarian reasons, and 118,000 who had specific job skills. Compared to the previous year, 1996 showed a 30% increase in the approval of immigrants. After combining this number with the illegal immigrants who are receiving the amnesty, the figure grows to almost one million people. Today, many of the legal immigrants entering the United States come from countries that had received backing from the government of the United States. Each year, almost 150,000 individuals apply for the political asylum for which there is a congestion of 450,000 applications (Wong 153).

Most of the immigrants, both documented and undocumented, have found themselves as tools of the political cry which is determined by the will of the general population and their swaying sentiments every time there is an election. Many of the supporters of favorable immigration laws do it for corporate interests such as profit from the cheap labor while religious activists and ethnic lobbyists want to strengthen their humanitarian and political base (Hing 329). The opponents of the immigration laws were naturalized citizens who viewed the non-European immigrants as being threats to their perception of the traditional American ideals. Other adversaries included the labor advocates and the environmentalists who were concerned about the possibilities of the United States being over-populated as a result of straining the local resources (Hing 332).

Refugees Inside and Outside the United States

Less than one percent of refugees who are formally recognized worldwide become resettled every year with close to 125,600 people living in resettlement countries in the year 2016 (Mitchell 165). The United States has been for a long time on the top of resettlement countries and remains such currently. Apart from accepting refugees for resettlement from other nations, the country also grants humanitarian protection for those who are seeking the asylum. In the year 2015, 26,124 people were granted the protection within the United States.

By the end of 2015, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reported that the global displacement hand reached a record high of 65.3 million (Arbour and Griffiths 129). It was estimated that 21.3 million of these people were refugees, internally displaced people were 40.8 million, while asylum seekers were 3.2 million. The civil war taking place in Syria has resulted in 4.9 million Syrians seeking refuge in neighboring countries, the most noted being Lebanon and Turkey. It has also caused the internal displacement of 6.6 million people (Arbour and Griffiths 133).

In the past, the United States used to accept 85,000 refugees each year but after the global humanitarian crisis had been worsened, Obama’s administration in 2016 increased the number of allowed refugees to 110,000 (Mitchell 169). After President Trump took charge in January 2017, he gave a directive to reduce the refugee admission ceiling for 2017 from 110,000 to 50,000. He also ordered 120 days suspension of the refugee resettlement. The yearly admission of refugees has steadily declined after the peak of 1993 where 142,000 refugees were admitted. During the first seven months of 2017, there was an admission of 42, 414 refugees, which is short of the 50,000 executive order by a few thousand, even though it had been blocked earlier by a federal court (Mitchell 173).

Research has shown that more than half of the refugees in the world come from Afghanistan, Somalia, and Syria (Favell 219). The UN reported that 86% of such people were low and middle-income earners. Kenya has the largest refugee camp in the world called the Dadaab, which would cost a humanitarian disaster if it was closed (Favell 224). Just like all the other nations such as the United States that accepts refugees, the Kenyan government is also struggling to support millions of people who have been displaced and are desperate. Kenya and Africa as a whole are not the only ones facing this issue as more than 200,000 refugees have put their lives at risk to cross the Mediterranean to Europe. Somalia is responsible for a quarter of the refugees as well as East African countries like the Burundi and Democratic Republic of Congo (Favell 227). Thus, it is essential for nations to collectively take action in order to address the root cause that motivates migration and make sure that refugees are not marginalized. The United Nations have warned people against the climate xenophobia which has begun to take place in Europe. Most of the refugees flee from homes that are dangerous. According to the International Organization for Migration, close to 1,011,700 migrants had gained access to Europe by sea (Favell 229).

Reasons for Choosing America by Immigrants

The reason why immigrants decide to go to America is due to the history of the country. For many years, the USA was holding its gates opened to anyone in search of religious and political liberty (Roberts, Alden and Whitley 283). Therefore, from the very beginning, immigration was common for America. The country has always been and will still be a kaleidoscope of the cultural and ethnic groups. There has always been the irony that all citizens of America complain about immigration, though, except the Native America, all of them are from immigrant descents.

The reason why most immigrants opt to go to America is to escape poverty. This was one of the primary incentives. For instance, many Irish people immigrated to the USA because of the Great Potato Famine that took place in the early 1850’s. Throughout the years, the Irish were experiencing other failing seasons that were caused by the unfavorable weather conditions. Immigration was taking place even because people wanted to have religious freedom. Many of ancestors of Americans, in this case, are immigrants that were trying to avoid the churches and the government with the aim of obtaining liberty. They were also going to the United States to escape from prosecution, and some did not plan to stay. Most of them had the mindsets that they would just come and go, but eventually, some decided to stay and look for jobs since they came from low-income families. In particular, the Italian immigrants who went to America in the 20th century did it with the only purpose to work, save money, and build their farms or businesses (Roberts, Alden and Whitley 287). They were also working in mines, constructing railroads, and building the skyscrapers.

Concerns about the Refugees in America and Why They Should not Be Let in

Most Americans felt that the state should provide for humanitarian assistance to all the refugees that entered the country. They also thought that the USA and its allies had the responsibilities of managing the internal crisis. However, the public opinion changed after the terror attacks in Paris on 13th November in 2012. Everyone believed that the congestion of refugees in the country was the cause of the attacks. Besides, more concerns for national and personal security became paramount again when there were terrorist attacks at San Bernardino in the year 2015. According to the research done by the Quinnipiac University, statistics showed that due to the refugees living in the USA, the country has high chances of being bombed again (Mitchell 189). About 58% of the American citizens believed that America had become a home for jihadists because most of them live among the Syrians. A considerable number of Americans, in this case, oppose the idea of being welcome to all people arriving because of the terrorist’s attacks.

Conclusion

The immigration in the United States as elaborated in the essay defines the nature of America starting from its formation to the current situation. America is a state that was developed by many movements of different cultures. Most of them had the intentions of development, but due to the recent terrorist attack, the country has changed its perception. The primary belief was that the terrorists are living among the refugees who came in need of the humanitarian services. However, not all them went to America to set bombs; on contrary, the majority of them wanted to have a better life. Despite the fact that there were contradictions concerning why immigration takes place in America, there are still no valid reasons for why this movement happened. As elaborated, the majority of people only had the intentions of visiting America and then return back home; however, some decided to settle. To conclude, immigration has always been the backbone of America’s evolution. The essay has supported the thesis by explaining the reasons for immigration in the United States and the influence it has on the country.

Works Cited

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