Immigration: Analyzing Its Positive Cultural Implications - Essay Example

Part One. Immigration: Analyzing its Positive Cultural Implications Introduction While there are numerous factors affecting the immigration phenomena in the European countries and the U.S., globalization has indeed influenced majority of migrants to leave their country in order to get a better life, stay away from domestic violence and wars, or even to realize one’s ideological pursuits. The concept of ‘global community’ has never been this strong, thanks to the increasing number of immigrants fleeing to these developed countries. And it is not difficult to highlight the benefits of such movement of people—particularly, in the enrichment of the host country’s human capital. Given the socio-cultural implications of this phenomenon, a critical assessment of the positive consequences of the immigration phenomenon must be done in relation to the host country and home country of the immigrants must be carefully done. As such, this paper aims to focus on the advantages of immigration by: firstly, elucidating the nature of immigration from a socio-cultural standpoint, and secondly, going through the specific advantages of immigration. General Advantages of Immigration From a more general perspective, immigration can help improve the economic status of the original country through the money being sent by migrants to their families. In this regard, disparity in wealth between developed and developing countries could be resolved. In addition to this, immigration can also enrich the host country’s cultural orientations through the influx of new ideologies and perspectives, thus, strengthening its social capital. The arrival of people with different socio-cultural backgrounds can indeed help people from the host country to analyze certain societal issues in a much wider perspective. This paper, therefore, wishes to zero in on these aforementioned benefits in order to bolster its thesis that promoting immigration is tantamount to recognizing the need to develop a more unified and open-minded global community. Benefits of Immigration As highlighted in an online article entitled Immigration, one of the biggest benefits of immigration is tied with wealth distribution (Shah 1). For one, with the migrants’ perspective of getting any job that could allow them to earn a living, human capital of the host country is said to be reinforced. In fact, the migrants’ willingness to take on whatever job is available helps the host country fill up the areas that badly need workforce. In this regard, undermanned job functions are usually filled in by these migrants, thereby increasing the productivity of the industries involved. From a managerial standpoint, the influx of these job-seeking migrants with humble job expectations can help the companies save on costs while increasing its efficiency and productivity. For example, companies in the U.K. and the U.S. have continually been outsourcing talents from Asian countries like India and Malaysia for their business process organizations (BPOs). Fortunately, the strict implementation of standard operations procedures (SOPs) allows the companies to maintain high quality of service to its customers. Apart from this, another benefit of immigration to the host country lies on the deepening of its cultural norms and values. While some critics view the phenomenon as culture clash which could culminate in disputes, immigration can actually beget a culture of respect. Indeed, through the practices and beliefs that are being obtained from these migrants, people from the host country can find ways on how these can be applied in their own cultural standards. As a result, the most pressing societal issues could be confronted with much keener and wider perspectives. In addition to this, migration proves to also be beneficial to the developing country as well. Increase in remittances can enhance not just bolster the financial stability of one’s family, but it can also boost the economy of his home country. For example, the increase in the immigration of Mexicans, Filipinos, Thai, and even of Africans to European countries like the U.K. and France have in fact contributed to the change in the economic standing of these developing countries. In essence, the steady increase in their remittances has helped in the uplifting of the home country’s gross national product or GNP, which fuels its economic output. Through this occurrence, the financial health of the home country is claimed to have been given a boost, making it capable of financing and sustaining its various social projects like enhancing its transportation and telecommunications system, creating more job opportunities through the collaboration with private companies, reinforcing the education and health sectors in order to secure social welfare, and what not. Conclusion In conclusion, it can be said that the primary benefits obtained from immigration could be linked to the globalization phenomenon and how it actually helps attain social developments. Indeed, emphasizing on values of respect, cooperation and unity among countries (whether developed and developing) can definitely contribute in the realization of ‘common good’. Part Two. Immigration: Analyzing its Negative Implications Introduction While immigration definitely opens up more opportunities for the people from the developing countries, it also has its share of disadvantages. As pointed out in the online article entitled Don’t Shut the Golden Door, the main setbacks of immigration can be captured in three main points: (1) exploitation of immigrants through unjust salary; (2) ‘brain drain’ in developing countries; (3) rise of criminal acts like human and drug trafficking; (4) social hostilities as instigated by people from the host country; and (5) illegal immigration as highlighted by illegal crossing of borders (MacDonald 1). A brief discussion of each disadvantage shall follow in order to give more meaning in the analysis. In this regard, this paper aims to elucidate on the said disadvantages of immigration by closely examining the socio-cultural context of each issue. This shall be done through a brief description of the issue, an actual example to reinforce the issue, and a short analysis right after. In the end, this paper intends to strengthen its thesis that the negative implications of immigration are generally rooted on the conflicting mindsets of people from the host country and the home country as influenced by the differences in their cultural orientations Negative Implications of Immigration Firstly, exploitation of immigrants through unjust salary is often encountered by migrants who were recruited by illegal manpower agencies. Such agencies do not hold proper documents that would allow them to conduct training to the newly-recruited talents. Such phenomenon occurs in developing countries where illegal manpower agencies use the lure of ‘greener pasture’ to hire talents. By the time the talents are able to pay for their recruitment fees and travel to the host countries, they usually get surprised for getting a job they did not even expect. Most of them end up being domestic workers or lowly staff in a restaurant. In effect, most of these migrants go through a period of depression and self-pity, leading them to doing acts that would later on prove to be detrimental not only to their lives, but to the lives of their employer as well. Secondly, ‘brain drain’ also becomes a setback of immigration as it leaves the developing country handicapped with manpower. In the case of the South East Asian countries, the widely-spread mindset on getting a university degree to work in another country continues to render negative social, economical, technological, and even political effects. For example, Canada’s emphasis on ‘medical tourism’ has not only influenced the influx of patients from all parts of the globe to experience their state-of-the-art medical technologies and systems, it has also created more job applications from the people of developing countries. Thirdly, rise of criminal acts like human and drug trafficking is claimed to be another disadvantage of immigration. This is essentially rooted on how the socio-political implications of globalization have softened laws on immigration and geographical boundaries. Indeed, the crafting of both domestic and international laws that allow for a more open communication among countries are often times abused by certain types of agencies. Cases of human trafficking usually happen in African countries where families are either fooled or forced to sell their family members for little amount of money. Such transactions easily get bypassed in the host country as they may also be funded by big companies. Fourthly, social hostilities as instigated by the people from the host country transpire when one type of group is said to be favored at the expense of another. Driven by cultural differences and perspective variances, tensions occur which may end up in civil wars. These social disputes are not only difficult to avoid (given a number of contributing factors), but also challenging to manage and defeat. As pointed out again in the same article entitled Immigration, the primary cause of social disputes is the improper appropriation of public funds that are intended for social welfare. Projects that prefer one race over another often leads to what is called to be ‘social buzz’, which can be further sensationalized by local and international media. And this may ultimately end in disputes and wars. Lastly, illegal immigration is also a negative effect of immigration. In the U.S. alone, the number of Mexicans illegally crossing borders has been increasing yearly, primarily because of the worsening of the home country’s economic status. Indeed, out of desperation, these ‘aliens’ often choose to neglect the proper procedures and take the danger of crossing the U.S. border. Conclusion While there are a lot more setbacks that could be linked to immigration, it is hard to dismiss its main contribution in reinforcing globalization and its benefits to both the host and the home country. Indeed, the advent of digital technology has not only made interpersonal communication more efficient, effective, and dynamic, it has also created a ‘global digital community’. In effect, these digital innovations are continually connecting people from all across the globe—fostering unity and highlighting the need to respect cultural differences. In this light, the immigration phenomenon must be regarded as an opportunity to uphold a global community that is marked by open-mindedness and respect. Such thinking, of course, necessitates collaborative efforts among the government, companies, and other sectors of the country to ensure that cultural values are respected and maintained. List of References MacDonald, John. Don’t Shut the Golden Door. The Opinion Pages of The New York Times, 19 June 2012. Web. 20 Mar 2013. Shah, Anup. Immigration. Global Issues: Social, Political, Economic, and Environmental Issues that Affect us All, 26 May 2008. Web. 20 Mar 2013. Read More