Immigration in America - Research Paper Example

? Immigration in America Since the 19th century, there has been significant influx of immigrants in to America. The issue of immigration has thus become a major aspect of concern by the American Government. In this regard, the Government has instituted several laws and regulations concerning immigrants. In addition, immigration have facilitated in the shaping of America in areas of economic growth, population increase, cultural and ethnic diversity among other implications. This paper will attempt to discuss the whole issue of immigration in America. It will provide a brief history and statistics of immigration, public opinion concerning the issue, the American immigration policy as well as the impacts of the immigration. Introduction Several studies indicate that approximately 95,000 foreigners migrate in to America each day but most of them do not plan to stay long. Among these, over 90,000 are nonimmigrant business people, students, workers and tourists, who get in to the nation through airports and border crossings. Approximately 3,000 of them are immigrants or expatriates, who would become permanent dwellers of the U.S. through special invitation. Moreover, over 1,000 of the immigrants are illegal aliens; typically, Mexicans, who dodge border controls, enter the United States, and inhabit. Several factors motivate these immigrants including religious, political, and economic factors. For the initial immigrants, Spaniards needed Christian converts in Florida and the southwest; the Puritans in Massachusetts wanted to institute a society limited to members of their faith while German sectarians wanted religious liberty in Pennsylvania (Martin & Midgley, 2003). Cynical perceptions of outsiders as belonging to a different race, ethnicity, economic status, religion, or political attachment have significantly interfered with America's interest for newcomers. Since the eighteenth century, the inborn Americans have raised various issues concerning the influx of immigrants in to the country. These issues include concerns regarding pressure on public services, job contest, and an apparent incapability of the U.S. to take in cultural foreigners easily (Ogletree, 2000). Several studies on the public opinion concerning immigrants in the 1960’s indicate that many of Americans proposed for the reduction of both authorized and unauthorized immigration. On the other hand, public opinion surveys carried out at the close of the 18th century indicate that the public were more lenient toward immigration. This is because there were low rates of unemployment and the economy was growing (Martin & Midgley, 2003). Immigration policies in America After the World War I, many Americans became more patriotic and demanded for the removal of foreign blood from their country. Consequently, this resulted in the development of various acts and policies aimed at regulating immigration in to America. For instance, this anti-immigrant climate prompted for the enactment of Immigration Acts of 1921 and 1924. These resultant acts instituted quota methods intended to decrease considerably the number of southern and eastern Europeans and to block all Asians. During this time, there was widespread perception that these foreigners were polluting the American culture. This perception carried a lot of weight in congressional discussions, as did the argument that strangers were the carriers of fundamental ideologies (Vecoli, 1996). For the nation’s first 100 years, the United States assisted immigration, welcoming aliens who could help to inhabit a huge nation. However, from the 1880s onwards, the United States started to block particular categories of immigrants. This comprised low-skilled contract workers, Chinese and prostitutes. Consequently, this led to the development of the phase of qualitative limitations on immigration. According to the United States laws and policies, immigrants are nationals of foreign countries given visas that permit them to live and work permanently in the United States and, to turn out to be citizens usually after five years (Martin & Midgley, 2003). Other immigration rules and policies in America include the “family-sponsored and employment-based immigration rules.” The implementations of these rules have affected in the reduced immigration visas for colored people. Moreover, these policies emerge facially neutral, but have per-country maximums and ethnic biases in establishing eligibility of the foreigners to receive visas. When there are very many immigrants from one country, these rules came in to effect causing the applicants to wait for very long periods. These regulations apply to any country, in which its citizens want to migrate regardless of its population (Ogletree, 2000). Impacts of Immigration in America For a long time, the United States has constantly applauded its immigrant inheritance, with its leaders continuously retelling the story of the development of a new America initiated by immigrants. On the other hand, Americans have raised concerns for a long time regarding likely changes caused by immigration including economic, political, and cultural changes. One of the major impacts of immigration is the effect on America population. Immigration’s position in the increase of the national, state, and local populations has augmented in recent decades. This is because mortality and fertility have reduced to comparatively low levels in the United States (Martin & Midgley, 2003). Hirschman (2005) adds that immigration has been the major cause of the escalation of American population from nearly 4 million in 1790 to over 270 million in 2000. In addition, immigration has played a major role in the enlargement of the social and cultural multiplicity of the American population. In Colonial America, African Americans comprised more than one-fifth of the 1790 population and there was a considerable number of American Indian in the population. A part from increasing the population of America, immigration has also played a significant role in the shaping of the American identity. For a long, time the aspects of immigration continuously trimmed and carved the American identity to accommodate the special racial and ethnic aspects of the overriding group. Moreover, immigration has repeatedly shaken the American ethnic landscape. In this regard, American attitudes and policies have fluctuated between comprehensive and special reactions, between kindness and niggardliness and between nativism and multi-nationalism. In view of this, there has been the shaping of the definition of American identity to accommodate newcomers (Vecoli, 1996). Immigration increases the number of workers, and just as with the accumulation of any factor of production, immigration aids in the growth of the national economy. According to projections by economic theory, immigration will enlarge labor supply and raise employment competition. Moreover, immigration will reduce salaries for native-born employees who are replacements for immigrants (Hirschman, 2005). Just like U.S. citizens, most working-age immigrants look for jobs, receive salaries, pay levies, and use public utilities. In 1997, the National Research Council (NRC) reported that lawful and prohibited immigration add between $1 billion and $10 billion annually to the U.S. gross domestic product (Martin & Midgley, 2003). Conclusion Immigration is very significant in American Government due to its diverse impacts. The population of America is very diverse in terms of ethnic and racial diversity due to rampant immigration. The Government of United States have continuously developed rules and policies to guide and control immigration in to the nation. Among the major impacts of immigration in the United States, include economic changes, increased population, shaping of American identity and cultural influences. The public opinion of Americans concerning immigration is very diverse and changes with economic situation. When the economy was poor, most Americans did not embrace immigration but they changed this perception once the economy started to grow. References Hirschman, C. (2005). Immigration and the American Century. Demography, 42, 4, 595-620. Martin P. & Midgley, E. (2003). Immigration: Shaping and Reshaping America. Population bulletin, 58, 2, 3-44. Ogletree, C.J. (2000). America's Schizophrenic Immigration Policy: Race, Class, and Reason. Boston College Law Review, 41, 4, 755-770. Vecoli, R. J. (1996). The Significance of Immigration in the Formation of an American Identity. The History Teacher, 30, 1, 9-27. Read More