Immigration Analysis to Society - Essay Example

Selsby Ming Yue English 1A June 11, Immigration Analysis to Society Introduction The history of the United s of America would hardly exist without immigrants. About 10 thousand years ago, the first “Native Americans”, moving from Eurasia, across Beringia, and then spreading southward, first settled on the land of America (Edmonston, pp. 10-12). They were the earliest immigrants as identified in the studies. Back in 1492, a group of explorers, lead by Christopher Columbus, with the idea of discovering a new continent, landed on this ground with hopes and aspirations (Edmonston, pp. 10-12). In the early seventeenth century, the first immigrants consisting of English, French, Spanish, and Dutch people arrived here. Later on, thousands of people coming from all over the world immigrated to America and formed the country of the United States of America, known later as the U.S.A. In the year 1776, “fifty-six men signed their names to the Declaration of Independence establishing the United States as one of the separate national entities in the world” (Chatterjee, pp. 23-25). America truly is a country of immigration, among different ages, genders, colors, and nations, unnumbered people who hold dreams contribute to this country. Therefore, America is a place of opportunity, prosperity, and happiness. In particular, it is an opinion of this paper that immigration is a beneficial notion that results in advantages for the American society and thus, the discussion will be an attempt to justify such thesis of the researcher. Negative Impact of Immigration It is an observation that increased rate of illegal activities by the immigrants has resulted in a negative impact of immigration on minds of the local citizens, and thus, there has been a negative perspective about all the immigrants in the USA. In particular, illegal immigration is the foremost factor that has caused negative impact in the minds of local citizens. Studies have indicated that a major part of the illegal immigrants living in the United States is originally from Mexico, and approximately, 13.2 million illegal immigrants are Mexican-Americans. This number is almost one-fifth of the total population of all immigrants, many people are either uneducated or less educated, and they do not have any skills, abilities, or qualification to get jobs. About such immigrants, writer of ‘Illegal Immigration’, Karen Kenney, states, “these people either do not have enough money or are not aware of the US legal process, both of which are necessary to get legal immigration to the United States” (pp. 12). This indicates the reason of huge number of immigrants entering into the United States illegally. One of the second most common factors of such a negative impact is drug trafficking that has been causing illegal immigration of thousands of people for the sake of their business and profits. The link between illegal immigration and drug trafficking has become almost indisputable that have created crime-related issues for the law enforcement officials (Bailey, pp. 97). As many of the illegal immigrants do not either have financial support from their employment or from the government, drug trafficking is a short way to make money. However, experts have indicated that drug trafficking does not only harm the immigrants indirectly but also results in harmful impact on roots of the society. According to an online writer, Pauline Go, she asserts, “drug use and its consequences threaten and affect the nation and its people from every socio-economic background, geographic region, and people with any level of education” (Go, 2008). Constructive Aspect of Immigration Apart from increase in the rate of illegal immigration and drug trafficking, immigration allows a country to benefit significantly from it, and thus, people should not acquire a negative perspective about every immigrant. In particular, reports have indicated that only a small percentage of immigrants consist of individuals that are involved in illegal activities. In the result, the major part of the immigrants is peaceful and do not take any step against the laws of the country, and thus, have been a contributive member of the American society. In this regard, legal immigrants have been contributing lawfully to create their better image in the society, as well as the image of their home nations. To maintain a good image, they follow the laws of the United States and respect every individual in the society. Specifically, most of the immigrants are hardworking and careful individuals that abide by the social, political, and labor laws and regulations of the USA. Reports have confirmed that large-scale immigration allows the U.S. GDP to increase by 0.75 percent annually that indicates the major advantage of immigration. “Immigrants bring innovative ideas and entrepreneurial spirit to the U.S. economy” (Griswold, 2002). Surveys have indicated that immigrants enter in the USA to acquire a better future, thus, work with full dedication and commitment, and this is one of the reasons that US companies prefer immigrants due to their higher productivity and their constant desire to earn money by working effectively and efficiently. Some immigrants living in the United States even do not hesitate to work for extra hours, which not only benefit the companies but also make immigrants earn good money for themselves. Another aspect regarding immigrants is that they apply all of their skills and abilities to become more and more productive for the companies where they work in order to ensure their job security. “In order to stay on top of the rapidly changing global economy, the U.S. needs to make it easier for foreign talent to stay in the country” (Wadhwa, 2007). Immigrants are fully aware of the fact that getting employment is not an easy task in the United States. This fact makes them work hard to keep their jobs and continue earning money. They know that if they lose their jobs, they will face difficulties in surviving in the United States, and thus, they work will full dedication for their companies and do not get involved in any sort of negative activity that directly benefits them, the company, and indirectly the country in the form of taxes and productivity of the company. Workforce diversity is another constructive aspect that exists in association with the presence of immigrants in the United States. Studies have indicated that companies always hire individuals based on their talent and qualifications rather than their race or gender. Thus, workforce diversity results in a number of benefits for the U.S. companies and organizations. In particular, some of the most considerable advantages of workforce diversity, which occur due to presence of talented immigrants include strengthened cultural values, improved customer satisfaction, better corporate reputation, no lack of labor shortage, enhanced employees’ creativity and innovation, committed and productive workforce, and increased market opportunities. Another benefit, which comes from the presence of immigrants, is improvement in the economic stability. Some immigrants move to the United States to start their businesses and earn good amount of profits. The expansion of businesses plays an important role in improving the economy of the country. Kallick states, “Immigrants contribute significantly to the U.S. economy” (Kallick, pp. 1). The chances of foreign investment also increase that facilitates in the improvement of overall growth of the U.S. economy. People need to understand that immigrants are the main force behind improvement of the economies of the developed nations, and as expert states, “Immigrants contribute to the economy in proportion to their share of the population” (Kallick, pp. 1). Few other studies have indicated that immigrants perform several tasks that local people hesitate to do in their society. Some of such jobs include cab services, pizza delivery, and petrol pump services. Apart from these kinds of jobs, immigrants also do very highly technical jobs based on their high level of skills, abilities, and educational qualifications. It is an observation that a huge number of immigrants in the United States are doctors, engineers, and teachers by profession and they play a very considerable role in strengthening the basis of these professions in the country. “They make up 24% of the U.S. science and engineering workforce holding bachelor's degrees and 47% of science and engineering workers who have PhDs” (Wadhwa, 2007). These doctors and engineers overcome the overall shortage of professionals in the country. In addition, some of these professionals include highly experienced surgeons, engineers, and professors who come to the United States to provide their high quality services to the local people. Researchers have identified that immigrant doctors and teachers play a valuable role in providing proper healthcare and educational needs to the local people and overcoming the labor shortage present in these professions. Some researchers (Healey, pp. 41-56) have also pointed out that immigrants play a great role in shaping overall diverse culture of the American society. America holds a large number of immigrants that come from different parts of the world to live and work in the United States. “Successive waves of immigrants have kept our country demographically young, enriched our culture and added to our productive capacity as a nation, enhancing our influence in the world” (Griswold, 2002). In this regard, their cultural values although differ from the existing culture of the United States but when they live in the country for a long period, their cultural values and other elements of culture mix up with the American culture. This mix-up results in the formation of a unique and attractive overall culture that keeps on developing a strong bond between the local people and the immigrants. Along with fulfillment of responsibilities, immigrants play a significant role in shaping American culture, and thus, one can never deny their role in fostering competitiveness in the society. Researchers (Healey, pp. 36-40) have shown that when local people see immigrants excel in different fields of life in the United States, they also try to compete with them in order maintain their superiority over the immigrants. This competition not only inclines local people to be practical and well educated but also results in developing good relationships between immigrants and the local citizens. Therefore, immigrants play a great role in fostering competitiveness and shaping the attractive, strong, and diverse culture of the United States. People of the United States need to understand that majority of the immigrants are very peace loving who do not take part in any sort of criminal activity. They come to the U.S. to build their prosperous future by earning some money not only for themselves but also for their families. Their life in the U.S. is not very easy, as they have to confront many difficulties in the early stages of their immigrations, such as, language barrier, cultural barrier, and unavailability of proper housing facilities. Most of the immigrants do not understand English language very well that creates problems for them. Kyoso found that “learning English is critical for the success of immigrants in the United States” (Kyoso, pp. 150). Lastly, immigrants are also unaware of the U.S. society and need a considerable amount of time to settle in the society. Most of the immigrants work positively in the society and they are concerned with the mission to live and earn in a respectable manner. Therefore, local citizens should not create a pessimistic view about every immigrant as a criminal, a lawbreaker, or a drug trafficker; rather they should promote healthy and peaceful relationships with the immigrants because of the large number of benefits that they provide to the country. Works Cited Bailey, Rayna. Immigration and Migration. New York: InfoBase Publishing, 2008. Print. Chatterjee, S. K. Drug Abuse, and Drug-Related Crimes: Some Unresolved Legal Problems. Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1989. Print. Edmonston, Barry. Statistics on US immigration. New York: National Academies Press, 1996. Go, Pauline. “How Drug Trafficking Affects The United States And Its Youth.” Ezinearticles.com, 2008. Retrieved on June 05, 2011: http://ezinearticles.com/?How-Drug-Trafficking-Affects-The-United-States-And-Its-Youth&id=1159614 Griswold, Daniel. “Immigrants have enriched American culture and enhanced our influence in the world.” CATO Institute, 2002. Retrieved on June 07, 2011: www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10877 Healey, Joseph F. Diversity and society. New York: Pine Forge Press, 2009. Kallick, David. Immigrants and the Economy: Contribution of Immigrant Worker to the Country’s 25 Largest Metropolitan Areas with the Focus on the Five Largest Metro Areas in the East. New York: DIANE Publishing, 2009. Print. Kenney, Karen. Illegal Immigration. Minnesota: ABDO Publishing Company, 2008. Print. Kyoso, David. Immigrants in the United States. Tanzania: Continental Press, 2010. Print. Wadhwa, Vivek. “Let’s Keep Skilled Immigrants in the U.S.” Businessweek.com, Feb 2007. Retrieved on June 07, 2011: www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/feb2007/sb20070208_968450.htm Read More