Immigration in the US - Essay Example

Running Head: Immigration in the US Immigration in the US [Institute’s Immigration in the US The United s of America has evolved into a very mixed ethnicity and multi-cultural country. Over the years, thousands of settlers have immigrated to the United States for a chance at a better life and better opportunities. Since the US has also been termed as “The Land of Opportunity”, it is a hub for businessmen, job seekers, and people who are in search for a free life (Doanne, 1997). Today, the US has a more diverse population ranging from Blacks to Hispanics, Europeans to Indians, Pakistanis to Chinese, etc. Along with the mix in ethnicities, comes the mix in religions, lifestyles, and cultures. Hence, being a multi-cultural country, it is difficult to pinpoint one dominant group (majority) in the US which has an advantage or edge over minority groups. However, it must be noted, that while the Native Americans were the very first people populating the USA, the very first settlers who brought “civilization” to the US were the Europeans who travelled with Christopher Columbus. Hence, they are termed as “Americans” and are also referred to as “the white race”. These settlers can be termed as the dominant group prevalent in the US as they were the supposed founders of the empty land back in Christopher Columbus’s time (Pasell, 1995). While the USA has opportunities for all ethnicities, religions, and cultures and laws prohibit discrimination upon the basis of race, gender, disability, and other factors, some people are still discriminated against or were discriminated against when they first immigrated to the US as part of a minority group. Minority groups are subject to unequal treatment by dominant groups and may be the victims of racism. They are in a minority in the suggested area and do not have as much power as the dominant groups may have. It takes ample time for them to be recognized, given equal opportunities, and lead a better and free life in the said place. Dominant groups or majority groups, on the other hand, and have power and authority in their area and may have racist feelings against other minority group settlers. Moreover, they have the most opportunities and the easiest access to their place of settling (Winnant, 1994). As mentioned before, while the percentage of majority and minority residents in the US is rapidly changing, the analysis of this paper will be based upon two groups: the Europeans (white) as the dominant group and the immigration of Chinese settlers into the US as the non-dominant group (Calavita, 1994). Immigration policies differed in various time periods as the US changed its immigration legislation often. Sometimes, this was to gain immigrants from other countries to diversify the US and other times, immigration policies were tightened in order to control the over flow of immigrants that were illegally coming to exploit the opportunities available in the new land. Immigration policies were always the main component either enabling or preventing immigrants from easily coming into the United States. In times of lax immigration policies, many settlers took the opportunity to immigrate and in times of strict control other means and methods were found to get to the “The Land of Opportunity”. Strict control also meant that new immigrants were not given proper jobs as most of them had immigrated illegally. Hence, equal opportunities were not available to them and they often suffered from mistreatment at the hands of dominant groups. Usually, such immigrants made their living through blue collar jobs and labor work and were sometimes underpaid, until they got legal status. However, dominant groups were given professional opportunities and had access to governmental facilities. They were usually preferred over minority groups when chosen for a job and were paid the wage set by the State. Some of them have racist feelings against minorities and see them as “invaders” of their land (Winnant, 1994). In this paper, the Europeans or “first settlers” are regarded as the dominant group. While there is a hot debate regarding who settled in the US first between the Native Americans and the Europeans, history is unable to confirm who the very first settlers in the new land were. In the year 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed off with three ships named the Nina, Pinta, and the Santa Maria, in hopes of reaching India for the purpose of trade. However, upon his voyage, he discovered the land of the Americas and its unexplored territories. The people that had arrived with him, the Vikings, settled into the new land and began the process of civilization and colonization (Huntington, 2004). This began the advent of European migration into the new land whether it was because of discovering the new riches in the new land or in the search for freedom or a better life from the worsening states in their own countries. Settlers from the Netherlands, Ireland, Britain, and Germany were piling into the United States to settle into the undiscovered land and mould it according to their own preferences (Doanne, 1997). While Europeans began to migrate into the United States in different periods of time in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries, the period of the nineteenth century experienced the most European migration. Their main purpose of migrating into the United States was to get away from the worsening circumstances in their own countries due to the after effects of the Industrial Revolution. However, in this time period, America was prospering at a very fast pace. Hence, it was seen as a very desirable place to settle for the Europeans and was termed as the “Promising Land” (Huntington, 2004). America was a land of great opportunities for skilled and unskilled workers and throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth century, mainly immigrants from Northern Europe immigrated to the USA. However, in the late nineteenth century, many factory jobs were open for unskilled workers in the USA. Hence, mainly unskilled and blue collar workers from Southeastern Europe; Greek, Italian, Lithuanian, etc chose to settle in the USA. They were looking for opportunities of work in the new land after being robbed of their land and having few professional skills. Moreover, the population in their countries was increasing and the life expectancy rate was increasing. Hence, with large families and modest means, they were in search of new opportunities (Doanne, 1997). The Americans did not approve of these new immigrants, especially those from Southeastern Europe, and felt them to be inferior to the dominant “Northwestern Europeans”. At first, most of them thought these workers would be a good source of unskilled labor for the factories running in the USA. However, as problems began to persist and unemployment, strikes, and urban decay began to kick in; the early European settlers or “Americans’ did not approve of the Southeastern European migration (Winnant, 1994). Most of the European settlers migrated to the large cities of the Americas. Cities like New York, Chicago, and Boston were extremely popular. The reasons for this were because many Europeans could not afford to purchase farmland and were too late to purchase it at a subsidized rate. Moreover, they were not familiar with the skills required to farm in the USA. Hence, mainly the urban cities were populated with many European settlers from both Northern Europe and Southeastern Europe alike (Doanne, 1997).The immigration policies were lax at this point in time because the USA wanted to attract immigrants to cater to their unskilled and skilled jobs. There was a great potential in the US market because of times of prosperity and the onset of the Industrial Revolution. Hence, immigration was encouraged. However, once many immigrants arrived and problems began to kick in, the attitudes of the Americans changed. The non-dominant group, the Chinese, had a harder time settling into and gaining entry to the USA. Today, the Chinese are the largest Asian population occupying the USA. However, Americans were not keen to have the Chinese in their country. Hence, Chinese immigration was dispersed over three periods of time. The period beginning in the nineteenth century, brought many Chinese workers to the USA in search of laborious work. However, this quickly came to a close as the Chinese Exclusion Act was set out to prevent Chinese immigration into the USA. In the late nineteenth century, only students, diplomatic figures, and businessmen were allowed to come to the United States. All other Chinese migrants were prohibited. Americans were also highly racist against the Chinese and they were forced to take up residence in small Chinatowns and ghettos where they remained in seclusion. Americans were not keen to let the Chinese freely mix up in their society. Since the Chinese immigrants were robbed of their human rights and democratic rights, they took a lot of help of courts and were successful only when anti-discrimination acts were put into place (Zhou, 1997). Early Chinese industrial workers settled into areas such as California and other areas near the Rocky Mountain range. However, when such jobs were not prominent anymore and racism increased, the Chinese shifted to larger cities like New York and other places. However, even in these cities, they were isolated from the rest of society and made to live in their own little communities on the outskirts of big cities. Today, Chinese immigrants consist of those who are highly educated and those who have fled their own countries for reasons of economic deprivation. However, the Chinese have transformed American society to a great extent (Passel, 1995). Both the European and Chinese settlers preferred to settle in large urban areas such as New York and Chicago. In the early period, unskilled workers and laborers mainly chose to migrate to the USA. However, in the case of the Chinese, professional workers chose to migrate in later periods while European professionals migrated in earlier periods (Pasell, 1995). Both settlers received their share of racism and blame in the United States. However, the Northwestern Europeans who called themselves the “first Americans” were obviously shown little or no resistance. The Southwestern Europeans faced some problems and were blamed for the deteriorating state of the USA, but they were also given a more lax immigration policy than the strict controls the Chinese had to face (Pasell, 1995). Moreover, the Chinese faced oppression, isolation, and strict immigration laws. They were not given any recognition initially and were not given equal status. However, people belonging to Europe were not as opposed because they belonged to the “white race” and were dominant in the USA as they were the first settlers (Zhou, 1997). Finally, the USA is now a land of equal opportunities and a mixture of so many immigrants that it is difficult to determine a dominant group. Each race has left its impact upon American culture and transformed American society. References Calavita, K. (1994). “US Immigration and Policy Responses: A Limit on Legislation.” Controlling Immigration: A Global Perspective. Springer. Doane, A. (1997). “Dominant Group Ethnical Identity in the United States.” The Sociological Quarterly. Volume 38, Issue 3, pp. 375-397. Huntington, S. (2004). “The Hispanic Challenge” Who Are We. McGraw-Hill Professional. Passel, J. (1995). Immigration and Race: Recent Trends in Immigration to the United States. Publications Office Urban Institute. Winnant, H. (1994). Racial Formation in the United States: From the 1960’s to the 1990’s. Springer. Zhou, M. (1997). “Segmented Assimilation: Issues, Controversies, and Recent Research on the New Second Generation.” International Migration Review. Volume 31, Issue 4, pp. 975-1008. Read More