Refugee Immigration Communitys Problem - Essay Example

Refugee Immigration Community’s Problem Introduction Refugee immigration is one of the ancient issues that have affected most if not all countries across the world. Hardly, one country amongst ten lacks immigrants from neighboring and far countries who are unable to stand some of the social, economic, and /or political challenges such as hunger and war facing their native countries, and as a result end up seeking refuge in countries with less or no issues (Waters and Eschbach 423). This research will focus on the problem of immigrants as refugees particularly in San Francisco (tenderloin neighborhood). Apparently, these immigrants have suffered from three main challenges namely: poverty, language barrier and drugs. To begin with, poverty becomes the overall cause of their presumed condition as they have no source of income mostly from lack of employment in foreign countries. In addition, most of these immigrants have language issues as they are incapable of speaking or writing English which is mainly used in United States. Similarly, the health of the youth is at stake as they experience challenges of use of drugs when frustrated and engaging in criminal activities. The issue of refugee immigration is sociologically significant because human beings require a safe place to live where they can socialize through communication and at the same time access drugs when their health is at stake (Ireland Para 13). Refugee immigration in San Francisco is a sociological issue that needs special attention from United States and other concerned parties. Methodology The study incorporated a number of methods to ensure that the expected results are achieved. Research design The study comprised of cross-sectional survey design which aims at collecting data from samples of the refuges who are based at San Francisco and some of the people in-charge of the Refuge programs. Through this, questionnaires, observation, and interviews were integrated to investigate further on the issue. The research will seek to utilize the design as it does not deal entirely on single cases but numerous cases that are samples from the targeted population. Moreover, accuracy prevailed in the study as opposed to other designs. Data Collection Instruments In order to have a distinct comprehension of how refugee immigrants have challenges in relation to poverty, language barrier and drugs. It is thus necessarily to acquire first hand information from the selected sample of participants. Questionnaires In the study, questionnaires were used as one of the primary instruments of collecting the information. As such, the instruments were used to collect data from a sample of the facilitators of the programs and a sample of refuges in given centers. It is worth mentioning that the instrument comprises of two parts to ensure that the phenomena is scrutinized in depth. Thus, the first part has close ended questions that are meant to gather demographic information and other statistical data. However, the other part is to be used as a platform in which participants will give out their opinions and other additional data that is qualitative. Interviews Apparently, there was use of interviews to gather information from a number of victims and their family members. Basically, a number of questions were asked from the sample of participants to come up with a conclusion on the subject matter. Of importance to note is that, the instrument has two parts; structured and semi structured questions. Observation This instrument was used to gather information through observing some of the activities that take place. Using this instrument ensures that information gathered is accurate and up to date. During the study, I was privileged to interview Yen Dinh; the MSW Director of Programs in Vietnamese Youth Development Centre in San Francisco and, an immigrant living in one of the centers. To begin with, I was fortunate to be taken around the centre to have a view of how the centre is designed. Eventually, Yen informed me that the centre consisted of youth aged 14-21 years and their parents. The centre has ongoing counseling programs for conflict in families, culture /generation gap, teaching, peer pressure abuse of substance, prevention and case management for both individual and groups. In addition, there is provision of job training and part time employment both in school time and in summer. Needless to mention, individual are assisted in language use, and housing sponsorship, information and referral, welfare and lawful concerns, as well as, supervise educational services. Additionally, the centre assists the immigrants in filling out financial aid and college application. Furthermore, I discovered that Yen was an immigrant who was from Vietnam. Initially, she had migrated in 1980 at the age of 15 years and settled in Tenderloin, San Francisco. Yen has experienced some of the worst situations in Tenderloin neighborhood. According to her, the neighborhood was densely populated area that was located a few blocks away from the then bustling downtown and financial center. There was drug dealing, violence and poor access to quality health service, and lack of sanitary amenities. At the same time, there were notably high rates of crime with inclusion of numerous Single Room Occupancy (SRO) that were historically associated with former homeless adults an studio apartment buildings for families and senior citizens. In this regard, it is estimated that 12,000 immigrants from Southeast Asian and refugees from Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, and Latino by the year 2000 lived in the Tenderloin. It has been argued that over the years, the Tenderloin has slowly been forgotten due to the presence of periodic volatile incidences of other areas. Conversely, the dissolution and poverty is still rampant today with people going through the challenge and related causes. In fact, it is believed that approximately six family members who live in small studio apartment with school aged children and youth. Yen says that many children and youth have grown up in homes that have high levels of poverty. As such, the youth are affected by environmental stressors putting them at a risk of dropping out of school to engage in high risk activities that eventually lead them to juvenile courts and conviction through the juvenile justice system. Apparently, the working schedule of most parents entails long hours of working or even multiple occupations to try and reduce their poverty level. Consequently, some parents struggle to give their children support in development and growth due to the challenge of language barrier, inter-generational / cultural conflicts, economic and social barriers. Validity and Reliability It is worth noting that , the research just like any other was keen in the validity and reliability of the instruments that were used in the study. As such, reliability was used as a way of testing and retesting. Moreover, validity of the instrument was sort from the supervisor before commencing on the work. Literature Review Consequently the issue of refugees and immigrants has been confirmed as one that has been going in the United States for the longest period of time. As such, it is evident that the issue of immigration is crucial especially when the future of education in the United States is not yet clear. According to a recent study, the legislation and political events associated to the migration of refuges from other parts of the world especially Vietnam have continuously held the immigrants and their families as a threat towards their economy and security (Halliwell 48). Facts about immigrants in United States Statistics have indicated that approximately one out of four Americans is an immigrant or a product of immigrants. In fact, the highest number of people residing in United States has been that of other people but not whites. As such, scholars have argued that is crucial that people learnt for past events other than ignore some of the issues that have been termed as socially appropriate. Thus, the issue of accepting immigrants and especially their children should be looked at in a positive way because their success becomes a success to the entire country and hence there is emergence for a social good (Ireland Para 4). Although some scholars have countered the idea of having immigrants as a ‘social good’ and have instead referred to them as an ‘unnatural disaster’ for humanity, it is evident that not all immigrants appear as social burden. In fact, most of these children have eventually grown into responsible adults who have greatly contributed towards the economy of United States. It is argued that foreigners are more likely to give a huge contribution in a given area in contrast to those who have been born and brought up there (Ireland Para 8). Immigrants and Immigration Law According to the United States, the law of immigration was legalized in 1965 and has continually been used to curb most of the immigration issues in the countries. As such, most people in the country have incorporated this law with racial and ethnical discrimination to deny most if not all immigrant the right to be employed. As of now, the rate of racial and ethnic inequality is at highest making it difficult for immigrants to secure opportunities in the job market. Of importance to note is that, racial and ethnic discrimination is a sociological phenomenon and not a natural one. Immigrants disregarded in United States In this regard, there had been a heated debate as to which immigrants should be allowed to stay and work in the United States and why. Others have argued that there must be strict criteria to be followed in the issues due to fluctuation of the ongoing recession. On the other hand, a legislation had been passed in some of the cities in the United State such as Georgia, Indiana and South Carolina pertaining to the issue of making it criminal for an existence of institutions like schools and community centers that are non- registered. According to Halliwell 58, non registered immigrants are barred from attending public tertiary institutions such as colleges and universities while teachers in public schools are expected to have a register on the same. For instance, the anti – migration agents have made it impossible for immigrants to stay in the United States by banning the teaching of ethic languages or Latino. In fact, scholars across various disciplines have proposed for temporary solutions to the immigrants as they are perceived as a social burden (Kulis et al Para 4) In contrast to this, a special issue on Immigration and Education has argued that there has been an immense increase of immigrants especially from Asia and Latin America and other places for the United State despite the fact that they have already being termed as a social burden. Basically, it has been estimated that in the last decade, immigrant continue to flock the Unites States and in particular Tenderloin neighborhood to seek refuge. Apparently, children from immigrants have been said to swiftly occupy a larger portion of the population in United States. As such, it is important to ensure that researchers, parents and other concerned parties engage themselves in ensuring that both the immigrants and natives live in harmony in all aspects of life rather than forming differences especially in culture diversity (Oh and Cooc Para 3). Immigrants adaptations in the United States It is obvious that the main challenges facing the immigrants are poverty, language barrier and drugs. As a result of this, most of the children have continuously lived with their parent in unbearable conditions just to ensure that they can access education. On the other hand, parents have continuously struggled to work in order to reduce their poverty levels. Even so, most of these parents confess that living in the United States in no easy especially when do not have legal documents as everything about life can be extremely frustrating. Never the less, a number of children from the immigrants have found their way in the education section and they are now gradually been able to overcome the language barrier and other education issues (Waters and Eschbach 419). Similarly, parents of such children have been met by culture shock due to the idea of been incapable of making decision concerning the schools where they should attend. On the other hand, some children have been denied admission in some of the schools due to complex application processes. Conversely, some parents leave this mandate to the educational institution as they believe that have an upper hand to the issue. It is worth mention that some of these education centers have special tasks on trying to work on the language barriers for students who have come from countries that do not speak English and those who have joined the institutions off the school calendar in trying to assist them catch up with the rest (Oh and Cooc Para 5). Findings It is worth noting that the issue at hand is immigration. Basically, people from other countries have come to United States and settled in one of the inner cities, Tenderloin neighborhood , San Francisco where their social life is surrounded by challenges such as poverty, language barrier and drugs that have continually been used by most of the youth who have involved themselves in criminal activities due to frustration. The reason for this frustration is that their parents cannot afford to take them to school, they are not allowed to attend public schools as a directive from the government and language barrier to them is an issue- they cannot speak in English as the official language (Oh and Cooc Para 6). According to the research, it is evident that these immigrants are believed to be a social burden to the country’s economy and the security as well. As such, they are forced to live in dilapidate environment as they struggle to seek for job opportunities that would assist them reduce the level of poverty that has stricken them. Additionally, they risk being implicated by the immigration law of the United States as most of them do not have the legal documents that allow them to participate in economic and or activities. In this regard, it could be argued that most cultures in the United States do not practice assimilation especially from the non whites making it difficult for the immigrants to survive in the country (Halliwell 53). Conclusion It is fortunate that the United States is one of the envied countries in most aspects of life. They are argued to have a relatively stable economy, as well as, political stability. Never the less, their social aspect of life had never been clear. Apparently, it is unbelievable to comprehend that it is one of the few countries that practice racial and ethnic discrimination to date. Moreover, they are known to give immigrants unnecessary conditions through laws and other entities thus making their lives difficult. The situation at Tenderloin is a clear evidence of the kind of life that the immigrants are living in such a country. Conversely, most of the immigrants have adapted to these conditions and struggled with the challenges as they move day by day. Of importance to note is that some of them have made it in life while others are still struggling with poverty. The government must buy the idea of sociology scholars who have argued that at times foreign do great thing that the natives might not be in a position to do. As such, they should embrace culture diversity and accept the immigrants as fellow human beings. Works Cited: Ireland, Corydon. The gifts of immigration. Harvard Gazette. 2011. Print. Kulis, Stephen et al. Immigrant advantage? Substance use among Latin American immigrant and native-born youth in Spain. Journal of Ethn Health. 2008. Print. Halliwell, Martin. American culture in the 1950s .Edinburgh: Edinburgh Univ. Press. 2007. Print. Oh, Soojin and Cooc, North. Immigration, Youth, and Education. Harvard Education Review 2011. Print. Waters, Mary and Eschbach, Karl. Immigration and Ethnic and Racial Inequality in the United States. Annual Review of Sociology.1995. Print. Read More