Immigration in America - Report Example

ID Number: Immigration in America Introduction Immigration has been the newest and oldest story in the overall experience of America. Similar dreams of opportunity and freedom which inspired people to come to America hundreds of years ago, even inspires people in today’s scenario. To some extent immigration has even helped in defining the overall of America that enabled prosperity and growth, and even facilitated shaping dynamic society of America. Throughout American history the approach of immigration has gained its importance but wide scale immigration in this country was witnessed in three peak time periods such as original colonies peopling, turn of 20th century giving birth to many cities, and middle of 19th century giving birth to westward expansion. On the other hand these immigration periods has been aligned with the critical transformations taking place in American economy. There are certain intricacies associated with the concept of immigration and this has even proved to be an advantage as well as challenge for United States. Discussion History of immigration The history related to American immigration can be analyzed in four different dimensions such as colonial period, mid of 19th century, beginning phase of 20th century and even post 1965. Each of the periods mentioned had brought in distinct ethnicities, national groups and raced in America. In 17th century there were a total of 400,000 English people who decided to migrate into colonial America. During 17th as well as 18th century half percentage of European immigrants appeared as indentured servants. An influx was observed in mid 19th century mainly from northern Europe, it was noticed from Eastern and Southern Europe in starting phase of 20th century and mostly from Asia and Latin America during post 1965. History even states that lesser than 1 million immigrants came from Europe to United States in midst of 1600 and 1799 (Borjas 103). In 1910 there were a total of 13.5 million immigrants who were staying in America. However, in 1924 an Act was passed by the government known as Immigration Act that majorly restricted Eastern and Southern Europeans mostly Slavs, Jews and Italians in terms of entering into the country in large numbers which was observed in 1890s. Majority of European refugees who had fled from World War II were totally banned from entering into the region. In 1930s the immigration pattern was to a great extent dominated by Great Depression that had strongly hit United States and more than ten years lasted in the country. The government of America had even initiated a program known as Mexican Repatriation which focused on encouraging individuals so as to move to Mexico but maximum percentage of them were deported forcefully. During the time frame 2000 to 2005, 8 million individuals had immigrated to United States and amongst them 3.7 million did not possess appropriate documents (Williams 155). There were even job losses suffered by many such immigrants during the recession period but in the later years they were able to obtain desirable jobs. Pros and Cons of immigration in America with examples In the 21st century there are certain benefits which are offered by immigration that would enable the country to become more competitive, successful and productive nation. The approach of immigration complements and augments workforce such as more jobs are being developed by the economy of United States. Growth in the total labor force in the year 1990 had originated from immigrants. It can also be well stated with an example as in 1990s when most European countries and even Japan were noticing shortfall in terms of declining populations of working age individuals, America’s skill base and workforce were greatly enhanced by taxpaying immigrants. On the other hand immigrants are even helping America to gain competitiveness across the globe. In engineering and science field there has been enormous contribution by immigrants in America. For instance, 50 percent of total students in 2004 who had enrolled into graduate programs of engineering were immigrants or foreign born (Belmonte 84). Entrepreneurship can even be regarded as an added advantage in terms of immigration as majority percentage of immigrants is inclined towards becoming self-employed in comparison to Americans. The major start ups in Silicon Valley were in association with immigrants encompassing Google, Intel, Sun Microsystems, etc. Dynamism is another aspect of immigration as its impact is greatly observed in the food being consumed, worship houses being attended, sports being played and entertainment that is been watched (Facchini & Steinhardt 734). To certain extent desirable percentage of Nobel Prizes is been won by immigrants and they even serve the government at the highest levels. The openness of America in present context of globalization can also be regarded as a foreign policy asset. On the other hand the cons associated with immigration in United States are also widespread by nature. Illegal immigration can be stated as a threat for the country. As per a recent study, it has been analyzed that 11.5 to 12 million individuals are illegal immigrants in the country. There is a lot of insecurity developed due to such illegal immigration in relation to borders of America that even comprise of fiscal and economic costs. This form of illegality also gives birth to cultural and social tensions, and eventually declines the support of the country towards immigration. The temporary immigration program which has gained its importance in the present decade is also another challenge for the country though it is able to meet rising demands of high skilled immigration. Illegal immigration majorly arise due to an over burdened system of the original and broader approach of immigration in United States. Employment and family unification are the major components behind such immigration but eventually individuals witness long delays in overall procedure due to over burdened immigration system in America. The native born workers suffer to a great extent due to such illegal immigration in context of wages and labor standards (Batalova 123). Those immigrants who are unauthorized are likely to have an adverse impact on labor standards and thereby negatively impact position of those native born workers. Security issues have greatly increased in the current scenario due to unauthorized immigrants and more of the border communities as well as citizens are appealing for border enforcement. The attack of 9/11 is a significant example which increases the level of concern for Americans as more number of terrorists is likely to cross the borders of the country or gain easy admission through port entry. Economic Facts In earlier years 95% percent of the total immigrants found in America were from Canada and Europe. On the other hand in present scenario the immigrants in America belong to wide range of countries and mostly they come from Asia and Latin America. The immigrants even had a significant impact on the overall wage structure of US workers. It has been further classified in figure1. Figure 1: Impact of immigration on wages (Michael 230) Figure1 states that immigrant workers to certain extent have reduced the low skilled worker’s wage structure by 4.7 percent and similarly for college students it has been decreased by 1.7 percent. The light blue bars in figure 1 states that immigration in context of economic framework tends to increase the rate of wages of all workers in America and it is not dependent on any educational qualification. There are various services which are consumed by immigrants but on the contrary the taxes paid by them exceed the level of costs associated with such services. Figure2 represents the cost of net taxpayer. Figure 2: Net Taxpayer Cost (Michael 235) The facts represented in figure2 states that federal revenues would be increased by unauthorized immigrants by an amount of $48 billion and this would comprise of $23 billion of increased public services cost. However this would create surplus funds of $25 billion for the government. The chart represented in figure2 mainly highlights a comparison between expenditures consumed and taxes paid by citizens born in United States and children of immigrants during a lifetime. In economic context, the skill composition which is observed in immigrants of America is far more different in relation to that of other countries. This affects the economic stability of the country in a positive manner as more number of skill workers will initiate more jobs and more opportunity to enhance the skill set. It even increases the demand for U.S labor force across the globe and thus proving to be beneficial for the country. Conclusion As per the study immigration policies has proved to be an advantage for the country but to some extent this approach has even resulted into wide scale of challenges for the country. These challenges have been mitigated by the country to a desirable extent but it still requires adapting certain techniques which can bring in border enforcement. In economic context large amount of funds has been acquired by the government due to tax paid by immigrants. These immigrants are observed to pay more amount as tax in comparison to the overall services consumed. Illegal immigration is a major challenge for the country as it gives birth to multiple crises in context of political or economical field. Though these immigrants have been able to improve upon the living standard of Americans but it poses a great deal of threat towards security measures of the country. References Batalova. Jeanne., The growing connection between temporary and permanent immigration systems. Washington, DC: Migration Policy Institute. 2006. Print. Belmonte, Laura., Speaking of America: readings in U.S. history. USA: Thomson Wadsworth. 2005. Print. Borjas. George., Heavens Door: Immigration Policy and the American Economy. New Jersey: Princeton University Press. 1999. Print. Facchini. Giovanni., &Max, Steinhardt. What drives U.S. Immigration policy? Evidence from congressional roll call votes. Journal of Public Economics, 95 (8). 2011. Print. Michael, Frontani. From the Bottom to the Top: the American Myth of Success. Journal of American Culture, 28 (2). 2005. Print. Williams. Mary., Immigration. San Diego: GreenHaven Press. 2004. Print. Read More