Summary Of Our Fear Of Immigrants

Jeremy Adam Smith’s Essay, “Our Fear of Immigrants”
The Author of this article sets the stage for how children of illegal immigrants can be affected by their parent’s decisions. He peaks your curiosity when he opens up the article with “Rodrigo Guzman’s desk was empty” and as you continue reading, you immediately begin to wonder what happened to Rodrigo and his family. As the Author explains what has happened, you begin to sense that he has compassion for the family and states many reasons as to why Americans should have no fear of immigrants. My goal in this paper is to state several reasons as to why Americans should have fear of immigrants who enter into the Country illegally. Immigrants entering into the country illegally can and will pose a threat to America’s education system, healthcare system, and economy. American citizens tend to be prejudice when realizing that providing education for illegal immigrant children can create a financial burden on the education system for local school districts. School districts will be forced to hire bilingual teachers to teach English to immigrants who don’t speak English. Although immigrant children may be in America illegal along with their parents, they
still have rights and are allowed to enroll in their neighborhood schools to receive an education just as well as any American. This was evident and why Rodrigo Guzman was able to attend school. I feel that providing free education will deplete a local school district’s budget and create impacts that will lead to financial burdens for that local District. Not only can the education system be affected by catering to illegal immigrants, but the healthcare system can be affected as well.
Some countries do not provide the type of healthcare that America provides for their citizens. Therefore, when immigrants migrate here illegally, they don’t come with the proper vaccinations and well-care that is needed to prevent diseases. Author Jeremy Adam Smith states that “The biological architecture of prejudice also hints at the fear that immigrants bring disease” (www.psmmag.com). The American Government has allowed immigrants to apply for free healthcare, which could be very draining to local hospitals and taxpayers. Taxpayers will end up footing the bill for those who seek medical treatment and have no
insurance.
America’s economy is also affected by illegal immigrants who are not skilled and educated. They are willing to take on jobs at a cheaper pay which forces out the American workers. Many people are saying that the immigrants are taking jobs that most Americans don’t want. Most Americans feel that they can’t work for the low wages that immigrants are working for. Americans are already established with homes, transportation, bills, and children in school, therefore, they are trying to maintain their style of living and the immigrants are trying to get established and obtain what the Americans already have. Author, Steven Malanga states that “Yet while these workers add little to our economy, they come at great cost, because they are no economic abstractions but human beings, with their own culture and ideas—often at odds with our own (www.city-journal.org).
The Author is displaying compassion of immigrants in this article for this family. I also have compassion for Rodrigo and his family; however, the parents are the blame for not following the law and entering into the country the right way. Americans are not fearful of immigrants; they feel that any immigrant wanting to make America their home should follow the immigration laws and enter into the country the right and legal way. Any time the law is not followed, yes it will pose a threat to the entire American system which consists of education, healthcare, and our economy.