Teaching Tolerance in Schools

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ENG/102
Vicki Lynn Samson
Immigration in the United States
By Mary Savinon

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“Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence. Immigration is made for many reasons, including economic, political, family re-unification, natural disaster, poverty or the wish to change one’s surroundings voluntarily”.

I will be writing with a double edge sword, meaning I will first describe and define by definition of Legal Residents in the United States. Then I will explain the flip side of what an illegal immigrant affords the United States. As defined by our American Tax Laws and court systems, legal residents are any and all persons who apply and are granted status and admitted as refugees or admitted as non-immigrants for a United States temporary stay and are not required to leave by January 1, 2012. Under this status of legal residents the American Law and Court systems are extremely flexible; legal residents will also have the classification of students and temporary workers. Many of the legal residents, who have established a green card status is considered a lawful permanent residence in the United States, are able to buy homes, pay taxes, and attend public schools such as Universities and Colleges. Many American citizens don’t realize that a green card holder has the right and ability to join certain branches of the Armed Forces and apply to become a U.S. citizen providing they meet certain eligibility requirements.

The number of immigrants in 2006, totaled 37.5 million. Security got tougher after 9/11; nearly 8 million immigrants came to the United States between 2000 to 2005. That was more
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Than in any other five year period in the nation’s history. The number of Immigrants in 2006 to be granted legal residence was 1.27 million. Because of family reunification 66 percent of foreign nationals became legal permanent residents in the United States in 2009. More immigrants have found a home in the United States than another nation since World War II. The analyst Kusum Mundra suggested in his econometrics report in 2010 was immigration positively affected bilateral trade when the U.S. had a networked community of immigrants. The United States has often been referred to as a “melting pot” (derived from Carl N. Degler, a historian, author). Meaning the United States has a rich tradition of immigrants coming to the U.S. looking for something better and having their cultures melded and incorporated into the fabric of the country. Immigrants help transform American society and culture, demonstrating that diversity, as well as unity, is a source of national strength.

Most of the immigrants coming to the United States are seeking a better life for their families. They are usually good workers and make important contributions to the economy through their productive labor and purchasing power. Legal immigration helps to provide several economic benefits for the United States. Most of the essential service jobs are filled by immigrants. Normally these jobs would remain vacant by U.S. citizens. Most American business want and need immigrant workers to fill these vacant jobs, because they can get the work done while also saving money because they can pay the immigrants less then U.S. citizens. Additionally, 25 percent of patents filed listed an immigrant as an inventor or co-inventor. Findings like these suggest that immigration helps to keep the American economy innovative.

It has also been shown that immigrants in the United States pay more in taxes than they consume in social services.
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Immigrants pay both federal and state taxes they never have the opportunity to reclaim this money if they do not become citizens. This reduces the tax burden on native-born American citizens.

The research conducted of unauthorized Immigrants that are living in the United States in January 2010 was 10.8 million which ironically showed the same in January 2009. However, in January 2007 showed 11.8 million (Office of Immigration Statistics). Statics show between 2000 through the next ten years (2010) the unauthorized population grew by 27%. My research showed that someone under a student visa did not apply for legal status. Therefore, the majority became low waged workers or self-employed. Another interesting fact, which I did not know the law reads under Section 249 of the INA, registry provision, qualified persons who have established themselves since January 1, 1972 may apply for Legal Permanent Residence status. Any person who resided continuously in the United States since January 1, 1982 as an unauthorized resident was eligible for Legal Residence Status under the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986.

Diversity enriches the environment in which individuals live and trade and contribute to greater creativity. With diversity Americans are exposed to new ideas and new ways of life. By having diversity it introduces Americans to new cuisine, religion, and language. It also helps to educate Americans about the different ways of life from all over the world. Even though diversity may cause conflict at first between different races and ethnicity, generations of contact
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can reduce ethnic conflict. Over the short term and in certain regions, yes, immigration may be harmful. But over the long run, all indicators point to the beneficial effects of the influx of new talent, labor, capital, cultures, and languages. So why do so many Americans harbor mistaken attitudes towards immigration, which may lead to laws actually setting back the U.S. socially and economically. Rather than an overdependence on defense industries (downsizing now due to the end of the Cold War), today’s immigrants are the scapegoats for recession-wary areas: Business Week observes that in “Southern California, immigrants are blamed for everything from rising unemployment to a rocketing budget deficit” (Farrell & Mandel 114). Immigration is only a small cause of our budgetary problems, although it is true that California pays a disproportionate share for immigration-related expenses. But California reaps a disproportionate share of the benefits from immigration as well—for example, those Hispanic agricultural workers enable California to lead the U.S., probably the world, in food production and economic efficiency. Polls do not always demonstrate truth, they demonstrate opinion—in the cases of the immigration polls, they reflect today’s temporary headlines and a variety of misconceptions on the part of many Americans. I put forth that these anti-immigration sentiments are due to Americans’ racist attitudes, scapegoating, and a lack of understanding of other peoples. A rough demarcation line can be drawn in 1965 for the transition of European to non-European immigration. “Give me you’re tired, you’re poor” was originally meant for Europeans. The romance of early European immigration and the encounter with the Statue of Liberty gave rise to the “melting pot” image. For today’s great non-European immigration wave, some, like immigration opponent Richard Lamm, make the excuse that the “melting pot, like any pot, is finite” (Lamm x).

America was founded by immigrants and has flourished with many new types of immigrants to this very day. American cities
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Are true metropolises with a diverse cultural base? Quality of life improves in the cities with new forms of entertainment, dining, and shopping. . In Business Week, Christopher Farrell and Michael J. Mandel, citing various studies, report that immigrants “are invigorating . . . cities and older suburbs by setting up businesses, buying homes, paying taxes, and shopping at the corner grocery” (118). According to calculations done by the magazine based on the 1990 census, in the past decade the population in the ten largest American cities would have shrunk 6.8% were it not for immigrants, who actually raised that population by 4.7% (118). They have turned around many decaying neighborhoods. A decade ago, San Francisco’s Mission Street strip was a dying inner-city business area filled with crime and decaying streets. Today, first and second generation Asian, Arabic, and Hispanic immigrants have revitalized the area by opening businesses and buying homes there. Business Week says that another economic contribution that immigration provides is “a hardworking labor force to fill the low-paid jobs that make a modern service economy run. In many cities, industries such as hotels, restaurants, and child care would be hard-pressed without immigrant labor” (Farrell & Mandel 118

By pointing out basic statics of undocumented immigrants, I must point out that as United States citizens we all came from a foreign born parent or grandparent. I am rather biased toward a foreign born immigrant who comes to this country and establishes

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Themselves legally, who earns their education, pays taxes like the rest of us? The U.S. laws are in place and give the right for any foreign born to come to this country of great opportunity and establish them as a law abiding American worker. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the American Community Survey along with the U.S. Census Bureau has documented how the majority of Mexican immigrants (62%) of the 10.8 million of unauthorized workers are only here for a better life and eventually return to their country. The United States has laws in place that actually help the undocumented worker to be a legal resident and they are protected under Section 249 of the INA registry provision. How many of you have friends, co-workers, or even family members that were not born in the United States? Do you feel any different about them than your friends or family members that were born in the United States and if so why do you feel that why?

References:

Farrell, Christopher, and Michael J. Mandel. “The Immigrants: How they’re helping to revitalize the U.S. Economy.” Business Week 13 July 1992: 114-122.
Humboldt University: Immigration
Political Research Associates: Immigration and Racial, Ethnic, and Cultural Diversity http://www.123HelpMe.com/view.asp? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegal_immigration Immigration to the United States

References: Farrell, Christopher, and Michael J. Mandel. “The Immigrants: How they’re helping to revitalize the U.S. Economy.” Business Week 13 July 1992: 114-122. Humboldt University: Immigration Political Research Associates: Immigration and Racial, Ethnic, and Cultural Diversity http://www.123HelpMe.com/view.asp? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegal_immigration Immigration to the United States