Immigrant Experience - Research Paper Example

Introduction There is a gypsy proverb that says “we are all wanderers on this earth. Our hearts are full of wonder, and our souls are deep with dreams” It embodies the desire for mankind to keep looking for greener pastures even if it means crossing borders. The United states of America has traditionally been called an immigrant nation owing to its history in immigration. However, this term may not be representative of the entire facts on the ground because it does not take into account the millions of the indigenous Americans who are not considered immigrants although they made their journey into the country some centuries earlier. This “immigrants” first settled on the North American continent by the time the first batch of immigrants from Europe arrived. Conservative estimates places the number of immigrants at this time in the range of two million to eighteen million (Borjas, 1990). According to the United Nations (2006), there were at least one hundred and ninety one immigrants worldwide in 2005. Immigrant experience Immigration deserves to be attributed the significant role it has played in the development of the economy as well as the unique contribution that it has made on the economy as well as the rich diversity that it also brings on board. Some of the immigration can be said to be cyclic or temporary since the immigrants usually go back to their country of origin after achieving their goal of economic success. In some instances, some immigrants usually go to the new country for seasonal work and return back home after the work is over waiting for the next season. A good example of such a case is the Mexicans who often go to America to do some seasonal work. For instance, they usually immigrate to United States of America during the harvest season of tomatoes and work in the farms harvesting the tomatoes. After the harvest season is over, they return back to their country and wait for the next harvesting season (Borjas, 1990). However, most of the immigrants are usually aiming at staying in the new country forever. That would explain why most of the immigrants have historically opted to settle in the urban centers. There have been some important changes in the immigration trends in the last few decades. For starters, there have been more and more colored people immigrating and the second important change in trends is that these new immigrants are often settled in small urban settlements where colored people have not settled in the past (Cross,1997). It is a significant development especially since it creates anew scenario in the ethnic diversity of the community as well as an interesting concoction of language. It has created diversity in the language at schools as well as a religious diversity in the religious circles. There has been an ongoing debate on the issue of immigrants and whether or not the government should continue allowing immigration. Different nations have different takes on the situation but the United States of America seems to be one of the countries that have relative lenience to the issue of immigration. The general public has also raised bitter questions on exactly how many immigrants should be allowed into their country. Interestingly, this is a debate that has been with us for a very long time as Steinbeck described in his book some time ago: To all these (immigrants) we gave disparaging names: Micks, Sheenies, Krauts, Dagos, Wops, Ragheads, Yellowbellies, and so forth. The turn against each group continued until it became sound, solvent, self-defensive, and economically anonymous – whereupon each group joined the older boys and charged down on the newest ones. . . . Having suffered, one would have thought they might have pity on the newer come, but they did not. (Steinbeck, 1999). However, even in the light of the hostility towards the immigrants, there is enough evidence that the immigrants have helped the economy of the country significantly. Immigrants usually bring many talents and skills into the new country that ultimately contributes towards the improvement of the gross domestic product. One of the best historical examples is Charles Stenimetz who immigrated to America in the late 1800. History records that he became one of the most prolific engineers at General Electric. Under his stewardship, the company grew in leaps and bounds. Long after he had retired, he got a phone call from his former employer begging him to come and fix a problem that had confounded all their experts. Stenimetz walked around the factory testing the equipment and troubleshooting. After a short while, he drew an X on one of the components and instructed the experts to check it. That was actually the root cause of the problem. The engineers proceeded to rectify the problem easily after that. Needless to say, they would have been stranded without his help (Borjas, 1995). The story of Stenimetz is just a tip of the iceberg. There are many other immigrants who have made a significant contribution to their companies as well as to the country at large. Immigrants usually come with professional training and college education. Many others receive the college degrees in the countries they immigrate to. The expertise that these people gain is then converted into monetary gain for the society and the country due to their labor in the companies and other sectors of the economy including entertainment ands fashion industry. On the other flip side, there are many other immigrants who come with no secondary or tertiary education. Needless to say, the lack of papers will make it almost impossible for them to land a position in a white collar job. These immigrants are usually ready to accept casual labor. The menial jobs that they do usually also have menial wages. This not withstanding, they also make a huge impact to the growth of the economy. There is a rising concern among human rights activists that many societies of the world usually exploit the immigrants who work hard but they do not receive a worthy compensation for their labor. Even though there is enough evidence that the immigrants are making an important contribution towards the growth of the economy, most of the citizens and the politicians have been concerned that immigrants are too many and the influx should be controlled. The general American public has been complaining to the government about the immigration policy since most of the citizens are concerned that the immigrants are coming to take the opportunities that actually belong to them (Borjas, 1990). However, employers like the idea of getting cheap labor from overseas (Tamura,2010). There are many reasons why people choose to relocate to a new country. The commonest reason is the search for greener pastures. People from poor countries are often seeking for opportunities to work abroad where they will get a better compensation for their labor. There are others who are in pursuit of education as many colleges and universities advance scholarships for needy students. Most of these students often seek a working permit and extend their stay long after they have graduated from the university. There is also the other issue of refugees. The refugees are usually running away from their war torn countries or from other catastrophes (Borjas, 1995). After the communists took over Vietnam during the Vietnam War, many of the Southeast Asians immigrates to the United States of America. Not just the Vietnamese immigrated but also Laotians as well as Hmongs. They came as refugees and the biggest challenge that they faced, like most other refugees do, is the challenge of language barrier. On top of the challenge of learning the new tongue, the Vietnamese were also faced with the hurdle of adapting to the new culture of America. Refuges can be termed as a very unique category of immigrants. This is because they are usually running away from persecution, violence or the other effects of war like insecurity and hunger. In fact, it can be said that refugees are usually forced by circumstances to seek safe haven elsewhere and most of them actually are happy to return home once things stabilize and they are sure of safety like was the case in Sudan when peace was brokered. Most refugees usually lack proficiency in English and they have to take English lessons first before they can think of getting some form of work or interacting with the locals (Borjas, 1995). Conclusion While it may be true that the immigrants usually create a unique competition for the few available opportunities with the locals, it is also true that the immigrants contribute hugely to the development of the country in which they have immigrated into. There are many challenges that the immigrants face including the hostility that they experience from the citizens of the host countries. Most of the immigrants especially the refugees are usually coming from hostile environments already and experts believe that they should be given a chance to heal their wounds without adding salt to injury. There are many important issues and concern that have been raised about immigration. Illegal immigration seems to be on the rise in recent years. It is therefore the responsibility of each government to take the necessary measures to ensure that the immigration law is upheld at all time. References Cross, M. (1997). Racial minorities and industrial change. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. Borjas, G.J. (1990). Friends or strangers: the impact of immigrants on the U.S. economy. New York: Basic Books. Borjas, G.J. (1995). Assimilation, changes in cohort quality, and the earnings of immigrants. J. Labor Econ. 3(12):463-489. Steinbeck,, J. & Pluribus, U. (1999). America and Americans, New York, The Viking Press Tamura, Y. (2010) Do Employers Support Immigration? (July 29, 2010). Trinity Economics Papers No. 1107. Retrieved from SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1021941 United Nations. (2006) International Migration Report Key Findings. Retrieved from http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/2006_MigrationRep/exec_sum.pdf Read More