Immigrants in America - Research Paper Example

Immigrants in America The United States was the first country to be founded on an ideology. In creating a place that would allow for the freedoms of the individual to have weight and importance, the door was opened for people to become more important that power. In opening that door, the door to the world was busted open to those who felt oppressed and stagnant in order to provide opportunity that would not otherwise be available. However, since the events of September 11, 2001 when two planes crashed into the World Trade Center in a terrorist attack, the doors that were open to the world have been closing, inch by inch, creating the feeling of an exclusionary nation, afraid to allow other to share in the freedoms in which we take pride. The continental immigration opportunities also allows for the possibility of border crossings of terrorists. The borders of Canada and Mexico allow for individuals of mal-intent to gain entry and possibility commit harm in attempts to terrorize on behalf of fanatical groups that wish to hold the emotions of a nation hostage. The Secure Fence Act of 2006 allows for the building of a fence that will stretch more than 700 miles along the border of Mexico and the United States (Brotherton and Kretsedemas 378) in order to prevent the border crossings that are uncontrolled at that connected point of the two nations. In having created fear of other cultures, the United States is now supporting Client Last Name 2 exaggerated legislation that will have little to no effect on the issue it hopes to address. The number of actual terrorists attacks within the United States that were not instigated by domestic terrorists has been minimal, if devastating. According to “Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States”, the greatest issue surrounding the commission of the acts of terrorism is that the United States lacked the imagination to believe that such an act could be committed. The language of the report states that “ The most important failure was one of imagination. We do not believe leaders understood the gravity of the threat. The terrorist danger from Bin Ladin and al Qaeda was not a major topic for policy debate among the public, the media, or in the Congress. Indeed, it barely came up during the 2000 presidential campaign”. The gravity of the error made by the leadership of the United States was that they did not take the threat of al Qaeda seriously - but this suggests a deeper meaning - that the threat from foreign terrorist before the events that September was minimal and have continued since that time to not be a major issue. The importance of this concept is that it means that those events were an anomaly and that to live in fear of an impending attack is to expand the impact of such an event beyond the scope of its reality. As horrible as the consequences of that act of terrorism was to the victims of the events, the security of the nation was maintained and has been maintained since that time. However, the trauma of those events put the nation into a state of post traumatic stress and decisions were made according to that feeling, rather than the actual levels of threat that were measured. According to Monique Lang, the definition of trauma is “an incident over which we have no control and during which we typically feel fear and a sense of powerlessness to fix or get our of the situation” (1). Furthermore, a trauma can fundamentally change what is believed about the nature of life. Trauma will steal the sense of security that is so important to the continuation of a sense of normalcy within life. The problem with the events that led to such trauma is not just in the deaths and injuries of the immediate victims, but in the reaction to the sense of the loss of control over the issue of security can then create. In trying to work out the issues and regain control of the sense of security - an overreaction has occurred that has created a deeper concept of the ’Other’. The theory of ’Otherness’ is that there is a mystery to those from other countries that cannot be fully fathomed, and therefore not trusted. This bias can be defined by a “prepossession of some object or point of view that one does not respond impartially to whatever is presented in relation to that object or point of view” (Gupta and Chattopadhyaya 104). In other words, the sense of ’Otherness’ is defined by an inability to see beyond a point of view. In viewing the world through a bias that suggests that foreign nationals have an ’Otherness’ that separates them from those living within the United States, furthers the atmosphere of fear and leads to a deepening of separatist behavior. Once these individuals who would come to the United States in order to gain opportunity are viewed through the point of view of this ‘otherness’, rather then welcoming them into the ideology of the United States, a toll is taken on the sense of embracing foreign nationals as bringing a in new sense of culture. The great ‘melting pot’ seems to have a single flavor instead of the multi-textured flavor that has been the norm throughout history. As citizens of the great experiment that is the United States, it is our responsibility to demand of our leaders that this great dream of a new land of opportunity be preserved. As Mexican national cross the border to find new opportunities, we should find ways to legally embrace them so that the work that they can do can be done legitimately. It is our responsibility to address the fear that pervades the nation and sit it aside, extending ourselves to others who would share in the bounty that can be this great nation. In doing this, the following letter can be used as a guide to promote an understanding and expectation of healthy tolerance in the country: We , the undersigned , protest your position on so called “illegal aliens”. We demand that you open our borders and welcome those who wish to pursue the American Dream. We demand that you hold a deeper respect for those who are willing to come here and toil away at unforgiving, demanding jobs with very little pay in positions that those with current American citizenship would never consider undertaking. We demand that you shake free the obstacles that make those lives that facilitate the daily habits that we so glaringly take for granted and let them live in dignity, free of criminal status. We demand that you hold in high regard those who still understand that living in a small dwelling, using public transportation, and making sacrifices that our spoiled citizens have never had to experience, is the first step in fulfilling the dream this country holds. We demand that you respect those who seek to escape the very real fears that we as Americans do not have to live under. Those who seek to escape unsanitary conditions, untrustworthy medical care, daily terrorism under which we as Americans have never truly lived should be Client Last Name 5 respected and admired for their courage. The atmosphere of fear that events of terror have sought to manufacture is the atmosphere these people have come to this place from which to seek refuge. Furthermore, we demand that you bring this country back to its roots, the roots that allowed our grandparents refuge and brought this nation a diverse and beautiful blend of culture and ethnicity. We DEMAND to once again reclaim our status as a superpower by throwing off fear of the world and by our benevolence and intelligence, live safely and securely knowing that our military is protecting us here on our land. We DEMAND that this atmosphere of fear be dissipated and that our government stop using hysteria to control its people, but use a sense of security to move our nation forward into this century. We DEMAND that freedom be our first and utmost important objective and that an end to the abuse and sensationalizing of moral topics to that wastes precious time when more important issues lay unresolved because they don’t make a good headline. We DEMAND that you respect your people and put an end to mob mentality that prevents effective governing. We Demand. This letter is an example of what the citizens of the Unites States should expect upheld by leadership as the United States continues to be such a dream for so many people. When people cross the border, they cross into a world that affords advantages they have not had in their own country. The world becomes a better place to them and why should this ever be within anyone’s rights to deny them this advantage? The dream Client Last Name 6 of the American lifestyle has inspired greatness in those who have sought to achieve it. One such man is Arnold Schwarzenegger who came originally from Austria, rose to fame as a bodybuilder and took that career to build a film career. From that film career, he has continued to rise to finally take the governorship of California, with a grassroots campaign, although likely unsuccessful, that has moved to change the constitution so that a foreign born citizen can run for the United States (Leamer 7). If the borders continue to be less and less accessible, the pearls of humanity may be lost because of a lack of opportunity to pursue the goals from which they would best thrive. As well, the cultivation of strong family units based on transplanted families who are doing better than they could have in their previous homeland can further enhance the American experience. Laws that facilitate an ease of transition rather than propose a group of obstacles can make life a better place for existing citizens and those who would become members of the Nation. Promoting fear and creating a world that excludes others based on nations of origin will never promote a success in the nation. The United States was built on an ideology of inclusion. “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free”(Carmack 1) - this poem welcomes those who would transition into the United States from Ellis Island. However, the island is now closed. When a foreign national seeks entry into the United States, this island does not welcome them into the world any longer. Now, the bureaucratic hoard takes over, making it difficult to assimilate into the country founded on a dream. As citizens, we must preserve the dream - and welcome all those that would enter. Client Last Name 7 Works Cited Brotherton, David, and Philip Kretsedemas. Keeping Out the Other: A Critical Introduction to Immigration Enforcement Today. New York: Columbia University Press, 2008. Carmack, Sharon DeBartolo. The Family Tree Guide to Finding Your Ellis Island Ancestors. Cincinnati, Ohio: Family Tree Books, 2005. Gupta, Chhanda, and D. P. Chattopadhyaya. Cultural Otherness and Beyond. Philosophy of history and culture, v. 19. Leiden: Brill, 1998. Lang, Monique. Healing from Post-Traumatic Stress: A Workbook for Recovery. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2007. Leamer, Laurence. Fantastic: The Life of Arnold Schwarzenegger. New York: St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2006. National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States. “Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States.”21 August 2004. 21 June 2009 Read More