Term Paper on "Immigration Present and in Historical Context"

Term Paper 6 pages (1811 words) Sources: 3

[EXCERPT] . . . .

history of immigration in the United States (U.S.) began back from17th century during the first entry of Spanish people through the south coast. According to Marshall (17, 18) since then, the United States has experienced constant inflow of newcomers every year which therefore continue to play a critical role towards economic development of the country. In the last two decades, America has received almost one million immigrants in every year from different countries across the globe. These immigrants are usually coming to the U.S. either to start a new life or to re-unit with their beloved ones (Marshall, 17, 18).

Marshall (8, 9) stated that a good number of these people normally come to seek freedom from political brutality and religion persecution from their countries. However, according to most analysis which has been done indicates that some of these immigrants come to the United States based on the professional qualification and skills to offer certain professional skills in the American employment market. A portion of immigrants who come to the United States are usually admitted through secret lottery which normally takes place every year. Solis (25) noted that besides all methods of admission to the United States, America receives almost 200 million visitors who come for short-term programs such as student exchange program, tourist, business elites and long-term visitors like students who usually come for their studies. Most of these people a number of times usually change their VISA status and end up becoming America citizen through legal process. Others who fail to secure legal documents sometimes don't return to their countries and end up being part of the illegal immigrants in the country.

Furthermore, every immigrant who receives a green card usually is being issued with the permit to live and work permanently in the United States. This however provides the best legal entry to the United States which a good number of people are currently using to obtain entry. This has made the lottery to be so much competitive than ever before. In additional, over one million immigrants continue to stay in the United States under fear of being deported because they are not documented or they have expired immigration papers. it's quite clear that America has a good number of people who are living outside the law.

Controversy surrounding Immigration

The sustainability and benefits of immigrants has been debated for many years in the United States. Due to the recession and harsh economic conditions which the country has undergone, many people still wonder whether it's appropriate to continue admitting immigrants into the United States. However, a lot of debates have ranged whether it's necessary to deport illegal immigrants from the country. Many questions still remain whether it's good to deport a child of an illegal immigrant as the best the way to curb the increase population of immigrants. The debate has brought in politicians and scholars who argued that the continue influx of immigrants can cause a lot of threat to the national security of the country; therefore it's prudent to take various steps which can reduce constant inflow of immigrant into the U.S.

The State of Arizona made history in 2010, when it passed a law which allows the authority to question every one who is suspected to be an immigrant about his/her immigration status (CBASSE, 1-6). This law is meant to assist the state of Arizona to curb the wide spread of illegal entry into the U.S. through its border with Mexico. This however has generated nationwide debate whether all states should emulate the same law and whether the congress should pass same law which will be implementable across all the states in the country.

Most recently, Obama immigration reform 2012 generated a lot of debates whether it's a political campaign tool to lure immigrant's votes or it's an overdue policy meant to shape the future of immigration law in the country. The reform policy paper gave a child of an illegal immigrant who was born in the United States and have attended college here in the United States to be issued with citizenship so that they can stop staying in fear of being deported. According to the Whitehouse press secretary Jay Corney (12), the reform is part of Obama "Dream ACT" which is meant to allow thousands of undocumented young and brilliant immigrants to participate in the economic development of the United States.

Promote economic development

The United States has stand out to be credited with the brightest from around the globe. Immigrants come from different locality to the U.S. To take part in cultural exchange are blessed with unique culture. A number of these people end up being American citizen therefore the country blend and enriched its social and cultural life and also gains economically. According to the research which was carried out by the Small business administration, indicates that immigrants are 30% more likely to open a new business than nonimmigrant and they own one of the six new small businesses which are started in the United States. Immigrants don't come here to make better life for themselves and their families but they also make a significant contribution to the community they live in and strengthen economy of the country.

However, according to Huffington (12) the impact of immigrants to the workforce is very huge that cannot be ignore especially the kind of competition it exposed to indigenous Americans. It reported that the workers who normally compete with immigrations during harsh economic times do loss their jobs, which has resulted to the reduction of wages being paid by most local companies.

Moreover, this requires a comprehensive law reform which will protect the interest of the American people and American jobs from being taken away by immigrants but also to provide equal competition for economic development. it's necessary to acknowledge to the contribution s made by both low skilled labor and high skilled labor so that every individual can feel that his/her contribution is attributed.

Immigrants and Entrepreneurship

History shows that immigrants have been the most contributors to the greatest innovation in the United States. Such innovations which have left a mark as the best immigrant's contribution in the economic development of the country are Albert Eistein, the innovation of Alexandria Graham Bell and ventures of Adrew Carnage. Most studies also indicates that many patents files from the United States in 2006 were based on the good work of foreign born who live in the United States. Many of these patent holders are students who obtained there bachelor degree from the U.S. colleges in technology, science, maths and engineering.

The same study indicates that there is a great value in sponsoring foreign students for studies in the United States and then keeping them here for economic growth. However, in order to keep ourselves relevant in the growing world. it's therefore necessary for the United States to go a head and continue to attract bright, skilled, hard working and intelligent students from the rest of the world to join the economic development of the country.

Immigrant and Low skilled Labor

For decades, the United States has been the most lucrative destination for most of the unskilled workers from other part of the world. These include even the educated immigrants but don't have enough skills to fit in the American job market. However, according to Huffington (13) a number of studies have shown that immigrants are very important in meeting the gap in labor market especially during the time when the economy is very strong.

Going by various analysts as noted by Huffington (15) these low skilled immigrant workers usually offset the age limit and increase of education requirement on the United States workforce. A good number of students of uneducated immigrants and nonimmigrant have changed the trend and now pursuing education up to collages. This trend has altered the education standard in the United States.

Again, when most Americans continue to complain about immigrants taking their jobs, the U.S. labor department indicates that there is big fall of unskilled workers which are required every year for the sustainability of the economy. In the last few years undocumented and registered immigrant's workers have helped in meeting the workforce.

Fixing the immigration system

Over the last decades, United States has been seen as the land of opportunity. Many people from other countries work day and night to come to the United States. However, the last years the United States has been a home of millions of immigrants both illegal and legal. This has made both negative and positive contribution to the development of the United States. Again, many Americans are still arguing whether it's fruitful to continue allowing the influx of immigrant in the country in spite of what has been highlighted. Many Americans therefore worry that immigrations are compromising quality of their life and increase the competition in the job market.

Besides, many people agreed that the immigration system of the United States is too weak and therefore needs a complete overhaul. There… READ MORE

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