Immigrants Encounter Police: Mistrust, Misjudgment, and Detentions - Essay Sample

Introduction

As immigrants move to new countries, they first encounter the police who process and validate their entry into the new state. During this interaction, mistrust and misjudgment are evident. The immigrants often feel misjudged and mistreated as compared to how their police force would treat them in their native countries. Police officers detain immigrants whose reasons for migration are unknown. In as much as it is a security measure, it undermines the freedom of these immigrants.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

According to (Wu et al., 2011), there are concerns that the police force is brutal in the handling of the immigrants. In cases of law violations by both immigrants and locals, immigrants are arrested and prosecuted faster than their counterparts. The language barrier also bares these two groups of people from understanding each other, which leads to misunderstanding. Cultural differences also come in as a factor as these people belong to different races, and their beliefs are not the same (Root & Brown, 2014). Currently, the percentage of Asian Americans in Chinese stands at 5.4. This number grew tremendously during the 19th century, which saw an influx of Asian groups into the states (Wu et al., 2011). In the States, the fastest-growing race is the Asian American and hence their high percentage.

The Chinese first arrived in the United States in the 19th century. They came in as laborers and worked in various places, including the building of railroads and quarries. They offered cheap labor, which could not be resisted by the white industrialists at that time. Although treaties were signed to safeguard the Chinese interests, the whites overlooked them since the Chinese were racially discriminate against and looked down on. Church leaders opposed the immigration of the Chinese as they saw the states as a white's only land. It led to the passing of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882 by congress, which barred Chinese immigrants for the coming ten years. The Geary Act later extended it in 1892. In 1924, laws were put in place to block more Chinese immigrants (Wu et al., 2011). Those already in the States by that time were could not be offered citizenship, and they could not own land. The situation eased when the two countries became allies in World War II. Chinese citizens could then move to the states more freely (Wu et al., 2011).

In 1965, the Immigration and Nationality Act came to action, and this allowed more inflow of the Chinese into the United States. Naturalization and mixed marriages approved. The Chinese could now own land and be citizens. The church leaders changed their perspective on the immigrants, and they let them settle among them. 1979 saw the United States recognize the Republic of China and Taiwan as the solitary legal government for China.

A stereotype refers to a generalized belief about a particular group of people. The current Asian Americans are hardworking, intelligent, and competent people. Before the change of laws in the United States, Asian Americans were illiterate and undesirable. Educated and skilled immigrants moved to the states, which led to the evolution of the heart by the locals. Asian Americans shy off managerial duties. They are also suspects of hate crimes and terrorism. Asian Americans are competent, smart, and hardworking and are likely to have college degrees. They lack interpersonal skills and are so much into academics (Wu et al., 2011).

Before the laws were changed, the skilled and educated Chinese did not move to the states. The Asian Americans who graduate from college tend not to look for prestigious working positions. Asian Americans involve themselves in wars and terror activities.

References

Wu, Y., Sun, I. Y., & Smith, B. W. (2011). Race, Immigration, and Policing: Chinese Immigrants' Satisfaction with Police. Justice Quarterly, 28(5), 745-774.

Root, M. P., & Brown, L. (2014). An analysis of Domestic Violence in Asian American Communities: Multicultural approach to Counseling. In Diversity and Complexity in Feminist Therapy (pp. 143-164). Routledge.