Immigration to the US: History and Recent Trends - Essay Sample

Introduction

The United States is known as the land of immigrants, and it has welcomed millions of people from different parts of the world over the last two centuries (Richard 216). Immigrants in the past and present have had similar reasons for their move into the country. These include the desire to join family members, looking for employment, and seeking refuge from violence, war, natural calamities, and more. The figures taken from the United States Bureau have indicated that the number of immigrants in the country surpasses 47 million, which translates to 14 percent of the total population (Bellovary 146). Besides, at least 28 percent of the overall population in America is composed of immigrants and their American born children. Remarkably, nearly a million illegal as well as the legal migrants move in the country every year clamoring for admission. Immigration reforms and policy since the 1980s have emerged as a vital issue for the United States, and it has received mixed reactions; however, immigrants have both positive and negative implications on the economic and social systems, respectively (Richard 218).

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Reforms on immigration have attracted diverging opinions from Americans, specifically from the political parties. Markedly, the changes are geared towards improving the nation's performance in terms of economics and security. Different factors have influenced immigration reforms, and at heart, it is an intention to protect the sovereignty of the land, obedience to the rule of law, and the benefits of immigrants to the nation. Notably, the reforms consider the will of Americans as expressed in the constitution, which allows non-Americans to acquire citizenship after meeting certain conditions (Bellovary 146). It is in line with the nation's founding principles, which enables persons from different racial backgrounds and ethnic heritage to acquire citizenship of the land. This principle is boosted by patriotic assimilation, which unites Americans in the nation. In addition to this, patriotic assimilation enhances the understanding and development of shared history, civic culture, and common language, which is essential to the nation and the immigrant groups. Historically, America has experienced unfortunate accounts regarding the formulation of restrictive exclusionary acts, for instance: the Chinese Exclusion Act that took place in 1882, the legislation of National Origin of 1924 and Immigrant Responsibility, and Illegal Immigration Reforms laws of 1996 (Opensocietyfoundations). These reforms were derived out of fear that the Chinese would take and dominate American jobs in factories. These implications of the Chinese resulted in bad policymaking that ripped Chinese families apart and forced them back home.

The United States has recorded tremendous reforms regarding immigration that have resulted in the present-day systems in place. The fundamental changes in the migration involve the Act of 1965 known as the Immigration Act as well as the Nationality Act, which marked the abolition of the national origin act that favored European immigrants and laid the basis of the current system. Additionally, the Refugee Act of 1980, which saw the improvement in the refugees' annual admission, was adopted from the United Nations charter. In 1986, President Reagan, through Congress, signed into law immigration reforms that allowed the immigrants who entered the country illegally before 1982 to get citizenship. In addition to this, the law prohibited the employment of undocumented persons in the country. President Bush in 1990 signed into law the Act that created temporary protection to the people who flee their countries for violence. The reform permitted the victims of violence as well as natural disasters to legally live and work in the country until such a time when their respective countries shall adequately recover. These reforms have seen several people from war-torn nations such as Yemen, Syrian, among others, move into the country for safety (Opensocietyfoundations). In addition to this, the Dream Act that was introduced in 2001 received bipartisan support, and the Act was intended to open windows for the undocumented young adults to acquire legal status. It is important to note that the Dream Act has not been signed into law despite being approved by the Senate and the House of Representatives. Furthermore, President Obama, in 2012, introduces a program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. The program allows a specific set of young immigrants who lack status and entered the nation as children to seek protection and work permits. Nevertheless, the Trump administration ended the program, and it has since been reinstated by the federal courts (Opensocietyfoundations). It is important to note that the mentioned reforms have encouraged more immigrants into the country, therefore making America unique from other countries globally.

The current debate on immigration reform is focusing more on the security of the United States. Different people hold divergent views; one group supports the admission of immigrants while another group is opposing the same. The people who oppose immigration based their arguments on the current increase of terrorism activities in the country and across the world. These people believe that allowing people into the country will only increase insecurity and putting the lives of Americans in danger. Additionally, they believe that immigrants are the source of unemployment that keeps on rising every year. According to them, immigration must be stopped to give the American citizens opportunities for the available jobs and improve the security of the land (Dancygier 748). However, the individuals who support the immigration reforms that permit immigrants in the country consider the economic opportunity created by meeting the needs of labor markets. Allowing immigrants in the country without putting the lives of citizens in danger is only attainable if the Mexico-U.S. is fully sufficiently secured. In addition to this, the country needs to implement high technology for identification purposes before legalizing an individual's status. Nonetheless, the contribution of both low-skill and high-skill immigrants to economic development is indisputable since they contribute to the growth of the country's GDP (Dancygier 772)

International immigrants are considered a mighty force to the global economy, with the United States recording the highest number of the migrant population in the world. Notably, immigrants are believed to have positively impacted the U.S. economy. They show little effect on the existing wage gaps as well as the job market (Rodríguez et al. 873). It is understood that with the increasing population of immigrants, there are chances that they bring with them highly skilled workforces with college qualifications and skills that benefit the U.S. economy. They bring with them innovation and entrepreneurship that, in return, drive up wages and employment opportunities for both the immigrants and the native citizens (Rodríguez et al. 873).

Remarkably, the immigrant populations in the U.S. are neither a burden to the public purse nor a remedy for addressing the existing financial constraints. They contribute more to the U.S. authorities in terms of taxes and social aids than they receive in individual benefit (Rodríguez et al. 878). Moreover, the second-generation immigrant born in the States to foreign parents is expected to contribute directly to the economy as taxpayers and also as workers who provide their labor force to the industrial sector. Likewise, the view on the continued economic growth in the state would not have been a reality if it were not for the high-skilled immigrant's labor force (Rodríguez et al. 880)

Importantly, immigrants are essential to the United States' steady economic development. They supply laborers that have much helped the nation to avoid the challenges of economic stagnation, which results from unfavorable demographics like the aging workforce (Rodríguez et al. 894). It has further created a robust production process within different sectors hence stabilizing the economy. Furthermore, the large immigrant population in the U.S. has directly influenced the prices of some services such as child care, house cleaning, construction, and repairs that are majorly done by the immigrants rather than the native labor force. Therefore, the country needs immigrants to continue boosting its economic performances and advance its technology, which directly impacts the social lives of Americans (Rodríguez et al. 911).

Notably, the individuals who move into the country are not only essential ingredients for the land's economy but also impact on the social system. The social impact ranges from poverty, ethnocultural conflicts, increase to the labor pool, stress to the social amenities, rise in crime cases, and deterioration in both the working and living conditions of the native citizens (Richard 223). Furthermore, life satisfaction that serves as the indicator to the insight of social processes is usually high in the U.S., following the influx of immigrants from different continents such as Asia and Europe. It includes the payment to the social service providers, extends of unemployment and compensations levels, and irregularity of consumer prices as well as living conditions. All this is a labor market stress that arises as a result of inflow in the labor pool prompted by the immigrant population in the U.S. (Richard 223).

Social amenities such as community institutions have also recorded population pressure as a result of the large population of the immigrants within the country (Richard 223). Similarly, the health sector, education, and religious centers are faced with challenges of multiethnic segregation as people frequently gravitate towards the individuals with whom they share a common culture and language. Furthermore, immigrants have adopted social distancing strategies to allow them to distinguish themselves from African Americans hence widening the social tranquility gap in the U.S. The quality of services provided in the institutions has declined due to high numbers of immigrants in the country. As noted, immigrants tend to live in certain areas leading to congestions in schools, churches, and healthcare facilities, therefore affecting the quality of services within these institutions (Richard 223).

Immigration in the U.S. is not a new development, and the country keeps receiving a large number of people every year. The nation has seen various reforms that have improved the immigration system to better the lives of the immigrants and the country's goodwill. Immigrants have contributed heavily to economic growth as they provide much-needed labor and skills that are essential in the labor market. Its social implications are also evident as many people complained about the pressure it brings on social amenities such as hospitals and schools. America is a unique land due to many immigrants in the country; therefore, the reforms must be made to improve their living conditions. The country's security is also essential, and all the immigrants must be checked adequately before being allowed into the land.

Works cited

Bellovary, Andrea, Angel D. Armenta, and Christine Reyna. "Stereotypes of Immigrants and Immigration in the United States." Stereotypes: The Incidence and Impacts of Bias (2020): 146.

Dancygier, Rafaela, and Yotam Margalit. "The evolution of the immigration debate: Evidence from a new dataset of party positions over the last half-century." Comparative Political Studies 53.5 (2020): 734-774.

Durán, Richard. "The changing U.S. Latinx immigrant population: demographic trends with implications for employment, schooling, and population Integration." Ethnic and Racial Studies 43.1 (2020): 218-232.

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