Running Head: ACCULTURATION AND ASSIMILATION

Acculturation and Assimilation Name Institution Professor Course Date

ACCULTURATION AND ASSIMILATION Introduction Most developed nations such as the USA have been places of inestimable prospects. Scores of people from other nations wish to spend their lives in such countries, which are economically stable. While this is the case, there are several barriers placed by host nations to

limit immigration. Notwithstanding the role immigrants play in a host nation in terms enhancing international relations and providing energetic labor force, host nations discriminate them based on their cultural differences, level of education among other factors (Fujiwara, 2005). The discriminative policies trigger consumption of a lot of money through border enforcement laws and border control policies. The government should not coerce immigrants to present immigration documents but should rather introduce them to the American culture, language and customs. Because of lack of government support and legal status, most immigrants are uneducated and interestingly, their children have vanquished their education accomplishments due to legal restrictions that hinder their development as American citizens. Given that United States needs a citizenry with shared values and common goals, immigrants should be allowed to assimilate and acculturate. While it is good to retain fruitful and bona fide immigrants for economic and social gains, immigrants should not be coerced to present immigration documents. This is a discriminative act and should be replaced through introducing immigrants to the American culture, language and customs. Notably, people migrate to the United States and other economically stable nations for economic and social gains. Nevertheless, majority of immigrants are discriminated and not accepted in some section of the United States. Apparently, immigrants go through hard experiences in their efforts of seeking immigration and presenting immigration documents. The immigration rules and procedures are sometimes very frustrating. These policies and procedures

ACCULTURATION AND ASSIMILATION make immigrants remain isolated and live in the exterior the American conventional culture (Fujiwara, 2005). Based on their role in the labor market as well as their role in reinforcing economic and social ties with other nations, the admittance to the country should not be discriminative but rather accommodative to cultural diversity. Assimilation reduces discrimination, it is liberating and it promotes social cohesion. People immigrate to the United States because of several reasons. Some come to the

country due to war crisis, others seek greener pastures while other cite food crisis as the reasons for their immigration. In this regard, majority of immigrants are uneducated and remain so because of immigration policies and lack of government support. It is evident that majority of immigrants in the United States do not have the least education qualifications because the American culture does not allow them to advance their education. Particularly, people immigrating in the United States are non-English speakers, an aspect that makes it hard for them to fit into the American education system. As a result, such people take any job that comes their way whether they like them or not in order to sustain their families. Notably, harmonizing the employment needs is indispensable and is strengthened through bridging programs in the countrys education system (Fujiwara, 2005). Such programs hold the potential to help immigrants in overcoming obstacles in the countrys labor market. Given that immigrants children socialize and adopt behavior patterns of the surrounding culture easily, they achieve their educational goals through attaining high credentials while their parents remain uneducated because they cannot fit in the American culture. Notably billion of dollars are spent on border control and other immigration policies. The amount of money spend in this processes should benefit the country more if the money is used in promoting the education budget where all citizens should be given the prospect to achieve their

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educational goals. More so, some of the money spend on immigration policies should be directed into nonprofits programs that would allow assimilation and acculturation of immigrants (Fujiwara, 2005). Immigrants should be allowed to fit into the American culture through socialization and education programs. This way, their status will be enhanced, an aspect that would lead to a more productive labor force benefitting the economic and social systems of the United States. Conclusion Acculturation is the procedure through which a given culture group adopt the behaviors and beliefs of another cultural group. Assimilation on the other hand, entails adoption of attitudes and customs of a majority culture. The two aspects are necessary for immigrants as they help immigrants and host nations in sharing common values and ideals, which are crucial for economic and social developments. Civilized states like the United States should therefore embrace acculturation and assimilation as a way of enhancing peaceful coexistence. This is possible through limiting discriminative immigration policies and supporting the wellbeing of immigrants through promoting their education.

ACCULTURATION AND ASSIMILATION Reference Fujiwara, LH. (2005). Immigrant Rights Are Human Rights: The Reframing of Immigrant Entitlement and Welfare. University of Oregon, 52 (1), 79-101