Alana Neal

Professor Malcomb Campbell

University Writing 1104

3 April 2018

Immigration Laws: What Makes an American an American?

In my sophomore year of High School my best friend of five years, Manuela, came to me

with fear in her eyes. She told me her family had lost their immigration status and if her dad

could not find a job soon, they would be forced to move back to Canada. We were sophomores

in High School, everyone around us was talking about the cutest guys in school, or what to wear

to prom, but we were talking about finding lawyers for her dad and if we could make calls from

Raleigh to Canada or not. It did not make sense to me. Manuela was a proud American citizen.

She had lived in North Carolina for eight years. She was a hardworking student, she worked and

paid her taxes. She had so much pride in a country that ultimately failed her family. One year

later, I said goodbye to Manuela and her family. Watching them leave left me with so many

questions, the main one being: why did I deserve to be in America any more than Manuela did?

Many Americans argue that their only problem with immigration is the immigrants who

do not come legally. The immigration process is long, tedious, and expensive. The first step in

the immigration process would be to find out whether you are even eligible for citizenship.

Eligibility for citizenship includes: having a green card for at least five years, living in America

for at least half of that time, having spent continuous time in America, meaning no long

vacations outside of America, you have lived in the same state for at least three months before

applying, at least eighteen years old, you have upheld good moral, you can speak, read, and write

English, and pass a brief test covering U.S. history. If you find that you are ineligible due to one
of these reasons, your immigration process is already delayed, and you will need to either wait

longer or spend money on a lawyer. Once you are eligible you will need to file a USCIS Form N-

400. This is the form that will get your immigration process started. This will cost you $640 to

file and an added $85 for biometrics. The next step would be to get your fingerprints taken to run

a background check. After passing your background check you will receive an appointment date

and address for an interview with a UCSIC officer. During this interview you will be asked

questions about your N-400 form and about your knowledge on English and U.S. civics. If you

are approved after all these steps, you will be called into a ceremony, in which you will swear

your loyalty to the United States. To obtain your green card and residence in America can take a

few years, after that it will take 5 years to be eligible to apply for citizenship, and six to twelve

months to obtain citizenship. If you add all of this up it can typically take about seven to ten

years to become a citizen, those are years that some immigrants do not think they have time to

waste.

Every year about 1,000 new immigrants come to America. They are all coming to

America for many different reasons. There are two categories of migration, voluntary and

involuntary. Voluntary migration is when an immigrant simply chooses to migrate to another

country. Involuntary immigration is when an immigrant has no other choice but to migrate to

another country, most likely because they would not survive in their home country. It is

important to understand why these immigrants are coming to America, because the reasoning can

influence how people view them. In an online study conducted in 2014 in the Native Dutch

population, results showed that when people had the perception that migrants were voluntarily

migrating there was a stronger association with anger towards them, but with the perception of

involuntary migration there was a stronger association with empathy. Many immigrants who
came from Mexico claim they came to America to get away from the violent drug and gang

activity in Mexico. They come to America in the hopes of a better life. In an article written in

April of last year, the CAP immigration team found that compared to America, U.S. born

children are more likely to go to college. Thirty-six percent of immigrants are college graduates,

which is five percent above the national average. Immigrants are also less likely to commit

crimes or be incarcerated than the U.S. born population. In 2017, a study conducted by the

CATO institute found that the 2014 incarceration rate for immigrants, both legal and illegal, ages

eighteen to fifty-four, was notably lower than that of the U.S. born population. These statistics

could be because immigrants sacrifice so much to come and have so much to lose if they make a

mistake. They come here for a better chance at education and a world of less crime.

The question then remains, what makes an American and American? What made me

deserve a better life in America and Manuela undeserving? Depending on who you ask this

question can have many different answers. A study conducted in June of 2015 by Public Religion

Research Institute found that 89 percent of Americans found it important that to be considered

American a person can speak English. 69 percent said that believing in God was an important

factor and 58 percent said being born in America was important. These are interesting results

considering that America is a country built on immigrants, where there is no national language

and we practice freedom of Religion. If you ask me, what makes someone an American is

anyone willing to help benefit America.

Immigrants help the American economy more than people may think. Economists have

found that immigrants create a demand for small business and strengthen the economy.

Immigrants are an important part of the business community. Google was created by a man who

migrated from the Soviet Union, and the Microsoft CEO migrated from India. More than forty
percent of Fortune 500 companies were started by immigrants or their children. These companies

brought in more than 1.7 trillion dollars in revenue and helped employ 3.6 million people in

America in just 2010. Immigrants also make up twenty eight percent of small business owners

and are two times more likely to become entrepreneurs than the U.S. born population. Illegal

immigrants also play a part of American economy. Each year illegal immigrants pay about

eleven billion in state and local taxes. Making the immigration process shorter and easier for

immigrants to complete could potentially help the U.S. economy even more.

Immigration is a complex topic because there are so many factors to think about. While

we simply cannot let everyone into America because of capacity and supply and demand issues,

we can make the process to become a citizen different. If the process was shorter and less

expensive more immigrants would obtain citizenship and ultimately help the U.S. government.

While in the studies many Americans pointed out the common factors they thought were

important to being considered an American were believing in God and speaking English, but one

thing people fail to realize is that no matter what country a person is born in, no matter what

language we speak, or what religion we practice, we are all human, and all deserving of a good,

safe, life full of opportunities. Where someone is born, or their personal preferences should not

determine being American, but rather someone's morals and work ethic should.
 Bibliography

Bray, Ilona, and J.D. “Steps to Become an American Citizen.” AllLaw.com, Nolo ,

www.alllaw.com/articles/nolo/us-immigration/steps-become-american-citizen.html.

Cox, Daniel, and Robert P. Jones. “Most Americans Believe Protests Make the Country Better;

Support Decreases Dramatically Among Whites If Protesters Are Identified As Black.” PRRI,

PRRI, 23 June 2015, www.prri.org/research/survey-americans-believe-protests-make-

country-better-support-decreases-dramatically-protesters-identified-black/#.VZQN1EaQ7Co.

Estrada, Cesar Maximiliano. “How Immigrants Positively Affect the Business Community and

the U.S. Economy.” Center for American Progress, Center for American Progress, 14 July

2016, www.americanprogress.org/issues/immigration/news/2016/06/22/140124/how-

immigrants-positively-affect-the-business-community-and-the-u-s-economy/.

Nicholson, Michael D., and CAP Immigration Team. “The Facts on Immigration Today: 2017

Edition.” Center for American Progress, Center for American Progress, 20 Apr. 2017,

www.americanprogress.org/issues/immigration/reports/2017/04/20/430736/facts-

immigration-today-2017-edition/.

Verkuyten, Maykel, et al. “Public Attitudes towards Support for Migrants: the Importance of

Perceived Voluntary and Involuntary Migration.” Ethnic and Racial Studies, vol. 41, no. 5,

Mar. 2017, pp. 901–918., doi:10.1080/01419870.2017.1367021.