Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Itzel Rivera
Abstract
A very controversial issue that has been going around recently in the United States involves
immigration. Some people feel very disturbed while others feel threated by these situations
happening along the country. This literature review tries to explain why and how did this
issues have started. It also touches the reason on why do this two sister countries,
Mexico and the United States, have grown all this tension between them. Therefore, it tries
to explain if in any specific time these two countries did not have this tension between
them. Statistics are provided to show the increasing amount of legal and illegal immigrants
coming in to the country. Some solutions that the audience thinks will help solving this
controversial issue are provided in order to express how will this issue could be solved.
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Immigration has always been present and along with it, it has brought many
conflicts with it. Many different points of view are touched when this issue has come into
topic. These points of views are very different and due to this, the controversy on who is
right and who is wrong comes into place. Discrimination and the lack of information about
ethnicity and heritage also have a lot to do with these issues. However, these immigration
issues have been proposed to certain solutions that are trying to settle down disputes. In
annexation to these solutions, the only thing that is gained is more conflict and
inconformity. “The American people will accept practical legislation that authorizes the
current population of illegal immigrants to obtain legal immigration status, but only if they
are convinced we are fully committed both resource-wise and politically to prevent future
waves of illegal immigration” (Schumer, 2010). Although strategies have been proposed to
solve this conflict, sometimes immigrants speak out to show the inconformity they have
towards these strategies. What people might think will be a good solution to stop this high
rank of immigrants coming to the country, some immigrants might be offended and here is
when the conflicts begin. As up to now, no strategies that everyone accepts have been
created and this problem has become more tense as time goes by.
Although this immigration debates on whether who is right and who is wrong are
very common as of today´s date, these debates and conflicts have been present in the past
decades. However, people might define the different points of views as discriminatory acts
towards them. Therefore, in order to inform people the different points of views, the causes
and effects, what people who are against reformations consider immigration, and how
statistics have changed throughout time, three important questions need to be considered:
1) Is there a historic basis that catalogs any discrimination against Mexican American
2) How many illegal and legal immigrants come to the United States yearly; why does
3) How many people have felt discriminated and what are some actions that make
These questions compose a series of research that attempts to find out whether immigration
issues have something in common or they are just a series of ideas that are meant to
contradict themselves. However, different conclusion and attempts to solve this problems
may vary a lot from what people might think what is right or wrong depending on their
ethnicity or race.
Is there a historic basis that catalogs any discrimination against Mexican American
Whenever a policy or a document against any type of immigration issues has been
passed in order to try to give a solution to these issues, the first word that comes to the
minds of many people is discrimination. However, discrimination is not always the right
word due that they are some things in the United States that benefit immigrants. Therefore,
they are some historic basis that can explain both sides of this argument. Discrimination
will not be considered under any type of historical basis due to certain types of benefits that
the United States gives to immigrants whether they are here legal or illegal. Some of these
benefits might include the high education that everyone receives in regardless of their
ethnicity or race. “The simultaneous states of illegal immigrant and legal student are an
Running Head: IMMIGRATION, THE TWO SIDES OF THE STORY
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affront to common sense and the rule of law and should be discontinued” (Williams, 2004,
pg.158). Besides receiving the same amount of education, in the country, there are still
some people who hire illegal immigrants to perform high duty works that involve picking
up fruits and vegetables from farms, harvesting, and many more things that usually
involves a lot of hard work. However, many people disagree and think that these hard
works are just a type of exploitation to these people who are coming to receive a better type
of living. Therefore, immigrants have advocacy groups in this country that support them
and help them through any mistreatments that they have faced while being in this country.
The majority of all immigrant advocacy groups support any type of immigrant policy, they
demand that “opportunity should be afforded to immigrants from all nations” (Williams,
2004). Having some considerations of people who come to this country to find the most
wanted American Dream. Several complications come when people try to cross from one
This makes it more difficult for the people who are trying to pursuit their dream. However,
in the process may people have lost their lives due to these complications. Due to this, life
savior groups have been established to try to save these lives. “In response to the growing
concern over these immigrant deaths, the INS launched “Operation Lifesaver” in June
1998, using patrol flights and search-and-rescue missions to find migrants in distress”
(Williams, 2004). Fighting to gain the rights and to naturalize in their beloved country is
also an option to these immigrants that come to find a better life for themselves and their
love ones.
Although the government and many people bring up all the wonderful things that
this country creates to support immigrants, some people think that this country has many
discriminatory acts toward the people who are trying to achieve a better life. In regardless
of how many people come from different countries live in this country, English has been
Running Head: IMMIGRATION, THE TWO SIDES OF THE STORY
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the official language in schools. Many people find it very disturbing and insulting because
they consider this to be their second home. People think that “to read one of our “Native”
papers one might suppose that our country was becoming overrun by foreigners, and that
there was real danger of their having a majority of votes…”(Williams, 2004, pg.24). People
find it very disturbing that they are seen as a menace to this country. However, when
immigrants are in the process of coming to this country and having to face death, they still
have to go through several things that can make this journey even harder and more difficult.
An example of this can be the brutal force and mistreatments that they have to go through.
“The brutality and disregard displayed by the Border Patrol has enabled and encouraged
racist and vigilante acts against immigrants as well” (Williams, 2004, pg. 128). However,
what people find it very discriminatory against illegal immigrants is that people who do not
have any authority to enforce the laws are committing this type of brutal acts towards them
without having the right to do it. “Ranchers in Arizona and Texas had gone so far as to
“hunt” for immigrants” (Williams, 2004, pg.130). People who know about these hunting
feel much discriminated because they have been compared or sometimes even treated as
animals by someone who does not have the right to treat them that way whatsoever.
Education, even though the country shared the same equal education to everyone regarding
their ethnicity or race, sometimes the cost of it can be extremely expensive were most of
immigrants, who may be here even legally, cannot afford. “A great number of them are
children, and although they attend grammar and high school, such children have little or no
chance to attend universities across our nation. Without legal status these students cannot
get in-state tuitions” (Williams, 2004, pg.136). Whether some people see the differences as
forms of discrimination, the opinions will depend on the discretion of however makes them.
How many illegal and legal immigrants come to the United States yearly; why does
As time goes by, the amount of legal and illegal immigrants that travel to the U.S
grow each time in a very rapid way. “Following a 20-year hiatus, undocumented
immigration became an issue once again when net undocumented immigrants into the
United States increased from an estimated 23,000 annually by 1970 to 112,000 annually by
1980. By the early 1980´s, an estimated 55 percent of all undocumented immigrants came
from Mexico, and they accounted for an estimated two-thirds of all Mexican immigration”
(Long, 1992). As up to now, in 2009 “of the 10.8 million unauthorized immigrants, 4.0 mil
lion (37 percent) had entered the United States on January 1, 2000 or later” (Hoefer, 2010).
On the other hand, the naturalization or the acquisition of an immigrant to become a citizen
to a certain country has declined. “The number of persons naturalizing in the United States
declined to 743,715 in 2009 from 1,046,539 in 2008” (Hoefer, 2010). Figure 1 shows the
Figure 1
However, immigration is seen as a threat to the U.S citizens due to many issues that
Running Head: IMMIGRATION, THE TWO SIDES OF THE STORY
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have happened in the recent years. The crime incidents have grown due to the difference in
cultures and ideals that immigrants bring to the country. Sometimes “children of such
immigrants become substantial citizens, while children of the same race brought up in the
cities become recruiting constituency for hoodlums, vagabonds, and criminals” (Commons,
1967). These facts have become tenser and more popular due to the growth of population in
the country. Figure 2 explains how many arrest have been made to immigrants in the
country.
Figure 2
How many people have felt discriminated and what are some actions that make
meanings according to what people might feel what discrimination really is. Some people
have said that they have faced a type of discrimination in this country. According to the
Running Head: IMMIGRATION, THE TWO SIDES OF THE STORY
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survey Immigration Statuses, about 91.7% of the people have said that they are familiar
regarding the immigration issues that have been going around the United States. Such
issues might involve the passing or the preposition of laws in order to do whatever they can
to stop immigration. These laws also involve the deportation of people who are already
living and residing here. Therefore, regarding these acts 66.7% of the same people who
answered this survey said that these issues have been discriminatory towards a specific
race. On the other hand, 16.7% of the same people said that these issues have not been
discriminatory at all to anyone. Only 25% of the people who took this survey said that
immigrants are a big threat to this country. On the other hand, 58.3% do not think that
immigrants are a big threat to the United States. People feel discriminated due that about
36.4% have been treated differently because of their ethnicity or they have known someone
that have been treated differently because of the same. However, discrimination is a very
abroad term due that different situations that sometime might not be considered
discriminatory are felt to be this way. Since discrimination is a very difficult term to define,
someone who took the Immigration Statuses survey said that “Illegal immigrants like to cry
discrimination, but they do not like to take responsibility for the resource depletion they
cause.” On the other hand, someone who took the same survey said that “I think that this
problem[discrimination] started long time ago and it has always being popular. The U.S
citizens are angry because they are racist.” Many people have different points of views and
Several acts that people might think that are discriminatory towards them can
involve the different laws that are trying to be passed that gives any law enforce authority
to ask for documents due to the way they look. People think that this is very disturbing as
well as discriminatory because people are being judged by the way they look. Another
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example of some type of act that might seem discriminatory is the lack of amnesty to
immigrants who live in the United States. “Granting legal residency to undocumented
immigrants rewards people for breaking the law. Ultimately amnesty leads to an increase in
illegal immigration because it encourages others to move to the United States and ignore
the processes by which one earns legal residency status or citizenship” (Byrd, 2001, pg.
141). Several things make people feel unwelcome and mistreated in the country that is
Conclusion
Whether people might feel that they are right towards how immigration is being
acknowledged in this country or whether they might feel that immigration in this country is
seriously a problem based on discrimination, these problems much likely will never have
any chance to be resolved. People might never see that the governments of the U.S
sometimes will so things that benefit people who come to the country, whether they come
legally or illegally. The opportunity that the U.S gives immigrants to become part of the
country that will bring them the opportunity to grow and to develop a better life for them
and their love ones. However, people sometimes feel disturbed due that they come to get a
better life and discrimination and mistreatments take place were they taught they would
have a fresh start. Sometimes even these mistreatments have led to the death of several
innocent people who are trying to make a change in this country. Brutality is sometimes the
reason of why people might feel very intrigued and they might feel the discrimination that
these people talk about. However, in regarding of the consequences or the mistreatments
that they might get when they arrive here, the growth of immigrant population has
increased rapidly as years have gone by. Different points of views have been made and
addressed and the misunderstanding of several topics will never give a solutions that will
References
OnlineWeb Survey.
Commons, John R. (1967). Races and Immigrants in America. New York: Augustus M.
Kelly Publishers
Elbel, Fred. (2010). Immigration to the U.S.: 1820-2010. Retrieved March 14, 2011 from
http://www.susps.org/overview/numbers.html
Feere, Jon et al. (2008). Nationality of OCSArrests, 2005-2007. Retrieved March 14, 2011
from http://www.cis.org/immigrantgangs
Hoefer Michael, Rytina Nancy, Baker C. Bryan. (2010 January). Estimates of the
http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/statistics/publications/ois_ill_pe_2009.pdf
Long, Robert E. (1992). Immigration to the United States. New York: The H.W. Wilson
Company
Swain, Carol M. (2007). Debating Immigration. New York: Cambridge University Press
Press.
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