Immigration



__Immigration__ 

By: Alex Umana 

[|Immigration]. Many simply think immigration is arriving through the well known island, [|Ellis Island]. Or maybe even [|Angel Island]. Both Ellis Island and Angel Island are immigration stations where millions have entered the United States. But what Immigration really is, is immigrating, or to come to a country of which one is not a native, usually for permanent residence. The purpose of immigrating to any other country varies on the economic, political, social and any other cultural reasoning’s. It could be due to someone who is in power at the time in that certain country, and or poverty within the nation. For example, The Potato Famish, or also known as [|The Great Famish] in Ireland is what had driven them to enter the United States in such a large amount at once after the [|War of 1812]. They had sought out to see that America was “The Land Of Dreams” and were determined to be a part of such a strong nation. Along with the Irish, came the German. Throughout this point in time, [|Adolf Hitler] was in power and had led the [|Nazi] to destroy the [|Jewish]. Many agreed and disagreed with his very strong views, and this had given Germans another reason to immigrate. Once both the German and the Irish settled, they began starting their lives in complete poverty. They had lived in what was called, and normally still called today, the [|“ghetto”]. Not everyone said it was going to be easy, but for the Irish and German it was extremely hard to be accepted in such a close minded environment at the time. They were treated extremely negatively and Americans responded in the worst way towards any new immigrants. But luckily, after the [|Civil War] had occurred, all new immigrants to the United States had received loyalty rather than being disrespected. Besides the Irish and the Germans, there were many other nationalities that had migrated during the same time. Many include, British, Italians, Spanish, Mexican, and Polish. After the Civil War, they had all served in the Foreign Legion. As more and more immigrants entered the United States, more and more polices emerged and controlled immigration stations. It was clear that America was scared and not ready to handle what other cultures could bring to our nation. Therefore, they had passed laws & policies that prohibited certain ethnicities to enter the country. But after all of the policies and laws that were passed, in the end it had all helped America to become one of the strongest nations. Every different country had brought something new to add on to our culture due to these laws and restrictions. It kept our country safe for as long as possible, and it helped improve every aspect of our culture. New traditions were made, holidays; and of course new music was introduced to the United States. It was such a dramatic change but it has done the country very well. But now we stand strong, still combining cultures of different nations and molding it to what we have now, America, “Land Of The Free”  Although our country has become remarkable, there were many obstacles that we had to obtain to get to where we are now. For example, the laws and policies that kept certain ethnicities out. In 1882 Congress had began prohibiting Chinese immigration and attempted to keep it like that for a while. The reason being was that they wanted to keep immigration to a minimum so there were enough “whites” so it can be strictly a “white” nation. The Chinese were mainly seen as simple laborers. Certain Americans didn’t’ see them as much, while others had disagreed with prohibiting them. Because the South was well known for its sharecropping and its laboring, cotton was a highly used product for the Chinese. It was unfair to them to not be able to experience and take in the privileges that were given to them in the United State that couldn’t be given to them on their own land. Chinese immigrants weren’t the only ones who weren’t allowed in America at the time, but it was 12 years later that [|The Immigration Restriction League] was created in Boston. This League had attempted to stop and or limit the number of northern Europeans. It was very noticeable that America and its leaders were very stubborn and would not budge when it came to “trying something new”. They had been a “threat” to the U.S. culture at the time. Immigrants that had already started living in the United States had to go through many events that involved racism and prejudice. For example, the American war with the Spanish in 1898 had lead anti-Hispanic groups to emerge and cause riots and such. But wasn’t America “Land Of The Free”? If so, why limit the amount of people entering? Why discriminate certain ethnicities? Why? America was such a beautiful dream throughout this time. It was full of opportunities. Jobs, money, healthy lives, everything you could ever need or even imagine, America had it all. This was the main attraction to aliens. It was also known as, “The Land of Gold”. In every part of America, there was something going on where any foreigner could start a life. In California, the [|Gold Rush] was occurring. Therefore, many Chinese and Japanese made their way into Cali and lived in what were called [|Chinatowns], and or slums. In the South, the emeses amount of sharecropping that occurred on a yearly base was remarkable. The trading, the laboring, picking cotton, it was in a way, a profitable environment. In other nations, it was mainly things that had happened within the country. In America, goods were traded from all different parts of the world, from the Caribbean to England. Normally, immigrants come because their economic system in ones country wasn’t advanced enough and they were seeking something bigger, stronger, more technical. Thankfully all the thriving to make a living was a little effortless. In 1892, Ellis Island was thankfully opened and ready to accept any new comers. This is one of the most popular immigration stations and it had welcomed more than 12 million immigrants. But the decade that had endured the most foreigners was 1901-1910 before the 1980’s. During this period of time, millions immigrate from Italy, Austria-Hungry, Russia, and Greece. Since the United States was being bombarded with all these different races, it was hard to employ everyone and for everyone to be able to start wealthy. In the South, many started off as laborers. In the North, they were taught how to fight in a war, and in the West rumor of Gold started, and many spent their lives digging for gold. Everything had slowly started to come together, and our nation grew bigger. The most extraordinary aspect of allowing immigration to occur all around is that without everything that foreigners had brought us, we wouldn’t be the strong nation we are today. Our whole lives are based on culture, and including alien cultures into our own is why we have the certain music we listen to today, the languages we speak, the food we eat, the way we dress. Hispanics, Italians, Europeans, and Asians are the root of America. For example, music, Latin America is a perfect when it comes to music, [|Salsa], [|Merengue], [|Bachata], [|Mambo], [|Reggaeton], are all Hispanic originated to anything you can think of is inspired by Latin America’s culture and traditions. They have been brought to the U.S. and modernized and molded into a nationally well known genre of music. When it comes to different types of foods, Asians are an excellent example. So many various types of food, clothing, style and languages come from this one race. Italians bring their scrumptious, mouth watering, pasta and cheeses. As well as their amazing food, Italy also brings in their religion of [|Catholicism]. Religion is a huge part of our culture as a nation. There are so many different types of Religions that are here in the United States that have been brought by ancestors of all different races. Indian’s have brought [|Buddhism], and Israel with Judaism. Meanwhile Europeans bring their exotic language and high fashion clothing and accessories. As centuries, decades, and years go by, the more added on to our culture, the taller and prouder we have, and will stand. Even though immigration had its issues hundreds of years ago, it still has certain problems even today. One of the biggest problems the United States deals with when it comes to immigration, are illegal residence. Our current president, [|George Bush], has spoken about his views on the topic. On January 4th, 2004 President Bush was at a press conference talking about immigration. “As a nation that values immigration, and depends on immigration, we should have immigration laws that work and make us proud. Yet today we do not. Instead, we see many employers turning to the illegal labor market. We see millions of hard-working men and women condemned to fear and insecurity in a massive, undocumented economy. Illegal entry across our borders makes more difficult the urgent task of securing the homeland. The system is not working. Our nation needs an immigration system that serves the American economy, and reflects the American Dream.” Says Bush at this meeting. Although today we have borders, and authority figures protecting our borders, illegal aliens seem to enter. America has very strict policies and requirements needed in order to legally immigrate. For example, to legally immigrate, there is an Employment-based preference which is a category that allows a certain number of people who have the ability to do a certain type of labor that is extremely popular and very much needed in the nation’s economy. Unfortunately illegal aliens still manage to make their way across the border. But everyone knows that every negative situation has a positive solution. Therefore, many illegal residents take it upon themselves to find themselves a steady job and learn to make a living on their own. As for safety towards terrorists luckily our policies, federal law enforcement, and all authority figures help protect us. Immigration had its rough starts, shaky middle stages, but in the end it has brought us to today. From the earliest immigrants, the Irish, to all the current immigrants today, our culture has re-defined itself into a broader, more powerful, and fast-growing nation we are today. The policies that were in process hundreds of years ago, to the laws passed now, our country is safe and if we continue to enforce these laws, it will stay the breathe taking nation we are today