Immigration in the United States
Immigration has become a thorny issue in the contemporary America where the divisive topic was heavily used by politicians for political mileage. While the current state of immigration in the US is precarious, the recorded history of modern immigration in the US dates back to the seventeenth century during the period of the pilgrims. Immigration to the US occurred in waves and in different forms which yielded the present-day culturally rich nation. Modern threats such as terrorism and economic challenges have been at the center of the divisions on whether to deport or assimilate all illegal immigrants into the American society. This discussion of the immigration debate seeks to advance the position that immigration into the US should be controlled and not prohibited, thus ruling out mass deportation of all illegal immigrants but rather a systematic assimilation.
The Pilgrims and the Establishment of the American Colonies
In the beginning of the seventeenth century, the first recorded immigrants were pilgrims who were seeking freedom to practice their faith and avoid religious persecution in Europe. These first 100 immigrants came in the famed Mayflower voyage and landed in the present day Massachusetts and established the Plymouth colony. It is important to note that these pilgrims are known as puritans/separatists and formed the foundation for the establishment of other settlements which resulted into the Massachusetts Bay colony. These Pilgrims were the foundation for the establishment of the American colonies under the kingdom of Great Britain.
Colonial Era and Immigration
The establishment of the colonial era in the Americas formed the catalyst that increased the number of immigrants who arrived into the New World. During the onset of the colonial era in America, a majority of immigrants were from Great Britain and made the Atlantic voyage in search of economic opportunities. Due to high prices that were required for passage into America, a majority of the economic immigrants arrived as indentured servants. Additionally, the convicts in English prisons were also forcefully transferred into America as indentured servants. As the colonies burgeoned, the other form of immigration that was recorded was the slave capture of Africans. It was during the colonization era that there was a large entry of African immigrants into the United States. Majority of these were from the Western Africa and they marked the onset of the famed slave trade that continued from the seventeenth century into the nineteenth century and resulted in the American Civil War.
Immigration Waves and Modern Immigrants
The continued low political and economic conditions in Northern Europe triggered the second wave of European Immigrants from Northern and Western Europe. The potato rot and famine in Ireland and misrepresentation in Germany resulted into massive emigration from those native countries into the US. Tobacco had been found to be a very profitable cash crop and therefore majority of the British immigrants became farmers. Tobacco profitability led to a large number of immigrants into the United States who worked in the farms (Bromwell 153). There was large numbers of servants and employees whose passage into the United States was paid for by their employers. The English colonists were highly educated and more civilized. Among them, there were many tradesmen, craftsmen and skilled farmers. As a matter of fact, the English colonist founded the Harvard University to facilitate the training of their minister. Their population increased rapidly due to lower number of death rates and a high number of birth rates. The rapid increase in the English colonist population was due to the abundance of food and healthy activities they engaged in such as mutual support and common religious activities.
After the early economic wave of European immigrants, the increased industrialization and urbanization in the US attracted immigrants from Central and Southern Europe in areas such as Italy and Asia who came to America in search of better economic opportunities. Additionally, Jews from countries such as Poland immigrated to America to flee from religious persecutions in parts of Europe. While the mentioned wave of immigrants was the last, modern immigrants still come to America in search of economic opportunities, flee religious persecutions, and free conditions of war.
Arguments for Controlled Immigration
1. Economic growth
Majority of the eleven million illegal immigrants in the United States are working and are paying taxes this boost the GDP and hence the Economic growth of the country. Among the illegal immigrants there those who have started their businesses and employed other people and hence contributing positively to the economy of the United States. Mass deportation of the illegal immigrants from the United States would imply a reduction in the total number 'of goods and services that are produced and consumed in the United States.
2. Availability of Labor
There some jobs that the natives are not interested in doing but are gladly taken up by immigrants. This ensures that there is no shortfall in supply of critical labor. This point also demystifies the notion that an increase in the number of immigrants means less jobs for the, natives and hence increased unemployment. (Chassammboulli " Palivos, 16). Immigrants and native born workers are complements rather than competitors. Immigrants take up jobs that are of different skill level as compared to the ones taken up by natives. Even if the immigrants have the same skills as the natives they end up working in different departments due to different specializations.
3. Immigration as a force of innovation and entrepreneurship
Statistics indicate that major innovations and inventions are made by immigrants. More than half the billion dollar companies in US are founded by foreigners who are non-native. Close to Eighty percent of new patents on new innovation and invention involve immigrants from patent producing universities. Furthermore, in the year 2016 all the Nobel peace prizes were won by non-natives. Therefore, deportation of immigrants would deprive the United States the creative and innovative minds which are essential in creating new jobs and solving critical world problems.
4. Immigrants provide the United States a rich and varied culture
The presence of many cultures, races and nationalities within the borders of the United States enhances the cultural appeal of the country and boosts its image as a country that is tolerant to diverse cultures and values. This shapes a global image for the U.S which is essential in aiding the U.S to propagate its interests across the world with much ease.
The universal image of the United States has also increased its reputation and demeanor as a world super power.
The proposed mass deportation of approximately 11,000,000 illegal immigrants by the current U.S president is not a step to the right direction (Handley). The untold economic harm that could result is colossal as the GDP of the country would decline by a massive 2% (Handley). It would also be a geopolitically miscalculated move since many countries across the world have their citizens who are gainfully employed in the United States and send remittances to a tune of billions of dollars. Mass deportation would imply that such remittances would be no longer there especially for the developing countries in Asia and Africa.
Deportation of the illegal immigrants from the United States would also pose logistical and legal challenges due to the large number of immigrants involved. It would be costly and taxing in terms of time and resources for the government to undertake such a move.
Way forward. In light of the challenges that the illegal immigrants pose in terms of security and the numerous advantages that the immigrant bring, a rational and a discrete system of immigrations should be adopted.
Forbes suggests the flagpole route in which the illegal immigrants are sent out of the country and then they are allowed to enter again in the country as lawful and permanent legal citizens through registration. The leaving of the country will enable clearance to be conducted by the police and the immigration department to determine whether one should continue staying in the United States or should be deported (Semotiuk, 2017). The policy would solve the problem of influx of illegal immigrants and at the same time be considerate in the way the country deals with the present illegal immigrants.
Works Cited
Bromwell, J. “History of immigration to the United States, Exhibiting the Number, Sex, Age” Redfield 1856. (2009).
Chassammboulli, A " Palivos, T. “The Impact of immigration on the employment and wages of native workers”. Economics Research Department Bank of Greece. (2013) Retrieved from www.bankofgreece.gr
Accessed on 18th April 2018 at 10.50PM
Handley, P. “Trump Blasts immigration citing high ratio of immigrants among terrorists.”
The Times of Israel. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.timesofisrael.com/trump-blastsimmigration-citing-high-ratio-of-immigrants-among-terrorists/
Accessed on 18th April 2018. 11.00PM
Semotiuk, A. “How Trump Could Handle the Millions of Illegal Immigrants Living in the U.S.” Forbes. (2017). Retrieved from www.forbes.com
Accessed on 18th April 2018 at 10.45PM
