As the rate of immigration is recorded to increase rapidly over the decades, xenophobia as well is growing among the nations. In particular, United States have been in the forefront in this act of Xenophobia recent research indicating how president Trump views the Mexican immigrants as criminals and rapists. Additionally, he believes that foreigners are taking the jobs that should preferably be controlled by the United States residents.
Xenophobia is a political term that is well known as the foreign culture opposition mainly attributable to fear of people that other people's rights are destabilizing their rights to benefit from the government (Lirola 10). It is as a result of immigration which is the act of living in a foreigner country entirely of which they do not possess the citizenship of that particular country. In United States immigration has provoked some discussions where they believe that foreigners are taking their jobs. Since 1960, United States has been leading as a destination of the world's population and significantly contributed to ethnocentrism a feeling of being superior to others hence divisions in societies and different ethnicities.
Over the years, the United States has been the center of everything as far as immigration is concerned deducing that immigration is a valuable resource as well as a significant challenge. Trying to understand ethnocentrism in the United States one has to focus on who, what, when, where, why and how merely the classic journalistic style. Ethnocentric opinions, therefore, are rated according to persons ethnocentric thoughts affecting both intra-cultural communications and intercultural communications (Lirola 17). The level of ethnocentrism, thus, determines how we view other societies. People have been experiencing ethnocentrism every day as research shows that it boosts effectiveness, loyalty, and cooperation among groups. Understanding the intercultural relations will help review ethnocentrism and attitude towards immigration. It is from the increased number of immigrants worldwide that has called for this.
Since the first data collection on the number of 2.2 million immigrants to the U.S in 1850, the number fluctuated until 1924 due to the imposition of restrictive immigration Law and World War II. Up to 1970, there was a steady decline in the name of new arrivals which proliferated from then. By 2000, the number of immigrants was reported to be around 50 million people in the United States (Peter 7). The number grew significantly over the years and in 5 years until 2008 the number summed to over six million people who had made the U.S as their permanent resident from foreign countries. The number of immigrants was around 1/6 of the total population in the U.S in 2009. In 2016; immigrants who resided in the United States were more than 43.7 million which is 13.5% of the total population in the United States. Recent research indicates that the number has increased to 27% of the U.S population which is approximately 86.4 million people. A 7 % increase was reported in 2016 for the number of foreign-born individuals which was published to be 1.49 million compared to 1.38 million people in 2015 (Peter 13). Statistics record that India recorded the highest number of immigrants to the United States around 175,100 people making their habitation there in 2016. Following the list were 160,200 people from China, 150,400 from Mexico, from Cuba 54,700, 46.600 from the Philippines and a significant number from the blacks (Peter 17). However, Mexico has been leading in the name of immigrants in the United States over the years. To understand and categorize different cultures accurately, it calls for caution on the ethnocentric notions on how to treat other civilizations. There are always differences in functionality based on the societies or location.
Push and pull factors of immigration
Immigration cases are attributed to pull or push elements. According to Benoit, the push factors are the situations that individuals can't help control that forces them out of their countries such as famine, poverty, lack of education, rise in crime and search for employment opportunities (71). On the other hand, elements that attract an individual or group of people to come to a country are the pull factors. Over the years, these factors have been noticeable especially in the United States. Looking in-depth of some of the push factors; unemployment, for instance, many people move from their countries to find places where they can get better employment opportunities. The United States has been reported to be the leading camping site of many job seekers whereby they leave their home countries believing to find greener pastures in the United States (Peter 1). However, since the start of the Great Recession, the immigration flows have changed due to the weak labor market. In Mexico, as a result of extreme poverty in the last decades; their migration to the United States has been increasing rapidly. In the 19th century, as a result of large scale starvation across Ireland, many Irish people left Ireland this attributed to the Potato Famine. When the push factors are dominant, they will lead to cases of refugees
On the pull factors; countries such as Russian Jews migrated to the United States in the 20th century to escape persecution from their mother country. Reports also show that the United States is perceived to have many employment opportunities. Therefore, many people have been found to move into it. Recently the United States has offered a platform where the Mexicans can earn money and at the same time send back to their families in Mexico. Finding safer communities and rejoining with families is another crucial factor that pulls Mexicans to the United States. The dominance of the push factors results to economic immigrants.
Set policies have been at the forefront to reduce the number of immigrants, especially in the United States. During the World War II, the harsh migration law prevented other migrations where as a result of isolation feeling, they were sent back across Atlantic and Pacific in late 1930s. In 1947, President Harry Truman made a report concerning the refugees that were fleeing from Europe by urging the Congress to fix its eyes on the thousands of suffering refugees. The creation of the Refugee Relief Act in 1953 gave home and rest to some of the refugees in the United States. However, a significant number were still sent away. Immigration and Nationality Act Amendments in 1967, turned into a groundbreaking offering 23 million people reside in U.S (Lirola 53). However, only 10 million of these people were considered to have come through reasonable means and the rest were recognized as refugees.in 1986, an Immigration Reform Act was passed that granted place for people who had stayed there four more than four years. Nonetheless, the bill emphasized that it was a crime to hire illegal immigrants and had controls that discouraged illegal migrations. In 2012, a harsh policy of self-deportation was proposed by Mitt Romney the idea being to make immigrants leave by making their life's miserable.
Currently, policies highlights that to become a resident of the United States, you should be five years old since the granting of the legal permanent alien status, an attachment of U.S constitution, ability to understand the English language and three months in the place of receiving citizenship. Since the take of power by Donald Trump, others policies concerning immigration have been put in place. Families arriving at the border will be separated, and the already residing undocumented parents who sent for their children there will be a crackdown. On the same note, crossing the border illegally will be subjected as a criminal offense bound to prosecution (Lirola 18). The proposed policies of the ban of Muslims from visiting the United States, a Southern Border wall creation and less welcoming to immigrants were much harsher than any other. Among other things, the following have been implemented into policies. The number of refugees accepted currently at the United States is half the 45,000 that was approved when the refugee program began in 1980. Additionally, they have forced people who have illegally lived in the United States even for decades to return to their birthplace countries especially from Sudan, Nicaragua, Haiti, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nepal (Peter 3).
Conclusion
The harsh treatment at the migration border in the United States aims at regulating immigration in the States, through restricting flows, legal and unauthorized migrations adding up to change in the mission statement that will refer not the United States as a state of immigrants.
Works Cited
Peter. Immigration. Children's P, 2012.
Lirola, María M. Discourses on Immigration in Times of Economic Crisis: A Critical Perspective. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2013.
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