Learned or Instinctive Trait In “Our fear of Immigrants” by Jeremy Adam smith, the author recalls a story about a young elementary student that got deported during Christmas break. Immigration has always been a controversial topic in this country. Many have different views on why deportation is beneficial and why it is not. In this instance Rodrigo Guzman’s classmates were saddened and confused about why their classmate and dear friend had gotten sent to another country for no apparent reason. It was something these students didn’t understand since it was a subject they knew nothing about, however, the students knew it was not fair to their friend. Smith wanted to dig deeper on what emotions immigrants bring up in people and why was it …show more content…
So why is it that they are threatened by immigrants? Psychologist Susan Fiske explains why, “We care deeply about our in-groups, But the downside is that you’re then excluding people who are not in the in-group” (Fiske,752). According to psychologist Rodolfo Mendoza Delton not sympathizing with immigrants is a basic human trait. He states, “Fear of foreigners might well be the most intractable of all human prejudices because it is so tightly linked to survival and natural selection” (Mendoza-Delton, 752). This meaning that some don’t like immigrants coming to their territory because they are not willing to share their resources with others. As well as the fear of immigrants bringing diseases that their bodies are not used to. The fear of immigrants can be seen as an irrational fear for some, however some people are wired to feel this way because it is their basic human instinct. The reason why Smith questioned the credibility of Xenophobia was because of the way the classmates of Rodrigo reacted to him getting deported. Rodrigo’s classmates sent their friend a video, a valentine, and even had their parents help them write their congressmen as well as speak to the media in order to help get their friend back. Smith stated, “If xenophobia has such a deep evolutionary and psychological roots, what explains Ms. Wagner’s fourth-grade class, which rallied to support their friend Rodrigo after he was sent back to Mexico?” (Smith,754).
The topic of immigrants has been debated for centuries, and has been an even larger topic for discussion since the attack on the two towers in 2001. Many people contemplate whether immigrants are a reason to be scared, not; and if so, then why? If one finds themselves asking this conflicting question, Jeremy Adam Smith’s article, Our Fear of Immigrants, provides an answer. Relying on research from psychologists and sociologists, Smith gives sufficient evidence for why immigrants bring such intense feelings of both hatred and compassion, and recommends a way to increase empathy toward them.
The culture of every ethnic group is beautiful in its own way and worth cherishing. Today, America is known as the great melting pot not for the number of immigrants it has but rather because of the wonderful cultures and traditions the immigrants brought with them. Immigrants do not need to forgo their mother tongue, significant celebrations or customs to become American. However to be socially accepted, they will need to learn English, take part in celebrating national holidays and fulfill their patriotic duties Americans like every other U.S citizens.
America is traditionally a country of immigrants. Very few people today have relatives who were Native Americans, many of them because of religious persecution, and others because of they were just looking to start a new life on the exciting untouched frontier. For instance, in Florida, the first arrivals were European, beginning with the Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon who explored the land in 1513, following French and Spanish settlement during the 16th century. From the past, America was seen as a country of opportunities. People from all over the world have moved here looking for better opportunities. There are a lot of reasons why immigrants should live in this country, but I would like to mention three of them.
Americans may often forget that immigrants are human beings too. A lot of them may not see all the risks that comes with trying to cross the border along with all the issues and problems immigrants face. In Aviva Chomsky’s “How immigration became illegal” she tries to get Americans to understand what it might feel like trying to come to America and really shows it from an immigrant perspective.
Deportation has been around for quite some time, but has only now become a controversial topic due to the high incarceration and deportation rate in the last decade. According to Tanya Maria Golash-Boza, sociology professor at UC Merced, and author of the book Deported Immigrant Policing, Disposable Labor, and Global Capitalism, Obama and his administration deport more than 1000 immigrants a day. In the year 2012 the Obama administration established, “an all-time record high of more than 400,000 deportees” (Golash-Boza). What is more surprising is the fact that in 2012 more individuals were deported then the sum of all the individuals deported before the year 1997 (Golash-Boza). Mass migration of illegal immigrants began with the end of Keynesianism and the beginning of the neoliberalism. The ramifications of Neoliberalism has not only affected the us economy, but U.S. laws that directly influences the well-being of illegal immigrants.
I feel that immigration is one of the biggest issues that face the world in whole. Immigration is an important topic that needs a lot of attention and something that needs to be influenced to seize. It brings so much conflict between governments and individuals, causing disputes amongst them. I often here so much about immigration on the news nowadays. I feel that immigration isn’t a bad thing but when it begins to be illegal is when I feel it becomes the problem. I hear of people coming into America for different reasons such as financial benefits and employment. I think the biggest issue about it is getting those illegal immigrants back across the border. I strongly feel that the illegal immigrants that go to another country to do bad things such
Immigration has been a hot button topic for years, however just recently it has become one of the main sources of discussion for GOP debates and other less formal conversations and interviews. Suggestions on how to deal with it range from mass deportation to a big wall to stopping immigration completely. Yet with all this talk about how it is ‘destroying’ our country and what to do about it, not many people are really talking about about the immigrants themselves. When dealing with issues that pertain humans, no one can take a sociopathic side. This idea is brought up in both the video “Fixing the System” and the poem “Immigrants in Our Own Land”. Both sources bring up the argument that immigrants, including the ones who are here illegally,
Over the last quarter of a decade, illegal immigration and enforcement have dominated mainstream policy making (Meisnner, Kerwin, Chishti & Bergeron, 2013). There has been a lot of public debate too, on whether or not the successive governments of the US have been able to effectively address illegal immigration and its enforcement thereof. However, as Meisnner et al. (2013) state, in the wake of the terror attacks of 2001, a paradigm shift appears to have been established, with the enforcement of illegal immigration taking a de facto stance. As such, as Dreby (2012) intimates, the number of immigrants who have been deported or removed from the US since 2001 has risen from 190, 000 to close to 400, 000. Considering the fact that there are more than 11 million illegal immigrants living in America, deportation on such a large scale without a doubt will result in a continuous chain reaction. One such consequence, as The New York University School of Law (2012) states, is that families are inherently broken apart by the removal of a family member. Additionally, there are other psychological and psychosocial impacts on families that are far-reaching. Because of these and many other compelling factors, this paper argues that the US should work to prevent deportations, rather than enforce them.
When most people think about immigration to the United States, they think of the U.S. as being the “land of opportunity,” where they will be able to make all of their dreams come true. For some people, immigration made their lives richer and more fulfilled. This however, was not always the case. A place that is supposed to be a “Golden Land” (Marcus 116) did not always welcome people with open arms. Even after people became legal citizens of the United States, often times the natural born Americans did not treat the immigrants as equals but rather as outsiders who were beneath them in some way. In some situations, people’s lives were made worse by coming to the “land of opportunity.” Often times people were living no better than they
In consummation America, the land of forgiveness, provided Amir with the basis to reach atonement due to his newfound maturity. Once Amir and Baba arrive in the United States of America, the emotional growth of Amir was unambiguous. From the time in which he mended relationships with the Nguyens after Baba attempted to steal oranges, to the time he accepted Rahim Khan’s request for him to come to Pakistan, Amir’s growth was conspicuous to readers once he began living in the United States of America. U.S. News’ article “Land of the Free … and the Immigrant,” authored by Mortimer B. Zuckerman states “It is a grand tradition in America to welcome foreigners to our shores, especially people with the ambition and the talent to contribute to our future. This has always been a part of the greatness of America, which we celebrated this past Independence Day.” Along these lines, one can deduce the ideology that America accepts immigrants with open arms, eager to incorporate them into the melting pot of America. Further, these arms do not discriminate, as past wrongdoings are absolved. Amir’s life in San Francisco is splendid and he quickly assimilates into the local community and the American way of life. Thus, after enduring the laborious, life threatening, Amir’s maturity had come to fruition, now that he has a platform to display his new character amidst adulthood. Moreover, America served as a blank slate for Amir. On the grounds of Afghanistan, Amir was smothered by guilt.
I have a hard time comprehending the idea that was discussed in International Migration, which is that “New people jeopardize the sense of belonging.” This struck me as a toxic form of nationalism. Why are people so fearful of immigrants? People that are coming
In “In Search of the Chilean Paradise” the Chileans xenophobia stood out. Their xenophobia is just aimed towards immigrants who have indigenous features. The very beginning stood out
Immigrants face challenges caused by social and economic factors. Harsh economic conditions can cause them to adopt deviant behavior such as criminal activities. Social factors such as racism and discrimination provoke violence in immigrants as society refuses to accommodate them. They are as a result alienated from the society and find solace in violence. They are always hunted by the authorities who often put them in rehabilitation and correctional facilities. Mexican immigrants in U.S were prejudiced and exploited in workplaces because of their ethnic backgrounds. They were forced to live in secluded places with poor housing structures for safety purposes. They formed organizations to help fight for their rights which later turned to serious gangs. The gangs engaged in violence which forced the police to harass the immigrants. Many immigrants were sentenced and put in prison.
On his article regarding Xenophobia, Massino Pegliucci takes a scientifically approach describing xenophobia as a condition that will be very difficult to eradicate. He believes that humans have a natural
There is approximately 46.6 million immigrants in the United States. Immigration is considered to be a worldwide issue, but the real problem is xenophobia. Xenophobia is an intense, fearful, or irrational dislike of people from other countries. The United States has a history of discriminating against these minorities. It started as early as 1619 when the first slaves from Africa were brought to America. It has become part of American culture to fear any immigrants and to only trust those from white, European descent. This factor is keeping the United States from achieving its maximum potential. One of the greatest obstacles that prevents the USA from becoming a Utopia is its Xenophobic outlook.