The New York Times And The Next Immigration Challenge

Immigration has always been an issue in the United States, which is often portrayed as harmful and as major threat to American culture. As a result, various anti immigration policies have been aimed against immigrants in order to prevent and preserve the miscegenation of American culture, such as English only policies. Among the largest minority groups in the U.S, are Latinos who currently compose of 15% of the U.S population (Delgado and Stefancic 3). Unfortunately, Latinos have been accused of taking American benefits, jobs, and have wrongfully been depicted as a result of not assimilating to American culture. Latinos are often accused of resisting assimilation, but what has failed to be acknowledged is that there are obstacles set in

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.

America, a land that prides itself on being “the great melting pot”, and “the land of opportunity”, oftentimes exemplifies everything but that. Over the years, a vast majority of immigrants have migrated to America and assimilated themselves to American culture. In Moustafa Bayoumi’s novel, “Rasha”, he describes the turmoil some families face when trying to immigrate into America. In the novel, Rasha was arrested, thrown in jail and detained for three months just because she was a Muslim. While immigration is portrayed as a way to a “better life”, the truth is that families just like Rasha’s still encounter discrimination that challenges American ideals such as freedom of religion and equality.

Immigrants are never fully welcome in a new place because people form small “in-groups” and ignore those in the “out-groups” in most cases. Smith starts this essay with a brief story about a fourth grader, Rodrigo Guzman and his family being deported back to Mexico, focusing on the reaction from his classmates when

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).

In the essay “Our Fear of Immigrants,” Jeremy Adam Smith writes about why it is we fear immigrants. Smith divides his essay with numerous examples and comparisons, through biological, sociological and psychological explanations. As unorthodox as it sounds, our hesitation towards outsiders can be explained in various ways we never believed imaginable; in Smith’s investigation, he unveils the bewildering reality about the contrasts between ourselves, as adults, and children when it comes to immigration. He begins with a distressful story of a classroom of 4th graders from Berkeley, California, who missed their classmate named Rodrigo when he didn’t return from Christmas break, due to his parents’ expired visa. Rodrigo’s classmates thought that it was so unfair, that they complained to their congressmen. Smith then contrasts this response of empathetic children to unsympathetic adults from Berkeley, California, who protested against immigrants who seek shelter in the U.S for the families. Smith pondered the questions: “Why do immigrants provoke such strong feelings of both empathy and revulsion, a polarization that pits fourth graders in Berkeley against the citizens of Murrieta?” and “What characteristics and qualities do Rodrigo’s classmates possess

The topic of Mexican immigration recently made headlines again when republican presidential candidate Donald Trump released a 3 page statement detailing his blunt beliefs on Mexican immigrants. Trump’s blunt statements against Mexican immigration have led many to join the discussion of Mexican immigration. The views on the issue vary, some believe that Mexicans are the route to all of America’s unemployment trouble while others believe Mexican’s simply take jobs American’s refuse to take. Either way, there are nearly twenty four million people of Mexican decent living in the United States that have started their own communities which contribute to American society. Many American’s however, refuse to accept this and are still prosecuting Mexican’s. This can be seen in the media, public schools, and in the work place.

Writer Jeremy Adam Smith, starts his argument by telling a story about a little boy named Rodrigo Guzman. Rodrigo’s teacher noticed that he has been absent for a few days and found out later, that him and his family have been deported back to Mexico. Rodrigo’s teacher had told the fourth-grade class what happened to Rodrigo and his family. The kids in his class were shocked to hear that their friend had been deported and wanted to do something about it. In Jeremy Adam Smith “Our Fear of Immigrants”, many Americans fear immigrants based on what they learn from their in-groups. He believes that some people fear immigrants, find them a threat and how people try to tame xenophobe.

People are always uneasy with what they don’t know, and immigrants carry with them different cultures, languages, and the unknown. During the late 1900s and early 2000s, America was dealing with a large influx of immigrants. In America from 1880 to 1925, immigrants were viewed through a lens of racial prejudice and seen as either sources of work or of crime.

One of the most defining traits for the United States of America is that the nation is one made up of immigrants, it is a basic building block that can not be overlooked, nor should it. That being said, it is important to countless citizens to be open when it comes to immigration, while keeping the country hospitable to its citizens for generations to come. However, this attitude to immigration is a fairly recent phenomenon in American history, especially in regards to immigrants coming in from non-Western European countries. With the introduction of the Immigration Act of 1965 and the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) came about the changes to immigration policy that would forever change the face of the nation and create the diversity that has become a point of pride. The sentiment is not felt nationwide, however, as the immigration patterns brought about with these two acts has brought hostility as well, especially from those who feel that immigration is a threat to the country as a whole, specifically illegal immigration. Immigration, and its illegal counterpart, is an issue that defines this period in American history, and while it did not necessary start off targeting Mexican and Latino immigrants, it has very much been immortalized within the communities and become the face of immigrants to the nation as a whole.

The United States of America has the largest foreign-born population in the world. With nearly thirteen percent of the total population being foreign-born, one may find it hard to imagine an immigrant-free country (U.S. Bureau of the Census). Immigration has been an integral part of the United States’ overall success and the country’s economy since it was established and without it, would have never been founded at all. Although there are some negative issues associated with immigration and many native-born Americans believe to be more of a problem than a solution, overall it actually has a positive effect. Immigrants in America, among other things, fill jobs where native-born Americans may not want to work or cannot work, they contribute

In “The Right Road to America?,” Amy Chua informs her audience about the possibility of America’s national identity becoming lost due to the influence of immigrants. Chua’s defines her thesis by stating “Around the world, nations face violence and instability as a result of their increasing pluralism and diversity,” (336). The key points of the text includes Chua explaining why America and other nations could lose their core identities, how the United States could become unglued from its true meaning, and how citizens can fix this imminent problem. The information in this text is significant, especially in today’s society. With all of the issues about immigration coinciding with our current president, this text relates to current subjects

I was born 23 years ago in the Dominican Republic, an island located in the Greater Antilles. There is a saying from my country that goes "Mi tiera mi corazon" meaning my country my love, which explain exactly how I felt about the Dominican Republic. To me the Island of Santo Domingo is the greatest in the World; there are beautiful people, gorgeous weather and all the mangoes I could have eaten. Then one day my parents gave me the bad news, they were moving to this place called New York, they told my brother and me that they would send for us later. That was 12 years ago and now here I am living in New York, the greatest city in the world, next to my Santo Domingo. When I was younger New York seemed as big as

Immigration, since its beginning, has caused a spur in stances as to whether or not it has really benefited the United States. Those who were arrive first to the country are often the ones to judge incoming waves of new immigrants, and question everything about them. Knowledge of someone’s past, education, circumstances, or anything possibly influential to reason of the departure of the country origin is irrelevant. For some, if an individual arrived to the American shores illegally through any means necessary, for a better opportunity or other, does not deserve to be here. The term ‘illegal alien’ is synonymous with the word ‘immigrant’ because foreigners who live in this country do not belong, and are terrorizing the way of life here. The stereotypes that have risen about immigrants have escalated, yet many only see the stereotype and refuse to see it as actual issues faced by living breathing humans who struggle daily to survive. Not only do stereotypes underestimate immigrants, but also the stress and the fact that there are people who live in constant fear that everything done at this point was futile. Andreu, author of The Secret Side of Empty challenges immigration stereotypes by putting a face to each belief to display the harsh reality of the struggles faced by millions today.

Many immigrants come to the United States in search of the opportunity to have a better life. They have the willingness to work, seek out educational opportunities and to be productive members and contributors to society. Rarely do you find those instances where immigrants come here to take, destroy all that our nation has built and established. When you hear the current administration in the media use fear, as part of cultural destructiveness to destroy how our society view other cultures and diminish the worth of individuals within their own Netting, Kettner, McMurtry, Thomas, (pg. 64, 2012). By doing that the narrative around immigrants’ changes, people start to believe that immigrants are here committing crimes and a higher rate in comparison to Americans that are born here; For instance, during one of Donald’s Trump 2016 campaign speeches he said “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best,” They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re