The United States has always been branded as a land of opportunities and this has consequently attracted many immigrants to the country. Immigrants arrive in the U.S without expecting any kind of discrimination but they often end up in disappointment. Immigrants face different types of discrimination in the course of their stay in the U.S that make their assimilation into the American society very difficult.
Discrimination against immigrants has been in existence from the colonial era and is still prevalent in the U.S (Lentin, 2011). The most common types of discrimination that the immigrants in the U.S encounter are language-based discrimination and racial discrimination.
The major immigrant groups that are in most cases exposed to acts of discrimination include Italian Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, Arab Americans and the Hispanics (Lentin, 2011). Despite the efforts that have been put in place by the American government towards stopping discrimination, the most recent immigrants still complain of various forms of discrimination. This paper will highlight the different forms of discrimination that confront immigrants in the U.S.
The immigrants in the United States have a problem in finding employment because of their race and language (Lentin, 2011). The majority of companies in the U.S prefer hiring Native Americans compared to immigrants even in a situation where an immigrant is more qualified for a particular job than a native applicant. Statistics indicate that immigrants are the worst paid employees and yet they do the hardest jobs in America (Lentin, 2011).
This trend has been there since 1800s and there are no signs of improvement. Most government policies favor Native Americans and this has been a great challenge for the ethnic minorities living in the U.S. The fear of losing their jobs to immigrants makes the Native Americans angry and full of resentment towards immigrants. The refusal by some immigrants to learn the local language makes the native people think that immigrants do not respect the established norms.
The negative stereotypes associated with certain ethnic groups increase the chances of discrimination in the American society (Lentin, 2011). It is very easy to fuel antagonism if much focus is put on the negative stereotypes that are associated with a particular minority group. Cases of bias-motivated crime are on the increase with immigrants being the main targets of this type of crimes.
The Latinos who live in California have over time been attacked as a result of the anti-immigrant sentiments in the U.S. Native Americans are inclined to the view that most of their economic and social problems have been generated by the influx of immigrants into their country. The recent increase in terror attacks has not made things better for Americans of the Arabic descent (Lentin, 2011). The Arabs in the U.S have become victims of hate crimes just because they have the same national background with the perceived terrorists.
Language-based discrimination has become very prevalent in the U.S and the immigrants who refuse the idea of learning the native language face unfair treatment (Lentin, 2011). Immigrant groups encounter discrimination at their places of work where employers come up with polices that favor native English speakers.
Employers have always defended their actions by claiming that the policies are only meant to enhance efficiency and safety but this is not the case. Immigrant groups with high immigration rates are the most targeted because the natives fear that they might overturn their dominance (Lentin, 2011). The need to retain the hegemonic position of Native Americans is what motivates employers as they formulate policies that discriminate against immigrants.
An example of this type of discrimination happened in one healthcare organization where two Hispanic employees were dismissed for speaking Spanish at their place of work. According to the supervisor, the two employees went against the company policy (Lentin, 2011). The employees in this organization are not allowed to speak any other language at their place of work apart from English.
Language prejudices are a sign of hatred and mistrust and many immigrants suffer because of these injustices (Lentin, 2011). Communication problems should be the basis for language discrimination but this is not the case in the U.S. There are some schools in the U.S that do not allow the admission of immigrant students (Lentin, 2011).
There are many cases of open discrimination against immigrants but the authorities in America are not concerned about the suffering that immigrants go through. There have been some efforts towards accommodating the linguistic needs of immigrants but many of them still face language-based discrimination.
In conclusion, discrimination against immigrants is not a new thing in the U.S and is often motivated by the need for Native Americans to maintain their hegemony. Immigrant groups still encounter discrimination because of their linguistic and racial affiliation. Immigrants can not attend certain institutions or work in certain companies because of their identity (Lentin, 2011).
The American government and companies formulate policies that favor native citizens and pay little attention to the concerns of immigrants. The American policies and ideologies should accommodate and tolerate the needs of immigrants as a way of protecting immigrants against discrimination (Lentin, 2011). Legal immigrants should be treated fairly without any kind of discrimination because they play the same role as the native citizens when it comes to nation building.
Reference
Lentin, A. (2011). Racism and ethnic discrimination. New York, NY: The Rosen Publishing Group.