Immigrant Voices: New Lives in America Essay

Introduction

Different generations of American immigrants have had a diverse contribution to the nation’s economy and American society in general. Indeed, it can be argued that it is due to the contributions of different immigration generations that America has continued to rise on top of the world in various measures such as economy, military, culture, and democracy. The benefits that have accrued from the continued entry of new immigrants into the country have not just benefited the United States only; other nations in the country have benefited immensely. For instance, immigrants’ countries of origin have historically benefited from the establishment of economic ties to America; other countries in the world have benefited from the goods and services produced by the American immigrants—this has resulted in strengthening America’s global competitiveness.

There unique interrelationship between different immigration generations that has made the country prosperous. First, it can easily be seen that the latest group of immigrants build on the foundations that were established by their precedents, who had also built on foundations created by those who came before them. Secondly, the latest entrants come with their own strengths that are used to strengthen the foundations of the American society, as well as establishing new ways of solidifying America’s place in the world. There, however, exist some differences between new entrants and descendants of previous immigration generations, with the main grievance being that new entrants are could be spoiling for the descendants. But as it happens in American society, these differences get forgotten quickly, which leads to complete integration—until the next group arrives.

This paper intends to investigate how relationships, similarities, and differences in several immigration groups have impacted American society. In the process of performing that investigation, the first section will revisit the immigration policies that America has developed since its inception. This section shall help in the understanding of which cultural groups were allowed to enter into the country, the scope being 1820 to the present. Consequently, investigating each cultural group that entered in certain periods shall make it possible to understand their impact. The second section shall explain several differences in three immigration generations; the third section will explain why the latest (third) is a little district from the other two generations; the fourth section will extrapolate on the contributions of the third generation to the American society; a conclusion revisiting some vital points made in the paper shall consequently follow.

American Immigration Policies, from the 1820s to present

The United States is a nation founded by immigrants and has never forgotten about that legacy, which could be the reason why the country has always welcomed new immigrants. However, the country seems to be reaching the point where it cannot absorb more immigrants, the reason being the strain on social resources and economic disruptions caused by the influx of new residents. To solve that problem, United States has been enacting one immigration law after another.

The very first immigration policy was the 1862 Chinese Exclusion Act (American Federation of Labor, 1902) and was meant to prohibit American registered vessels from transporting Chinese immigrants to the United States. The reason for blocking the influx of Chinese people was to ensure that low-skilled jobs stayed with Americans. Chinese were willing to work for much less, which displaced poor Americans from the labor market, especially on the west coast. Another pretext was that Chinese people were not willing to “conform” to the American lifestyle, speaking English for instance (Kwong, 1998, p. 147). The fact that China was an ally in World War II could have been a factor that led to the repealing of the 1862 Chinese Exclusion Act.

Japanese immigrants were also threatened with legislation. However, Japanese authorities negotiated with the United States through the 1907 Gentleman’s Act, (American Federation of Labor, 1902) which stated that Japan had agreed to refuse passports to Japanese immigrants intending to come and work in the United States. On the other hand, United States was bound to restrain itself from enacting laws that would have affected Japanese immigrants. In 1917, congress passed an Immigration act that resulted in the blocking of most East Asian immigrants from entering the United States. American legislators believed that the law would help in the attempts of keeping anarchists from migrating to America.

Though the Immigration act of 1917 led to a decline of immigrants from eastern Asia, people from other regions of the world kept flocking into the country. To curb the number of new immigrants from each country, the US started a quota system in 1921, (Jones, 1992, p. 264) where a certain number of immigrants were allowed into the country each year. The quota system was improved in 1924, which made it look like a cast system, where Western Europeans favored most, then New Zealanders and Australians, and finally Eastern Europeans. Asians were almost entirely blocked from migrating into the United States by the previously mentioned 1917 legislation. The quarter system was in effect for a long time, throughout the 1920s, 30s, and World War II.

The end of World War II was met by several changes in the American immigration policy. Several legislations were passed that tried to admit Asian and east European immigrants. For instance, a 1946 law authorized the admission of Indian immigrants into the United States, whereas the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act repealed previously passed laws that prevented Asians from entering the country (Jones, 1992, p. 246). Repealed legislation included the 1917 act that had created the Asiatic Barred Zone.

Also, the end of World War II saw America stretch its hospitality to war refugees and those who suffered from persecution. This was done through the Displaced Persons Act of 1948 and the Refugee Act of 1953. Both legislations were meant to accommodate those who suffered from war, racial or political brutality. This piece of legislation has been benefited many people since the end of World War II.

Most of the legislation that occurred after World War II was meant to harmonize the number of immigrants from each country. This meant the repealing of the 1924 act that favored Western European immigrants. For instance, a 1977 law set the quota of immigration from all over the world to 290,000 with a maximum of 20,000 for each country. The 1990 immigration Act increased the number of immigrants allowed each year was increased to 675,000 per year (USCIS, 2007).

The recent huddle in the immigration policy has been how to prevent immigration into the country. The first law to deal with immigration was passed in 1986. Named the Immigration Reform and Control Act, the law allowed immigrants who had stayed in the United States since 1981 to apply for legal status (Jones, 1992, p. 287). The law also banned the hiring of immigrants for any work. This law, however, was not efficient in stopping the number of immigrants entering the country, which led to the enactment of the 1996 immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (USCIS, 2007) that made it easier for authorities to deport immigrants. However, it remains to be seen whether the 1996 law will be effective in deporting the over 10 million immigrants who are in the country illegally. The number of these immigrants is increasing by 500,000 each year (Knickerbocker, 2006, p. 1). The legislator is currently trying to develop an immigration policy that would secure American borders from illegal immigration, encourage potential immigrants, both legal and, to use proper channels, and enable illegal immigrants already in the country to seek legal status.

Though the country has been through many immigration challenges for the past one and a half-century, it is evident that the immigration issue being faced today is completely different and calls for different measures. Previously, legislation was enough to control the flow of immigrants, mainly because they passed through legal channels. Today’s attention is towards immigrants that use illegal means of entry, which requires more than legislation; it calls for more action and mobilization of resources. Should American legislators forget that they are dealing with a different immigration issue, their attempts to come up with a successful immigration policy would be in vain.

Differences between First, Second, and Third Immigration Periods

Reasons for immigrating to America are diverse among the three immigration periods. The ones explained in this section include the most visible and widely seen as best representatives for immigrants that arrived in each period. However, it has to be understood that even immigrants that arrived during the same period had a variety of reasons for their desire to become part of the cherished American society. Differences in these three periods are mostly characterized by the conditions that persisted in immigrants’ country of origin—this also becomes the major similarity between the three groups despite the time difference that spans centuries. Two major differences are discussed below:

Reasons to Immigrate

The initial period of American immigration is the one that took place before the country declared independence from Britain in 1776. Most immigrants were coming to the New World for the purpose of escaping injustices from their countries of origin, primarily England and several other European countries. These people’s sole purpose was to come to the virgin lands, where they could establish societies grounded on individual freedom. Religious freedom was one of their top desires to be in this part of the world (Jones, 1992, p. 21). It has to be remembered that America as a country had not been established then; people were getting lands in the current New England. The second generation was the period between the 1820s to around 1924. Unlike their first-period counterparts, the second-period immigrants were coming into the country to tackle part in the economic boom that was going on in the United States.

This is because the country had established itself as a beacon of hope, freedom, and free enterprise—all of which seemed to have stagnated in the European continent. As a result, America was being seen as a land of opportunities and a place where people can improve their lives given the entrepreneurial conditions that persisted in the country. The first period immigrants (before 1820) were the ones who had set the strong foundations that the second-period immigrants had to come and build their lives. The result: a fast-rising country whose dominance in world trade, democracy, and military power had to be reckoned with. America’s position as the world leader in wide spectrums formed the reason for the third generation immigrants to follow in the footsteps of their first and second-period counterparts. This third-generation has been characterized by immigrants coming to the United States not to establish foundations for a new society (which had been done in the first period), or to build on the foundations to propel America to new levels (which had been done in the second period) but to provide the necessary power to keep what had been established before rolling. The major reason for third-period immigrants to come to America has therefore been to look for opportunities to improve their lives.

Reception

The reception of the entering immigrants into America is another factor that differentiates the three immigration groups. As mentioned earlier in the paper, decedents of immigrants that had arrived before tend to express some attitude towards the new immigrants, which constitutes a feeling that new immigrants come to enjoy the benefits of precious immigrants instead of letting the descendants enjoy what their ancestors labored so hard to establish. Such resistance has however been receding quickly and the new immigrants become part of the American society, but it is awkward to notice that their decedents will express some resistance, too.

The first period of immigration saw little resistance because most of the American lands were inhabited by spatially distributed Native Americans. This made it easy for the immigrants from Europe to come and establish themselves in various areas of the country, especially the New England region. Immigrants who had arrived earlier, together with their descendants expressed little resistance because they understood well what their new counterparts had gone through in the countries they were coming from.

However, the first immigrant generation’s increased penetration into the American hinterland led to instances of hostility during the first immigration group came from the Native Americans who feared the loss of their lands to the new immigrants (Dublin, 1993, p. 11). These hostilities had already been controlled by successive administrations by the time the second wave of immigration got into full swing. However, the absence of Native American hostilities did not mean good times for the second-generation immigrants that arrived in the later years of the 19^th century. Indeed as indicated in the earlier section of the paper, it is in this period that America started developing immigration policies that have since determined who is to enter the country and at what rate.

Some of the policies developed in the second generation immigration were completely discriminative and selective than the ones developed after that period. The current period of immigrants’ hostility is coming from two angles: immigration policies and hostility from descendants of previous periods’ immigrants. The modern-day immigration debate is not complete without an expression of how immigrants are destroying the American way of life, which literally means the benefits of structures developed by ancestors. It is unfortunate to understand that the current hostilities do not seem to go away as fast as the previous ones. This could probably be explained by the huge number and the rate at which immigrants arriving in America. In addition, today’s global economy is widely reversed beyond North America and Europe, which will provide America with a hard time as the country tries to fight immigration through legislative processes.

Why the Third Immigration (1965-) is Distinct from Previous Periods

The third immigration period is distinct from the previous two given the increased globalization of economies that has characterized the 20^th and 21 centuries. This has meant that sources of immigrants have increased than previous—Europe. People are coming from all over the world and have a diverse background than before, meaning that present Americans have to deal with more cultural backgrounds than the ones dealt with before. Some major distinctions of their period from previous ones are discussed below:

Easier to Migrate

Unlike in the previous two migration periods, the current one has the advantage of having their immigration processes taking shorter than they used to be. For instance, the improvement of transport systems, especially the airline industry, has made it possible for people from all over the world to contribute to the present rising immigration into the United States. Previously, the migration journey used to take weeks to get from Europe to America. This made it hard for people that wanted to migrate to the country to consider the option. In addition, people from countries located away from American shores could not even think of emigration because of the barrier caused by the geographical distance. Today these are completely different because that the geographical barrier of thousands of miles can be bleached in just a few hours of the plane ride. As a result, more people from other places in the world can easily come into the country.

Policy Roadblocks

As slightly mentioned in a previous section, the United States introduced immigration policies in the later years of the 19^th century. These policy mechanisms have come to determine who can immigrate into the country and at which rate. Indeed, most, if not all, immigrants who entered the country after 1965 did so because the United States government had a policy that allowed entry. The successive use of these immigration policies has led to the growth of the immigrants class commonly referred to as illegal immigrants. They are called illegal because of using non-government authorized means to enter or stay in the country. Their increasing population is further leading to the enactment of more immigration policies directed toward the group.

Constitute People from Poorest Countries

The current crop of immigrants is mostly from areas that were not represented in the first two periods of immigration. Secondly, most of the immigrants, including those classified as illegal, originated from poor countries, most of which did not exist during America’s first and second immigration waves. This destitution leads to a situation where most of the current crop is coming to America for opportunities to improve their lives and those of the people left behind. Indeed immigrants from poor countries use a significant portion of their United States income for the well-being of the family left behind. This is a little contrary to the previous generations that came to the United States and whole used their income to establish themselves in the country.

Important outcomes for American society of the Third Immigration

Help Avoid Population Decline

Like its fellow developed nations, America is being forced by the catastrophe of the increasing population of senior citizens that need to be supported by the young crop of workers. Some countries in Europe and Asia (especially Japan) that do not share the American advantage of masses of immigrants will soon have problems meeting the needs of an aging population. In the United States, the immigrants tend to caution America against the catastrophe faced by other developed nations. The immigrants have been individuals of child-bearing age tend to prefer to have a minimal number of children (or none) whereas immigrants prefer to bear several kids. Immigrants’ children grow up completely Americanized and thus continue to drive the economy to higher levels, a cycle that has repeated itself since Christopher Columbus discovered the New World.

Improved American Global Competitiveness

The increase of workers in the American economy has resulted to lower wages because of the competition in the market for labor. This means that as more workers flock enter America, a situation arises where there are many workers looking to fill few positions. As the law of demand entails, an increase in the supply of workers without a change in demand obviously leads to a lower price for labor, meaning lower wages. These lower wages help American companies to produce goods at a lower cost than before, which leads to lower prices and thus effectively competes with the goods made in the developing countries in Asia and Eastern Europe.

It can therefore be argued that more workers are America’s counter-attack to the competition posed by India and China among others. This is because the United States is being competed by these counties due to their large pool of labor that translates to lower wages. America can therefore copy these countries by acquiring its own pool of low-skilled workers that will produce goods competitively. This could be turntables because the United States will eventually have a high concentration of both skilled and no-skilled labor force, whereas the competing countries have more unskilled and little skilled labor in key economic sectors.

Lower Production costs

America has slowly been losing its competitive edge because of the increasing cost of production that has been occasioned by rising labor and raw material costs. Other countries, especially those in Asia and Eastern Europe have been increasing their competitiveness through the use of their large and untapped labor force; the countries have also had the advantage to have natural resources that can be harvested at lower cots compared to America. The result: cheap goods and services that have edged America’s own. This factor explains why outsourcing of production services has been so great in those countries at the expense of America.

Increase in Economic Power of the Poor

The increase in the immigrants’ population has increased the consumption of goods and services in the American economy. This has meant more demand for American-made products; it benefits all individuals that take part in the production process. American companies thus end up making more profit, which benefits regular Americans through dividends from these companies; those who supply to the companies benefit from more business. Through consumption, the immigrant population has resulted in the creation of the informal market, which has developed because of the lack of recognition by the formal industry. The emergence of prepaid credit/debit cards and prepaid cell phones are some of the benefits that have accrued from the participation of immigration in the American economy. The informal economy has further benefited American-born people at the lower end of the economic spectrum, who did not have a force to make companies develop systems like prepaid cell phones and debit/credit cards—these features have become commonplace in poor neighborhoods countrywide.

This paper has illustrated that America has experienced three important periods of immigration from other regions of the world. The first stage lasted from the time Christopher Columbus saw the New World until the 1820s, just a few decades after American independence. This period was characterized by the entry of immigrants who were determined to establish a free country, compared to the unjust societies they had left in Europe. As a result of their aspirations, the inaugural immigrants established foundations of a free society that defended individuals’ liberty to the maximum. Indeed, it is the great fruits of those foundations that enticed the second period of immigrants to become part of the American experience. This second phase started in the 1820s until the 1920s, and was characterized by the rising dominance of America at the world stage economically, democratically, and militarily. The success of the second-period immigrants in improving America’s position in the world by building on the foundations created by their first-period counterparts is what is attracting the current (third-period) generation.

References

American Federation of Labor (1902). Reasons for Chinese Exclusion. Web.

Dublin, T. (1993). Immigrant voices: new lives in America. Champaign: University of Illinois Press.

Jones, M. (1992). American Immigration. Chicago: Chicago University Press.

Knickerbocker, B. (May 16, 2006). “Illegal immigrants in the US: How many are there?” Christian Science Monitor, pp 1.

USCIS (2007). Immigration Legal History. Washington DC: United States Center for Immigration Services.