Migrations can be discussed as the most remarkable characteristics of the modern world which development is influenced by the globalization processes.
The USA is the classic country of immigration where immigrants form one of the significant categories of the country’s population. However, the question of the role of immigrants in the U.S. social and economic life is still controversial. A lot of people are inclined to discuss the tendencies of increasing the number of immigrants, especially illegal immigrants, as the negative factor for the U.S. progress.
These viewpoints are predominately based on the social biases which are connected with the situation of illegal immigration. Nevertheless, the negative public opinion toward immigrants in relation to the economic and social issues cannot be justified because the controlled processes of immigration in the USA have many advantages for the country’s economic and social development when the negative vision of the phenomenon can be explained by the prejudice developed in the society.
Migrations are the processes of the people’s movement from some territories to the other lands, and these movements depend on the question of satisfying the people’s needs at this or that territory. Many historical processes are based on migrations, and it is unreasonable to reject the fact of the migrations’ impact on the development of the receiving territory. The first settlers at the territories of the modern USA were immigrants.
Today, the processes of immigration do not stop because the developed country’s economy and high life standards attract more immigrants every year. This process has many advantages which are studied in the field of the economics of immigration. Thus, immigration is the source of the high-skilled persons and professionals who are necessary for the development of the country’s science and technology sphere and industry. Moreover, many economic sectors are based on the cheap labor of workers who are immigrants.
The main problem of this process is in the fact of employers’ hiring illegal immigrants with paying them comparably lower wages. However, this question does not influence Americans directly, and it is important to be examined from the point of the immigration policy. The Americans’ negative reaction to the situation is often based on the lack of understanding the cultural differences between them and immigrants.
It is important to note that millions of immigrants live in the USA permanently, have working visas or undocumented. Many immigrants from Latin America and Asia, and they can affect the cultural diversity of the society significantly. That is why, a lot of negative reactions to immigrants in the USA are provoked by cultural differences, misunderstandings, and biases. In spite of the fact immigrants developed the notion of freedom in the USA, today a lot of Americans are not free from biases toward immigrants who live and work nearby.
The phenomenon of immigration does not threaten the U.S. economy till it is based on strict immigration laws and control with paying attention to the forced external immigration control and to those employers who are inclined to hire illegal immigrants.
The public’s negative vision of immigration is not supported by the evidences that this process has a lot of disadvantages for the progress of the U.S. economy or social and cultural life. Furthermore, the researchers determine more benefits for the development of the U.S. segmented market and consumer economy.