Introduction
New York may be regarded as the United States’ quintessential immigrant city. Throughout its history, New York has been the most significant passage for new arrivals, and it currently continues to be a leading immigrant-receiving center. It may be noted that the most outstanding symbols of American immigration – Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty – are situated in New York’s harbor (Foner et al. 29).
This essay addresses the immigration history of New York City through the examination of the general history of American immigration, the city’s background, and its contemporary state from the perspective of newcomers. During the research of several scholars’ works, it was discovered that New York City may be characterized by cultural and ethnic diversity from its foundation until the present day. The city’s political, social, cultural, and economic sectors are significantly influenced by immigration, however, globalization and neoliberal policies influence the immigrants’ working class as well. Nevertheless, in general, the immigration policy of New York City corresponds with the position of the United States as an immigrant-receiving country.
General Immigration Policy of the United States
All countries in the world have a different attitudes to immigration. The United States of America, Australia, and Canada are defined as settler nations (Hollifield et al. 9). They regard immigration as the “part of the founding ideal or myth” (Hollifield et al. 9).
However, these countries, similar to other immigrant-receiving countries, inevitably pay careful attention to main issues such as the number of foreigners, their countries of arrival, and socioeconomic statuses. In general, “nations of immigrants” are societies that were founded, built, and developed by immigrants in the present day (Hollifield et al. 10). That is why, for these countries that welcome a substantial number of foreigners annually, immigration is determined as a fundamental element of historical consciousness, founding ideal, and national identity.
However, the ideals of immigrant-receiving countries do not imply their complete openness throughout history. In the contemporary western world, immigration is frequently claimed to be the source of political, economic, and social tension and conflicts (Hollifield et al. 10). For instance, during the last decades, the US government has been obliged to adopt restrictive measures for immigrants to limit their rights and “indulge anti-immigrant public opinion” (Hollifield et al. 10). However, the United States of America is the only immigrant-welcoming country that has the most significant gap between the defined goals concerning immigration control and the actual results of conducted policy.
Historically, the United States has both high immigration levels and the substantial growth of illegal immigration. In recent years, the government exerts every effort to control the Mexican border and reduce the flow of unauthorized migrants through border enforcement operations, family separations, and deportation (Hollifield et al. 10). However, these measures appear to be ineffective as illegal migrants have already formed large settled populations. They are currently employed as low-waged and agricultural workers. These current results of such an ineffective immigration policy force various scholars to have a doubt concerning the genuine goal of the governmental forces’ activities (Hollifield et al. 10).
Although immigration control may be performed through the “enforcement of immigration laws in the workplace,” and this measure has great potential, employer sanctions remain highly inefficient due to a large number of the immigrants’ fraudulent documents and a lack of inspectors (Hollifield et al. 10). That is why it is ambiguous whether the United States actually makes efforts to reduce illegal immigration or it primarily gratifies public opinion through the illusion of control under unauthorized migrants.
Illegal immigrants that currently settle in the country provoke political debates as these people frequently experience difficulties with assimilation into American society and negatively influence the recruitment of native-born workers. In recent years, public opinion concerning immigration did not change fundamentally, and a prevalent number of people continue to believe that immigrants overextend public services, depress wages, and occupy positions allocated for American citizens (Hollifield et al. 10). Nevertheless, these assumptions do not have any sustainable and empirical confirmation.
Political debates concerning immigration are traditionally held between integrationists, who support the necessity of the migrants’ assimilation, and pluralists who encourage the existence of various cultures within the American society. In principle, multicultural tolerance subsequently replaced previous attempts “to incorporate immigrants through cultural assimilation,” and it currently has a positive effect on the immigrants’ socioeconomic mobility in the context of cultural preservation (Hollifield et al. 10).
The impact of multicultural tolerance and the positive attitude towards immigrants from all over the world may be observed through the example of New York City, where the support of cultural identities encourages the economic, political, and social development of the city. Immigrants are currently provided with social services, benefits, and civil rights, depending on their legal status.
In general, the immigration policy of the United States has a winding pattern with both expansionary and restrictionist periods of control that substantively depend on current events. For instance, the United States indisputably entered the phase of restrictive immigration control not only for New York City but the whole country after the 9/11 terrorist attacks (Hollifield et al. 11). Tightened border monitoring, increased control over foreign students and workers, and the practice of religious and ethnic profiling for the identification of potential terrorists became common and acceptable.
Nevertheless, the government’s coordinated efforts to reduce the influx of migrants have not been detected. The United States demonstrates both the interrelation between market development and immigration and the commitment to the ideology of an immigrant-receiving country.
New York City’s Background
New York City is justifiably regarded as the most affluent city of the United States, the American cultural center, national leader in entertainment and fashion, and the financial capital of the whole world. The history of New York City started in the 16th century when Manhattan Island was noticed by European explorers for the first time. In 1624, the Dutch Trade Company arrived in America and bought the island from local Indian people to found the colony under the name of New Amsterdam (Reitano 10).
The city became a significant trading post of the Dutch West India Company as its location “along the coast with river access to inland resources” offered basically limitless economic potential (Reitano 11). New Amsterdam’s further development as an essential commercial center was provided by trading furs with local Indians.
However, later, the expansion rates of the colony began to delay. That is why the economic growth of New Amsterdam was stimulated by substantive land grants to affluent people on the condition that they would sponsor no less than 50 new settlers (Reitano 11). The necessity to attract people from all over the world formed a uniquely polyglot and multicultural society with 18 different languages, competitive individualism, and emphasized flexibility that substantially contrasted with other religious or hierarchically structured colonies (Reitano 11). New Amsterdam’s specific ideals of community derived from competitiveness and diversity in all spheres of life.
New Amsterdam was later renamed New York by the British, who captured the city in 1664. During the War of Independence, New York City played a highly significant role as the British headquarter and became the first capital of the United States of America after it in 1783 (Reitano 10). The revolutionary and colonial periods in the history of the city established its patterns that gave the current distinctive characteristics to this metropolis – cultural and national diversity, competitiveness, individualization, democracy, and dynamism.
Immigration Policy of New York
Throughout the city’s history, immigration was the fundamental element of New York’s identity, population, and institutions. Since its foundation in the 17th century by the Dutch as a trading outpost, New York City has always been an attractive location for a large number of immigrants from all over the world. According to scholars, later, in the middle of the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century, the immigrant inflow was dominated by the Irish, Germans, Jews, and Italians (Foner et al. 29).
Since the 1960s, the city has witnessed “the greatest wave in its immigration history” that is characterized by the prevalent number of immigrants from Asia, the Caribbean, and Latin America (Foner et al. 30). It goes without saying that all influxes of migrants substantially influenced social, cultural, political, and economic aspects of the city’s life.
Immigration remade the mainstream of New York City by affecting its institutions and cultural patterns. Every new wave of immigration played a highly essential role in the formation of “a relatively welcoming context of reception” for modern immigrants as the city has always been a long-established destination for them (Foner et al. 30). Throughout the 20th century, around 20% of New York’s population was born abroad, and by 2010, this number increased up to 37% (Foner et al. 31).
At the present day, immigrants and their children who were born In the United States constitute approximately 55% of the city’s population (Foner et al. 31). Until the 1960s, New York City was consistently inflated by Jewish, Italian, Russian Jewish, African Americans that arrived from the South of the country after World War I, and Puerto Ricans (Foner et al. 31). In the immigration history of New York, the beginning of the 21st century was characterized by foreigners from almost all countries in the world, especially from Mexico, China, Dominican Republic, Asia, Caribbean, African, European, and Latin American countries.
There are several factors that make New York City a more welcoming location for today’s immigrants in comparison with other American cities. First of all, it is multiculturalism and the distinguishable ethnic diversity of the city’s contemporary foreign-born population as there is a great number of various ethnoracial groups in New York (Foner et al. 33). Basically, any foreigner may be confident that he or she will find the members of the same community there. Moreover, the city has a well-developed educational system and a range of institutions and labor unions for immigrants that encourage them to participate in its economic, political, and social life. In addition, New York City executive board offers newcomers and their children various programs and services for comfortable adaptation.
Impact of Globalization on Immigration in New York
As the issue of immigration is currently raised in political debates again, it is obvious that substantial inflows of foreign immigrants inevitably influence the country’s economics. In her book Making A Global Immigrant Neighborhood: Brooklyn’s Sunset Park, Tarry Hum focuses on the Sunset Park neighborhood in Brooklyn from the position of urbanologist to examine how immigration has currently reshaped New York (1).
According to the author, globalization immeasurably influenced the city’s immigrant communities in a negative way (Hum 4). In the 1950s, related-port businesses and manufacturing remained dominant in the labor market of New York. A prevalent number of White-European immigrants were occupied in printing, garment trades, longshoring, and food production; they earned respectable wages and got benefits that encouraged the decrease of postwar inequality.
However, the 1960s were characterized by global competition, the industrial shift to services, and the offering of jobs to countries with low labor costs. The postwar influx of immigration from Latin America coincided with the decline of manufacturing jobs, and without education and language skills, newcomers were left with low-wage service job options. Neoliberal policies and globalization had a highly negative impact on Sunset Park as well.
A working-class industrial neighborhood prevalently inhabited by white immigrants and boosted by new opportunities and businesses turned into a working-poor community regardless of substantive bank and capital investments. The author strongly criticizes the impact of neoliberal policies and globalization on the job market as de-unionization and deregulation in this sector leads to the increase of inequality between citizens and immigrants who are forced to accept benefit-free, underpaid, and unsafe jobs.
Conclusion
The United States of America has always been defined as a settler nation that was founded, built, and developed by immigrants and regards immigration as part of its historical consciousness, founding ideal, and national identity. This country welcomes a substantial number of foreigners annually, however, it inevitably pays careful attention to main aspects such as the number of foreigners, their countries of arrival, and socioeconomic statuses. In general, the immigration policy of the United States has a winding pattern with both expansionary and restrictionist periods of control that substantively depend on current events.
The United States of America is the only immigrant-welcoming country that has the most significant gap between the defined goals concerning immigration control and the actual ineffective results of conducted policy. That is why it is ambiguous whether the United States actually makes efforts to reduce illegal immigration or it primarily gratifies public opinion through the illusion of control under unauthorized migrants.
New York City is justifiably regarded as the most affluent city of the United States, the American cultural center, national leader in entertainment and fashion, and the financial capital of the whole world. Throughout the city’s history, immigration was the fundamental element of New York’s identity, population, and institutions. Since its foundation in the 17th century by the Dutch as a trading outpost, New York City has always been an attractive location for a large number of immigrants from all parts of the world.
Multiculturalism, the distinguishable ethnic diversity, and various programs and services for the immigrants’ comfortable adaptation make New York City a more welcoming location for today’s immigrants in comparison with other American cities. However, the process of globalization and neoliberal policies have a negative impact on the job market as de-unionization and deregulation in this sector lead to the increase of inequality between citizens and immigrants who are forced to accept benefit-free, underpaid, and unsafe jobs.
Works Cited
Foner, Nancy, et al., editors. New York and Amsterdam: Immigration and the New Urban Landscape. New York University Press, 2014.
Hollifield, James F., et al., editors. Controlling Immigration: A Global Perspective. 3rd ed., Stanford University Press, 2014.
Hum, Tarry. Making A Global Immigrant Neighborhood: Brooklyn’s Sunset Park. Temple University Press, 2015.
Reitano, Joanne. The Restless City: A Short history of New York From Colonial Times to the Present. 3rd ed., Routledge, 2018.