Being an immigrant is one of the greatest challenges. Living in a foreign country with its own rules and regulations is not easy. However, it seems that most of the existing immigration issues come right on the heels of another important problem, which is the sense of belonging. Hence, to understand the major problems that immigrants have faced and possibly can encounter in the future, it is necessary to consider the specifics of their culture together with the historical course of events that the settlement of the immigrants were followed by.
Despite the fact that in most cases, immigrants are affected by a number of issues in their native country and receive less than cold welcome in the state where they move to, the success of settling in a certain state depends considerably on a number of factors, both the inner and the outer, i.e., the probable conflicts within the given nation, as well as the economic political and cultural environment of the state of immigration
The first thing that comes to one’s mind when considering the issue of immigration is the history of the people moving to ad different country. As one might have guessed, the premises are usually not quite inspiring – these are usually either the economical or the financial complexities which have been faced in the native land and which will presumably vanish without a trace in a new place.
Hence, the image of a typical immigrant can easily be drawn. Though immigrants might be considered by the residents of the state as the people who came to take the existing job positions and create a number of economic complexities, a fish-out-of-water feeling of a typical immigrant and a burning desire to fit in is quite understandable for an average city dweller.
However, it is necessary to keep in mind that the social awkwardness issue is as much the result of the attitude of the neighbors as it is the result of the actions which an immigrant undertakes. Once the efforts of the latter are focused on winning the affection of the native dwellers and assimilate with the people around, a foreigner is most likely to succeed.
At the given point, the negative and the positive effects of such a phenomenon as a diaspora needs to mentioned. Formed by immigrants to create a substitute for their has-been home, it can either encourage the newly arrived immigrants to cognize the new wonderful world of the foreigners or, quite, on the contrary, to isolate the immigrants from the foreign world, since the latter can lock themselves in the realm of their diaspora.
Once used as the means to join the people of an ethnic minority and help them accommodate to the new environment, it is closely becoming a wall between the realm of the immigrants and the world outside. Hence, a cautious balance between the foreign and the national must be kept to absorb the new knowledge and to keep the national identity intact.
However, it is necessary to keep in mind that acculturation is a double-sided sword. While, as it has been mentioned previously, it is necessary for immigrants to take measures to become a part of their new reality and learn to live in peace with their new neighbors, it is still crucial for the immigrated to retain the remnants of their national culture and identity. Hence, the problem can be solved with the help of a reasonable compromise.
Back to more down-to-earth issues, certain economical problems are to be discussed as well. While legal immigrants have all the rights to live exactly the way they want, create diasporas and feel completely at home in the realm of their new dwelling, there are still certain legal restrictions that are going to out certain obstacles in the way of the immigrated.
Among the painfully obvious political problems that an immigrant is likely to encounter in such countries as the USA, the right to be the citizen of the state is to be mentioned first – or, to be more exact, the complete absence of the given right.
Though one might think that living without citizenship can be not such a bad idea, the given prospect means that an immigrant does not have the right to own property. Therefore, the threat to become homeless in case of bad luck or a mistake is dangerously real. Unfortunately, with the existing legal regulations, there is very little that one can do about it, which calls for a reconsideration of the existing immigrant law.
Finally, the issue of the impact of immigrants on the place which they have chosen to settle in should be discussed. Though being perfect strangers to the people and the culture of the land of immigration and, therefore, presumably having very little to do with the dominant culture, have very little effect on the political situation of the latter.
However, the time has proven the given theory wrong; taking into account the numerous pieces of evidence considering the changes which immigrants made to their new home, one can come to the conclusion that the involvement into the political issues of a certain state is a matter of one’s desire to change something for the better.
The above-mentioned, hoverer, does not mean that immigrants never face political issues in their new places of residence; it goes without saying that, once dealing with the laws and traditions of a completely different country, one is highly likely to come into conflicts with the new standards. However, when one is willing to start anew and introduce some innovations into the society which (s)he is now living in a couple of important new changes, the attempts, if persistent enough, can be finally crowned with success.
Hence, it can be concluded that in most cases, immigrants face certain issues in the state of their immigration, most of which concern the language and the traditions. Because of the power of the dominating culture and language, it is extremely hard to keep the national ones as just as high priority as they used to be in the country of origin. Nevertheless, as it has been shown above, in case the state of immigration is democratic enough, the language issues depend mostly on the desire of the immigrants to keep their traditions intact.
As for the rest of the concerns, it is important to mention that more mundane and down-to-earth issues, such as the rates of unemployment among immigrants, are to be considered. However, it is important to mark that the lack of working initiative, the desire to learn new skills and accept the new lifestyle comes from the conflict between one’s self and the environment, which means that the sense of belonging is the key problem, which, once solved, will trigger the solutions of economical and financial concerns.