The USA, as an initially immigrant state, has been supporting the welcoming policy towards all immigrants looking for refuge, welfare, or simply a place to live for many centuries. Since the very moment of gaining independence, the United States of America has been an aspired destination for all wanderers who tried to escape from the tight political regime (as in Latin America or the USSR) or wanted to gain a more stable material position in a prosperous country. Thus, it is possible to assume that the country consists of a cosmopolitan community that remembers its diverse non-American roots, welcoming all other immigrants willingly and happily into their territory. The anthem of the American attitude to immigration certifies this by praising the Statue of Liberty in New York symbolizes America greeting all immigrants seeking refuge (Lazarus, p. 256). However, the situation with immigration has greatly changed within past decades and turned out to be completely negative in many terms.
The country is over-populated and diversified by the constant influx of immigrants; it is losing its authenticity for which the Founding Fathers and their followers have been struggling, and it is hard to identify a single image of the US that would correspond to its current state. The US citizens feel this very clearly, thus becoming the victims of the immigration flows. The widely spread concerns about overwhelming waves of immigration are supported by environmentalist claims about the worsening natural conditions, pollution, and ‘strain on natural resources of the state (Kinsley, p. 258). There are also suggestions that ‘the country is running out of room’; they are supported by a visual example of the 20th-century Germany that was torn apart by ‘straining the social fabric, riots, and violence of neo-Nazi’ on the overall background of overpopulation and crises in all spheres of the national and civil life (Kinsley, p. 258).
In the context of the present discussion of the immigrant debate in the US, one should turn to the work of Brimelow who has offered a rather radical solution to the problem of immigration. He states that the 1965 Immigration Act led to the ‘historically high proportions of unprecedented demographic transformation’, which was destructive for the American nation, society, self-awareness, and development (Brimelow, p. 268). The evil effect is evident even nowadays, which tears the country apart and puts the very survival of the United States as a country into question (Brimelow, p. 269). The author finds the contemporary USA in a state of weird ‘multiculturalism, dissolution of shared values and increased stratification’ together with the loss of authenticity and sense of belonging to a unitary state (Brimelow, p. 269). The near future of the USA, as seen by Brimelow, maybe the repetition of the Roman Empire’s destiny: in case assimilation goes on, the country may be broken apart (Brimelow, p. 269).
Hence, the solution offered by Brimelow to such a gloomy, pessimistic state of affairs in the USA is to adopt radical exclusion measures that would seize immigration in full. ‘Deporting all illegals’ together with ‘sealing’ the country’s ‘borders’ is the initial effort to be taken to save the USA. After the shock passes and the country is brought to order, there will be a chance for Americans to decide using a public poll, whether they need immigration resumed or not. In case the nationwide referendum shows a positive attitude to resuming immigration, Brimelow suggests establishing moderate quotas for it (Brimelow, p. 269).
The approach taken by Brimelow is surely a radical and harsh one, resembling several centuries of Japanese isolation from the external world. It may appeal to some violent opponents of immigration and protectors of the American authenticity, but it may not suit the government’s economic, social and political course of action. More than that, it may contradict the overall tendency of globalization and multi-level international integration that grasps the world at a tremendous, unstoppable pace. Hence, it is essential to adopt a critical standpoint towards the immigration issue and to identify the weak and strong points it conceals, as well as to explore some actual opinions both for and against immigration in all aspects.
The most common criticism of immigration is that immigrants usually come from countries with a much lower level of social welfare, so they are ready to take jobs for much lower salaries than an average US citizen would. This leads to the loss of working places by ‘poor Americans’ (the major impact is felt at the level of manual, non-skilled, or non-skilled labor), thus making the process of assimilation no longer actual (Kinsley, p. 259). However, the employment-related antipathy is proven to be nothing more than a myth: such beliefs as immigrants being ‘non-educated, the majority of them being illegally in the US, their ‘overloading prisons’ and ‘taking jobs from native-born Americans’ are only myths that contradict real-time facts (Weld, p. 262). In addition, the USA needs immigrants who ‘support the US economy’ – this fact is also a recognized one since all immigrants pay taxes and make their feasible contribution to the development of the US economy together with all Americans (Weld, p. 263).
One more opinion in favor of immigrants is that they have historically ‘left a footprint in the culture, religion, arts, and education in the USA’ (Weld, p. 261). Even though the immigration tendencies used to be much more positive in the past than they appear now, the USA still ‘needs immigrants’ (Weld, p. 261). The reason for this is that immigrant scientists and technologists constitute the intellectual ‘elite’ of the US; they helped the USA become a world power in the military, technological and scientific terms, which is proven by the recollection of the most outstanding people who created famous aircraft, automobiles, computer appliances, etc. (Gilder, p. 270). Logically, it is impossible to deny the significant role in the US advancement on the world map without the inflow of creative power, talent, and genius from other countries where they had been rejected, and it is senseless to assume the American potential may go on developing without this intellectual influx (Gilder, pp. 272-273).
Kinsley offers a moderated outlook on the issue of immigration, underlining the existing contradictions among Americans in their attitude to the issue. The author states that the immigration debate is a highly individual issue as every separate view on the extent to which immigration should continue is an individual matter and cannot appeal to the nation on the whole, no matter what the decision is (Kinsley, p. 260). This contradiction is further discussed by Raspberry who admits that even those Americans who are against immigrants continue to state that the USA is a ‘welcome place’ for all people from around the world. The reason for this is that the welcoming policy is dictated by the government, and society is ‘afraid of being considered bigots’ (Raspberry, p. 266). The course of action cannot be changed at any level but the federal one and the country has to recognize where the immigration debate shows its weakest points in reality.
Alongside discussing the immigration debate existing in the US nowadays, one has to have a deeper look into the complaints of Americans suffering from the cheap immigrant labor force leaving them without sources of income. One has to know that immigrants are different, with some of them being highly educated, intelligent and making a considerable contribution to the American economy, prosperity, and advancement. However, there also are large groups of illegal immigrants from undeveloped countries who seek cheap jobs and miserable existence. Thus, the major problem of the USA turns out not immigration on the whole but illegal immigration in particular (Raspberry, p. 267). In this context, the proposal of Brimelow seems logical and appropriate – hundreds of thousands of Mexican, Chinese, and other illegal immigrants seriously threaten the well-being of the whole state and develop a feeling of dissatisfaction, racism, and hatred in all layers of the American society, which cannot help creating an unhealthy atmosphere and may lead to the self-destruction of the nation.
Concluding the immigration debate in the USA and dominant reasons for opposing immigration, one should admit that the issue will remain an unsolved one for a long period because of the contradicting opinions existing in the discussed area. Some Americans realize the immigrant nature of their own families and understand that the positive immigrant attitude is essential for the future development of their country. Others believe that the unskilled illegals coming to the USA and living in miserable conditions without any observation of hygiene and healthcare considerations spoil the image of the USA and threaten the overall welfare of US citizens. Since the majority of arguments against immigrants turn out to be false and stereotypical, one should note that the main focus should be made on illegal immigration but not on immigration on the whole. The proper look at the debate from the point of illegal immigration may eliminate many contradictions in the perception of immigrants by the American society, and may also lead to a quicker and more productive solution.
Works Cited
- Brimelow, Peter. “Unchecked Immigration”. Critical Thinking: A Shepherd’s Guide to Tending Sheep. Jason McFaul. 2nd ed. Kendall Hunt Publishing, 2010. 268-269.
- Gilder, George. “Geniuses from Abroad”. Critical Thinking: A Shepherd’s Guide to Tending Sheep. Jason McFaul. 2nd ed. Kendall Hunt Publishing, 2010. 270-273.
- Kinsley, Michael. “Gatecrashers”. Critical Thinking: A Shepherd’s Guide to Tending Sheep. Jason McFaul. 2nd ed. Kendall Hunt Publishing, 2010. 257-260.
- Lazarus, Emma. “The New Colossus”. Critical Thinking: A Shepherd’s Guide to Tending Sheep. Jason McFaul. 2nd ed. Kendall Hunt Publishing, 2010. 256.
- Raspburry, William. “Immigration Straight-Talk”. Critical Thinking: A Shepherd’s Guide to Tending Sheep. Jason McFaul. 2nd ed. Kendall Hunt Publishing, 2010. 265-267.
- Weld, Susan Roosevelt, and William F. Weld. “We Should Always Lift Our Lamp to the World”. Critical Thinking: A Shepherd’s Guide to Tending Sheep. Jason McFaul. 2nd ed. Kendall Hunt Publishing, 2010. 261-263.