People have been traveling and migrating from one place to another since the beginning of time. The United States is known for being a melting pot, a country where people from different cultural, ethical, and religious backgrounds live together. Immigrants have a massive role in making America what it is today. Many believe that immigration is a problem. People usually generalize the term immigrants into meaning illegal immigrants, which is not always true. At his postelection news conference, President Trump said of immigrants traveling to the United States, “I want them to come into the country, but they need to come in legally” (Bier). The U.S. needs this demographic to continue economic growth. Although people look down upon immigrants, they matter as they have usually helped the economy flourish, positively influenced culture and society, and helped build and defend the country.
In this period of high employment growth, there is a perception that immigrants take away a significant amount of jobs from the legal U.S. citizen. Businessmen try to lower their overhead costs by hiring people who just migrated because they agree to work at a minimum wage. Americans have to face a great deal of competition in nearly every sector. According to the New York Times writer Stephens, most of the time immigrants snatch the higher-level jobs because they are more driven than the Americans. Also, America has faced terrorism in the past that was caused by immigrants, but the people who were involved were the ones who got into the country illegally. The hijackers who committed the September 11, 2001 attacks were all foreigners who were either on tourist visa or were overstaying their visa period.
One of the major reasons for the boom of American economy is the number of immigrants. The real immigration problem is the U.S. not having enough people to work and sustain the market (Stephens). Many immigrants work for various types of businesses. The lower level positions are being filled up by immigrants; for example, California’s agricultural economy, one of the largest in the world, would collapse without the manual labor provided by Mexican pickers. They help in increasing the production rate and decreasing the price of goods and services. Also, immigrants constitute about 13.5% of the country’s population (Stephens). They are not only the producers but also consumers of many goods and services. The market share of immigrants is significantly large to help push the economy upwards and benefit the United States and its citizens.
Immigrants influence Americans with their cultures and traditions. Although immigrants may change their lifestyles, their perspectives on some issues do not change. Immigrants are more churchgoing and they are usually more entrepreneurial and career driven than Americans (Stephens). Immigrants make better citizens as they have more to lose if they are caught breaking any rules. This leads to lower crime rates among immigrants. Another aspect in which immigrants differ from Americans is divorce. It is rare to see immigrants get out of wedlock as it is usually a taboo in their society (Stephens). In this way, the immigrants influence American culture. They encourage American citizens to develop themselves and follow the ethics of the society.
Immigrants have always helped build and defend the country. The U.S. Army recruits many brave people from around the world. They train them to fight for the U.S., and they will do it even if it puts their lives on the line. There are many people who migrate into the country and develop something that helps both themselves and the country. Most of the great scientists and inventors like Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla were immigrants, who helped the nation develop and flourish by their contributions (Obama, A Nation of Immigrants). Former President Barrack Obama stated in one of his writings that “being an American is not a matter of blood or birth, rather it is a matter of faith.” Americans should not discriminate against people based on their origins. Immigrants have not just taken benefits from the country; however, they have helped bring it up to the point where it is now, and they have protected it by fighting for it.
Immigrants help to stabilize or even increase the economic growth of the nation, set an example in society by following their traditions and ethics, and build and protect the country. They have provided the country with labor and capital. They have enriched society with knowledge and innovation, and ethics and traditions. They have protected the nation during mishaps, even when they were not treated with justice. The Americans should happily welcome the immigrants as they have driven the country to the top, and it will always need more people from around the world to continue the surge.
Works Cited
- Bier, David J. “America is Rejecting More Legal Immigrants Than Ever Before,” New York Times, 15 Nov. 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/15/opinion/trump-legal-immigrants-reject.html
- Stephens, Bret, “Our Real Immigration Problem,” New York Times, 21 Jun. 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/21/opinion/trump-immigration-reform.html
- Osborne, “Rogerian Argument Final Draft,” 4 Apr. 2016, https://acosborne1021.wordpress.com/2016/04/04/rogerian-argument-final-draft/
- Obama, Barrack. “A Nation of Immigrants.” Argumentation. Student’s book of College English, by Skywire David and Harvey S. Wiener, Pearson Education Inc. 2016, pp. 328-32.
