Throughout history, the majority has treated new immigrants to any country in the world with disdain. To understand the root causes for this animosity, one simply needs to understand how most of us think. We perceive the world as if the resources are part of a limited pie and if we have more people coming in to share the pie, the pie will run out or will not be big enough for all of us.
Another problem is the fact that most people dwell on differences between them and others, instead of celebrating the differences. Differences, be they along racial lines, religious lines or sexual orientation are always opportunities for people who choose to exercise their ignorance and narrow mindedness to spin the issues and polarize issues, thereby demonizing and denigrating other human beings who have done absolutely nothing directly to harm them.
The concept of “other” always bothers me. When we don’t fully understand another person’s religion, culture or race, we become uncomfortable with them and suspicious of them, they become the “other.” Tolerance and understand can only come from broad mindedness and exposure to other peoples and their way of lift.
All human beings that I have come in contact with have the same needs, desires and problems. Thank God for genetic studies, we now know for sure that we all have the same type of genes, the only differences being small regions of nucleotide polymorphism, but all in all, we are the same. What has separated us is mostly geographical differences.
The United States is a very unique country; remember that immigrants founded this country. It is also true that the immigrants took lands belong to the indigenous people at the time. Also, most parts of the world have also experienced similar histories, whereby, the current inhabitants either forcefully claimed the land they currently inhabit or possessed the land as part of settlements brokered by international agencies. How then can we really lay claim to any land, isn’t this a very arrogant stance?
Think back to the Chinese and Irish immigrants who worked on the railroads, and for that matter the Italian immigrants, when they first arrived on the shores of the United States, how were they treated? In very much the same way as the Mexicans are being treated today.
The issue with immigration in America today is the fact that large numbers of Mexicans are entering the country and the perception that people have of these peoples. Illegal immigration should be stopped. As far as those who are already here are concerned, I think a compassionate approach should be employed, provided they have not committed any crimes. It will be a monumental task to track and deport all illegal immigrants; a more practical approach would be to convert all law abiding illegal immigrants into tax paying guest workers, permanent residents or some other status that allows them to fully participate in the economy.
There are two arguments here; the first is about illegal immigration. I believe most people agree that illegal immigration has to be stopped. The second point is about the national origin of the recent wave of immigrants (Mexico). I do not think the national origin of these immigrants has anything to do with the issue.
When we step back from all or the rhetoric, we can quickly recognize the fact that the US economy has benefited tremendously from the Mexicans, they have often worked very hard at jobs that no other American wants, including: farming, construction, babysitting, landscaping, and commercial and residential cleaning.
The issue is not specifically where the immigrants are coming from, but more a question of how the United States enforces its immigration laws. No argument or excuse can ever be made for the bigotry, racisms and xenophobia that some spew. And yes, the national language in the United States is English, yes English should and most be spoken by everyone who lives here, otherwise the union will not work. But please, please, do not be misled by the hate mongers who will have you believe that he Mexicans are going to take over the country and turn the country into a Spanish speaking nation.
Immigration is necessary for the growth and health of a country, especially a country like the United States. Whenever the economy is in a growth mode, there tends to be a demand for new workers, and hence the invention of different types of visas e.g. H1B, without a logical way for managing these events and a proactive plan, how exactly is the country supposed to grow and prosper?
