Our Opinions on Immigration
Kayla D.
Some people see immigration as a bad thing, but I don't really get what's bad about immigration. Immigration is just the action of leaving your homeland and coming to live in a foreign country. There is nothing wrong with wanting to move to another country, but some disagree and ask why they are even coming here in the first place. Well in the late 1800's and the early 1900's people in America wondered "Why are immigrants coming to our land." First of all we are also immigrants. We came from Europe looking for a land of our own. We had a "negative push" from Europe that had brought us here to America. [1] A "negative push" meaning overcrowded cities and lack of jobs, both caused by population growing. Also poverty of farm workers being replaced by mechanization, high taxes, and persecution because of religious beliefs might push people to go to another country. Then some people came because of a "positive pull" to a foreign country. For example, political and religious freedom, economic opportunities in industrialized cities and the settling of the Great Plains, and improvement in transatlantic travel (large steamships) made travel faster and cheaper. Others come because they hear rumors like this one:
"I came to America because I heard the streets were paved with gold. When I got here I found out three things; first the streets weren't paved with gold, second they weren't paved at all, and third I was excepted to pave them." - Unknown
But like most rumors they aren’t real, they are just rumors; so what I am trying to get at is these immigrants come here looking for a better life than the one they had left behind. So maybe we should treat them with a little respect. It’s not like they are going to steal our jobs or change the way of America. Immigrants have actually shaped America into what it is today. They have increased the United States population by 24.10 million. [2] Immigrants have and will not take away the American Dream; they have actually nurtured the United States into what is American today. Chuck Palahniuk once said “The truth is, immigrants tend to be more American than people born here.” Now that is very hard to believe at first and it took me awhile to understand what Chuck actually meant. What I think Chuck Palahniuk meant was that immigrants want to be here, they want to learn our languages, they want to learn about our history, they want to practice all of the religions we have to offer, they want to learn about our culture, they want to celebrate our holidays, they want to add their knowledge and their cultures too, but most of all they want freedom, liberty, and justice. Immigrants see the freedom, they see the liberty, and they see the justice in America and want to embrace it full on.
Footnotes-
1. http://teacherpages.nhcs.net/schools/hhs/billymason/Lecture%20Notes /Urbanization%20and%20Immigration%201865.htm
2. http://www.rc255.will.k12.il.us/rcms255/textbooks/documents/chap20_001.pdf
Bridgitte J.
Immigration is a big part of history it brought us our language education and our wisdom of their past and culture. I think immigration was a very good thing that happened. Many amazing people have ancestors that came from immigration. Like actors and actresses, historic leaders, musicians. Without immigration I bet we wouldn't know as much as what we do today. Such as culture, or languages, or even fashion styles. Immigration is probably one of the best things that could have happened. Also going back to my point of all the famous and important people that have a background of ancestors from immigration. Just look at the history channel sometimes they show famous people who their ancestors were that came to America. I mean even some of my family members wouldn't be here if it wasn't for immigration. So basically immigration made family's. Made family's in country that has chances and can help create dreams. Now I know that immigration can have some negatives as well. Like some people being mean to others because of their origin or nationality. Also over millions of people from all different nationalities, according to my graph came to America. So that means more things we can learn from them. Immigration as I said does have negatives, like over population, or jobs being sent over to many different other countries. Even TV and restaurants needed the immigration without we would have as many channels or restaurants. The reason is well lets take Chinese restaurants of today. If the Chinese immigrants didn't come we wouldn't have Chinese food. Also tv shows do locks of documentaries on people and cultures. I'm not quite sure what we would do without the immigrants. So many people risked there lives to come over here. They stayed on small crowded boats for days. Just so that they could come over to our country and have a better life. The only thing is that when they got here they had to deal with smelling crowded rooms just to get naturalized. That's one thing that does bug me about the immigration. Also that I don't like how when people come over here they think they own us. Some of them think they are smarter then us. Probably because they could sneak in to the countries very easy. There are some things that I think are great about immigration. Like when you find diaries or weapons. Sometimes even clothing and pictures. Just this year they found bodies in a road that they were rebuilding. I mean these immigrants brought some of their native stuff back here. Those ate probably the main reasons why I think immigration is such an amazing great thing. Now I know it seems like immigrants come here to take our jobs and money, but that's probably all they can do. Immigrants came here to take care of their family's. So I do have mixed feeling about immigration, because there are some positives and negatives. But I still kind of hope for more immigrants to come.
Footnotes-
1. www.historychannel.com
2. http://www.genealogyspot.com/know/ellisisland.htm
Tasha M.
Many people think that immigration is a corrupt thing for this country, but this country was built on immigration, and therefore it should be considered a respectable thing. I think that immigration in the late 1800’s to early 1900’s was a lot easier to get into the US than it is today. Today there are a lot of requirements and “road blocks” to becoming a US citizen. For example to become a US citizen now you have to be at least 18 years old, have had a green card for at least five years, lived in the US for at least five years (Or three years if you’re married), have some knowledge of the us and its history, etc. [1]
There are many more requirements for today’s immigration into the US. Back in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s it was a lot easier to get into the US. There weren’t as many questions to get into the US; but, then again now the United States doesn’t have the Chinese Exclusion Act. Back in the late 1800’s the US passed a law that prohibited all Chinese from the United States. The only Chinese people that were allowed into the US were students, teachers, merchants, tourists, and government officials. By 1907 the United States came up with the Gentlemen’s agreement. This was when Japan’s government agreed to limit emigration. For me the Chinese Exclusion Act was a very cruel thing that shows how mean the US can be.
Although the US eventually concluded the Chinese Exclusion Act with the Gentlemen’s agreement Chinese, Japanese, and Korean were still discriminated against by whites. People don’t see the discrimination part when coming over; all they see is the freedom and promise. I think that when you are in a country that doesn’t accept your beliefs or what you have to say, people are going to want to move somewhere where they are accepted. [2] The United States is a place where people can be safe and where their views can be expected. When people came here to find freedom many of them found discrimination.
During the late 1800’s and early 1900’s Jews and Italians especially have a lot of prejudice, and discrimination. During this time some people went as far as calling them not white and some resulted in violence. When a certain race only had a small amount of people, many people were subjected to nativism.[3] So I wonder if their lives were better in their homeland or the US. I think that immigrant’s lives would be better in the United States because there is freedom of religion in the US and a better opportunity to express that religion. People were discriminated in their own country. I think that the discrimination was more severe in their homeland.
Footnotes-
1. http://www.immigrationdirect.com/us-citizenship/U-S-Citizenship-application-Form-N-400.jsp?r=ga-cpc-cit_us- how_to_become_a_us_citizen:m=e&gclid=CJD3xY-07bMCFQpgMgodxzEA6g
2. http://island-memories.tripod.com/id1.html
3. http://www.dosomething.org/tipsandtools/background-discrimination-against-immigrants
Rebekah H.
Ellis Island was escaping poverty and looking for better opportunities from Northern Europe countries. Those Northern Europe Countries are Germany, Ireland, Brittan, and Scandinavian countries. Later as the immigration slowed down more immigration was seen from the Southern and Eastern Europe including Jews, escaping from the political and economical oppression in Czarist, Russia and Eastern Europe. They were Poles, Hungarians, Czechs, Serbs, Slovak’s, Greeks along with non Europeans from Syria Turkey, and Armenia. Reasons why they had left their home included war, drought, famine, religious persecution, and all had hopes for greater opportunities. Angel Island was located in San Francisco California. The Chinese immigrated to the U.S. for better lives but, American laborers resented the Chinese laborers because they were willing to work for cheaper wages. The treatment of the Chinese differed from the immigrants of Ellis Island and in that due to American resentment the stiff immigration laws were passed. Many Chinese immigrants were forced to prove they had a husband or a father who was a U.S. citizen or will be deported. Immigration at Angel Island became a long difficult process designed to deport as many people as possible. This is all parallel to our modern immigration today because many people resent immigration from Mexico because they work for cheap wages. Back then the immigration process was not as nearly as strict as it is now. Back then the inspections were very simple and not as strict as it is today. Now a days before immigrants can be admitted to the United States they must pass four inspections. The four inspections to be admitted to United States are public health, immigration, agriculture, and customs. An immigration inspection is when an inspector makes sure that all of your forms are completed and all of your fees are paid. Citizens and or non-citizens have to wait in different lines to be inspected at the airport. The public health inspection is to make sure that all animals and plants that are being brought to the United States are healthy and won't be harmful or deadly to anyone. An agriculture inspection, is when inspectors have to make sure that any pets that get brought into the U.S. are healthy and well taken care of. During the customs inspection, inspectors will check all of their belongings. The resentment of immigrants at Angel Island is a parallel to the Mexicans who immigrate to our country today because of the people who believe that they are monopolizing our country. People who have their resources to immigrate here; according to immigration laws that have been established. These immigration laws are designed to allow people into our country that are going to have only a positive contribution. This is oppose to people who don’t have the resources to immigrate here legally and are targets of extreme resentment however these laws are established to protect the economic stability of our country that could be threatened by throngs that cross our borders undocumented.
Footnotes-
1. http://www.dosomething.org/tipsandtools/background-discrimination-against-immigrants
2. http://www.studymode.com/essays/Causes-And-Effects-Of-Immigration-445214.html
Some people see immigration as a bad thing, but I don't really get what's bad about immigration. Immigration is just the action of leaving your homeland and coming to live in a foreign country. There is nothing wrong with wanting to move to another country, but some disagree and ask why they are even coming here in the first place. Well in the late 1800's and the early 1900's people in America wondered "Why are immigrants coming to our land." First of all we are also immigrants. We came from Europe looking for a land of our own. We had a "negative push" from Europe that had brought us here to America. [1] A "negative push" meaning overcrowded cities and lack of jobs, both caused by population growing. Also poverty of farm workers being replaced by mechanization, high taxes, and persecution because of religious beliefs might push people to go to another country. Then some people came because of a "positive pull" to a foreign country. For example, political and religious freedom, economic opportunities in industrialized cities and the settling of the Great Plains, and improvement in transatlantic travel (large steamships) made travel faster and cheaper. Others come because they hear rumors like this one:
"I came to America because I heard the streets were paved with gold. When I got here I found out three things; first the streets weren't paved with gold, second they weren't paved at all, and third I was excepted to pave them." - Unknown
But like most rumors they aren’t real, they are just rumors; so what I am trying to get at is these immigrants come here looking for a better life than the one they had left behind. So maybe we should treat them with a little respect. It’s not like they are going to steal our jobs or change the way of America. Immigrants have actually shaped America into what it is today. They have increased the United States population by 24.10 million. [2] Immigrants have and will not take away the American Dream; they have actually nurtured the United States into what is American today. Chuck Palahniuk once said “The truth is, immigrants tend to be more American than people born here.” Now that is very hard to believe at first and it took me awhile to understand what Chuck actually meant. What I think Chuck Palahniuk meant was that immigrants want to be here, they want to learn our languages, they want to learn about our history, they want to practice all of the religions we have to offer, they want to learn about our culture, they want to celebrate our holidays, they want to add their knowledge and their cultures too, but most of all they want freedom, liberty, and justice. Immigrants see the freedom, they see the liberty, and they see the justice in America and want to embrace it full on.
Footnotes-
1. http://teacherpages.nhcs.net/schools/hhs/billymason/Lecture%20Notes /Urbanization%20and%20Immigration%201865.htm
2. http://www.rc255.will.k12.il.us/rcms255/textbooks/documents/chap20_001.pdf
Bridgitte J.
Immigration is a big part of history it brought us our language education and our wisdom of their past and culture. I think immigration was a very good thing that happened. Many amazing people have ancestors that came from immigration. Like actors and actresses, historic leaders, musicians. Without immigration I bet we wouldn't know as much as what we do today. Such as culture, or languages, or even fashion styles. Immigration is probably one of the best things that could have happened. Also going back to my point of all the famous and important people that have a background of ancestors from immigration. Just look at the history channel sometimes they show famous people who their ancestors were that came to America. I mean even some of my family members wouldn't be here if it wasn't for immigration. So basically immigration made family's. Made family's in country that has chances and can help create dreams. Now I know that immigration can have some negatives as well. Like some people being mean to others because of their origin or nationality. Also over millions of people from all different nationalities, according to my graph came to America. So that means more things we can learn from them. Immigration as I said does have negatives, like over population, or jobs being sent over to many different other countries. Even TV and restaurants needed the immigration without we would have as many channels or restaurants. The reason is well lets take Chinese restaurants of today. If the Chinese immigrants didn't come we wouldn't have Chinese food. Also tv shows do locks of documentaries on people and cultures. I'm not quite sure what we would do without the immigrants. So many people risked there lives to come over here. They stayed on small crowded boats for days. Just so that they could come over to our country and have a better life. The only thing is that when they got here they had to deal with smelling crowded rooms just to get naturalized. That's one thing that does bug me about the immigration. Also that I don't like how when people come over here they think they own us. Some of them think they are smarter then us. Probably because they could sneak in to the countries very easy. There are some things that I think are great about immigration. Like when you find diaries or weapons. Sometimes even clothing and pictures. Just this year they found bodies in a road that they were rebuilding. I mean these immigrants brought some of their native stuff back here. Those ate probably the main reasons why I think immigration is such an amazing great thing. Now I know it seems like immigrants come here to take our jobs and money, but that's probably all they can do. Immigrants came here to take care of their family's. So I do have mixed feeling about immigration, because there are some positives and negatives. But I still kind of hope for more immigrants to come.
Footnotes-
1. www.historychannel.com
2. http://www.genealogyspot.com/know/ellisisland.htm
Tasha M.
Many people think that immigration is a corrupt thing for this country, but this country was built on immigration, and therefore it should be considered a respectable thing. I think that immigration in the late 1800’s to early 1900’s was a lot easier to get into the US than it is today. Today there are a lot of requirements and “road blocks” to becoming a US citizen. For example to become a US citizen now you have to be at least 18 years old, have had a green card for at least five years, lived in the US for at least five years (Or three years if you’re married), have some knowledge of the us and its history, etc. [1]
There are many more requirements for today’s immigration into the US. Back in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s it was a lot easier to get into the US. There weren’t as many questions to get into the US; but, then again now the United States doesn’t have the Chinese Exclusion Act. Back in the late 1800’s the US passed a law that prohibited all Chinese from the United States. The only Chinese people that were allowed into the US were students, teachers, merchants, tourists, and government officials. By 1907 the United States came up with the Gentlemen’s agreement. This was when Japan’s government agreed to limit emigration. For me the Chinese Exclusion Act was a very cruel thing that shows how mean the US can be.
Although the US eventually concluded the Chinese Exclusion Act with the Gentlemen’s agreement Chinese, Japanese, and Korean were still discriminated against by whites. People don’t see the discrimination part when coming over; all they see is the freedom and promise. I think that when you are in a country that doesn’t accept your beliefs or what you have to say, people are going to want to move somewhere where they are accepted. [2] The United States is a place where people can be safe and where their views can be expected. When people came here to find freedom many of them found discrimination.
During the late 1800’s and early 1900’s Jews and Italians especially have a lot of prejudice, and discrimination. During this time some people went as far as calling them not white and some resulted in violence. When a certain race only had a small amount of people, many people were subjected to nativism.[3] So I wonder if their lives were better in their homeland or the US. I think that immigrant’s lives would be better in the United States because there is freedom of religion in the US and a better opportunity to express that religion. People were discriminated in their own country. I think that the discrimination was more severe in their homeland.
Footnotes-
1. http://www.immigrationdirect.com/us-citizenship/U-S-Citizenship-application-Form-N-400.jsp?r=ga-cpc-cit_us- how_to_become_a_us_citizen:m=e&gclid=CJD3xY-07bMCFQpgMgodxzEA6g
2. http://island-memories.tripod.com/id1.html
3. http://www.dosomething.org/tipsandtools/background-discrimination-against-immigrants
Rebekah H.
Ellis Island was escaping poverty and looking for better opportunities from Northern Europe countries. Those Northern Europe Countries are Germany, Ireland, Brittan, and Scandinavian countries. Later as the immigration slowed down more immigration was seen from the Southern and Eastern Europe including Jews, escaping from the political and economical oppression in Czarist, Russia and Eastern Europe. They were Poles, Hungarians, Czechs, Serbs, Slovak’s, Greeks along with non Europeans from Syria Turkey, and Armenia. Reasons why they had left their home included war, drought, famine, religious persecution, and all had hopes for greater opportunities. Angel Island was located in San Francisco California. The Chinese immigrated to the U.S. for better lives but, American laborers resented the Chinese laborers because they were willing to work for cheaper wages. The treatment of the Chinese differed from the immigrants of Ellis Island and in that due to American resentment the stiff immigration laws were passed. Many Chinese immigrants were forced to prove they had a husband or a father who was a U.S. citizen or will be deported. Immigration at Angel Island became a long difficult process designed to deport as many people as possible. This is all parallel to our modern immigration today because many people resent immigration from Mexico because they work for cheap wages. Back then the immigration process was not as nearly as strict as it is now. Back then the inspections were very simple and not as strict as it is today. Now a days before immigrants can be admitted to the United States they must pass four inspections. The four inspections to be admitted to United States are public health, immigration, agriculture, and customs. An immigration inspection is when an inspector makes sure that all of your forms are completed and all of your fees are paid. Citizens and or non-citizens have to wait in different lines to be inspected at the airport. The public health inspection is to make sure that all animals and plants that are being brought to the United States are healthy and won't be harmful or deadly to anyone. An agriculture inspection, is when inspectors have to make sure that any pets that get brought into the U.S. are healthy and well taken care of. During the customs inspection, inspectors will check all of their belongings. The resentment of immigrants at Angel Island is a parallel to the Mexicans who immigrate to our country today because of the people who believe that they are monopolizing our country. People who have their resources to immigrate here; according to immigration laws that have been established. These immigration laws are designed to allow people into our country that are going to have only a positive contribution. This is oppose to people who don’t have the resources to immigrate here legally and are targets of extreme resentment however these laws are established to protect the economic stability of our country that could be threatened by throngs that cross our borders undocumented.
Footnotes-
1. http://www.dosomething.org/tipsandtools/background-discrimination-against-immigrants
2. http://www.studymode.com/essays/Causes-And-Effects-Of-Immigration-445214.html