What To Do About Immigration Essay -- United States Immigration Essays

What To Do About Immigration The concern about the impact that immigration imposes on American society is not a new one. Since the discovery of the New World immigrants from all over the world moved to American continent in search of a better life, that this vast and rich in sources, yet scarce in population land had promised them. Soon the immigrants outnumbered the native population. They came from England, Europe and Asia. In addition, millions of Africans were imported as slaves. By 1700 the United States became a country of immigrants and more were still to come. At that time America welcomed everybody who ventured to settle in the new country. At the end of the last century, however, not all immigrants were gladly received. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 shut the door for Chinese immigrants. It was followed by Quota Act of 1921 and Immigration Act of 1924 which restricted immigration from southern and eastern Europe. Finally, the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 restricted the number of immigrants from every nation. Today, as the United States experience "the fourth wave" of immigration, the debate about what to do about it heats up. According to Linda Chavez, "In 1993 [?],over 800,000 legal immigrants were admitted to the United States and an estimated 300,000 illegal aliens settled here, more or less permanently. Over the last decade, as many as ten million legal and illegal immigrants established permanent residence?" (327). However, as Kenney David remarks the numbers by themselves, may not be so disturbing, for the foreign-born people represent only 8.7 percent of entire population of the United States (311). What bothers many Americans is the fact that the majority of immigrants comes from Latin America, predominately Mexico. The main objective of so-called "nativists", to whom one can refer Nicolaus Mills, is that the growing ratio of Hispanics leads to disintegration of the American nation as a union. In his article called "Lifeboat Ethics and Immigration Fears" he explores the issue of immigration and the problems it causes. Mills sees immigration as a threat to American nation as an ethnic group. He expresses his concern that high birth rates and liberal immigration laws allowing to bring relatives result in a high percentage of Mexican population in some areas. In his article Mills agrees with Peter Brimelow saying that "... ...motherland and I want it to prosper. To my opinion, the best the American society can do regarding immigration is like Kennedy concentrate on positive aspects of immigration, as Mills be aware of the problems, and work out the solutions like Chavez does. And regarding the ethnic and cultural imbalance that some Americans fear the problem seems to be somewhat exaggerated. Many Americans enjoy Mexican cuisine, like to dance salsa, and build the houses in Spanish stile, why not to accept people themselves? Works cited Chavez, Linda. "What to Do about Immigration." The Aims of Argument. A Rhetoric and Reader. 2nd ed. Ed. Timothy W. Crusius and Carolyn E. Channel: Mayfield Publishing, Mountain View, California, 1998: 327-337. Kennedy, David. "Can We Still Afford to Be a Nation of Immigrants?" The Aims of Argument.A Rhetoric and Reader. 2nd ed. Ed. Timothy W. Crusius and Carolyn E.Channel: Mayfield Publishing, Mountain View, California, 1998: 304-325. Mills, Nicolaus. "Lifeboat Ethics and Immigration Fears." The Aims of Argument. A Rhetoric and Reader. 2nd ed. Ed. Timothy W. Crusius and Carolyn E. Channel: Mayfield Publishing, Mountain View, California, 1998: 339-347.