IMMIGRATION: The Promise of a Better Life Meets the Harsh Reality of An American Immigrant
What is Immigration and why do people choose to immigrate?
We are all born citizens of the country of our birth. We are raised in the customs and culture of that country and its people our whole lives, and it molds who we are at the most fundamental level.
I am American, and having been born and raised in this country has had a tremendous impact on the way in which I see the world. My grandmother was born Portuguese, and she lived in her home country until she was eighteen years old. That being the case, even though she has lived in the United States for over fifty years now, she still sees the world around her from a very different perspective than I do, or even the way her friends her age who were born here do.
Where we come from is an immeasurably strong part of who we are and where we might go in life, and for most people, leaving our home country seems daunting, or even counterproductive to our life goals.
Unfortunately, in many parts of the world, this cultural identity and lifestyle becomes incongruous with a person’s needs and aspirations. Some citizens find themselves unable to support themselves or their families financially because of their home country’s economic state. Others are persecuted for their religious beliefs or political opinions and as such no longer feel safe in their country of birth. Many find themselves driven from their home countries by the destructions wrought by war or disease. Others still, simply are unsatisfied with the atmosphere or opportunities available to them where they are and seek out a new path.
No matter the reason, when a person chooses the leave their birth country behind and start again in a foreign country, they are taking the first step towards immigration. The path to gaining citizenship and residency in their new chosen country is often long and unforgiving, but in the end they are presented with the promise of a new home that will hopefully be the solution to the problems which drove them from their old home.
Why do so many immigrants choose to come to the United States?
There are certainly a great many advantages socially and economically to American living when compared to the countries most of our immigrants come from, but the same could be said when comparing most third world countries to anywhere in Europe. So why do they so often choose to come here rather than settle in France or Britain?
Historically, large waves of immigration coming from Europe to the US have been promoted by war, and in those times of turmoil America seemed to be safely enough removed to be seen as a safe haven. However, those fleeing Europe during either of the World Wars would have been even further removed from the fighting if they had settled in South America somewhere, so why did they choose to come here?
The answer is simpler than most people think. Propaganda. For centuries, the United States has been promoting the idea of The American Dream, and its allure is more than enough to bring most immigrants straight to our doorstep.
What is the American Dream?
The United States was founded on ideals of freedom. Freedom of religion. Freedom of thought and expression. Freedom from tyranny and oppression. These ideals still play a huge role in how our society functions, but for the purpose of immigration propaganda, it is thoroughly overhyped.
The most common factor which drives an immigrant to choose America is the belief that by coming here they can have and do anything their heart desires. Education is of the highest possible standard, and job training is readily available. If you are coming from an impoverished country with little or no means to provide for yourself or your loved ones, America might seem like the perfect place to build a new life. And it many ways, it is a huge step up from the places immigrants often leave behind, but things aren’t nearly as perfect as the world would like to believe.
If the American Dream is to be believed, every American, no matter their race, class, or heritage, should be able to achieve stability, wealth, success and happiness. Everyone should someday have a beautiful two-story home with a yard, a white-picket fence, and a dog. Every family should have two perfect children who get to go to a good school and grow up in a good neighborhood. It’s called the American DREAM for a reason; that is every parent’s dream for their child.
Unfortunately, what the US doesn’t go out of their way to share with potential immigrants is that the Capitalistic society on which this country is built lends itself to a lot of hard work and a majority of citizens that never reach that ideal ending. There is still poverty, violence and racism in this country, just like in every other country in the world, regardless of the perfect picture the American Dream would like to portray.
Immigration is only the beginning.
What challenges come with Assimilating afterwards?
The process to become accepted first as a temporary immigrant with one of a variable of visa statuses, and then hopefully, eventually, as an American citizen, is long, complicated, and difficult to navigate, but it is only the beginning. Even after an immigrant is granted a status allowing them to legally live and work here, they still have to find a way to belong here. Assimilating to a new culture and integrating one’s self into that culture can be just as challenging as earning citizenship.
Today, most legal immigration to the United States comes from Mexico and Central America. The first, and in many areas from this region only, language spoken by these immigrants is Spanish. The United States of America does place some positive emphasis on language skills in the workplace, but for the most part, we are a country that only fluently speaks English. For immigrants trying to truly build a life here, learning and mastering the nuances of English, easily one of the most complicated languages on the planet, is a massive hurdle to their long term success here.
Beyond language, immigrants must also find some balance of preserving and respecting their individual cultural heritage while also accepting and integrating themselves into our own culture.
