This article is about how immigration strengthens the United States of America. It was originally posted on http://www.modstate.com on September 16th, 2016.
Growing up in New Orleans, Louisiana offered me a unique perspective of the world. The little floating Crescent City offers an amalgamation of cultural influences through art, architecture, food and an array of amazing neighbors making up a diverse, cohesive and proud population. Being raised in such an environment taught me that groups of people from different cultural backgrounds living together enhances the world. The fact of the matter is, until I was older the idea of some sort of separateness between cultures existed never occurred to me. By separateness I’m not referring to something like different peer groups that are sometimes formed in societal circles. I am referring to the different cultural, spiritual and very personal ideologies formed from growing up with distinct individual ethnic influences. I thought that the whole world lived the way that I lived, believed what I believed and grew up somewhat similarly to the way that I grew up. It is a pretty normal perception for a child, but as an adult I realize the limitations of that perception.
The beauty inherent in the city is not limited to the mixture of French and Spanish architectural styles. The beauty that I believe that my younger self experienced through the pulse of the city was due to so many cultures living together, proud of their heritage and the city in they called home. A significance visitors can see within the menus in local restaurants, Po’ Boys alongside shawarma. As an adult, I long for that perception. I miss it and I wish that more people in America knew how amazing it is to live in a sea of cultural beliefs. How it can enhance the beauty of our Country. Given that this is the perception that I have held for all of my life, I think that a wall built around our borders makes no sense. When I add that personal belief to the history behind the immigration and migration into the United States, a fence keeping people out makes even less sense. The fact is that many sought refuge in the borders of the United States before she held that name. The final text of the Declaration of Independence was approved by Congress on July 4, 1776 and many people were moving here before that date and many have since then. It is difficult for me to agree with the barring and or removing of citizens when we ourselves sought freedom inside the borders of the same place that others now seek it.
Experts have traced the original settlers of America back to the Paleoamericans (from 16,500-15,500 Bc). Not to be confused with Paleolithic, Paleoamericans is a term used for the hunters and gatherers who originally used the Bering Strait to come to America. These small groups of hunter/gatherers came into the borders of what we now call the United States and are the ancestors of the Indians that were here when our colonist from Britain arrived. Vikings arrived later in the year 1000. 500 years later European settlers began making their way to America. Between the 16th and 17th century Spain, Britain, the Dutch and Swedish had established a settlement in Florida, New England, Virginia, New York, New Jersey and Delaware respectively. The world seeing a new frontier to seek new opportunities to build a life, much as we did when we explored the old West. As I type these words a song from my childhood keeps rolling around my head. This Land Is Your Land by Woody Guthrie.
The song has the line, “As I went walking I saw a sign there And on the sign it said “No Trespassing.” But on the other side it didn’t say nothing, That side was made for you and me.” The land that I call home was perceived by many settlers from all of the world, at one time or another, as their land. America herself is a nation made up of people all over the world. Although many of the people who live here are from families who have been here for generations all American ancestry, nevertheless, originates from someplace else. Although this can be said for all alive on the planet, nowhere else on the planet is there a place such as America where people in need of sanctuary from persecution can escape. As Thomas Paine’s wrote, America is, “the asylum for the persecuted lovers of civil and religious liberty from every part of Europe.” Although this country has been, and is still, hailed as a safe haven, some people believe that immigration has a negative effect on the United States. However, many studies show a very different picture.
The idea that immigrants “steal” jobs from American workers has been voiced by those of the opinion that immigration should be banned. A study by Peter Dixon and Maureen Rimmer (Cato Institute) in 2009 showed that “legalizing low-skilled immigration would boost the collective income of U.S. households by $180 billion per year.” In addition, a study by Madeline Zavodny (American Enterprise Institute) found that “an increase in visas for both high-skilled and less-skilled foreign-born workers actually creates a net increase in jobs for native-born workers.” The fact of the matter is that immigration is largely determined by need. So when America’s economy is struggling the number of both legal and illegal immigrant falls. When the economy is good immigration promotes the economy through a variety of ways including increasing demands for goods, creations of companies, creations of new jobs and services. Immigrants increase much of America’s innovation, investments and the creation of new services and products. New markets are created with new ideas and the creation of new jobs soon follow. Those immigrating into the United States promote growth and expansion when the economy is strong and when it is weak less people immigrate. As Daniel Griswold wrote in the National Review (Online) on January 3, 2012 “Immigration keeps America demographically healthy while other, less open Western nations struggle with declining workforces.” Not only has America been built by and for Immigrants, additional immigration enhances America both culturally and economically.”
A study run by Partnership for a New American Economy showed that 28% of the companies started in 2011 in the United States were created by immigrants. The study also reported that a whopping 40% “of Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or their children. The economic impact is immense. Businesses owned by immigrant’s employ one in ten American workers, and in 2011, they generated $775 billion in revenue.” Such numbers support evidence published by Harvard Business School suggesting that “migrants are more likely to register patents than native-born Americans and they make strong contributions to the economy.” Out of every 10 new companies begun in the US, 3 of them are created by immigrants. These studies show a pattern that immigrants help to create new jobs, not steal existing jobs. As one of the analysts concludes, “By enriching and diversifying the supply of labor and by sharpening competitive incentives, immigration can boost productivity across host economies.” Another thing that anti-immigration proponents say is that immigration increases crime in the United States.
Those who obtain or are attempting to obtain legal membership as a United States citizen are highly unlikely to commit crimes. The desire to become an American outweighs any desire for ill repute. People immigrating into the United States are often escaping from oppressive regimes who utilize fear as a measure for controlling the populace. If the desire is to gain permanent residence, then breaking the law would work against someone who desired citizenship. In addition, an inherent fear exists when a person runs from an oppressive government. Making trouble through breaking laws set in place by the new government is unlikely due to the horrors many immigrants escaped from in their old home. The fact of the matter is that it is considerably more likely that a natural born citizen of the United States will commit crimes. Many anti-immigration Proponents spoke out loudly following the tragedy that America endured on 9/11. However, it is vital to note that the terrorists were not immigrants. Not one of the 19 terrorists who brutally attacked the United States on Sept. 11 applied to the Immigration & Naturalization Service (INS) for citizenship. In fact, only 1 in every 25 people who gain entrance to the country do so with the hopes to gain citizenship through immigration. As Daniel Griswold wrote in Insight on February 18, 2002 “We could reduce the number of immigrants to zero and still not stop terrorists from slipping into the country on nonimmigrant visas.”
It is not a matter of not letting people into the country but rather a matter of keeping the wrong people out of the country. Some natural born citizens in the United States also see problems in the realm of assimilation. However, just because a person moves here doesn’t mean they have to leave their cultural beliefs and ideals behind. After all, it is the cultural diversity that helps to make America strong and unique. The word assimilation is off putting in my opinion. I prefer the term acculturation. Merriam Webster’s defines acculturation as, “cultural modification of an individual, group, or people by adapting to or borrowing traits from another culture.” Each individual’s cultural belief system, perceptions and views add to the mix when added to the United States. In an attempt to describe America’s cultural diversity, a few authors have endeavored to find a good analogy for the United States. In the past America has been called a melting pot and then later a salad bowl or mosaic. These references offer different perspectives, changing over time, for the overall assimilation of immigrants into America.
Merriam Webster’s dictionary defines a melting pot in the following manner, “a place (such as a city or country) where different types of people live together and gradually create one community.” The term originated from a play written by Israel Zangwill titled The Melting Pot which premiered on stage in 1908. The playwright ends his work with the hope that the future unborn children would live in a peaceful country in spite of differences in ethnic and religious beliefs. Essentially melting together all and making the new America. Author of the book Out of Our Past: The Forces that Shaped Modern America, historian Carl Degler wrote that features from each culture that Added to America’s distinctness weren’t lost or melted together. He wrote that “A more accurate analogy would be a salad bowl, for, although the salad is an entity, the lettuce can still be distinguished from the chicory, the tomatoes from the cabbage.” Both of the afore mentioned authors made excellent references, they captured a specific version of America from their specific time period. Zangwill captured the hopes for positive change and Degler the important differences that make the cultural differences inherent in American society so great. Her distinctness.
Although they capture the idea well, I rather prefer what Timothy Taylor wrote in an article for the Star Tribune in 2013. Mr. Taylor wrote, “My own suggestion is that America is chocolate fondue. Our different cultural and ethnic backgrounds are the strawberries, pineapple, and cherries, the graham crackers and cookies, the pound cake and brownies, the rice crispy treats and marshmallows, the popcorn and the peppermint sticks. Then we are dipped in America. We swim in America. We are coated in America. Because Americans can and do come from all ethnicities and races, we all look like Americans.” It is my belief that a combination of all three of these eminent authors ideas are at work in the United States can be summed up by the term acculturation. A melting pot would presume to melt them down creating a new mixture. A salad doesn’t account for the changes that occur with each generation of children born to immigrant parents in the US. America is more like the warmed chocolate and each new culture is able to use as little of or as much of the chocolate to enhance the sweetness already available in their own culture. The chocolate fondue is nothing without the sweets available to dip in and the sweets can gain more dipping into the chocolate. This is how I perceive additional new citizens to our country.
As a relationship that adds something special for both. America is indeed an amazing nation and each new addition to her ranks of loyal citizens help to improve her, make her even more amazing than she already is. My childhood perception is clearly naive, however, my perception as an adult has some important similarities to that of my youth.
Closing our borders to possible future leaders of industry and a workforce doesn’t only hurt those who hope to come into the country. It hurts America as a whole because we are limiting our ability to create and innovate. In addition, I fear that if America were to close her borders, we would remove the ability, that we ourselves sought, from others in the same or more desperate need. The right to live without persecution. To speak freely and build a life for themselves. Every single human being on the planet deserves rights such as, though not limited to, rights such as these. If we, as the world’s superpower, do not offer a haven. A safe port for the people who are in desperate need, then what will we have become? The creation of these United States was built on freedom. Freedom from tyrants who told us what we could and could not do. Could and could not say. Refused to give us a voice. A choice. If we remove the ability of sanctuary to those in need we will have become the tyrants we fought against for our freedom. This is not who we are. This is not the embodiment of the American spirit.
Median 