(Graphics not available) Immigration according to Merriam Webster dictionary is the act of entering a country in which one is not a native for permanent residence. With the exception of the American Indians, people living in America can trace their ancestry roots to a country outside of United States of America. According to Alan Allport, The United States has been a land of immigration for the past 200 years (Allport, 2005). Most of the original immigrants came from Europe especially the British Isles, the African slaves who were brought in to work the plantations and the Hispanic migrants from central and southern Americas. However, over the years, rules and regulations have been introduced to control the number of immigrants entering America. "A broad range of circumstances including famine, depression, war, technological innovation and industrialization influenced the course of immigration policy and immigration to the United States (Yans-Mclaughlin & Lightman, 1997). In the wake of 9/11, the Americans are now even the more cautious about whom they let into their country.
TYPES OF IMMIGRANTS/VISAS
Visas have been introduced and most non-American citizens need to acquire one before setting foot on American soil. There are 2 types of visas known as immigrant and non immigrant visa. Immigrant visas are given to people who qualify to come and stay in the United States and make it their home. This kind of visa is given to people who qualify under various categories including but not limited to; being a close relative of a citizen or by being selected randomly through the Diversity Visa Lottery. This is a lottery now commonly known as the green card lottery' that was introduced by the US government to give to individuals from c...
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...els. It also has information such as the education attainment, employment status and household income of the foreign born individuals. It will also help me understand more the context of the words and terminologies such as emigrants and immigrants used to refer to the different ways and reasons people settled in America.
Wikimedia Foundation Inc. (2007). Immigration to the Unites States. Retrieved on January 12 2007 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_to_the_United_States
This website gives a clearer picture of the history of immigration in America. It is a free encyclopedia and it gives the history of the immigration laws, from when they first came into effect and the reason they were introduced. The wikipedia gives other helpful links on immigration. It is detailed on how the now Americans citizens view immigration and how it has changed over the years.
Immigration has existed around the world for centuries, decades, and included hundreds of cultures. Tired of poverty, a lack of opportunities, unequal treatment, political corruption, and lacking any choice, many decided to emigrate from their country of birth to seek new opportunities and a new and better life in another country, to settle a future for their families, to work hard and earn a place in life. As the nation of the opportunities, land of the dreams, and because of its foundation of a better, more equal world for all, the United States of America has been a point of hope for many of those people. A lot of nationals around the world have ended their research for a place to call home in the United States of America. By analyzing primary sources and the secondary sources to back up the information, one could find out about what Chinese, Italians, Swedish, and Vietnamese immigrants have experienced in the United States in different time periods from 1865 to 1990.
Daniels, Roger. Coming to America: a History of Immigration and Ethnicity in American Life. New York: Perennial, 2002. Print.
Immigration, the act of coming to live permanently in a foreign country. Throughout the United States’ history, immigrants faced various challenges and especially after 1880. Most immigrants moved to achieve the American dream of having a better life and pursuing their dreams. But, this experience as they moved, was different for every immigrant. Some lives improved while others did not. Immigrants such as Catholics, Italians, and the Chinese were not welcomed into America in the late 19th century and early 20th century because of their differences in beliefs and cultures.
It has been said that immigration is as old as America itself. Immigration traces back as far as the 1500's when the West faced the coming of the Spanish. At that time, the Americas had been settled by the Indians, who were soon threatened by the first immigrants of America. These Spanish conquerors threatened to undermine the culture of the Indians as well as their way of life. Evidently, immigration started from the beginning of our country's time and has had an everlasting effect on America today.
Illegal immigration has many diverse effects on the United States economy. Some people argue that the negative outweigh the positive, but there is no doubt that immigrants do carry a critical role.
The numbers of immigrants to United States has risen from thousands to a record high of one million immigrants by the year 2008. The table below can represent this information
Immigration has always been a major part of America. In fact, without immigration the creation of America would not have been possible. The majority of immigrants came to America for religious freedom and economic opportunities. However, for the most part before the 1870’s most immigrants were Protestants from northern and western Europe. These immigrants often migrated to the United States as families and usually lived on farms with family or friends who had already migrated beforehand. A lot of immigrants came to America with a plan or goal in mind. They often had saved up money for the long immigration overseas, were skilled in a certain trade, or had already been educated at a high level. Sadly, this would not last. Immigration became so prominent in America between 1870 and 1900 that the foreign-born population of the United States had almost doubled. A lot of German and Irish Catholics had immigrated in the 1840’s and 1850’s, and more decided to immigrate after the Civil War. A portion of Americans were biased against Catholics. Thankfully, the Irish spoke English and the German Catholics reputation was improved because of their Protestant countrymen’s good reputation. However, their children often lacked any skill or education, but they were able to blend in quite well with the American society. More and more immigrants would migrate to the United States without any skill or education and on top of that they were usually poor. These immigrants were called “new” immigrants and they came from all over the world including Italy, Greece, Poland, Hungary, and Russia. However, you cannot blame immigrants for migrating to America. Many immigrants faced religious persecution in their home countries which pushed them away, otherwi...
Immigrating to the United States requires individuals to submit a number of detailed applications to the federal government (CIS). If and immigrant marries a legal citizen in America they become a citizen under law. The process of gaining citizenship continues to get more difficult (Discovery). To become a citizen you have to be able to prove your know most of Americas history and values. Among these are the constitution, star spangle banner, and other important U.S. documents. The laws that are put in place minimize illegal immigration but not completely as no law can fully control and stop
The. Kessner, Thomas and Betty Boyd Caroli, “Today’s Immigrants, Their Stories.” Kiniry and Rose, 343-346. Print. The. Portes, Alejandro and Ruben G. Rumbaut, “Immigrant America: A Portrait.” Kiniry and Rose, 336-337.
“Immigration is the term utilized to describe the action and process by which a citizen of one country relocates to another country after petitioning for residency into that country.” (Martinez). An immigrant, also known as an alien, is person or people who come from a foreign country. Aliens are broken down into two main categories: the legal aliens and the illegal aliens. But what are the differences between the two? Legal aliens owe allegiance to the country. In America, aliens have the opportunity of becoming legal by either having a green card or becoming an American citizen and having dual citizenship. Green cards holders are permanent residents who have been authorized to live and work in the U.S. legally but they are not American citizens. To become a citizen, you must be legal, know fluent English, have a clean record, and go th...
Currently, today in the world that we live in, immigration is a very popular topic of discuss. Immigration has been occurring for a great deal of time and is still taking place today. In the past there were many problems with incoming strangers entering our country and bringing with them different customs. With unfamiliar attributes being presented to the nation in such a way, caused conflict between the native as well as the aliens. Some complications that were presented a century ago are still being dealt with now, and the others are no long occurring during this era.Immigration does not only include one ethnicity; It includes every enthicity that is coming from a country to settle down in our country from their native country. A msn by the name of Jacob Rii did several interviews on immigrants that were entering the country during the 1890s. During his interviews he discovered the many problems that the immigrants were facing and introducing into the United States.
Erika, Lee. "U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Laws and Issues." Journal of American Ethnic History. Vol. 20. Issue 2 (2001): n. page. Web. 18 Apr. 2013.
Who is an immigrant? An immigrant is a person who has a citizenship in one country but enters another country to set up as a permanent resident. Sometimes countries are suffering greatly from lack of leadership, internal strife or war, and a collapsed economy. This is the case in Somalia, as well as in Syria, Libya, and Yemen. Syrian people are moving to Europe in order to find a peaceful home. Mexican immigrants come to the US looking for jobs. The people then move to new countries where they don’t speak the national language. In America, when the immigrants come, there are many difficulties: cultural differences regarding time and scheduling, transportation issues, and language difficulties.
Immigration has many impacts on economies and societies throughout the world. In Europe, Africa, and middle east, immigration serves as a booster for economies, but does not mean it is helping the society as a whole. There are many effects of migration, some good and some bad, but the main concern is how the refugees affect the society as a whole. With up sides and down sides to allowing immigration in a particular region or country, the question should be answered. How does immigration affect the society?
Illegal Immigration can occur for various reasons but one of the main causes over years has been civil wars which made people cross borders of other countries. One more factor can be poverty where people migrate from other countries legally or illegally to higher paid jobs, better living conditions and one of the main examples of these are thousands of people who apply for H1-B (highly skilled workers) every year to legally work for a company in America. Another factor could be persecution in their own country for person’s wrong doing in religious or political beliefs and fleeing to adjacent country to take sanctuary. According to Anderson, immigrants come to America from neighboring countries especially Mexico to benefit fr...