Ignorance in the Immigration Debate

Ignorance in the Immigration Debate

One of the biggest, growing debates today is the issue of immigration into the U.S. I just don’t understand why there’s such a big debate. I compare this issue to the issue of racism in the way that, no matter what you do, "they" are always going to be here, and it is only ignorance that keeps the issue ablaze. The fact that migrants are not mostly white these days, also makes the issue one more of race. As Charles S. Clark puts it in The New Immigrants, "In the 1990’s, Americans who grew up in a historically white, Anglo-Saxon society are having to adjust to a Polish-born chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, John Shalikashvili; to Spanish-language editions of People magazine on Seven-11 shelves; and to Buddhist temples and Islamic mosques rising in their communities." In the case of immigration, though, the ignorance is apparent in both the immigrant and the non-immigrant.

I would like to first address the ignorance and misinterpretations on the part of the non-migrants. First, and most important to me, is the idea that immigrants are all "tired and poor" (Clark). The truth is that, yes, some immigrants are tired and poor. But anyone would be tired and poor if they were subject to the conditions of these people. And many immigrants are not poor at all. Clark also points out, "witness the 12.000 Chinese technicians working in Silicon Valley computer firms or the well-heeled Iranian expatriots so visible in Beverly Hills." It’s also important to realize that many migrants were well off in their own countries, and had to start at the bottom of the ladder once here. Perhaps it is us that make them tired and poor. For example, In Cathy A. Small’s Voyages, the very first paragraph tells about a teacher in Tonga, who will go to the United States to only find work as a maid. Tired and poor is not the same thing as lazy and looking for a free ride.

Then there is the language debate/barrier. I’ve heard many times, someone say "If you don’t want to learn the language, then go home" or "They just pretend like they don’t know English so that they can do whatever they want." I’ve even heard phrases like these coming out of the mouths of some of my own family members. Of course there are people who pretend not to understand, or who don’t really try to learn English.