Five Myths About Immigration

Immigration has been a topic that people have struggled to accept for centuries. The questions often asked are, what are we going to do about it? And should we allow them in? The problem here is that technically most Americans were immigrants at one point unless they are Native American. With every new wave of immigrants, there is a reemergence of fears that control our views. Both David Cole and Barry R. Chiswick agree to allow immigration and convey that the views most people hold aren't properly based on real evidence.

Both Cole and Chiswick are in support of immigration and they convey how this helps the US. Cole covers the five different myths that most US citizens believe about immigration. And then goes on to prove why each belief

They accused immigrants of causing all the problems in the US. The anti-immigration movement is against the 13% that are undocumented in the US, but they are 1% of the population in America (Cole). The five myths are then used to explain the problem with most people's views. These myths include: immigrants take jobs from US citizens, they drain society resources, they refuse to assimilate, immigrants are trying to overrun the country, and that they aren't entitled to the constitutional rights and can't be protected. Even with the influx of immigrants constantly the US economy is thriving and there are more jobs created every day. The citizens of the US today were once immigrants unless they are Native American. Making the claim that we are being overrun by immigrants more of a racist claim but slightly

In the beginning of his essay he also talks about himself as a descendant of an Irish Catholic family who was one of the original groups to be fought against by anti-groups. He uses the word Alien five times throughout his essay, this helps make the reader feel uncomfortable with the way we look at immigration. He then tells us this "… a group once decried as separatist and alien, have become presidents, senators, and representatives (and all of these in one family, in the case of the Kennedy's)" (Cole, 617). And Coles last paragraph also helps convey why being against immigrants isn't the right thing. He says that "I was always taught that we will be judged by how we treat others" (Cole, 618). Then he finishes saying that if that the case then we are in trouble because we won't want to be treated that way.

In Chiswick's essay; "The worker Next door" he talks about the economy and the jobs that immigrants are supposedly taking from US citizens. He focuses on trying to show how this myth is wrong and that the reality is just the opposite. The common belief is that there will be no jobs for US citizens if there are too many immigrants. But Chiswick states this; "Put simply, there are no low skilled jobs that American workers would not and do not do" (620). This contradicting the belief in that if someone needs or wants a job they will find