Immigration has always been a hot topic in America. It has been covered in every major news station and is a popular discussion among every-day citizens. Many are against undocumented immigrants, however progress has been made and currently the amount of illegal immigrants is at its lowest level since 1970. President Obama’s executive order on immigration has included requiring undocumented immigrants to pay taxes and take criminal background checks to stay in the U.S for a certain amount of time. Between 2000 and 2013, the U.S immigrant population increased from 10.2 million to 41.3 million. Although the immigrant population in America keeps growing, immigrants still feel like a minority in American society.
The research group Public Agenda conducted a study called Now That I’m Here: What America’s Immigrants Have to Say About Life in the U.S Today. Many immigrants today face criticism for their lack of mastery of the English language. In fact, 85 percent of immigrants believe that it is hard to get a good job or navigate the country without knowing English. This shows that due to their lack of fluency in English, immigrants feel the need to depend on themselves and not on Americans to help them survive in America.
Although mastering a new language in a foreign land is arduous, 65 percent of immigrants say the U.S. should expect all immigrants who do not speak English to learn it. Only 7 percent of Mexican immigrants had a good grasp of English when they immigrated to the U.S. To succeed or even get by in the U.S., a large majority of immigrants, 73 percent, believe it is extremely important for immigrants to work hard.
As of December 2014, the unemployment rate in America is at 5.6 percent. Immigrants arriving in the United States continue to have a hard time finding a job. Due to a lack of an American education and work experience, poor knowledge of the English language, or as a result of discrimination, immigrants are not able to get jobs as easily as American-born citizens. At the time of this survey, 31 percent of immigrants were unemployed.
Immigrants and minorities in America continue to experience discrimination. Prejudice against immigrants is often perpetrated by certain political parties in the U.S. For instance, 79 percent of the Hard- Pressed Skeptics, a Democratic-leaning group, believe immigrants are a burden because they take American jobs, housing, and health care. Meanwhile, 81 percent of the Republican group Steadfast Conservatives believe immigrants threaten traditional American customs and values. These statistics show that certain American sentiments against immigration are still rooted in the Red Scare of the 1920s, when Americans were reluctant to allow foreigners into the country for fear that they would bring communist ideas to the U.S. or infiltrate the government.
In the 1800s, immigrants were paid low wages, lived in crowded homes, and were considered inferior to white, American-born citizens. Because of the perception of immigrants being undesirable, immigrants isolated themselves into certain areas built their own communities. For example, the numerous Chinatowns found across the U.S. emerged as a result of racial discrimination and social exclusion. Unfortunately, not much has changed since the 1800s. Immigrants continue to be exploited. A 1990 study showed that the average immigrant earns less than 50 percent of what a citizen born in the U.S. earns, even when both are of the same age and education level. As a result, many immigrants end up living in substandard housing conditions.
Anti-immigration protests throughout the U.S. are proof that hostility towards immigrants is not a thing of the past. Many people claim that we have come a long way from the days of overt discrimination and prejudice against minorities, but have we really? When will the empathy gap in America close? When will Americans finally take to the streets to stand up for disadvantaged immigrants? Let’s not forget that the majority of American citizens are descended from immigrants who sought shelter in the U.S. in the 19th and 20th centuries. We are, after all, a nation of immigrants.