“Is Third world immigration a threat to America’s way of life”?

Is Third world immigration a threat to America’s way of life? I do not believe it is. I agree with Isbister. He argues that cultural impacts of immigration “are positive, constructive changes, that most Americans will benefit from living in a more multicultural society, and that tension between the different ethnic groups can be alleviated. I for one am a Filipino-American and proud of it. My parents came to America from the Philippines to make a better life for themselves. They came here for the so-called “American Dream.” My parents believed in all the sayings about “The Land of Opportunity and “The Land of Milk and Honey.” I honestly believe that they have made their dreams come true. My mother is the head nurse in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Queen of Angeles Hollywood Presbyterian in Los Angeles and my father is a retired Engineer. The both have achieved what they wanted to. They came here and made a good life for themselves and for their children. My parents always told me to be proud of my culture. I am proud to same that I am a Filipino-American. I am not just Filipino and I am not just American. I have grown up embracing both my Filipino roots and the American culture. I believe that immigrants do not need to assimilate and become Americans. I think it is important that they remember where they came from and take pride in it.

It is shown that the United States accepts more immigrants than all other countries combined. It is also shown that as immigration has grown so has opposition to it as well. One reason why people oppose it is because they believe that immigrants may take away jobs from American workers. Another issue is that they believe immigrants may cause the country to break up into separate cultural units, thus destroying America’s unity. Lastly, people say that immigrants are a fiscal burden. Isbister tells us that cross-sectional studies show that “immigration has little if any impact on the wages and employment opportunities of residents, even residents who are unskilled, low paid, or racial minorities.” This and other cross-sectional empirical studies show that immigration quite possibly may have little or no effect at all on employment and wages of current residents. In regards to the issue that immigrants may try to break the country up into separate units. I believe this is preposterous. I think that the only reason why people believe in this is because they are ignorant to other cultures and feel threatened because of their differences. I think that Isbister said it best with the this statement, “The essence of American life is that it is composed of different groups, different cultures, races, religions, attitudes, folkways and ideologies, differences that give the country its distinctiveness.” In concern with the issue that immigrants are a fiscal burden there is no proof that this is true. There have been studies made that claim “…immigrants have not been a burden to U.S. governments- that government expenditures on the immigrants have not exceeded tax revenues paid by the immigrants.” This issue cannot fully be discussed because there is no one-way to measure the effect that immigrants have on revenues and expenditures.

The United States is the best country I the world because of its diversity. Where else in the world will you find so many different cultures in one place? For example take Southern California for instance. There are all kinds of people that reside there from just about every culture. I do not believe that immigrants pose as a threat to the American way of life. I believe that this country is great because of its multicultural society. There is nothing wrong with taking pride in your culture and it shouldn’t be seen as a threat. I want to end by quoting Isbister when he said, “…an integrated, multicultural society is a culturally rich society and that immigration is making America stronger” all I need to say is ditto.

Bibliography

Finsterbusch, K. & McKenna, G. (2001). Taking Sides:clashing views on controversial social issues. 11th edition, Guliford, CT:Brown & Benchmark Publishers

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