The Problem With Immigration 1
The Problem With Immigration
Matthew C. Graber
Grace College
2324-10-HIS-2050-I (8B) American Journeys
Jared S. Burkholder, PhD
Oct 30, 2023
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French sculptor, Bartholdi had an idea. Probably a crazy idea. I was not there, but I can
imagine his friends laughing at this idea. His idea was this: He was going to put a bronze lady,
over three hundred feet tall, on the American coast. One person believed in him, Gustave Eiffel.
The same man behind France’s massive metal spire, the Eiffel Tower. Together they created,
Lady Liberty, or the Statue of Liberty. It was positioned right in the harbor of New York City. On
her base, a poem written by Emma Lazarus, was inscribed: “Give me your tired, your poor, Your
huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these,
the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” That lady became a
symbol of our nation’s goodwill. The boats, as they pulled into Ellis Island, would teem with
people as they all ran to the railing to get their first good look at America. They had all been
fleeing something. They longed to find a new home. A home where they could live exactly as
they wanted. Those people have a name. Immigrants or Refugees. The Refugee Crisis, as it has
been called, has become a issue. An issue that has become a point of tension in America.
This issue is not just an American problem, it is a crisis all over the world. These
refugees, or displaced people, have been created by bad circumstances. In some, their
government has crumbled and left rival factions fighting for power and the civilians that have
gotten caught in the crossfire are fleeing. Or in some places, like North Korea, the cititzens are
fleeing an oppresive government. In some places they just are leaving a country that has a
terrible economy. In a country like Venezuela, for example, where the nation’s hyperinflation is
rampamt, it takes a large amount of money just to put food on the table. Because the wages
cannot keep up with the inflation, the food is not able to be bought and so people either starve to
death or run away to a new country. One of the biggest causes of this problem, in my opinion, is
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religion or ethical persecution. Religious peresecution is shown when one group violently
peresecutes another group because of their belief in a different religion. An good example of this
would be the Catholic Inquisition purposely targeting the Muslims that lived in that area of
Europe. Ethnic persecution is when a group of people violently peresecutes another group that is
different, culture wise, than them. A good example for that would be the Armenian Genocide. As
you can imagine, ethnic and religious persecution tend to go hand in hand. For example, the
Holocaust. The Jews of Europe were directly peresecuted for both their identity as Jews and their
religion as being Jewish. Or also the Karen and Rohingya crisis in Myanmar. All in all these
things, whether it is an economically distraught country, religious and ethnic genocide, the lack
of a government, or an oppresive one, or a war-torn country, contribute to those people fleeing
their country.
Africa as a continent has some of the most refugees. Currently, thirty-six million forcibly
displaced Africans make up forty-four percent of all refugees in the world today (Record 36
million Africans forcibly displaced 2023). Sadly these boat people are not just coming from
war-torn African countries. They also are coming from the Middle East. Over forty percent of the
sixty million people displaced world-wide are made up of people of Middle Eastern countries
(Nassar et al., Refugee crises in the Arab world). Also, more notably close to home, is the crisis
at the Mexican border. “The U.S. Border Patrol reported more than 1.6 million encounters with
migrants along the U.S.-Mexico border in the 2021 fiscal year, more than quadruple the number
of the prior fiscal year and the highest annual total on record” (Gramlich & Schller, What's
happening at the U.S.-Mexico border in 7 charts 2021) That one you cannot ignore. Not only
because there are so many, but also because of one sad reality: a lot of hispanic immigrants come
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over to Amercica illegally. They climb the infamous wall or go around and enter America
illegally.
That is why the immigrant and refugee crisis has become such a politcal issue. There are
many opinions and ideas on how to solve the problem of all the people coming to America.
Former President Donald Trump’s policy was simple: Build a wall. He believed that America
should not allow hispanics to come through illegally. The wall he proposed would help. He
believed that the people fleeing the cartels and bad wages should enter the United States. But,
legally. People argue that the current immigration system takes way too long to be effective.
They argue that we are almost inviting people to enter illegally because it takes too long to enter.
David Bier from Cato Institute points out, “Administrative data indicate that roughly 32 million
immigrants—adults and children—were attempting to become U.S. legal permanent residents in
2018, and the United States granted legal permanent residence to only about 1 million people.”
(Bier , Why Legal Immigration Is Nearly Impossible 2023). People also argue that we as nation
should do all we can to help the poverty stricken people that arrive here with nothing. But others
point out that the hispanics or other refugees are taking American jobs that should be reserved
for American citizens. Whether we should help or not as a nation, and how that looks if we do is
a question that will probably be debated back and forth for awhile.
The issue unfolded over time. It began way back in 1620. “After more than two months
(66 days) at sea, the Pilgrims finally arrived at Cape Cod on November 11, 1620.” (Mayflower
and Mayflower Compact) The Pilgrims, as they were to be called, had fled Europe. They had
fled religious peresecution, to a new land. A land where they hoped to find freedom. That was
the beginning of the issues. The first issues were arguably the Irish. The Irish fled religious
perescution and a bad economy in England. The Americans did not like the Irish. Kevin Kenny
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states, “Native-born Americans criticized Irish immigrants for their poverty and manners, their
supposed laziness and lack of discipline, their public drinking style, their Catholic religion, and
their capacity for criminality and collective violence.” (Kenny , Irish Immigrant Stereotypes and
American Racism). The next issue was the Holocaust. Jewish refugees fled to the United States.
There unfortunately was a quota. America was just coming out of the Great Depression and it
could not handle the rush of new people needing financial aid. Public opinion was also against it.
“June 1938, 139,163 people were on the waiting list for the German quota. One year later, in
June 1939, the waiting list length had jumped to 309,782.”(Immigration To The United States
1933–41). Now we come to today and the refugees crisis has not been solved. There is effort and
money being poured into it, but it still reamins a point of tension. The Afghanis come here,
because we left Afghanistan and the Hispanics either wait in line or climb Trump’s wall.
Jerry Sienfeld’s famous quote, “I am for open immigration but that sign we have on the
front of the Statue of Liberty, ‘Give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses...,’ can't we
just say, ‘Hey, the door's open, we'll take whoever you got’?” kind of sums up what Lady Liberty
stood for. She stood for the “huddled masses and the poor”. Bartholdi’s creation has met those as
they have come into America. But all those people have created an issue. An issue that first
created America. The Mayflower came full of a persecuted people. Back in Europe they had
been peresecuted for their religious beliefs. So they left. They, not unlike the people in Turkey or
the Jews, had come in a boat to a land where they hoped to find freedom. The people today are
not unlike the original “refugees” of America. They flee religious and economical persecution.
They flee power vacuums and oppresive governments. But, they have created a point of tension.
A point of tension, the Refugee Crisis, that has dominated United States politics since the
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beginning of its birth. Many thoughts and opinions have formed on what to do. But sadly people
still wait in line today and probably will forvever.
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Refrences
Africa Center for Strategic Studies. (2023, February 9). Record 36 million Africans forcibly
displaced. Africa Center for Strategic Studies.
[Link]
t-of-global-total-refugees-asylum/#:~:text=Africa’s%2036%20million%20forcibly%20disp
laced,percent%20of%20the%20global%20total.
Bier , D. J. (2023, June 13). Why Legal Immigration Is Nearly Impossible. [Link].
[Link]
Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (n.d.). Emma Lazarus . Encyclopædia Britannica.
[Link]
Gramlich, J., & Schller, A. (2021, November 9). What’s happening at the U.S.-Mexico
border in 7 charts. Pew Research Center.
[Link]
order-in-7-charts/
Jerry Seinfeld quote - I am for open immigration but that sign... Quote Catalog. (n.d.).
[Link]
Kenny , K. (n.d.). Irish Immigrant Stereotypes and American Racism. Picturing US
History.
[Link]
ext=Native%2Dborn%20Americans%20criticized%20Irish,for%20criminality%20and%20
collective%20violence.
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Maranci, C. (2023, October 12). What Cultural Genocide Looks Like for Armenians in
Nagorno-Karabakh. [Link].
[Link]
Nassar , J., Chatty , D., & Awad , I. (n.d.). Refugee crises in the Arab world.
[Link] .
[Link]
Plimoth Patuxet. (n.d.). Mayflower and Mayflower Compact. [Link] .
[Link]
xt=After%20more%20than%20two%20months,had%20killed%20most%20of%20them).
UNESCO World Heritage Centre . (n.d.). Statue of liberty. UNESCO World Heritage
Centre. [Link]
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. (n.d.). Immigration To The United States
1933–41. [Link]
[Link]