At the height of civil wars, greed for power and indifference to human rights, the common man is disadvantaged and the one on the receiving end. They are forced to flee from their homes to seek refuge in other counties. Moreover, the recent wave of globalization has made movement across borders easy. This has encouraged many people to immigrate into other countries in search of better fortunes. America is no exception. The influx of refugees into the U.S is alarming. Relaxed immigration policy and slovenly border control has worsened the problem. Unfortunately, after moving into the U.S, the immigrants have to live with unbecoming discrimination. Essentially, discrimination against immigrants stands as the key obstacle derailing efforts to fully integrate immigrants and their offspring into society. It becomes hard to integrate immigrants into the society as a whole and the labor market.
Immigrants in the U.S lack the freedom of association other Americans and do not feel the encouragement, love and rights others enjoy. Immigrants who are either refugees or asylum seekers in the United States are weighed down by discrimination and racism that is based on race, religion, ethnicity and nationality among many other aspects. Immigrants find it had to source employment, healthcare, housing and education among other social services and amenities because of entrenched racial barriers. Immigrants do not have close friends in the U.S and are thus treated as aliens and unwanted misfits in the society.
Ethically, the government has a moral obligation to advance the rights of liberty, life and pursuit of happiness of its citizens and non-citizens and the general populace. Conversely, most immigrants end up being isolated, unfairly traumatized and crippled by their inability to manage the anxiety and depression. To make the matter worse, it is also difficult for them to receive reasonable counseling at the time they need it most. The government is failing in its core obligations to the society and something needs to be done soon. It is the high time the government realistically recognizes the discrimination against immigrants as a social problem and addresses it with the seriousness with which it deserves. The discrimination against immigrants is high but within the power of the government to intervene.
The United States has numerous anti-immigrant policies which continue to fuel mistrust and discrimination against immigrants and b extension naturalized citizens. Discrimination against immigrants has been a mainstay in the history of the U.S. history. For example, the U.S has enacted many policies to make it difficult for the integration of immigrants into the United States such as “Alien and Sedition Acts, Chinese Exclusion Act, Immigration Act of 1924, the Alien Registration Act and the Executive Order 9066” (Dudek, 2016). Immigrants and naturalized citizens are criminally marginalized because off biased perceived threats they have to the well being of Americans. Immigrants as threats to jobs, housing, welfare and benefits meant for Americans.
According to Momen (2018), naturalization laws in the U.S have been dominated and dented by history of promoting racism yet encouraging illegal and migration into the U.S to provide cheaper and affordable labor. Undeservingly, the process of integrating the immigrants into the society is fraught with immense discrimination. This means most immigrants undergo traumatizing periods and ironies and delays before they start to enjoy ultimate social approval (Momen, 2018). This inconsistency in the treatment of American citizens is prevalent in the contemporary society. There are many people who continue to miss out the benefits of citizenship due to the paradoxes in immigration policies. In the face of the threat of terrorism, obfuscate privileges of citizenship, mass incarceration and the refugee crisis; it is imperative that the government addresses the discrimination against immigrants lest they end up imprisoned (Momen, 2018). Many leaders have ascended to power with promises of revolutionizing immigration policy but nothing tangible has been done.
The society can help improve the plight of immigrants. Members of the society can offer to lighten the problems facing immigrants by embracing them with brotherly love and genuine concern. This can help them settle and adjust quickly. For example, the society can help the immigrants learn English for easy communication (Bueno, 2017). The immigrants normally lack crucial information of important social and institutional aspects of America (Momen, 2018). The society can change its outlook towards immigrants to help them overcome the hurdle of social integration. Through its executive powers, the government can help reduce and eventually eliminate discrimination against immigrants. Today, due to globalization, the world is increasingly becoming not only interconnected but also mobile, meaning that the definition of citizenship ill inevitably evolve over time. The increasing cultural diversity points towards a future where the concept of individual identity will traverse ethnicities, cultures, nations and races (Momen, 2018).
The government should rethink its stance and policies towards immigrants. Concurrently, the very concepts national allegiance and citizenship are organically evolving. Irrespective the definition of citizenship, it is undisputable that all Americans should be treated as equals. Quintessentially, we all want the same privileges, benefits, opportunities and a better life (Bueno, 2017). The government should come up with policies that differentiate between terrorists and non terrorist as well as law abiding immigrants and criminals. The government should proactively seek to advance the provisions of equal opportunity and non-discriminative inclusion. The U.S is famed for its accommodation of immigrants and this makes it a strong nation. It’s the recognition of immigrants and accommodation is what makes the U.S a destination hub the best minds globally (Blanco, 2018). The diversity of America is its strength. The U.S government should stop profiling against immigrants and adopt more accommodative policies like those adopted by Germany (Gericke et al., 2017).
This way, the U.S will be able to reap from the benefits o cultural diversity and peace. Eliminating prejudice and biases against the immigrants can help cultivate deeper allegiance rather than alienate them. It is evident that fair and equal treatment of immigrants is needed. for re what makes the U.S.A. a strong nation and attracts many foreign-born, hard-working, productive individuals to this country. For many foreign-born individuals, the U.S.A. represents a unique place, possibly different than their places of birth, where they can find things that they may not have been able to find elsewhere: opportunities of economic nature or otherwise; respect and dignity; and maybe tolerance. In fact, naturalized Americans may have a deeper appreciation for this country based on their personal stories than someone who may have been born on U.S. soil and never had an opportunity to compare or choose their nationality. Either way, prejudice and biases can only alienate and detach people, whereas fair and equal treatment attract and nurture ties and allegiances.
References
- Dudek, A. (2016, August 27). All Americans Not Equal: Mistrust and Discrimination Against Naturalized Citizens in the U.S. Retrieved from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/alev-dudek/foreign-born-citizens-in-america_b_8030968.html
- Blanco, C. (2018). Violent borders: refugees and the right to move.
- Gericke, D., Burmeister, A., Löwe, J., Deller, J., & Pundt, L. (2017). How do refugees use their social capital for successful labor market integration? An exploratory analysis in Germany. Journal of Vocational Behavior.
- Bueno, D. (2017, March 27). Discrimination Against Immigrants in America and What Immigrants Need to Know: I used to be afraid of not being understood | Refugee Center Online. Retrieved from https://therefugeecenter.org/voices/discrimination-against-immigrants-and-what-immigrants-need-to-know/
- Momen, M. (2018). Immigration: Becoming “Us” Versus Remaining “Them”. In The Paradox of Citizenship in American Politics (pp. 145-187). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
