An Alien Nation
Description: Why is the United States so afraid of these incoming immigrants? After all is said and done, without immigrants from all over the world where would this country stand today? A better question yet is who truly has the right to call themselves an American.
Don’t the people have the right to choose where they want to live anymore? Recent immigration laws are making it harder and harder to enter the country, but why? Under the constitution doesn’t every person have equal rights? One of main ethic groups facing major immigration problems is Mexicans. These people go through amazing lengths to get into the country only to be faced with a mountain of problems. All these people want to do is become a citizen of the “almighty” United States. They need work and they need money. What is better to get these things then the land of the free? Why is the United States so afraid of these incoming immigrants? After all is said and done, without immigrants from all over the world where would this country stand today?
The fact of the matter is that there are millions of people presently living in the U.S. that recognize themselves as Mexican. A little known fact by many people is that “…Mexicans were already living in the Southern and Western regions of the North American continent centuries before the United States existed” (“Mexican”). During the 20th century a lot of Mexicans started coming over to the United States and today they continue to do so. It was because of the revolution in Mexico that a huge increase in immigration rates began to happen. During this time Mexicans crossed back and forth between countries because of enhanced conditions that were happening in Mexico. Of course it is impossible to determine exactly how many people immigrated during this time period because of lack of credentials.
Do the natural born citizens know how lucky they are to be saved from the unruly process called citizenship? First of all what does is actually mean to be a citizen or to have citizenship? Citizenship is defined as being a member of a country and the having constitutional rights to political participation. Citizenship happens to be an indispensable component of maintaining democracy. Why? The reasons for that is that:
Citizenship is the social and legal link between individuals and their democratic political community. And the status of citizenship entails very important responsibilities and duties that must be fulfilled; if they are not, democracy is disabled (“Patrick”).
Since that United States is a democratic nation it does have legal procedures for people without a birthright to citizenship. For an immigrant to become a citizen they have to first go through a process called naturalization.
But, what is naturalization specifically? Naturalization is associated with migrants who have left their country and now live in the U.S. as aliens. The process requires the person to “…a period of continuous residence and physical presence in the United States, a knowledge and understanding of U.S. history and government, and attachment to the principles of the U.S. Constitution” (“Naturalization”). The Constitution does in fact talk about natural born citizens. The first naturalization act, which was drafted by Thomas Jefferson utilize the expression natural born and native born a great deal. So, that would lead one to believe that to be naturalized is therefore to become a natural born citizen. Consequently, where would that leave immigrants? Another place where naturalization is mentioned is in the fourteenth amendment. The fourteenth amendment states that “…all persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof shall be citizens of the United States and of the State in which they reside” (“Fourteenth Amendment”).
Becoming a citizen of the United States is not an easy process to do. In that case, why are these people leaving Mexico to come over to the United States? Simply said, it is to make money to help their families back in Mexico. For some families it is vital for someone to come to the United States and make money to send back. According to the national population council of Mexico, 1 out of 10 Mexican families is depending on the pocket money made in the U.S. for a living. Mexicans are coming in left and right to avoid this poverty in their country:
There are 8.5 million Mexican-born people in the United States, three million of whom are undocumented. About 300,000 Mexicans come to settle permanently in the United States each year, half of whom are undocumented. The Mexican immigrant population is highly concentrated, with 78 percent living in just four states, and nearly half living in California alone (“Beyond the Border”).
However since 9/11 immigration has gone and the immigration laws have gone up. Before 9/11 it was being considered to create a guest worker program where Mexicans could come in and out the country freely to work. But because of 9/11, U.S. officials cracked down on any thoughts of improving immigration laws. Why? It is because of the major fear the population and government has against terrorism.
So then, why do these make such a hard choice of coming to the United States? Mexicans are certainly not being encouraged by their government to come to the U.S. illegally. The only thing being done by the United States to stop these illegal immigrants is more force on the borders. But the border is so huge that it is a losing situation in the U.S. standing point. While I do believe that Mexicans, along with other immigrants have the right to be the United States they shouldn’t have to be doing it illegally. Entering the country illegally is terrible circumstance they ends up killing a lot of these people in the process. Cracking down on the American companies hiring these illegal immigrants is the start to stopping illegal immigrant, but not the complete solution. Stopping companies from hiring illegal immigrant workers is a terrible thing to do too. If you think about, it these people faced death to cross the border just so now they can’t find work. But unemployment is a real and harsh situation that Mexican immigrants have to now face.
Since the events that occurred on 9/11, Mexican immigrants are now facing an enormous raise in unemployment. It is getting so bad that they rather be returning to Mexico. Highly skilled workers are finding themselves working 3 times a week when they used to be working 5 to 6 times a week. They can’t afford to be sitting around trying to find work when they have starving families back home. Government officials are not making it easier for Mexican immigrants. New laws now state if they go over their visa, even by a single day, then they will be arrested and held in custody for as long as possible. Why are government officials doing this? It is so they can keep an even tighter gasp on immigration and terrorism. The only choices Mexicans are left with are to either become a citizen or go back home. I don’t think it needs to be said that this is not an easy choice.
Now the question arises, on why Mexicans have the right to live in the United States. I truly believe that the United States would not be what it is today if it were not for immigrants. I actually do think that it is a rather silly question to be asking in the first. People have the divine right to live wherever they so wish to choose. Unfortunately this does not occur in all countries, but isn’t the United States the ideal place of freedom. I was personally under the impression that every human being had the freedom of movement; it is after all “…recognized in Articles 13 and 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights’ and further developed in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights” (Gabor). Although these provisions do exist, the actually standing point of immigrants under both American legislation and international law still remains really divisive. It is an understatement saying that it is not fair for these people to have gone through things like terror and starvation just to be permitted to live in a country.
It is possible for the “almighty” United States to be afraid of immigrants. Or in fact could it be probable for the United States to be suffering from xenophobia? According to Britannica Online xenophobia is, “fear and hatred of strangers or foreigners or of anything that is strange or foreign”. If one sits down it really would make sense that the United States has a bit of xenophobia. The United States is suffering from the second form of this phobia which involves culture. How? Well for starters the U.S. is so narrow-minded against the incoming Mexican immigrants. If they do not speak English then there is a big uproar and their legal entry into the country is further postponed or denied.
But how can the United States push their ideals and customs on these immigrants? Mexicans have to stay true to their culture while at the time adapting American culture into their lives. I don’t believe there is anything harder then being a Mexican American. Culture is a really blank term and sometimes not quite understood. So then, the question that remains is what exactly is Mexican culture? Culture itself is defined as “the perspectives, practices and products of a social group” (Definition). Mexican culture contains, “…the complexity of Mexico’s history through the blending of pre-Hispanic Meso civilizations and the culture of Spain” (Culture). Culture is not something that can be easily defined and it can not be torn down easier either.
Mexican immigrants make up a significant part of the U.S. population that I believe it is impossible not to consider them part of America. It is a fact that they “…have become one of the most influential social and cultural groups in the country” (“Mexican”). These people have the right to be in the U.S. if they so wish to do so. U.S. officials should make their laws and immigration process much more easier for them. This is not a probably outcome because of the lack of understanding of how it is to be in their shoes.
Works Citied
- “Beyond the Border.” PBS. 12 Mar. 2007 <http://www.pbs.org/itvs/beyondtheborder/immigration.html>.
- Britannica Online. Keyword: Xenophobia.
- “Culture of Mexico.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 15 Mar 2007, 02:47 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 15 Mar 2007 <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Culture_of_Mexico&oldid=115230808>.
- “Definition of Culture.” About. 15 Mar. 2007 <http://racerelations.about.com/od/skillsbuildingresources/g/culturedef.htm>.
- “Fourteenth Amendment.” 9 Mar. 2007 <http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/constitution/amendment14/>.
- Gabor, Francis. “A Proposal for Recognition Under Existing International Law.” Texas International Law Journal Summer 2006. ProQuest. 15 Mar. 2007.
- “Mexican.” Immigration. <http://memory.loc.gov/learn/features/immig/mexican.html>.
- “Naturalization.” U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. 9 Mar. 2007 <http://www.uscis.gov/>.
- Patrick, John J. “The Concept of Citizenship in Education for Democracy.” ERIC Digest. 9 Mar. 2007 <http://www.ericdigests.org/2000-1/democracy.html>.