The ideology of America is based on a society of immigrants from various countries who mould themselves and integrate their beliefs and cultures into one another. While doing so, this has led to the emergence of the ‘melting pot’ based on the causes of immigration of America. This has been particularly summarised in the famous poem ‘The New Colossus’ with the well-known lines ‘Give me your tired, your poor. Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.’ The impact of immigration has proved prosperous for America as a country, however, in recent events the immigrations of Latinos specifically has caused controversy within the media and a rise in pro and anti-immigration groups within America, this has led to a growth of controversial views, and has escalated since the election of Donald Trump with his promise of “We’re going to build a wall and Mexico are going to pay for it.”
Latino immigrants are significant in immigration within US borders. For many of these immigrants they have passed the borders illegally and therefore has negatively impacted themselves and their community. With 11.7 million of these Latinos being Mexican and residing in the US, their presence within America’s society has significantly heightened which has led to concerns and tensions within communities between ethnicities. Is this contributing to the ‘American Dream’ or is this mass movement of immigration contributing to this idea of the “Americano Dream”?
Pew Research Center reports on the social view within American society on Latino immigration, with 12% of Americans associating immigrants with ‘illegal’ among other words as well as ‘over-population’ and ‘deportation’. The government’s view of immigration is a difficult topic to analyse as 55% of the Democratic Party believe that Latino immigrants make America’s society better in comparison to the Republicans where over half (53%) believe that Latino immigrants are negatively impacting society. So how does this portray the real views of America and the increase of immigration of Latinas?
The information provided by the Center for American Progress suggests that many people believe that these immigrants are positively impacting society and the economy by contributing $10.6 billion in state and local taxes in 2010, whereas others believe that the Latino immigrants are ‘taking their jobs, healthcare and homes’ and prefer European and Asian immigrants in comparison.
The statistical data suggests that overall American people believe that immigrants have impacted society positively through the expansion of food, music and the arts but that they have also impacted the economy and crime levels significantly, suggesting that the attitudes conveyed by America are often overshadowed by the negative impact on crime rates.
Although these websites do not provide a strong view on pro or anti-Latino immigration to the US, it does provide a useful insight as to how America’s view Latino immigration and prefer other ethnicities emigrating to America compared to others. Both websites compare the information of data on pro and anti-immigration and provide a neutral attitude towards immigration issues while addressing the positive and negative impacts of immigration on society. Pew Research Center provides the views of America socially whereas the Center for American Progress provides a view of the impact that Latinas have on America economically. It can be said that the aggression towards Latinos are a result of mass-media coverage, the policies and promises outlined by Trump on society and how the news emphasises how many Latino’s are in America illegally and/or unwilling to assimilate and ‘melt’ themselves to American society.
Sources:
https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/immigration/reports/2014/10/23/59040/the-facts-on-immigration-today-3/
http://clas.berkeley.edu/research/immigration-latino-migration-and-us-foreign-policy
http://www.pewhispanic.org/2015/09/28/chapter-4-u-s-public-has-mixed-views-of-immigrants-and-immigration/
"The Hispanic Challenge". 2017. Foreign Policy. http://foreignpolicy.com/2009/10/28/the-hispanic-challenge/, (accessed 2nd April 2017).
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