The Effects of Immigration to the Development of the U.S as A Nation
Tori Nuariza Sutanto
Immigration is completely necessarry part of strategy to improve economic growth and prosperity. If a nation succeeds in giving prosperity to the citizen, this condition directly influences the development in another aspects because they can solve the prosperity problem.
For good reason, It is often said the United States is a nation of immigrants. Almost every person in the United States is descended from someone who arrived from another country. It is true that America was built by people who came from Europe a few centuries ago, but are there so many immigrants nows.
According to Blotnick 1987 : 108, Immigrants come from different countries, speak different languages, have different religious beliefs. But what is different is not necessarily worse, and probably the main thing that distinguishes immigrants is their attitude towards their future.
The causes of immigration
Hatton and Williamson (1998) view immigratio from a country during this time as being caused by up to five different factors:
(a) the difference in real wages between the country and the United States
(b) the rate of population growth in the country 20 or 30 years before
(c) the degree of industrialization and urbanization in the home country
(d) the volume of previous immigrants from that country or region
(e) economic and political conditions in the United States.
According to John Carey, 1989 ; 106, “America has a long heritage of welcoming immigrants, and throughout its history, the country has been reshaped and renewed by the talents, energy, and enterprise of new citizens. They may prove to be a critical advantage in the global economic competition of the 1990’s and the early 21st century”.
This essay aims to reveal the effects of immigration to the development of the United States as a nation. I would like to explore how the effects of certain aspects such as politic, social, culture and economy construct the development of the U.S. This lead to the contradiction whether the immigration give beneficial of bad effects to the United States.
Good Effects of the immigration
The highly skilled immigrants make the country more economically dynamic
– First, these immigrants can fuel the knowledge creations at the nation’s universities.
– Second, they can offer advanced technical skills and international cultural knowledge to US businesses research and development teams or found companies.
– Then, they enable employers at vagancies at all levels of the skills and experienced.
– The highly skilled immigrants also bring additional perspectives and axpertise to the executive echelons of top U.S firms.
The Role of Immigrantion
Immigrants have made significant contributions to American science and economic enterprise, most notably in the areas of high-technology and biotechnology, these are the evidences ;
• Immigrants’ productivity raises the U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by an estimated $37 billion per year
• More than a quarter of U.S. technology and engineering businesses launched between 1995 and 2005 had a foreign-born founder
• In Silicon Valley, more than half of new tech start-up companies were founded by foreignborn owners
• In 2005, companies founded by immigrants produced $52 billion in sales and employed 450,000 workers
• Nearly a quarter of the international patents filed from the United States in 2006 were based on the work of foreign-born individuals (more than half of whom received their highest degree from an American university)
• Economists calculate that, as a result of immigration, 90 percent of native-born Americans with at least a high-school diploma have seen wage gains
• Historically, immigrants have made outsize contributions to American science and technology, with Albert Einstein perhaps the leading example. One-third of all U.S. winners of Nobel prizes in medicine and physicology were born in other countries Far from “crowding out” native-born workers and depressing their wages, well-educated, entrepreneurial immigrants do much to create and support employment for Americans.
Bad Effects of the Immigration
The idea of the immigrants have the capacity to make the country more innovative and more prosperous, but unfortunately it is especially appealing at a time in a deep insecurity about America’s economic future and its place in changing global economy
Racist thinking among and between minority groups does occur
– There has been a long running racial tension between African American and Mexican prison gangs.
– There has also been an increase in violence between non-Hispanic Anglo Americans and Latino immigrants, and between African immigrants and African Americans.
Another Aspects (Culture, demography, politic and social)
Immigration lead to the cultural change throughout much of the history of the United States
Immigration leading the American societies in particular has their own habits, behaviour, attitudes, traditions, heterogeneity, and complexity.
The United States as the great “melting pot” has become a myth. The reality is that there is a continued geographic concentration of minority groups in certain regions and in specific metropolitan areas. This holds true especially for Hispanics and Asians, who tend to enter the US through “gateway cities” such as Los Angeles and New York and then remain there.
Though generally most communities in the US lack true racial and ethnic diversity, the Census Bureau identified twenty one countries that qualify as “multiple melting pots” (see box below) where there is a significant presence of more than two minority groups.
Multiple Melting Pots:
California: Salinas, Merced, Stockton-Lodi, Fresno (41% Hispanic 8% Asian), Vasalia-Tulare-Porterville (Hispanic 45% Asian 5%), Yuba City (Hispanic 18% Asian 11%) , Modesto (Hispanic 27% Asian 6%), Sacramento-Yolo (Hispanic 14% Asian 9%), Santa Barbara (Hispanic 32% Asian 5%), San Diego (Hispanic 25% Asian 9%) , San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose (Hispanic 19% Asian17%), and Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County (38% Hispanic, 10% Asian).
Texas: they include Laredo, Odessa-Midland( 37% Hispanic 2% Asian), Houston-Galveston-Brazoria (Hispanic 24% Asian 4%), Killeen-Temple (Hispanic 15% Asian 4%) , Brownsville-Harlingen-San Benito (Hispanic 15% Asian 3%), McAllen-Edinburg-Mission (Hispanic 15% Asian 1%).
Other: New York,-New Jersey-Long Island-Connecticut- Pennsylvania (Hispanic17% Asian 6%) Chicago-Gary-Kenosha (Hispanic 13% Asian 4%) and Washington, DC-Baltimore, MD (Hispanic 5% Asian 5%
These communities will continue to become unique markets as the blending of culture and intermarriage transform their personality.
In terms of demography, immigration to the United States has become the major source of population growth
according to new projections developed by the Pew Research Center,
If current trends continue, the population of the United States will rise to 438 million in 2050, from 296 million in 2005, and 82% of the increase will be due to immigrants arriving from 2005 to 2050 and their U.S.-born descendants.
Of the 117 million people added to the population during this period due to the effect of new immigration, 67 million will be the immigrants themselves and 50 million will be their U.S.-born children or grandchildren.
In the next fifty years this demographic shift will transform politics and business
The economic, social, and political aspects of immigration have caused controversy regarding ethnicity, economic benefits, jobs for non-immigrants, settlement patterns, impact on upward social mobility, crime, and voting behavio
In terms of Politics, immgrants have become the basis of mass in the election of the U.S
It will become an arts of politic to influence the mass (Lobbying some groups or communities
They can be mobilized by powers and becoming the Movement (Political motive)
– Religious affiliation
– Business groups ,
– Liberal public policy organization
– Conservative public policy organization
The key interests groups that lobby on immigration are religious, ethnic and business groups, together with some liberals and some conservative public policy organizations. Both the pro- and anti- groups affect policy
The group of immigrants => communities, ethnic, groups => affects the policy making (value of politic = basis of mass )
ü There are many achievers among immigrants and most of them can contribute knowledge and skills to the United States’ economic growth.
ü Immigrants are a significant part of the US workforce and play important roles in productivity growth and technological advancement
ü The demographic shift of immigrants will transform politic and business
ü The number of great immigrants lead to create a deep insecurity of America’s economic future and in a changing globall economy.
ü Riots and chaos, also social mobility were the impacts of the immigration that leads to the instability of security and social condition
ü Racism was the bad impacts of immigration because the diversity of ethnic and races.
In today’s tough economic situation, the easiest thing to do is to find a person or a group of people to blame. And generally someone of a different race, culture, or religion is the one who is “responsible” for all the disasters in the world. But the best way to enhance America’s growth is to learn how to live together with others and to respect them. Only together can native Americans and immigrants make America the best place to live. (Stanislav Kelman) , New People!
Blotnick, Srully. “Unleashed (Immigrant Professionals).” Forbes 26 Jan. 1987: 108.
Hatton, Timothy J., and Jeffrey G. Williamson. The Age of Mass Migration: Causes and Economic Impact. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.
Carey, John. “The Changing Face of a Restless Nation.” Business Week 25 Sep. 1989: 92-106.
American Demographics, Diversity In America by William F. Frey. The Demographic and Economic Facts published by the Cato Institute and the National US immigration Forum
Kelman, Stanislav 1993. New People ; Influence of immigration on American Econmy
http://paper-2010/10-creating ‘brain gain’ for U.S Employers ; the role of immigrant
Raymond L, Cohn. Illinois University “Immigration to the united states from colonial to present
Demetrios & Madeleine, The Role of Immigration in fostering competitiveness in the United States. Migration policy institute.