Immigrants: The Land Of Opportunity
Journal Entry #1
The United States is considered “the land of opportunity” for everyone. America welcomes the people that other countries don’t want, or at least we used to. The Statue of Liberty even says “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-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”-The New Colossus. America once expected immigrants to come in and rise up the ranks, become wealthy and to live the “American Dream”. Immigrants thought this too, and that’s why they took many, many great risks to get here. But, now, Donald Trump thinks immigrants are taking away our jobs and polluting our ‘Merican blood. He is putting a ban on any immigration, especially from Mexico …show more content…
This is different, though, because changes in the economy and the new immigration laws have shifted where these immigrants are coming from. One hundred years ago, immigrants wanted to come to the US because they knew that they could start a new life and become citizens of “the land of the free”. Today, immigrants come here because conditions may be slightly better than they are in their home country. If someone migrates to this country, they live in fear of being arrested or abused by the police. People take advantage of illegal immigrants by making them work below minimum wage, since they are not legal, they cannot whistle-blow on their boss. If you are not a citizen of the US, you don’t have any hope at all that you will rise through the ranks, because you are illegal and that makes it impossible. None of this was true a century ago. If you wanted to become a citizen, you could, because our country was in need of people to fill our borders to the brim. The founders of this country would’ve been deeply disappointed if they met the leaders and saw what our country has turned into today. They would say “we built this country on immigrants, and now you are
The United States is considered “the land of opportunity” for everyone. America welcomes the people that other countries don’t want, or at least we used to. The Statue of Liberty even says “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-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”-The New Colossus. America once expected immigrants to come in and rise up the ranks, become wealthy and to live the “American Dream”. Immigrants thought this too, and that’s why they took many, many great risks to get here. But, now, Donald Trump thinks immigrants are taking away our jobs and polluting our ‘Merican blood. He is putting a ban on any immigration, especially from Mexico …show more content…
This is different, though, because changes in the economy and the new immigration laws have shifted where these immigrants are coming from. One hundred years ago, immigrants wanted to come to the US because they knew that they could start a new life and become citizens of “the land of the free”. Today, immigrants come here because conditions may be slightly better than they are in their home country. If someone migrates to this country, they live in fear of being arrested or abused by the police. People take advantage of illegal immigrants by making them work below minimum wage, since they are not legal, they cannot whistle-blow on their boss. If you are not a citizen of the US, you don’t have any hope at all that you will rise through the ranks, because you are illegal and that makes it impossible. None of this was true a century ago. If you wanted to become a citizen, you could, because our country was in need of people to fill our borders to the brim. The founders of this country would’ve been deeply disappointed if they met the leaders and saw what our country has turned into today. They would say “we built this country on immigrants, and now you are