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Living in poverty, where money is a ghost of the past, existing but never seen; immigrants live a life full of fear and uncertainty. The danger is at every corner, and life as they know it could end at any time. Food is a luxury that many can only taste in their dreams. They hope for a better tomorrow and want nothing more than to be able to survive another day. There is only one way to escape from the pains of survival: migration. America is seen as the strongest country with a chance of prosperity and hope. Although the journey is long, and many fail to make it, those who have nothing left to lose travel to America in hopes of prosperity. They envision America as a country that will push them forward and allow them to excel economically and personally. Unfortunately, America isn’t as welcoming as expected, even though they are phrased to be “the land of the free” and the “home of opportunities”. Immigrants crossing the Mexico-U.S. border come to the United States seeking opportunities for a better life but instead are met with oppression by the harsh reality of a hateful society that stands in the way of the “American Dream”.
As a society that depends on mass media, people tend to rely on social media and news outlets, that have been tainted with corruption and infiltrated with falsity, to shape their beliefs and values, which does lead to the negative stigma surrounding immigrants. Immigrants come into this country in hopes of a better future and a more prosperous atmosphere but end up with even less of a sense of identity when they are met with an unforgiving society. In the past, and recently, there have been many influencers who voice their opinions on immigrants and immigration, but only have negative thoughts about these issues. Social media and media outlets are very influential in a technology-based era. Cecilia Menjívar, a professor of Sociology at KU stated ‘We find that media have a central place in shaping the public’s views of immigrants and immigration”(Menjívar). Many people who go online will vent their frustrations, so it’s more than likely that Americans who oppose the idea of immigration will express those negative opinions for all their followers to see: which in turn creates a cycle that doesn’t end. Because those thoughts and opinions are expressed on the internet, it is easy for immigrants to acknowledge that they are unwanted in a prejudiced country that could care less about their origin story. These opinions and thoughts are “powerful reminders to immigrants that they do not belong and that they are unwanted” or that if they do seem wanted it’s only due to “the labor they contribute” to society (Menjívar). These negative beliefs imposed upon immigrants create a sense of identity loss. Immigrants come to this country with the purpose to discover who they are, finding a job to be able to provide for their families, and seeking a better life, but are stripped away of the opportunity to prove their self-worth and prove that they are hard, loyal workers. They want nothing more than to “distance themselves from images of immigrants as criminals”, which were imposed upon them indirectly(Menjívar). Instead of coming to this country to work for a living, they come in working to clear their identities up from an institution that has tainted their image with hypocrisy.
In a post 9/11 era, the government has begun to have more impact on social issues through their politics and policy by scrutinizing immigrants for every wrong move they make which impacts social matters and creates a more controversial atmosphere. Although the controversy over the social issue of immigration is at an all-time high in current news, the issues over immigration have long persisted in our society. Around the 1990s, “The association between crime and immigration strengthened during the Clinton administration”(Perez). They created policies like The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 and the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act which targeted immigrants based on their non-existent citizenship status and the portrayal that they were dangerous people. Later on, the attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, “only accelerated the criminalization of immigration” because now all immigrants, no matter what origin they were from, were portrayed as terrorists and people who did not belong on U.S soil (Perez). President Barack Obama enforced policies of deporting immigrants who did not belong and were found to be on the deportation waitlist. The current president, Donald Trump, also based his campaign on a simple slogan that increased the distaste of immigrants: “build the wall”. He made other promises throughout the campaign such as: sending all immigrants back to their homeland and “making America great again”. One of the policies he began once he became president was his “plans to detain over 2000 immigrant families and children of July 2019”, which caused turmoil and immense amounts of fear throughout all immigrant communities. Some speculate that U.S policy on immigration has become more criminalized due to the negative portrayal that surrounds the issue in the United States. Because opinions are so openly expressed, many people seem to hold a firm point of view whether it be supporting immigrants or disliking them, which seems to influence politicians and their policies. Donald Trump is also infamously recognized for his choice of words in the primary. His comments included accusing Mexico of ‘not sending their best to the United States, and he also mentioned immigrants ‘bringing drugs,’ ‘bringing crime,’ and that ‘they’re rapists”(Menjivar). Expectedly, because he has a large follower base, the characterization minimizing the identity of immigrants and demoralizing their intentions fueled a fire and created a more hostile environment for immigrants in the U.S. Since then, there have been many controversies that display immigrants in a bad image and the disdain of immigrants continues to persist.
Immigrants come to America for a chance at prosperity but are met with oppression from the American people and are targeted as criminals. Besides being labeled as “rapists” and accused of “bringing drugs” into the United States by the current president, immigrants’ work ethic seems to go unnoticed and they are shamed for stealing jobs from the American people. Mead (2009) agrees with the idea that Latinos come maliciously to take American jobs and enjoy the benefits of the country without paying taxes. In reality, immigrants are said to have bolstered Social Security because they actually do benefit the economy as explained by Porter (2005) Illegal immigrants pay various taxes and their contributions to Social Security were much greater—the money amounted to ten percent of the surpluses from 2004, and it has been growing ever since with the higher number of illegal immigrants in past years. But even due to this, some Americans believe illegal immigrants should be denied all social service benefits because they do not pay federal taxes and are a drain on government services and the economy as stated by Marietta (2006). Besides not being wanted economically, immigrants are forced to adapt to a culture that is foreign to them. Recently, there have been many videos surfacing on social media of American people yelling and downgrading immigrants for not speaking English. They are told that they should speak English because they are in America, a country that claims to be a “melting pot” of diversity but forces American culture among immigrants. Hill and Torres (2010) claimed that hopes of a better life, greater opportunities, employment, and education drive Latinos to migrate to the United States, but more often than not, they become the targets of a conforming society that reject foreigners and express hatred for the life they desire. Through their journey to America and then living in America, immigrants experience a true abandonment, as they are victims of the system and are truly abandoned since there is no hope for “law and destiny” in their lives whatsoever (Agamben, Homo 60)
When immigrants travel to the United States they are told of an “American Dream”, a dream that entitles them to money, security, and freedom, but is a false reality of what they will truly face when arriving. The harsh reality that immigrants are met with is that America is not for all to come and thrive. Already being a foreigner, a target is created upon their backs and they are rejected into society. Society treats them as people who do not deserve a chance at salvation. Salvation from the maltreatment and danger of society. Immigrants enter a system that wants them eradicated and wants them sent back to poverty and danger. They must fight harder, work harder, and struggle harder to even get into the working class. All in all, immigrants are not granted the tranquility and success they deserve, especially when the American Dream is granted to only the top 1%.
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