The Road to Citizenship for the Children of Illegal Immigrants

Roots of Immigrants

 

          When immigration first began in America, “immigrants arrived mainly from Germany and Ireland” (Long, 7). Many other immigrants arrived “between the Civil War and the end of the century from Russia, Poland, Italy, and eastern Europe” (7). On various occasions, the Black, Latino, Asian, and Jewish immigrants came to America for many different reasons. The reasons of the early immigrants and the latter immigrants for coming to America seemed to mirror each other. The Irish and the Blacks were “second-caste citizens” (Michael Barrone, 17). They were not included with the market economy and they were excluded from government jobs and educational practices. Italians and Latinos came to seek better job offers in order to send money back to their homelands. The economic growth in their native lands was slipping behind while the population was increasing drastically. The Jewish and Asians traveled to America in order to escape aristocrats and dictators who persecuted them. All in all, everyone came to the United States in search of a free and better life.

         

America - A Country of Immigrants

 

          In order to prosper in a new land, immigrants needed to Americanize. Immigrants and their families would be able to “move up economically, socially, and culturally in their new homeland” (Barrone, ix). Immigrants were able to connect to their new home and keep their cultural traditions at the same time; “Diverse origins, different religions, and a variety of cultural heritages of new Americans will be interwoven into a recognizably American fabric” (ix). Although the popular beliefs that threats are really from “American elites” themselves “who flinch at the mention of Americanization” and who prevent immigrants from fulfilling their fullest capability, there are others who encourage and want to help the migrants “melt” into American society.

          In the past when immigration was legal, there was a long and difficult process to follow. A well known "access pass” to live in America permanently was a green card. Various other ways to gain access to America was having family who legally resided in the United States, having a job referral in the United States, or giving a large amount of money to the United States. A legal American citizen adopting a child under the age of sixteen was another way of legal immigration. An additional way was to become qualified as an Alien of Extraordinary Ability. This enabled an international individual’s written work be published. Unlike needing a job to stay in America, an individual merely needs a “means of support” (Kay, 2).

 

The Melting Pot and Legal Immigration

 

          According to Vargas, “there are an estimated eleven point five million [illegal immigrants] with stories as varied as that of the United States itself yet who lack a legal claim to exist here” (Vargas, 36). People of all ethnicities and backgrounds are affected by the problem of being undocumented in America. Some of the nationalities affected by this issue include Latinos, Asians, Blacks, Whites, Middle Easterners, African Americans and Europeans. The issue of illegal immigration “goes beyond election-year politics and transcends the limitations of our broken immigration system” (36). The “undocumented Americans” support one another and challenge the government and the media to present their views on this very personal issue for millions of people. Unless the legal Americans and illegal migrants agree upon this situation, the issues of illegal immigration will only increase and become more of a problem.