Immigration to the United States and America

Immigration Jennifer Lippert ENG/102 March 12, 2012 Dr. Kimberly Stanley In the United States of America, we live in a sea of opportunity. Many people come from other countries to live in America to explore those opportunities, but the laws governing immigration have failed to change with the ever-increasing immigrant population. We watch as Border States deal with the rising costs to support immigrants and wonder whether this was what the founding fathers had in mind when the first Immigration Laws were passed.We wonder about the effects on America’s economy as our immigrant population work in this country then send these U. S. dollars to their home country to support their families. We observe an ever-changing landscape continually affected by the legal and illegal immigrants who land in our great country. We contemplate whether America is the land of opportunity and the land of the free, or simply a place for immigrants to land and live for free. As citizens, it is not only our right, but also our duty, to question our leaders and our laws particularly when those laws no longer appear to fit America’s vision.Immigration laws have remained stagnant for far too long and, although immigrants were the founding fathers of our nation, it is time to examine America’s position before the social and economic costs become insurmountable. America’s founding fathers believed that immigration was necessary to increase the population of our country, but also believed that they must prove a loyalty only to America to become citizens. Beginning with George Washington, in the late eighteenth century, a statement was made that immigrants should be integrated into American life so that Fonte  Ã‚  (n. . ) â€Å"by an intermixture with our people, they, or their descendants, get assimilated to our customs, measures, laws: in a word soon become one people. â€Å"This then became a new basis for immigration. In this case, the term â€Å"assimilates † means to conform to a way of life. In a 1790 speech to Congress about immigration, James Madison argued that America should welcome those immigrants who could be incorporated into our society, but exclude those immigrants that could not readily assimilate.Thomas Jefferson was convinced that immigrants were not prepared for the new society America was building and thought the country should wait another 27 year before opening its shores. In fact, when addressing immigration in Notes on the State of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson wrote: Fonte  Ã‚  (n. d. ) They will bring with them the principles of the governments they leave, imbibed in their early youth; or, if able to throw them off, it will be in exchange for an unbounded licentiousness, passing, as is usual, from one extreme to another. It would be a miracle were they to stop precisely at the point of temperate liberty.These principles, with their language, they will transmit to their children. In proportion to their number s, they will share with us the legislation. They will infuse into it their spirit, warp and bias its direction, and render it a heterogeneous, incoherent, distracted mass. In other words, by allowing a mass immigration into such a new society, America could be allowing the immigrant population to distort the principles established by our new laws and policies. To some degree, Alexander Hamilton echoed the thoughts of Thomas Jefferson, but his emphasis was on the threat to national safety.His concern was in granting citizenship to every immigrant upon arrival in the country. He believed that there should be some proof of allegiance to America before any rights were given to new immigrants. However, both Jefferson and Hamilton shared the same beliefs that immigrants should conform to the ways of America and leave their old government attachments behind. After much debate, it appeared that Jefferson and Hamilton could claim a small victory. The Naturalization Law of 1795 was passed, wh ich required that before becoming American citizens, immigrants would have to â€Å"renounce under oath† all previous sovereign allegiances.This â€Å"renunciation clause† remains part of the naturalization law and part of the oath to the U. S. Constitution that all new citizens must take. (Fonte,  n. d. ). Changes in immigration laws over the past two centuries have certainly contributed to the overall rise in U. S. immigration statistics, but it would take almost a century before the first amendment to that law would take shape. The Naturalization Law of 1795 required five years of residence and a three-year waiting period before citizenship was granted. This allowed new immigrants the opportunity to assimilate and demonstrate allegiance to America. However, by 1868, with he end of the Civil War, the population was burgeoning with ex-slaves and their descendants who had been brought to this country without the rights of citizenship. In fact, in 1857, the Supreme Co urt ruled that African Americas were not citizens and were not entitled to the rights and privileges of citizenship. In order to rectify the situation, the Fourteenth amendment was passed which granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States of America. Interestingly enough, it would take another war and its devastation to bring about a new amendment to U. S. immigration law in 1921 with the Emergency Quota Act.Following World War I, the country faced widespread unemployment and an anti-immigration uprising. This Act limited the number of immigrants allowed to enter America from any country on an annual basis to three percent of the number of residents from that same country according to the 1910 census with the hope of maintaining the ethnic composition of America. While the quota system remained in effect until 1965, there was one additional revision to the Emergency Quota Act in 1952 with the Immigration Act of 1952, which revised the quotas and elimin ated racial distinctions from immigration policy.National quotas were eventually abolished entirely in the Immigration and Nationality Act Amendments of 1965 at the height of the Civil Rights movement, changing the face of America, as it was then known. According to 2011 Census statistics, the U. S. immigrant population continues to change the face of America. Not only do non-whites account for ninety two percent of the U. S. population growth in the past ten years, but also forty million foreign-born individuals now reside in the United States, making up almost thirteen percent of our population.Most of this population lives in metropolitan areas rather than the suburbs, with estimates as high as fifty percent of the population in twenty-two large cities across America. In fact, nine metropolitan areas saw their immigrant population double in the last ten years, but the five cities with the largest immigrant populations (New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami and Houston) actually d ecreased their share of this part of the population over the last ten years dropping to a total of 38 percent of the population in 2010 compared to 43 percent in 2000.In some areas of the country, rapid growth in immigration population may create policy backlashes, which could ultimately threaten these places’ long-standing economic comfort. Given the current economic climate and high unemployment rates, do the most recent census figures show any relationship with rising immigration levels? The best available evidence suggests that neither legal nor unauthorized immigration is the cause of high unemployment, and that the higher wages and purchasing power which formerly unauthorized immigrants would enjoy were they to receive legal status would sustain new jobs (American Immigration Council,  2012).In order to make informed decisions regarding immigration reform, however, we cannot limit our assessment to the changing face of our nation; we must also examine the economic cos t to the United States. Recent studies have shown that the United States spends $113 billion annually to support both legal and illegal immigrants, but much of the total U. S. burden is borne by only a few Border States. California, for example, reports spending close to ten billion dollars a year to support its immigration population, which now accounts for almost forty three percent of its total population.Texas reports spending $4. 5 to $6 billion per year sustaining its illegal immigrant population and Arizona drops $2. 7 billion on its immigrant population. While Border States would likely argue for more stringent laws to limit the number of immigrants allowed to enter the country in order to lessen their burden, there are also States that would argue against reform to the immigration system due to its projected adverse effect on their economy. For instance, Kansas has reported that it could possibly lose up to $57. 3 million in their income if stricter immigration laws come in to affect.They claim that with change in immigration laws only comes a higher tax for their state. Kansas also claims that the State will lose millions of dollars in court costs alone if the law makes it difficult for immigrants to live and work in their State. As staggering as these numbers are, other studies show that immigrants have actually boosted the U. S. economy by bringing in $245 million to the gross domestic product. This estimate, however, is nothing compared to estimated wages of foreign employees working in the United States for less than one year which grew from $550 million in $1980 to $8. billion in 2003. These earnings, in turn, are partially returned to immigrant workers’ home countries to help support families in the form of remittances out of the United States. In fact, a study by the Bureau of Economic Analysis in 2003 reported that â€Å"a considerable share of all immigration is motivated at least in part by the opportunity to send home remittances. à ¢â‚¬  According to the study, workers’ remittances from the United States went from $4. 1 billion in 1981 to $25. 5 billion in 2003. While these reported numbers sound staggering, remittances are not considered to have a negative impact on the U.S. economy. In fact, the study also notes that remittances exceed U. S. government provided development assistance to developing countries and may be partially responsible for keeping the cost of such assistance down. America is the land of opportunity. When we look at current immigration laws, our founding fathers’ vision for growth in this country remains intact. In fact, the ideas brought forth by Jefferson and Hamilton for allegiance to the country is still a part of the renunciation oath taken by all new citizens.By the numbers, there is evidence to support immigration reform and there is evidence that the influx of immigrants to the United States actually help our economy. Until the country can come together as a whole t o fully support immigration reform, it is likely that it will take another catastrophic event to catapult immigration to the forefront of American policy reform. References Kerwin, D. (2011). Fixing Immigration. (cover story). America, 205(18), 12. Fonte, J. (n. d. ). To â€Å"Possess the National Consciousness of an American†. Retrieved from http://www. cis. org Frey, W. H. , Berube, A. , Singer, A. & Wilson, J. (2011, December). Five things the census revealed about America in 2011. State of Metropolitan America, 48, 3-4. Retrieved from http://www. brookings. edu Shackleton, R. , Palriwala, A. , & Gordon, A. (2005, May). Remittances: International Payments by Immigrants. The Congress of the United Stated congressional budget office. Retrieved from http://www. hsdl. org Bad for Business: How Anti-Immigrant Laws Can Hurt the Kansas Economy. (2011). Retrieved from http://immigrationpolicy. org American Immigration Council. (2012). Immigration Reform and Growth. Retriev ed from http://immigrationpolicy. org

Eng Comparing and Contrasting Literary Forms Essay

Poetry, drama and short story are literary forms that provide readers with entertainment, insight, pleasure, escape and sometimes information. Readers can find satisfaction in any of the three genres because the styles, variations, language and themes cater to everyone’s preference: tragedy, comedy, profanity or just for pleasure. There is a piece of literary work to suit every taste. Poetry, when performed live, gives the words rhythm, music and life. John Updike in his poem Dog’s Death in lines one to sixteen, the rhythm and pattern are not as distinct as in lines seventeen to twenty; where the beats are strong and there is a certain level of intensity leading up to the finale†¦Ã¢â‚¬ Good Dog.† â€Å"Back home, we found that in the night her frame, Drawing near to dissolution, had endured the shame Of diarrhea and had dragged across the floor To a newspaper carelessly left there. Good dog.† (Clugston, 2010) Usually one performer presents a poem to t he audience whereas in drama there are many actors, stage settings and music that combine to create a complete stage production. Drama is written for theatre production. Actors impersonate the characters by reciting the words that are written in the play. For example, Maurya the main character in the play Riders to the Sea, says the closing words to her son before he left home: â€Å"You’d do right to leave that rope, Bartley, hanging by the boards†¦for it’s a deep grave we’ll make him by the grace of God.† The actors must also follow the author’s directions. She kneels down and the curtain falls slowly. (Clugston, 2010) Drama and play are written for specific purposes. The poem, when it is performed, is similar to an actor doing a soliloquy in a play. For example Macbeth’s speech: â€Å"I have lived long enough: my way of life Is fall’n into the sere, the yellow; And that which should accompany old age, As honor, love, obedience, troops of friends, I must not look to have; but, in their stead, Curses, not loud but deep, mouth-honor, breath Which the poor heart would fain deny, and dare not.† (Clugston, 2010) This speech is poetry within a play unlike the short story. The author of a short story on the other hand, depends on imagery, symbolism, similes and other literary devices to awaken the reader’s imagination, create the big picture and to pull him/her into that place. Unlike poetry and drama, the short story is not written for performance but for the reader’s pleasure and escape. The plot, setting, theme, point of view, characters, style, the actual story line and the ending of a short story all combine to give the reader a slice of the experience of the specified era. Alice Walker in the â€Å" Welcome Table,† paints a picture of racial segregation in the church in the state of Georgia. She wrote about a black old woman who entered a whites-only church. â€Å"The reverend of the church stopped her pleasantly as she stepped into the vestibule†¦..†Aunty, you know this is not your church?†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.Inside the church she sat on the very first bench from the back.† (Clugston, 2010) This picture is of the old woman/main character sitting at the back of the church and the reverend reminding her that she is in the wrong place. In other words she is out of place. Short stories appeal more to the reader’s imagination and senses and are not usually performed unless they are adapted for stage. Reference Clugston, W. R., (2010). Journey Into Literature, San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education Inc.

False Advertising Essay

What they regret to inform you in the big print is that the only way to acquire these results is with diet and exercise, therefore they are misleading you. Recently, the Federal Trade Commission fined certain weight loss products for false advertising. These companies claimed that their product ranged from rapid weight loss to reducing the risk of cancer. Although these products were not pulled off shelves, they were advised to stop making false claims or prove their claims with scientific research proving that these products undoubtedly carry out the actions they claim to do. That’s just to show you that you can’t and shouldn’t believe everything you see. False advertising is also found widely in the food industry. There are many food companies that advertise their products on TV via commercials, such as Burger King, Quiznos, McDonald’s, and even supermarkets. These companies want you to visit their establishment by pulling you in with advertisements of their delicious products such as juicy burgers or bright red strawberries. The products look so good on TV, but when you arrive at the establishment and place your order, you receive something that doesn’t look as good as it did on TV. These companies falsely advertise what their products look like to draw you in so they can make money. If you have ever seen a Quiznos commercial, their sandwiches are advertised with an abundant amount of meat and vegetables, but when you go to purchase one, they are nothing close to what was advertised. The foods in the advertisements you see are not exactly edible. The agencies that are hired to create these products use cosmetic chemicals to enhance colors so the products appear to be fresh. They do this so they can boost its virtual appeal, concluding the point of not everything you see in advertising is necessarily true. Consumers are greatly affected by these deceptions. People who purchase a product and later realize that they did not receive what they thought they were paying for are dissatisfied. Dissatisfaction will eventually lead consumers to never purchase that product again, which will cause sales to drop for that company. By word of mouth, internet, and other means of communication these companies’ profits will plunge due to consumer discontent. Also, if companies are falsely advertising and fail to mention a certain aspect of their product to consumers and that consumer happens to be allergic to that certain aspect of the product, it may lead to a potential lawsuit. For example, the food label known as Spikes all purpose food seasoning declared their product had â€Å"no MSG added. † Further reading of the ingredients in this product, it contained hydrolyzed protein. This protein contains MSG; therefore this food label was false and misleading. Anyone who is allergic to MSG that consumes this product will get violently ill. Due to the lack of information the company failed to mention on the label, there is no way a consumer would have known the product contained MSG. To avoid situations like these, companies must be clear in stating every ingredient in their product. Not only in food products, but companies must also be sure to include every feature of their merchandise, so no one is being mislead.

Gender, politics, and citizenship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Gender, politics, and citizenship - Essay Example This is women activist implemented liberation movement that focused on women rights. Understanding the way racism, class, ethnicity and sexual orientation interconnect with gender issues are significant in creating a social meaning and political effects; thus providing active citizenship engagement in the contemporary society. The two readings of Lowe and Davis are complementary for understanding gender, politics and citizenship because this is one way of informing development policy. 0.. The two readings from the Davis and Lowe make an attempt of revealing the way gender affects women more than many in the society. The author’s main point revolves around gender politics and the political figures of women. This is through exposing us to the women’s liberation movement as a way of fighting for civil rights and working class issues in society. Both authors try to unmask the side of fighting for women’s suffrage. This ties the issues of anti- slavery especially for Asian immigrants and the introduction of anti- slavery activist for the purpose of struggling for the women’s suffrage. They attempt to reveal the way racism, ethnicity, class and sex differences have divided members of women movement. Other main arguments involve cultural differences and linguistic forms of a nation that creates contradictions in the political sphere. It also creates impact on citizenship towards the identity of a nation. Both authors also focus on women’s history, suffrage and work coalitions. Davis and Lowes’ readings are complementary for understanding gender, politics or citizenship. This is because the three terms as being described in the two readings seem to work side by side. They are interwoven in a manner that reveals the way gender affects women’s roles and their status in the society. Davis (2) defines gender by focusing on race and class as the aspects that contribute to political differences among various citizens. She reve als the way racism and class contributes to social and cultural differences. These inequalities contributed to political issues whereby women activist in history during the women’s emancipation made an attempt of maintaining justice. The abolitionist movement aimed to address issues that women are undergoing including the education inequalities and voting rights. Therefore, under the prominent women activist such as Elizabeth Candy and Susan Anthony among others, women were able to achieve their rights. This marked the new beginning of political history whereby women were allowed to enjoy similar opportunities like men. Moreover, both authors attempt to define gender as socially constructed norms, values and ideologies that determine the behaviors or action of male and female in the society. Understanding the notion behind gender issues is significant in determining power dynamics behind an individual’s access towards resource sharing or distribution, the ability for o ne to make the decision and the way different sexes are impacted by the political process or social development. They define gender aspects on citizenship as the affirmation or exercising  the  rights  of women in order  to promote equality. For instance, women tend to be more discriminated than men in the society, in all key aspects including education, political issues and decision making process. They take fewer controls on economic and political resources; thus incorporating gender aspects and political issues into programs

Finance and Accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Finance and Accounting - Essay Example The author’s claim makes it seem as if globalization was the only reason that so many people came of poverty during this timeline. I think that the author’s argument lacks an in-depth analysis of other factors that also contributed to the economic progress in these countries. For instance in China the governments’ policy to open up the economy into the free market was equally or more influential than the globalization movement at reducing poverty. Another factor that helped the people of China get out of poverty was industrialization (Xinhua, 2007). The globalization movement has helped China and India become major players in the global trade of goods and services. In 2009 China overtook Germany to become the world’s top exporter (Nytimes, 2010). I agree with the author that the use of free trade initiatives were instrumental in spurring economic activity. An argument that I thought was offensive to the reality of a country that is struggling to help its p eople out of extreme poverty was the author’s claim that the government and people of the Sub-Saharan Africa are resisting the globalization movement. If this hypothesis was true I would have liked to have seen some evidence to proof the author’s claim. Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the poorest regions in the world. The poverty rate of the region is expected to reach 38% by the year 2015 (Undp, 2012). The virtues of globalization would greatly help the people of Africa. Sub-Saharan Africa has deep issues that are limiting economic growth such as a lack of infrastructure in terms of roads, electricity, and water scarcity. The author in the article should have pointed out some of the constraints that are limiting Africa from reaping benefits from globalization instead of making the biased claim that Sub-Saharan Africa is against globalization. I thought that the author made a good argument in regards to the impact of trade barriers. Trade barriers are government imposed r estrictions on free exchange of goods and services internationally (Businessdictionary, 2012). A statement that I liked from the article was the opinion that the barriers imposed by poor countries against one another are more detrimental than those imposed by rich countries on developing nations. Developing nations have to learn that they have to work together to improve the standard of living of its people. The use of trade barriers are a constraint that lowers the total trade in the market because they make goods more expensive to acquire (Younkins, 2000). I completely agree with the author’s claim that the elimination of trade barriers benefits everyone. The elimination of trade barriers can also help the economy because it spurs job creation (Wto, 2012). An argument made by the author that has a lot of validity is the fact that the elimination of regulations would help investors and corporations act more freely and as a consequence prosperity would rise for everyone. Gove rnmental intervention is an undesirable action in a free market economy. Governments seem to believe that the best course of action during a crisis is to increase governmental intervention (Schuman, 2008). One of the cons of business regulations is that

A Life-Span View Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

A Life-Span View - Assignment Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that the researcher’s life dates back when she was a little girl. She was a jovial and playful baby. The people around me were truthful which led to the elemental sense of my trustworthiness. The researcher depended on her mother and her father for care, comfort, and sustenance. By this time, the author’s relative comprehension of the world came from her parents, particularly her mother, and their interactions with her. The researcher’s parents’ regularity, warmth, and reliable fondness exposed her to a world ruled by the trust. There was no point in the author’s life that her parents failed to offer a secure surrounding to meet her basic need. Just like noted under Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory, this would have created mistrust which would have resulted in suspicions, lack of confidence, withdrawal and frustration to me. The researcher’s parents were the regular sources of comfort, food, love, which taught her to trust. As the author grew older, she started to choose clothes by herself. By the age of 3, the author had gained control over eliminative roles and would make choices in her life and explored the environment around her. Needless to say, her parents still provided a secure environment where the author would carry out her own activities at will. The researcher’s patients were patient and would wait to look at her choices and would correct her if I had gone wrong at some point. At this time of the researcher’s life, she had developed a strong interest in music and played with the radio. The author would put some loud music which her parents would control by informing her to reduce the high volume. The author was able to feed herself now and would wash her clothes and use the bathroom on her own. Between the age of 3 and 6 years, the author was imaging much. She would take on tasks just because she had been active. The researcher was slowly learning t he world around her and learning numerous basic principles. The researcher would tie her shoes and tie her school tie and would speak effectively with her parents without any problems. The author did not like being idle and would felt guilty if it happened. The author felt the urge to help her mother with her household chores. The author would also feel bad if she did something and was not productive as she had anticipated.

Critical evaluation of the UK governments' reforming the law of Essay

Critical evaluation of the UK governments' reforming the law of company charge registration - Essay Example The term security interest is used in two different contexts including consensual security, which exists through contractual agreement and legal security, which exists by operation of the law. A further classification breaks the term into quasi security and real security whereby the real security is about the grant of an interest through security while quasi security is concerned with gaining of recourse against some form of proprietary interest rather than through a grant (BIS, 2011). Some of these issues were addressed by the common law based on estoppels principles and the rule in Dearle v Hal, though none of them was successful. This problem only became manageable following introduction of registration systems, which were enshrined under the Bills of Sale Acts in respect to individuals as well as Company Acts (Secured transactions in securitizations, 2009). Nevertheless, these registers could not meet the radically changing commercial environment. One of the areas that have cause d numerous problems recently includes the recognition of the consumer debtor. Although several consumer credit laws have been enacted to regulate such debtors, the major problems that have been presented in the business sector have not been surmounted, yet the Companies Act 2006 has not done enough to address the problem (McCormack, 2009). The evolution and early regulation of security Before the industrial revolution, the English economy was mostly dominated by agricultural economy which was particularly practiced in the rural areas. By then, security of interest was primarily concerned with the possession of instruments of promise and the lien was only concerned with forms of security interest that were accepted. Actually, the major way of marking the passage of property was through transfer of possession. By then, the main method of exchange was barter since the coinage had not been established. Therefore, the era, which was technologically challenged, was only left with physical dominance of property through possession as the only real way of expressing implicit ownership of property. In this system, passage of ownership through contract was unheard of since the property transfer was via physical delivery or rather the assumption of possession. From the modern perceptive, this form of description is unacceptable since it is not recognized in the legal and the economic model in which the society is based. Furthermore, if the legal system were to be entirely based upon possessory principles, then the commercial activities which are premised upon a liberally existing exchange of goods and services would be fundamentally frustrated. However, proprietary assignments in England have been recognized through possessory concepts which existed until the mid-nineteenth century (Birds, 2007). Notably, had the promissory rules remained unchecked, the modern industrialized economy could not have reached its current evolved status, which is fueled by a free supply of cre dit. Furthermore the economic growth could not have been achieved were it not for checking the susceptibility of possessory security interest. The severance of title and