The United States has long been considered the “land of opportunity.” What are the expectations of many immigrants?
Does the reality meet their expectations? What are the similarities and differences between what America offered to
immigrants a hundred years ago and what it offers today?
America has always been seen as a country were you can go to be free: from opression, to worship, to work and provide for your family. The new commers to this country saw this as the golden land of milk and honey, but they came not understanding how much they would suffer for that "good life." It wasn't easy, they came thinking that it would be a piece of cake to get rich not fully understanding it would be a struggle just to get by. Today, the government offers help to new comers more so then they did back then. Back then, if you didn't have a friend or family already here it was harder to make a go of things in a new country.
ReplyDeleteThe United States was once considered the land of opportunity because that was the desire and vision for the first British Colonies that settled here. As the United States developed and industry became a means to earn vast wealth as well as to meet the needs of the swelling population the "rules" changed and immigrants were caught in the midst. The Industrial Revolution came at the expense of immigrants pouring into America in hopes of opportunity, they were used and abused, underpaid, and treated very poorly. They were abundant so the businesses treated them as such, knowing they could replace them immediately and workers did what they were told otherwise they would lose their precious jobs.
ReplyDeleteThe reality did not meet the expectations of the characters in our book or for the immigrants that came to America during the Industrial Revolution. They came to a hostile and dingy environment where they were treated poorly due to their cultures, no matter what they were.
The United States has certainly restricted immigration with lawful action and if done legally welcomes immigrants offering similar lawful protection that a citizen would find.
I keep thinking of the guy they heard "made it rich" in Lithuania--the guy that owns the deli. Turns out he is far from rich. The entire second chapter is full of references to how great America is--how "enterprising," etc--even though they are standing a sea of garbage as they say it. Ah, the irony!
DeleteI read a book about a year ago similar to the issues of immigrants and now have a little bit of a different outlook.When the immigrants come to America or the United States they endure many things. The immigrants have many troubles with language, money, and employment. The immigrants in America are in a safe place that is far from war and turmoil. The immigrants are in a land where the police are there to protect them, and not to frighten them into submission, or kill them for criticism of the government. We can teach and learn from each other to produce a better America. The responsibility of this country to the immigrants should include job training, education, language, and social skills. The country should be able to provide agencies to help the immigrants to prosper. The strengths and flaws of America are seen by the immigrants because of the fact they came here with nothing. Immigrants reveal the strengths and flaws of America. To be fair, we are the country that takes people in. We educate immigrants and allow them to become citizens. In addition, yet when they arrive, we often exploit them and make them suffer needlessly. Almost all of America has immigrant ancestors. The United States takes in less than 1 percent of the world’s immigrants, still more and more are coming to America. Our country is of freedom, but sometimes does not think of the actions of their words and choices they have made. Suffering is indeed put on the immigrants that are coming into America. The choice to live in America by the immigrants is to live in a country that keeps us safe in a way that their countries cannot.
ReplyDeleteAmerica as always been a place sought out to live life, when the people who wished to come new that they could obtain more in this country while their own country could maybe offer little. with this in mind they made the dangerous journey to the new world and they were met with harsh living conditions and little pay. but it was worth it for they had more here than before. now it's harder to get into the counry legally and there is a shortage of jobs available but this is still a land to escape past woes.
ReplyDelete