Immigration is Hard but Necessary; Deal with it

While not being as hot button a topic as a few years ago when the Syrian Civil War and other conflicts were just getting in gear, immigration is still making headlines around the world; in the worst ways. Unsurprising when the bulk of immigrants are among the most vulnerable people in the world and make easy targets to those who acquire status by tearing down others.

The trick is easy to fall for because immigration does cause difficulties. An influx of immigrants has far reaching social, cultural, and economic impacts. Cultures collide, labor markets are disrupted, and value systems conflict. It’s difficult but not new. In the short term they are painful but when handled correctly they can disappear completely and even become a source of strength for a society.

Consider immigrants in the United States over the last few centuries. Guess what reader, unless you 100% Native American you are descended from immigrants. Lets focus on the people that you do not think of when thinking of immigrants.

How many of you readers have German ancestry? Quite a few of you I bet. I know I do. We do not often think of ourselves as immigrants but we are. In 1900, there were 613 German language newspapers in the United States second only to English newspapers and with the next closest being Scandinavian newspapers at 115. That was until the leadup and subsequent outbreak of World War I when it became unpopular and unpatriotic to be “openly German” in America. Bans on teaching the German language in schools became commonplace in States and localities throughout the country. Music composed by German composers was prohibited. Club organization rules were required to be written in English. The repression lasted up until the Great Depression when people had other things to worry about.

How about English, Irish, and Scottish ancestry? Let’s go back a little further. Early American colonization has been quite romanticized over the years. Penal colonies were the English modus operandi of colonization. The Caribbean, North America, and Australia are prime examples. Indentured servants and convicts were shipped to the colonies with great frequency. What happened after an Irish or Scottish uprising? The British shipped a lot of Irish and Scottish to the colonies. So, if you are English, Irish, or Scottish, you have ancestors that immigrated and probably not by choice.

In the mid 1840’s and 50’s, Ireland was in the middle of the Great Famine. During this time, many Irish began leaving the country and immigrating to the New World. They immigrated in the hundreds of thousands and congregated in cities like Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. They were impoverished agricultural people with little skills that were applicable in an urban environment. How do you suppose they were treated? In a word, they were despised. For half a century.

Today, the descendants of these German, British, Irish, Scottish, and many other European nation immigrants simply call themselves Americans but a hundred years ago, they were hyphenated Americans. German-American. Scottish-American. Italian-American. Now they are simply Americans.

With that in mind, let me ask this question. What’s so damn special about being a native American? What makes Mexicans and Arabs so much less special? Less worthy? Less American? Is it the language? Is it the values? Or is it just a bunch of made up bullshit that would go away over time if we embraced change and avoided causing cultural rifts that would leave scars?

Newsflash: in this day and age, the first generation of kids born in America end up talking, acting, and believing most of the same things that the rest of kids born in America do. Modern America is funny that way. The constant connection caused by the internet and mobile devices spreads a societal glue where language and culture are constantly mixing. Transmission of the American identity is fast and thorough (taking the long cultural view). Immigrants themselves may struggle to adapt and integrate in their new home but their children are very successful.

What prevents the transmission of cultural identity? Racism and Xenophobia. Closing the borders. Setting laws to prevent immigration from certain countries. Deporting people who have lived peacefully in the country for years. These actions open wounds along racial and cultural boundaries that scar over and are harder to overcome in the future.

“Illegal immigrants broke the law and should be deported,” the cries come! Have some empathy. Legal immigration to the United States in the most ideal circumstances (e.g. marrying a U.S. citizen), costs thousands of dollars and takes years of constant struggles with the government. Outside of the ideal situation, legal immigration is governed by a system of quotas and lotteries guaranteeing that only fractions of the whole are even eligible to attempt immigration. Illegal immigration is a problem because the legal routes are broken.

Don’t forget that your ancestors likely came here destitute, in need, and maybe without speaking the language.

Open and free immigration. Amnesty for the law-abiding. That should be the American way.