Ahmed 1 Sundul Ahmed AP Human Geography Mrs.

Patti October 11th, 2012 Immigration in America The question Is America still able to offer a haven to the tired, poor, huddled masses yearning to breathe free? suggests that America is a place for hopeful people searching to achieve a better life. In other words, if a person is dissatisfied by their living conditions (whether they be extreme or not), America stands for freedom. Its a country where anyone can come and attain their dreams through hard work and dedication. In my opinion, the liberty, freedom and promise of the American Dream that the States once offered on its golden shores is today no longer achievable by just any immigrant. Statistically, 61% of all U.S. immigrants come from Mexico. It is obvious that the reason these people leave their homeland and are willing to start fresh in a foreign country is the belief that the American Dream of wealth and prosperity is achievable. In the early founding years of America, immigrants were seen as a source of economic growth. The ideology behind this was that more people mean more jobs which results in the bigger economy. After studying economics, I can prove this theory to be very wrong, as can many others. In a market economy like the United States, there is only a limited availability of jobs. These jobs are given and taken by people who usually have a decent education. By acquiring so many illiterate illegal immigrants, America is only getting burdened by people who are not

Ahmed 2 making much of a difference in the economic growth of the country. By working as low wage workers and laborers, immigrants are occupying the jobs of millions others (American citizens or not) who would most likely grow into taking better jobs and eventually benefit society as a whole. The point I am trying to make is that America is correct in stopping uneducated immigrants from entering the country because they serve as nothing but potential criminals1 and a liability to the economy. An argument most people would bring up to oppose my viewpoint is that America is founded on immigrants and the U.S. Government is barring the growth of our economy by reducing the amount of immigrants coming to the States. It is important to note that there is a difference in the type of immigrants moving to the United States. For example, when a person applies to a University or for a job position, one of the key questions asked by the company/school is: what is it that you have to offer to our school/company that makes you unique? Being a world superpower, it is imperative that we ask this very question to every person wanting to move to the U.S. In order for a capitalistic economy like ours to work smoothly and efficiently, we need educated people who will make a positive impact in this country to immigrate. In Emma Lazarus poem, she mentions the welcoming of huddled masses yearning to breathe free. Though this line was very widely accepted during the late 1800s, it no longer holds true today. The publishing of the poem The New

A The London School of Economics has proven that the lower ones education, the higher the risk is of that person committing crime.
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Ahmed 3 Colossus was very political2. The Statue of Liberty was a political propaganda for France. Initially, it was created to be a road of enlightment of the oppression and barbaric tyranny happening in European countries. This poem, however, had a very unexpected affect: the Statue of Liberty would from then on be considered a beacon of light and hope for immigrants leaving their countries. In the 19th century, Americas population, economy and technological advances were not very high. As a stage 2 country, America needed all the people it could get to gradually make it into the beautifully bustling country it is today. As a stage 4- possibly stage 5- country in 2012, United States does not need immigrants who do not particularly benefit the economy. Simply put, in order for United States to continue to stay where it has been for the past few years at the top of the food chain - it needs to be very meticulous in picking who it accepts into the country. Lazarus grew up as a privileged New York elitist who did not have firsthand experience on the difficulties of being a new immigrant. She did not have any firsthand experience in being a new, poor immigrant lost in a huge country. If you look at the situation as a whole, these new immigrants are actually better off staying in their homeland. Most new migrants are stuck with minimal paying jobs and work very hard to survive poverty. It is would be socially and economically more conceivable to stay where one has a chance of making it out there. Unless a foreign person has something significantly beneficial to offer America, the States serve as just as much of a safe haven as any other world superpower.

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~cap/liberty/politics.html

Ahmed 4 Works Cited Machin, Stephen, Olivier Marie, and Sunica Vuji. The Crime Reducing Effect of Education. Tech. no. 2042-2695. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Center for Economic Performance. May 2010. Web. 11 Oct. 2012. <http://cep.lse.ac.uk/pubs/download/dp0979.pdf>. "Politics: The Agenda Behind the Monuments." Politics. University of Virginia, 2010. Web. 11 Oct. 2012. <http://xroads.virginia.edu/~cap/liberty/politics.html>.