Thoughts on Immigration:

     I had a class prompt where we had to state why we think their has been a soaring of nativist politics against immigration in recent times. She gave us four options to choose from: 1. Racism, 2. Cultural Discrepancies, 3. Economics, or 4. The media and politicians use moral panic as a device to socially control groups of society that are potentially rebellious. Example: Making citizens think a problem is elsewhere (immigrants) instead of where it actually lies. (Obviously, I chose this one.) I honestly never really thought about this topic in depth until I came across this module that we are working on this week. There were tons of research that really got me thinking about the sentiment “Americans” (I quote Americans because we are all immigrants from somewhere.) feel towards immigrants. This is what I ended up writing. It was supposed to be less that 400 words, but I got kinda into the subject. 

Why is there so much debate about humans across the world moving to our home country? An argument that my dad made most of the time was that yes, the United States is a country made up of immigrants because in actuality, we all came from somewhere else. He stated that there was a time where the United States could take all the people that wanted to come here, and there would be no negative effects. However, he believes that, now, the country is past its bursting point. As much as he would like for everyone to come here to escape problems in their home countries, we just can’t fit more people without negative consequences to the people already here. But, is that correct? Are immigrants really harming us economically, socially, or in any other way, or is that exactly what the media and politicians want us to think? If we think the problem is in one place, we will divert all of our attention to it instead of seeing where the problem actually lie.

The media and politicians use moral panic as a device to socially control groups of society that are potentially rebellious. The largest segment in the United States is the working class. In our democratic society, they are actually the ones who have the largest impact on voting, whether it be elections, policies, or anything else. If they knew where the problem actually was with unemployment, or other issues, someone may lose their seat in the House of Representatives, Senate, or a seat within the state government. However, if you have something as large as the media, run by mostly democrats, then you can convince the public to look in all directions but you, for example, immigrants. The comment, “Immigrants are taking all of our jobs, and they are lowering the minimum wage” has been heard everywhere. However, this simply isn’t true. So, why do so many people believe this and vote on stricter laws involving immigrants? Well, it’s what they’ve been told most of their lives, so it must be true.

The social panic mustered by immigrants has grown phenomenally.  Every issue from economic, political, and social can be seen accompanied by debates on immigration. As New York Times Magazine writer Adam Davidson recognizes, immigrants are not taking away American jobs, but actually creating a heap more. The policies that we make on issues like unemployment are definitely affected by what Americans think of immigrants, not what they know about them. Humans will gladly take someone’s word on something, especially if they are highly regarded, rather than doing the research themselves. This is why the media and politicians use moral panic to socially control the citizens.

Davidson, Adam. “Debunking the Myth of the Job-Stealing Immigrant.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 28 Mar. 2015. Web. 12 Apr. 2015.

What do you think about immigration? Do you feel that, legal or not, we are at the bursting point (in America or in your own country)? Do you think immigration helps the major factors that make up a country, or hurts them? I would really enjoy learning the global sentiment on immigrants.