Valentina Rojas

Instructor: Malcolm Campbell

UWRIT 1104

November 8th, 2017

Immigration Policies: The Ends Do Not Justify The Means

One day I arrived in this country, the land of opportunities. I was full of expectations, but

I certainly wasnt aware of what being an immigrant really means. I quickly realized that there

were a lot of people who either went or were going through the same situations as me: adapting

to a new culture, new system new ways of life. People that were as lost as me when we had to

take American History classes in high school, because it was clearly out of our areas of

knowledge. However, I was instantly amazed by the heterogeneity I was facing and the different

people

got the chance to meet. It was fun to me to know that I could be in a

room with people whose families are from other parts of the world. It wasnt until a few months

later, when elections were around the corner, that being an immigrant turned into something

more than speaking another language and eating different kinds of food.

Suddenly, I started to see in the news how the future of millions immigrant families was

being threatened, and how desperate they were to fight for an opportunity to stay in the country

that provided them with a better quality of life. I also started to pay close attention to my Twitter

and Instagram feeds, which became areas of debate where my Hispanic friends would have sorts

of arguments with my American friends. Do immigrants really affect the country negatively?

Could America prosper without immigrants? After learning that immigrants founded America in
my American History class, I was asking myself those questions and how ironic it would be if

both the answers were yes.

A few months later our new president Donald Trump got elected. The country I made my

new home was now ruled by someone that planned millions of deportations, enhanced penalties,

ending birthright citizenship, abolishing the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA),

ending welfare to immigrants, building a wall around the borderall to make America great

again, and to protect American citizens and interests. Yes, being an immigrant turned into

something more serious, and maybe a little scary.

Nowadays, economic prosperity apparently implies a radical change in immigration

policies, because the nation feels under attack and threatened by people coming from another

countries. The newest concept of progress enforced mostly by our new President justify

some excluding or discriminatory actions towards immigrants. It can sound familiar or clich,

but the increasingly important role immigrants play in society is being ignored and

misunderstood. In addition to their impact on the economy, the enrichment of culture and the

growth of our capacities as a country are a part of their positive impact. Thats why, some

politics regarding their access to the country and their eligibility to receive equal treatment by the

government should be considered unfair, having in mind that the nation should and could strive

to balance its goals and measures with fair and humanitarian rights.

To begin with, whether or not the effects of immigration are bad enough to implement

and defend severe reforms is debatable. Brayan Caplan, professor of Economics at George

Mason University and Senior Scholar at the Mercatus Center, especifically addressed those

effects to prove that they do not justify severe immigration restrictions. In his article Why

Should We Restrict Immigration, he proves that the most popular arguments used to spread
anti-immigration thoughts, being protecting American workers, culture, liberty, and property

rights, are not as valid and strong as they seem to be. Critics can tailor the details to fit the

magnitude of the harm they believe immigrants inflict, he says.

Under open borders, low-skilled wages are likely to fall, and without immigration

restrictions, the supply of labor in the United States would rapidly increase. Defenders have a

strong point there, regarding protecting American workers. But most Americans are not low-

skilled. Over 87 percent of Americans over the age of 25 are high-school graduates (U.S.

Census Bureau 2011), and as Caplan stated, educated Americans are to become customers, not

competitors, of immigrants. Moreover, even if they increase the supply of labor, they would also

demand goods and services, which is a benefit for native economy.

On the other hand, physical skills may increase with immigration, but other skills like

language or communication, might decrease. It is possible to think that America has the potential

to offer plenty of opportunities and jobs with different requirements. In other words, the

economies of developed countries can adapt to the new forms of labor, and immigrants would

not substitute but complement native labor (Powell, 2010). At the same time, having more

available workers may lead to specialization, which doesnt sound like a negative effect having

in mind that, the more fine and deep is the division of labor, the more productive is the economy

(Boudreaux). Immigration might actually increase native wages if employers seek for labor force

with certain skills that people coming from the outside wont have.

However, even if immigrants did have a negative impact on native workers, there are

other alternatives that could be cheaper. For example, charging immigrants surtaxes and/or

admission fees, then use the extra revenue to compensate Americans. (Caplan 2012).
 Immigrants as a way to harm American culture is another strong and common argument

used to justify immigration restrictions. But again, some facts are being ignored. For example,

America's top two cultural centers, California and New York, have the largest foreign-born

populations in the country- 26 percent and 20 percent, respectively (U.S. Census Bureau 2003).

Also, it is necessary to point out that one of the many benefits of diverse immigration is the

resulting reflection of that diversity in different cuisine styles. In fact, Bryan Caplan makes

exactly this point in the article mentioned before: Immigrants causally improve at least one form

of culture prized by snobs and philistines alike: cuisine. And if were being honest, dont most

Americans care more about food than literature and museums?

States with less population of immigrants are most likely to be out of the places to visit

list of a tourist, and its not a secret that travel and tourism directly contributes more to GDP than

automotive manufacturing in every region of the world. By the same token, according to a

research from World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) undertaken by Oxford Economics,

after education, travel and tourism is the top job creator with an average of 50 jobs generated by

US$1 million in spend, and that is twice as many jobs as created by financial services,

communications, and auto manufacturing.

In addition to that, immigration allows us to open our borders to different cultures,

languages, and ideas. If we think about it, getting interaction with people from different cultures

within the borders of the US, in a highly globalized world, is certainly a positive aspect. Not to

mention that immigrants arrive with practices and knowledge from their homelands, all of which

deserve to be incorporated and valued. If restrictionists are worried about the nations progress, it

should be taken into account that immigration helps the country to recruit the talent that

companies need to prosper in the business world. It is important to remember that ex president
Obama advocated the need for America to be able to retain more international students and

engineers, in hope to improve the software industry. Likewise, if restrictionists are worried about

employment, it should be taken into account that employers might be seeking for people fluent

in more than one language. Our own government including the Department of Defense and

the State Department rely heavily on skilled multilingual individuals in order to accomplish

critical work.

Then again, even if the positive impact that open border policies remains ignored, there

are cheaper and more humane ways to address cultural concerns than immigration restrictions.

For example, a test of English fluency or cultural literacy. But to be fair, if most Americans

cannot name the decade of the American Civil War, why should we expect more from

immigrants?

Another key point is protecting American liberty by all means. Surely, defenders of

immigration restrictions worry about having to deal with the political views and ideas brought to

the country, which apparently are strong enough to change the whole countrys perspective and

strive to end the United States democracy, as if they had a magic wand. Understandable, but yet

wrong.
 Comments: I love the idea behind your research paper, it is something that is extremely

important and its good that you are spreading awareness of this subject. My favorite thing about

your essay is how you made it so personal. You told your own story of coming to America and

the way you viewed this country. It made the essay very interesting to read. I didnt find many

things that I believe should be corrected. Just a couple of grammatical errors is all. Also, it does

seem to be missing a conclusion. All you need is one more paragraph to wrap up all of your

ideas. Then it will be perfect! Overall it is very well written and contains plenty of information

that seems to have been carefully thought out and organized. Great Job!!