Social Issues

The underlying issue behind the discrimination against immigrants is the fact that people are ethnocentric, or have the belief that their ethnic group is superior than all others. When people hear the word “immigrant,” they tend to immediately think of Hispanics because of the issue occurring at the United States-Mexico border. The interactionist sociological lens causes one to think of this situation in a philosophical point of view, studying how immigration and being an immigrant can be looked at as a symbol. To immigrants, being an immigrant is both a blessing and a curse since they their stories are filled with trials but also with obstacles that have been overcome. Immigrants are proud to arrive at the United States but sometimes feel restricted and not given their end of the bargain liberty and opportunity-wise. Most of the data in my Political Perspectives page contains information that is gathered by looking at this social problem through all three sociological lenses: functionalist, conflict, and interactionist. Looking at immigration through a functionalist standpoint, immigrants function in our society as does everyone else; applying for jobs and working, paying rent for a home, and running necessary errands to stay afloat. However, as my Political Perspective page shows, many Americans also believe that immigrants suck the nation dry and take advantage of our system. This point of view merges the functionalist and the conflict perspective together since some Americans view immigrants as a threat or danger to our society, judging them because of stereotypes and false rumors that have been made about them, such as immigrants all being categorized and accused of being criminals, terrorists, and drug addicts. This observation merges the interactionist lens with the other two since our opinion of what we think the word “immigrant” means affects the way we believe they fit or do not fit into our American society.

Immigrants face social problems other than just the basics that come to mind such as hunger, homelessness, and poverty. We Are One New Jersey’s website claims that 93,000 legal permanent residents of Hudson County “are eligible to become U.S. citizens, but lack the financial resources, English-language skills or time to fulfill their dream of full citizenship.” The undocumented immigrants face even more obstacles and have a harder time trying to just feel safe in America. Many illegal immigrants try very hard and go beyond limitations to stay hidden and not be caught since merely proving residency in the United States is a risk. Angelica, whose story I briefly wrote about in the North Bergen portion of my Policies website page, has a 10-year-old daughter who fled Colombia when she was two years old, will be eligible to apply for DACA once she is fifteen. She knows that her parents are immigrants like herself, but is not aware that they are undocumented. She and her mother both went to the  informational public event held in North Bergen’s township hall. When asked about what she thought about immigration, she said, “I think that people [who come to America] might get better chances than from where they came from. Maybe they didn’t get a better life, better job or better home. But here, they get more opportunity.” [1]

The other end of the argument on trying to solve this social issue is concerning the legalities of the situation. Senator Lindsey Graham acknowledged this problem, and acknowledged that the majority of the nation is aware of what we have been experiencing at the border. “I’ve been trying to find a solution to the problem, which we all acknowledge, which is a border out of control, laws being abused, a humanitarian crisis,” Senator Graham noted; “the problem is getting to be unmanageable. We’re all concerned about the humanitarian conditions … but we’ve done nothing to stop the flow until today.” The president of the Hudson County Chamber of Commerce Maria Nieves said “it is time for common-sense immigration reform.” She added, “immigration is needed now more than ever, especially as we see the U.S. birthrate drop to its lowest rate in the past 32 years, and if we are going to compete on a global level and continue to have robust and global economies and communities we need the energy that new immigration brings.” Ron Bautista, Hudson County Freeholder Candidate and part of the political party in Hoboken, was born in Ecuador, arriving in the United States on a tourist visa. He did not get approved for legal residency for eleven years; about four years ago, he finally became a United States citizen. He said, “at least I had a pathway, even though it was long and scary.” [2]

Bibliography:

[1] Herzog, Laura. “North Bergen’s Immigrants Seek Answers, Citizenship.” Nj.com, Advance Local Media LLC, 11 Feb. 2015, www.nj.com/hudson/2015/02/north_bergen_immigration_new_laws_citizenship.html.

[2] Alvarado, Monsy. “Rally in Jersey City Takes a Stand against Trump’s Refugee and Asylum Policies.” North Jersey, NorthJersey, 4 Aug. 2019, www.northjersey.com/story/news/new-jersey/2019/08/03/rally-jersey-city-takes-stand-vs-trump-refugee-and-asylum-policies/1900445001/.

[3] Maynard, Micheline. “Immigrants and the Economy.” CQ Researcher, 24 Feb. 2017, pp. 169-92, library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre2017022400.

[4] Wanlund, Bill. “Immigration.” CQ Researcher, 11 June 2014,  library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqr_ht_immigration_2014.