poem citation
Dengle, Charlena. "A Poem On Immigration." Welcome to Cyberlearning World by George Cassutto. 1995. Web. 23 Oct. 2011. <http://www.cyberlearning-world.com/nhhs/html3/immigrat.htm>.

New Life in America

             Help

evil came

destroying everything

its hands can reach

every day is a pain

every day survived a miracle

the ones I loved

were taken away

no!

I want to live!

investing sweat, blood,

life, and death

this game was being played

running away,

                  fleeing

from my native land

all my memories

everything I've owned

dropped,

given up

for one big mystery

freedom is the mystery

crossing the pond

arriving

so many other people

like ants trying to find their sand pile

it is raining

but it was raining harder before

New York!

I knew this word ever since I was born

but to associate something with it -  I've never been able

well, I guess this is it

this is my new life

but I don't feel like rejoicing

I'm as unemployed as everyone else

I'm not special

I'm back to zero

I don't understand why

Germany lost the war, Hitler didn't even lose

because he didn't care!

didn't care about anyone in his country

the people lost - not the government

there wasn't even a government

and after we lost -things were  indescribable

no one ran, but I did

I deserve something better than

no  home, no insurance, no food, no...

nothing

and I used to have all the things,

hoping, living on,

that's can do

I am free

This poem shows some of the pain that immigrants have to go through to come to this country. Today we treat immigrants like dirt. We complain that they are here, but they’re not really a bother to us. Some have gone through unimaginable hardship, or trying to start a new life, or supporting their family. They come over here as nobodies, striving to be some bodies. It’s a life unimaginable to a non-immigrant, but to them it’s opportunity.

Interview between me and my great grandma

Me: Hi Grandma, how are you?

Grandma: I’m ok thanks hun. How are you?

Me: I’m all right. (I chuckle) Lets get down to business though.

Grandma: Ok, sounds grand.

Me: Do you remember the year you came over to America?

Grandma: I believe the year was 1929. I was 5 years old.

Me: Wow that’s a pretty stellar memory you got their Grandma. Where did you emigrate from?

Grandma: (she chuckles) I emigrated from Italy. I only got to live in Italy for five years of my life and now I barely know English.

Me: Why did you move here?

Grandma: Well I think my parents wanted us kids to come here because this was the land of opportunity.

Me: Do you think it was the right move coming to America?

Grandma: I think my parents would’ve done what’s best for me, so yes.

Me: Was it hard to cope with the American culture?

Grandma: I was so young that I don’t thing I really knew what was going on. My parents told me it was a long trip. Then eventually I asked what was going on. My parents were forced to tell me what was happening, and I was fine with it.

Me: Was it tough learning a new language?

Grandma: No, I wasn’t too advanced in the Italian language.

Me: What traditions did you have to leave behind?

Grandma: We might have left Italy, but we were still Italian, we kept everything.

Me: Thanks for your time Grandma.

Grandma: Anything for you, I love ya.

http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10877

http://borderbattles.ssrc.org/Hirschman/

http://articles.famouswhy.com/why_do_people_immigrate_to_other_countries_/

Grisald, Daniel. "Immigrants Have Enriched American Culture and Enhanced Our Influence in the World | Daniel Griswold | Cato Institute: Commentary." The Cato Institute. 18 Feb. 2002. Web. 23 Oct. 2011. <http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10877
Alba, Richard. "The Impact of Immigration on American Society: Looking Backward to the Future." Welcome. 28 July 2006. Web. 23 Oct. 2011. <http://borderbattles.ssrc.org/Hirschman/>.
Tonita, Herminne. "About Why Do People Immigrate to Other Countries?, Why Do People Immigrate to Other Countries? - FamousWhy." Famous Articles. FamousWhy, 31 May 2010. Web. 23 Oct. 2011. <http://articles.famouswhy.com/why_do_people_immigrate_to_other_countries_/>.

The American People need to be taught differently. It’s not only Mexicans that come to this country. The whole idea of immigration is misperceived. Immigrants come here to start a new life, or to help their families, and they get no respect. They sacrifice for their families. Even though they get little money, they still work hard, and they still give some money to the American economy. Politicians and writers have to look harder in to immigration. There are many contradictory articles out there but I believe these articles are right. There are pluses to immigration.

“Not only have almost all immigrants (or their descendants) assimilated over time, but they have broadened American society in many positive ways. In this review, I discuss the popular fears about immigrants by old stock Americans and the historical record of immigrant contributions to the evolution of the industrial economy, political reform, and even to the development of American culture.” America needs to be informed that we are a nation of immigrants. Immigrants don’t only help out economically, but they are the culture of America. Italy has Italian culture, Ireland has Irish culture, but America we are the most diverse nation in the world. We are the most exciting place in the world. People want to come here and it’s all because we except diversity. People should know that immigration is good for us it lets us merge our cultures. If you go to Germany you’re not going to be able to get some Chinese food, but here in America we are a nation of many combined as one.

“Many opponents of immigration are old stock Americans who have all but forgotten their immigrant ancestors. They often live in small towns or in suburban areas, and many have relatively little contact with immigrant families in their neighborhoods, churches, and friendship networks.” People have to remember their pasts. People don’t realize that their parent’s parents were once immigrants. They take the easy way out and blame problems on immigrants. I think the main problem is how we react to immigrants. We build structures to keep them out and we spend all this money, but they still come in. It’s a waste and I think we should stop funding for stuff like that, because the majority of people building the structures to keep immigrants out are probably immigrants. People should be taught differently because they have to realize immigrants have no impact on them.

Immigrants raise the necessity for supplying goods. Foreign born people make up 10 percent of our country are immigrants. “Immigrants also raise demand for goods as well as the supply. During the long boom of the 1990s, and especially in the second half of the decade, the national unemployment rate fell below 4 percent and real wages rose up and down the income scale during a time of relatively high immigration.” Without immigrants we lose more than 30 million people, and that’s thirty million less people we have to supply, meaning the necessity for goods will decrease. Many believe that all immigrants money go back to their homeland. This is false because how will they pay for where they live, what they wear, and what they eat. Some of the money they make has to be pumped back in to the American economy. The economy is bad as it is and if you take away the immigrants I think it might get worse. I think there should be more tests done on how immigrants affect the United States.

Is immigration all that bad? Most Americans have the perception that immigration is not good for our economy. This thought about immigration has been drilled in to our heads from countless documentaries and politicians. I have recently read a few articles that have changed my viewpoint. The writers of these articles believe that immigration is not all bad. In fact they believe that immigrants improve our crumbling economy. These articles have successfully swayed my thoughts about Immigration. I always had the idea that most Americans had. Then again, why did I have this perception?  We are a nation of Immigrants. We have always problems with immigrants, whether it was the Irish, Italian, or Mexican immigrants. Many people in America believe that immigrants steal their jobs, but this article says otherwise. “Contrary to popular myth, immigrants do not push Americans out of jobs” says Daniel Griswald. Immigrants do low paying jobs that most Americans frankly wouldn’t want to do. They’re not stealing the jobs that Americans desire, they’re doing the dirty work that no one wants to do. People should change their ideas that immigration is a bad thing. It does a lot of good too.