Running Head: IMMIGRATION

Immigration Literature Review

Emma Diaz
University of Texas at El Paso

Abstract

This literature review analyzes the different perspectives people among the U.S have on the issue
of immigration. It includes examples of how immigrants are reacting and how they are trying to
take action in different places throughout the country. Also the different ways that people feel
culturally threatened because of the traditions and languages they bring to the U.S, and lastly, it
examines how some people believe that immigrants have negatively and positively impacted the
economy in the United States. By using different articles such as academic journals, newspapers,
and magazines, information was collected to study this issue and its many controversial aspects.

Introduction: Immigration Literature Review

Of the many facets of globalization, immigration is arguably the most controversial and
politically charged (Malhotra, 2013). People among the United States have various different
opinions on this issue, for example some people oppose it due to their fear of economic and
cultural changes to the country, while other individuals support it because they believe
immigrants deserve an opportunity to stay in the U.S.
This literature review will analyze the different points of view people in the United States
have on immigration, and some of the concerns people have over the issue. For this purpose
these three questions will be answered:

1.) Are there some efforts taken by immigrants to stay in this country?
2.) Do some people in the U.S feel culturally threatened because of the income of
immigrants?
3.) Is there an impact on the U.S economy because of incoming immigrants?
It would be difficult to make everyone agree with the same idea because everyone has
their own opinions that cause them to either support or oppose immigration. Although before
making that decision one must fully investigate the advantages and disadvantages immigrants
bring to the United States. The investigation of this issue can help one become more
knowledgeable thus, in the future have better evidence when stating an opinion on the topic.

Are there efforts some efforts taken by immigrants to stay in this country?
Whether people support or oppose this issue, immigrants throughout their daily lives
make efforts to convince the government to give them an opportunity to stay in the United
States. It can be by protesting out in the streets to developing new ideas that will somehow
benefit the country. For example, young immigrants have made different types of protests to ask
the government to give them the opportunity to go to college, the so called Dreamers. One of
those protest took place in Miami, a group of young immigrants started a walk from Miami to
Washington D.C with the purpose to show the government that they wanted to see more action
on reform policies (Preston, 2010).
Even if some of these individuals find a way to go to college, for example those accepted
on the Dream Act, after getting their education their legal status still impedes them to take a job.
However, some of these immigrants have found another ways to make money in order to sustain
themselves and their families. For example, 20 year old Carla Chavarria developed a business in
graphic design, her work is sometimes so immense that she has to hire individuals that can
actually work legally in the United States (Carcamo 2013).
Immigrants are not only taking advantage of those opportunities, but also from other
types of aid offered by individuals who support immigration. Perhaps, immigrants trying to
obtain their citizenship require legal representation, and it is sometimes offered by different
organizations that can provide those services at low-cost or even sometimes for free. Of the
many different organizations there is the American Bar Association and the State Bar of Texas,
whom each year participate in an event called National Pro Bono Celebration. In this event,
attorneys offer their services to many of those needed immigrants in order to help them with their
legal process (Davis 2014).

Do some people in the U.S feel culturally threatened because of the income of immigrants?
Some individuals may sometimes feel threatened by immigrants because once they arrive
in this country, they bring with them part of their culture and traditions. Cultural threat,
characterized by the perception that immigrants threaten the American identity and culture.
(Newman 2013, p.374) As said in this quote people in the U.S fear that the common American
traditions will eventually disappear due to the new traditions brought by immigrants.
A national survey of nearly 3,000 Latinos1 reveals that 62% of first-generation Hispanic
immigrants, or 11 million people, speak little to no English in the United States. (Hartman et.al,
2012, p.635). As these writers said, another idea that people in the U.S disapprove is the
enormous introduction of the Spanish language to the country. Some people believe immigrants
should be the responsible to learn English rather than Americans having to learn Spanish.
Although as this issue is so controversial nearly all Latinos (88%) say that it is important for
future generations living in the United States to maintain their ability to speak Spanish
(Hartman et.al, 2012, p.636).
Some individuals also believe that immigrants should adjust to the way of life of the
Americans and their culture, which is developed by the acculturation process, a process
characterized by the displacement of the original cultural patterns of a group, followed by a
period of cultural adjustment and change (Hartman et.al, 2012, p.638).
Nobody knows in reality what the right answer to this problem is, if whether one should
learn Spanish, or immigrants should learn English, and if immigrants should forget about their
culture or keep it with them, but it is always useful to investigate the different opinions people
have about this demanding issue.

Is there an impact on the U.S economy because of incoming immigrants?

Apart from a cultural threat to Americans, there also exists an economic threat. People
who oppose immigration feel like immigrants cause economic problems to the United States in
various different ways. For example one of the issues involved in the economic threat is, the
competition that immigrants pose for jobseither replacing native workers or suppressing their
wages. (Malhotra et.al, 2013, p.392). This causes opposition to immigration because people in
the U.S want jobs to be taken by citizens of this country and not individuals from another
country.
Another economic factor is the pressure that immigrants put on national, state, and local
social welfare agencies may boost opposition due to the fears of increased taxation, educational
costs, and other burdens on infrastructure (Coenders & Scheepers, 1998; Quillian, 1995)
(Brader et. al, 2013, p.150). Because of this issue people are afraid the economy will go down
due to all these costs that the government has to cover on not only U.S citizens but also
immigrants.
Although, as said before every factor in this issue is very controversial, just as some
people may see economic threats because of the taxes, welfare and job positions taken by
immigrants, others may look at it in a different way and might support immigration because of
the jobs implemented by illegal immigrants who develop their own businesses and hire U.S
citizens as mentioned before. Once again one cannot know what the right answer to this issue is
but is always beneficial to know how the economy is impacted due to the many incoming
immigrants.

Conclusion
As a result, one can conclude that immigration is a very controversial topic that has
impacted the U.S in many different ways, thus it is important to be informed about it even if
there are multiple perspectives about it.
There has been and always will be a controversy over immigration. Some individuals will
support it and others will oppose it and they may have their reason to believe that. It is possible
that there will still be economic and cultural threats and maybe even other different threats.
Although before one can make a decision and state their opinion, one must investigate the
various perspectives of the problem and find out why those viewpoints exist.
Becoming more knowledgeable about this issue can help individuals make up their own
opinions, and can also help the government find a solution to this problem. For example, as this
literature review does, by researching various articles that show different outlooks from different
people about the problem of immigration. At the end, even after all the research, one may not
have the exact right answer to the problem, but it is still helpful to know this information because
it serves as evidence from the different points of view on the topic.

References page

Brader, T., Jardina, A.E., & Valentino, N.A. (2013). Immigration opposition among U.S
whites: general ethnocentrism or media priming of attitudes about latinos. Political
Psychology, 34(2), p149-166
Carcamo, C. (2013, September 14). Immigrants lacking papers work legally as their own
busses. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from http://www.latimes.com/
Davis, D. O. (2014, October 24). Ouisa D. Davis: El Paso lawyers offer free aid Saturday
those in need. El Paso Times. Retrieved from http://elpasotimes.com/
Dinnerstein, L., & Reimers, D. M. (2014). The Era of Latinos, 1965-1990. The World Comes to
America. (pp. 53-73). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Hartman, T.K., Newman, B.J., & Taber, C.S. (2012). Foreign Language Exposure, Cultural
Threat and Opposition to Immigration. Political Psychology, 33(5), 635-657.
Hyunjun Mo, C., Malhotra, N. & Margalit, Y. (2013). Economic explanation for opposition to
immigration: distinguishing between prevalence and conditional impact. American
Journal of Political Science, 57(2), p. 391-410.
Newman, B.J. (2013). Acculturating contexts and anglo opposition to immigration in the United
States. American Journal of Political Science, 57(2), p. 391-410.
Preston, J. (2010, March). Raised in the U.S., but still illegal. The New York Times Upfront.
Retrieved from http://upfront.scholastic.com