The Future of Immigration

The ethnic and racial composition of the American people is complex. A new group of immigrants from Latin and Asian countries has added a wider measure of phenotypic and cultural diversity to the American population in recent years. Scholars project that with the current rate of immigration, there will come a period where the current changes in the ethnic and racial composition, will lead to a blurring of once-distinct ethnic and racial divisions. This is because there is a spontaneously decreasing significance of ethnicity and race. In instances, where immigrant groups will be allowed to integrate with the majority groups new racial divisions may certainly come to rise.

The majority of Americans have several identities that exhibit complex tribal and communal associations. This is because from the beginning America has always been a multicultural and multiethnic society. During the 19th century, the ethnic and racial landscape was very complex. But due to series of immigration from Asia and Europe it led to increasingly diverse race and ethnic composition of the American population. As the twentieth century was ending, race and ethnicity conflict was in the limelight, violence and conflicts erupted even in the peaceful communities of the United States. The meaning of race in the US has often been subject to various determinations. Local economic redesigning and the gradual flow of labor and capital have created a new economic meaning of race and ethnicity in the country. Many of the immigrants experience dilemma especially in the matters of ethnic identities and national origins, some of them even defy their race and ethnic classification.

According to Massey, there has been a significant transformation in the United States propelled by immigration. He explains that there are more immigrants nowadays who bear cultures and speak languages that are quite different from the ones that were brought by the European immigrants in the past. This situation has led to a heated debate and analysis of how the new immigration will affect the US society in the future. Some people are worried that immigration is going to have adverse effects on the economy, but recent study shows that immigrants do not have strong effects on US employment levels and wage rates and that they do not compete with the native workers. Despite this evidence, some people are still not contented with the new immigration and its outcomes. The reason behind this unhappiness is because they are worried these immigrants will in some way create a different culture and community in the United States. Studies show that whatever the situation, the racial and ethnic composition of the United States is clearly changing together with the socio-cultural environment created by the prior immigrants (Massey, 14).

Based on different demographic projections conducted by several researchers, in the next century, Americans of the European descent are likely to become the minority in the United States. In fact, it has already begun and can be seen in some urban areas such as Miami and Los Angeles. This demographic evidence explains that shortly, the European Americans are going to be displaced from their dominant position in the American life. A lot of social scientists have been reluctant to address this issue, but it looks like it is taking shape. This situation has forced the academic researchers to critically evaluate the situation to come up with viable findings. Some of the questions researchers have sought to answer: how many undocumented workers are there? Do the drive down wage rates? Do they displace native workers? Do they use more services than they pay taxes? Although the answers to these questions may not explain the real situation, it will, however, explain whether or not the new immigrants will conform into the existing Euro-American community of the United States. Moreover, it will clearly show how the present Americas culture will change as a result of this integration. Based on Douglas findings, white Americans are gradually losing contact with their immigrant origins due to rapid growth in the population of mixed European ancestry. He adds that compared to the definition of the ethnicity of the past, assimilation of different ethnic societies has expanded to the extent that expressions of national identity are no longer seen as threats to national unity.

Immigration has often aroused passion in the United States; According to Sassen, there has always been an opposition between the group of immigrants that arrived earlier and are already established and the newcomers. The immigrants who arrived early oppose to who are entering the country insisting that the country is already filled. Most people believe immigration is due to adverse socioeconomic conditions in other nations such as economic stagnation, poverty, and overpopulation in their home nations and that these events are unrelated to US economic requirements. Therefore in this context, the choice of whether or not to take in immigrants is purely seen as a humanitarian issue. Hence in this situation, Immigrants are taken in not for economic motive or political responsibility but out of generosity and choice (Sassen, 21).

The public outcry over the increasing illegal immigration led to the enactment of laws which were meant to address this problem. These laws sought to reduce the employment opportunities of the undocumented workers and extend guest-worker program which ensured abundant cheap labor for agriculture from the immigrants. Starting from the late 20th-century immigration patterns to the United States has significantly changed. It has been noticed, that there is a drastic change in the regional composition of migration flows, with Asia making up the rapidly growing group of legally admitted immigrants. Also, sharp immigration rise has been clearly seen in the Hispanic and West Indian populations. The interconnection between the immigration and the problems facing the US is an indication that the country is not handling the issue of immigration appropriately. Immigration laws are deeply embedded in the question of state sovereignty. However, the state itself has been changed by transnational processes and global economic systems. The future of race and ethnicity in America over the next few decades will depend not only on dynamics within the minority racial and ethnic groups but also on the relations between these minority groups and other ethnic or racial communities. America is a country of immigrants, and it is estimated that proportion of Americans who are neither black nor white will continue to significantly increase in some regions. According to a recent study, by 2030, the whites will make up the smaller proportion of the total population of the country as a whole and their numbers will start to decrease.

Nowadays, American cities differ from the theories and the models that social scientist have sought to study urban life. In the past, the urban reality was evaluated based on the cities population and economic transformation. Today big cities have experienced an influx of new immigrants; however, it has failed to work for some minority ethnic societies. According to Waldinger (2012), this situation occurs in minority groups because of the actions and beliefs of the majority group. He says the problem may be that the dominant group prefers not to employ or work with the minority group; or else they assign the minority groups dead-end jobs. Due to immigration, Americas biggest cities have returned to diverse, multiethnic environments they once were. In the past, there were ethnic differences that hindered the economic progress of different cities, but the situation is now changing. Efforts are being made by native ethnic groups and the new and old ethnic societies to ensure that they work harmoniously. In the process, different ethnic groups will be establishing and maintaining specialized responsibilities in the citys economic life. The hiring process, however, remains a problem in the major cities. Those people who are immigrants get excluded when employers rely on ethnic networks. Ethnic employers always have a preference for their kind, due to different factors such as benefits that co-ethnic confers. In general, immigration has changed Americas urban centers completely. In the 20th century, most of the urban problems were due conflicts between the whites and the African Americans who wanted to get ahead. But today the socioeconomic diversity of the new immigrants stands out, and due to this characteristic, a new twist in urban life setting has been realized. Despite the problems they are facing, immigrants are working at extremely high rates, and it is estimated that shortly immigrants are likely to get more employment slots (Waldinger, 22).

Work Cited

Massey, D. (2013). Measuring Undocumented Migration. International Migration Review,38(3), 1075-1102. doi:10.1111/j.1747-7379.2004.tb00229.x

Sassen, S. (2010). America's ImmigrationProblem. Marx and Modernity, 319-325. doi:10.1002/9780470756119.ch47

Waldinger, R. (2012). The New Urban Reality. Cities and Society, 110-126. doi:10.1002/9780470752814.ch10