«History about the Experience of Latin Americans Immigrants in the US» - Free Essay Paper

Introduction

The United States of America is believed to be “a melting pot,” especially due to its flexible nature and democratic values. The country is usually ready to accept people who hold different interests, religious and cultural beliefs, and knowledge. However, the United States has some foreign policies as well as political interests that led to the sudden rise in the number of Latin American immigrants. The rate of immigration was very rampant, especially during the 20^th century. The Latin Americans, who came from countries such as Mexico, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico, flocked in America. Therefore, it is worth noting that political interests of the Americans are one of the major factors that culminated to the surge in immigration. The probable reason is that they wanted to benefit economically in terms of accessing cheap labor, which could not be provided by the American population. On the other hand, favorable foreign policies could make people from Latin America seek solace in the United States. At least, they could be assured of favorable economic conditions, good employment opportunities, and improved education system among others important facets. Therefore, the development represented a double-edged sword in relation to the factors that led to increased flooding of immigrants in the United States. First, this could be associated with the foreign policies used, and secondly, it may be related to the political interests of the Americans. However, one of the most challenging questions worth pondering concerns whether the aftermath adverse experience of the immigrants can fit the immigrant model. Therefore, this paper will seek to determine how the American policy and foreign policies led to the influx of immigrants from Latin America. Furthermore, the paper will seek to evaluate whether these immigrants suffered from the plight of discrimination based on the immigrant model ideal and principles.

Appeasing the Latin Americans to Migrate to America

It is worth noting that towards the beginning of the 20^th century there was a minimal number of immigrants (Duany 35). However, the population of the immigrants continued increasing throughout the 20^th century (Duany 35). Perhaps, this could be associated with the American anticipation and higher expectation to strengthen its political institutions. First, it emerged as the strongest country globally, especially after the Second World War. Therefore, to maintain dominance on the world level, the United States had to accept an influx of refugees. The population of these refugees could act as cheap sources of labor to the proliferating industrial sector. This could have made America not to enact strict laws relating to the immigration sector. As a result, many immigrants moved to the US between 1988 and 1989. A sizeable number of immigrants were from Guatemala, Mexico, as well as the Republic of Nicaragua (Portes and Stepick 135). First, they had to settle in the neighboring Miami as well as Texas states. As a result, America was forced to adopt a majority of them as legal citizens through the naturalization process(Portes and Stepick 135). Therefore, this was a clear indication that the country has a foreign policy of appeasement towards the immigrants. The country had created clear political structure and foreign policies that could encourage more immigrants to enter the US. As noted earlier, such migrants were beneficial, especially in boosting the country’s economy. As a result, they could lead to spurs in economic growth, thus helping the country of the United States be at an economic advantage. The move could help America still dominate as the global superpower in almost all aspects. One of the strategies was to empower the industrial sector through boosting its production. Therefore, it had no choice but to let most of its industries have access to the cheap source of labor provided by the immigrants. Consequently, the United States had no choice but to let more immigrants settle.

Creation of Strict Laws that Could Control and Regulate Latin Americans’ Immigrant Influx

However, what seemed as a good strategy at the initial stage became haunting the country in the long run. It was revealed that the immigrants continued flooding into the United States in large numbers. Some of the major factors that caused immigration include the economic underdevelopment of their respective countries, political persecution, and other crises (Hamilton and Chinchilla 76). Most of Central American countries faced these challenges (Hamilton and Chinchilla 76). As a result, they perceived America as a safe haven, where there was no political persecution or economic hardships. Besides, they could benefit from desirable opportunities, such as better education and probability of securing employment. Therefore, the above mentioned features continue prompting more Latin Americans continue flooding to the US in large numbers. The trend has continued exacerbating to date, thus instilling fear among the American authorities such as the Immigration Department. Finally, America decided to change its policies towards the immigrants approach as a way of protecting welfare of its citizens. Today, any immigrants from such countries are deported contrarily to the initial perception, whereby they were welcomed by the same authorities. The country has enacted very strict policies that would criminalize any practice related to immigration. Various forms of discrimination such as racial prejudice have become widespread. Such kind of racial hostility might lead to some negative outcomes such as violence, prejudice, and discrimination against the representatives of Latin America. As a result, crime rates  continue rising (Harvest Empire). Therefore, the new development is a phenomenon that makes one ponder on the drastic change in policies that govern the immigration program. Could the new development be based on the political interests of America as a state? Could it be that America enacted friendly foreign policies to take advantage of the immigrants in terms of accessing cheap source of labor and later dump them? These are very critical question that usually linger in mind whenever one contemplates on America and Latin American immigrants. This has introduced a new concept of immigrant model.