The United States And Immigrants – Past Mistakes And Future Challenges

“The rockets’ red glare gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.” America, land of the free home of the brave. American history is all around us, but we protest our hope for the future. We live in a country separated by borders. Not man made ones but political ones. Democrats, republicans, and Independent, but does having these borders make us a “Union.” Today I will tell you about some of the opportunities that America has had to improve in past mistakes such as dealing with immigrants. Next I will discuss with you the other side of immigrants and some of the things America has done well in its country. Lastly I will give you a look on our hope for the future.

How are we supposed to live in a “Union” when we have a house and senate that is supposed to be working together when we can’t even vote on simple things. As a country we have hope for our future if we are willing to learn from the past. According the National Geographic about 95,000 foreigners a day arrive in the United States, but most do not intend to stay long. More than 90,000 are nonimmigrant tourists, business people, students, and workers who are welcomed at airports and border crossings. About 3,000 are immigrants or refugees who have been invited to become permanent residents of the United States, and more than 1,000 are unauthorized foreigners, usually Mexicans, who evade border controls, enter the United States, and settle. Is the arrival of many foreigners to be welcomed or feared? There is not one single answer, which helps to explain why Americans are soar on the subject about immigration. The United States has tried to celebrate its immigrant heritage, and American leaders often try to recount the renewal and rebirth brought by newcomers from abroad. Yet Americans have worried since the days of the founders about potential damage and cultural change caused by immigration. Wouldn't past tragedies make us fear new immigrants coming into our homeland? Now there is a difference between immigrants and nonimmigrants, Immigrants are commonly known as people coming to the US for a new lifestyle or illegally crossing borders to become free, Non Immigrants are people who come to the United States to visit, work, or study. The United States is eager to attract most types of nonimmigrants – airlines and hotels advertise for foreign tourists, for example – so there are few quantitative limits on most categories of nonimmigrants. The number of nonimmigrants tripled in the past 20 years, primarily because of the growing number of tourists and business visitors. George Sleigh, a British naval architect, was on his phone in his 91st floor office when he heard the roar of jet engines. When he looked out his window, he had time to think just these three things: The wheels are up, the underbelly is white, and "man, that guy is low." Yes, George Sleigh was a Patron killed in the twin tower attack, but if we Americans weren't so accepting to immigrants would this attack ever of happened? Would any of the terrorist attacks ever of happened? I hope us Americans learn from our past mistakes and choose a different path with immigrants.

America, land of the free home of the brave. America is the only country that has created a population of “self-made tycoons.” Only in America could Pierre Omidyar, whose parents are Iranian and who grew up in Paris, have started a company like eBay. Only in America could Vinod Khosla, the son of an Indian army officer, become a leading venture capitalist, the shaper of the technology industry, and a billionaire to boot. Tycoons are not typical, but no country has created a better ladder than America for people to ascend from modest circumstances to success. America provides opportunities for people of many cultures although it always hasn't been this way. There is nothing distinctive American about slavery because slavery has existed in virtually every culture, and prejudice and discrimination are worldwide phenomena. Western civilization is the only civilization to mount a principled campaign against slavery; no country expended more treasure and blood to get rid of slavery than the United States. While racism remains a problem, this country has made strenuous efforts to eradicate discrimination, even to the extent of enacting policies that give legal preference in university admissions, jobs, and government contracts to members of minority groups. Such policies remain controversial, but the point is that it is extremely unlikely that a racist society would have permitted such policies in the first place. And surely African Americans like Jesse Jackson are vastly better off living in America than they would be if they were to live in, say, Ethiopia or Somalia. These are just some of the many things America has done well for itself.

America, our hope for the future. Of the long list of hopes that I have for the United States of America, my most important is for people to respect themselves. If we learn to respect ourselves, we will respect our peers, neighbors, environment, and streets. External appreciation begins with an internal appreciation of oneself. Also we need to all strive to raise honest children, support the troops, pinch a few pennies so we can give some of them away, think and act for seventh-generation sustainability. Vote and elect a president who will do the right thing and make the hard decisions, teach our children to pursue their dreams, not dollar signs, because true happiness is not dependent on income, and try to follow our own advice. Our children are our future, if we raise respectable children can’t we expect to have a respectable future? Now that I have discussed with you my three body points I hope I have given you a different look on America in positive ways and maybe some negative ways. Also keep in mind that your decisions you make for America not only affect you they affect my generation too. It breaks my heart to also see non respectable kids roaming around with no parental guidance knowing that, that is a part of the future I will be growing up in. Now fellow Americans think about our hope for the future. “Or the land and of the free and the home of the brave.”