Thursday, April 29, 2010

So You Want to Live in America?

Immigration has been a major source of population growth and cultural change throughout much of American history. Recently and as of 2006, the United States had accepted more legal immigrants than all other nations in the world combined. The number of first-generation legal immigrants residing in the United States has quadrupled, from 9.6 million in 1970 to about 38 million in 2007.


Our country was built with and by immigrants from all four corners of the world, from all walks of life, people just like you and I, looking for opportunities that are too numerous to mention and irrelevant to this discussion but opportunities that they could not find in their native country of origin, and unless you are a native American, you are either a descendant of one of these adventurous and courageous people or one of them yourself. They left all they knew and all they had behind, including loved ones, got on a boat or on a plane, many with little or no money and headed for an unknown land, many unable to communicate, risking all, but hope drove them to what was to be their land of opportunity. Once here, they decided to better themselves, working hard to provide their idea of the “American dream” for their families. However, our ancestors and maybe even you, came through the front door, rang the bell, and came in legally, following all the laws, rules and regulations, worked hard, served the country, paid taxes and one way or another made a positive impact, and as a result were and are protected by all the laws in the Nation, having all the same benefits of those naturally born here, except voting, but even that is covered by the law, should one decide to stay for a minimum of five years, he or she can also have that right and participate in our democratic process as a naturalized citizen.

Illegal immigrants however, do not fall into this category. By not following, choosing to ignore, bypassing and break all the laws, rules and regulations in their eagerness to reach the land of opportunity, they forfeited all the rights that their legal siblings enjoy. They settle for substandard employment opportunities by unscrupulously greedy employers that are simply concerned about lowering overhead costs, accepting substandard salaries however, above standard in comparison to their country of origin, literally enslaving themselves to their employers or sponsors, in fact Indian, Russian, Thai, and Chinese women have been reportedly brought to the United States under false pretenses. “As many as 50,000 people are illicitly trafficked into the United States annually, according to a 1999 CIA study. Once here, they're forced to work as prostitutes, sweatshop laborers, farmhands, and servants in private homes.” US authorities call it “a modern form of slavery”. The Coalition Against Trafficking in Women has reported scores of cases where women were forced to prostitute themselves. “Trafficking in women plagues the United States as much as it does underdeveloped nations. Organized prostitution networks have migrated from metropolitan areas to small cities and suburbs. Women trafficked to the United States have been forced to have sex with 400-500 men to pay off $40,000 in debt for their passage.” At least 45,000 Central American children attempt to illegally immigrate to the United States every year and many of them finish in brothels as sex slaves, according to Manuel Capellin, director in Honduras of the humanitarian organization House Alliance.