Immigration In Britain

Immigration remains a leading foreign and domestic policy issue in Europe. With political tensions between polarized sides on immigration remaining during Brexit talks, Britain faces tough issues moving forward on immigration. Fueling one side of this debate are the nationalists and nativists, those who argue that Britain should protect its dominant culture and traditions against foreigners, including those who have already pervaded Britain. While on the surface this issue most prominently impacts political affairs, there are deep underlying impacts to individual immigrant families. Growing nationalism has led to increased xenophobia and racial and religious intolerance. The illusory vision of a thriving, but imperialistic, Britain of centuries

Many immigrant families in Britain know English, but many others do not. In fact, in some circumstances, older members of the family do not understand English nearly as well as younger members who grew up learning English in Britain. The need to learn English in Britain stems from being able to function well within Britain. After all, most of the daily tasks in Britain require some English understanding, both spoken and listening. But this is just one of the points at which immigrant families are being pressured to assimilate. Of course, it should be noted that assimilation, to some degree, is required for a state to maintain operations and establish standards. Nonetheless, assimilation does not require the abandonment of all or even most of one’s cultural norms and traditions. Yet, the nationalism movement in Britain continues to create pressures for cultural assimilation. Wearing certain religious garments is now controversial to many, creating an atmosphere for many immigrants that is encouraging total cultural assimilation under the threat of expulsion or ostracism. Again, the family unit serves to assist individual immigrants in their efforts to balance assimilation with the maintenance of their own cultural identities. Transnational families, especially those that are spread thinly across the world, may find it

With nationalism seeming to be surges in certain circles in Britain, it can be difficult for immigrants to both assimilate and maintain the fundamental and important aspects of their cultural identities. Having a family in Britain can certainly help. For transnational families, finding sufficient support for the preservation of one’s own cultural identity is difficult, but certainly possibly in Britain today. The cultural challenges that are facing immigrant families and lone immigrants are clearly difficult right now. Nonetheless, cultural diversity remains highly valuable in Britain, despite pockets of the population seeking to minimize the impacts of immigrants in Britain. With their cultural values intact, immigrants in Britain can capitalize on their unique cultural knowledge and backgrounds by offering them as value to British consumers and to British businesses who may be seeking a more culturally diverse employee base. With the opportunities to offer their own cultural knowledge to the British economy and the many culturally diverse communities that have formed across Britain, the prospects for immigrants in Britain remain quite