Immigration: The Benefits Of Immigrants

Countless years ago, my ancestors came from the Germany/Poland border to America in hopes of living a better life in a brave new world. When my parents arrived around the 1860s America had started grow and would not have grown in such fashion without immigrants. Society as we know it today would not be the same today without immigrants, they have shaped our country in ways such as culture, diversity, and economic stimulation.

There are some that would state that immigrants simply take up space, or take up the jobs from Americans that were born here, however, this statement is false. According to George j. Borjas, immigrants do not acquire all of the available jobs because “There is no such things as a fixed amount of jobs. Also, that dislocation

As seen in the chart below, immigrants are vital in some states. The figure below illustrates how vital immigrants have become to the Californian economy. But just how does immigration benefit America? Immigration provides an “economic edge” (Griswald, par 1). Immigrants bring in fresh innovative ideas to the American workforce. They allow us to further our presence in the global market, they allow us to keep prices down, and meet the ever-changing demands of you and I (Griswald, par 3). Immigrants not only contribute America’s economy but contrary to the widespread belief that immigrants syphon money from the government “The NAS study found that the typical immigrant his or her offspring will pay a net $80,000 more in taxes during their lifetimes than they collect in government services.” (Griswald, par 7) Furthermore “the 1996 Welfare Reform Act made it much more difficult for newcomers to collect welfare. As a result, immigrant use of welfare has declined in recent years” (Griswald par

Immigration ties in heavily with this due to the diverse backgrounds that come from all over the world. With cultural diversity, we learn to understand and appreciate one each other. This results in a multicultural society “in which human beings recognizes and respects the presence of all groups in an organization or society, acknowledges and values their socio-cultural differences, and encourages and enables their continued contribution within an inclusive cultural context which empowers all within the organization or society.” (Belfield, Par 3). Cultural diversity helps us to “recognize and respect ways of being that are not necessarily our own, so that as we intereact with others we can build bridges to trust, respect, and understanding across cultures” (Belfield, Par 7). Cultural diversity is everywhere we look. It is common amongst our schools, and workplaces. More and more are these two everchanging, they consist of multiple races, and cultures all in one. However, if we do not understand each other then we will be unable to reach a level of cooperation and collaboration that makes America great (Belfield, Par