If you ask a person in a third world country, what they thought of America they would say it was heaven on Earth. It’s a country that grants hope and reconstruction of families and lives in a world that is seemingly so dark. But surprisingly even in this nation of immigrants, disgust and intolerance of new immigrants is strong.
“During the past decade or two the immigration rates have increased significantly in the United States, causing the rise of xenophobia”(Anti-immigrant). American citizens have proven along with their support of Republican candidate Donald Trump their prejudice against new settlers. The candidate’s racist and nativist ideas have gained popularity and might make him president. Also the war against terrorism has had a major influence on the stricter checks for entrance into the United States.

People rushing to escape the horrors of war torn countries and countries overturned by oppression and drugs are on their way to being denied entrance from what they thought was a paradise. These immigrants have so much potential to bring to our society but are denied at every turn by citizens who are against their advancement. As a nation that originally started out as immigrants, we should be more tolerant and supportive of others who aim to create their own “American Dream” regardless of where they come from. We should put into effect laws designed to integrate them into society rather than leaving immigrants outcast. We should also work together on changing the negativity that is so easily attached to immigrants.

Before anyone decides to look down upon immigrants, Americans should first understand the countless contributions that immigrants with both low and high skills have made to sustain the American economy. In a recent article in U.S. News & World Reports, Matthew Slaughter, dean of Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business and a former member of the Council of Economic Advisers under President George W. Bush, argues the vitality of skilled immigrants. He supports this finding using recently put out information that, H-B1 regulations have put a limit on the growth of the United States economics. The US H1B visa is a visa that allows companies in the US to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations. He says that, “The ACAlliance study found that 77 percent of companies said their operations were hurt if skilled positions were left unfilled for more than 30 days. And 71 percent said they'd consider relocating to another country if it became too difficult or expensive to hire workers in the U.S.”(Soergel).The United States will be losing companies and this could possibly result in the loss of other American jobs that don’t necessarily need these skilled workers.
The skilled H-1B workers might be valuable enough to relocate for, but other jobs that are held by Americans might be replaceable. Immigrants have contributed in the building of more than 50% of America’s billion dollar startup companies( Soergel).They do more for the economy than take away from it. The article by U.S. News & World Report’s also articulates that Former democratic Governor of New Mexico, Bill Richardson believes, “Our economy desperately needs skilled professionals, and that fact is far outpacing the supply of professionals with experience and capability needed to advance and grow”.( Soergel) In order to keep up with other countries economically we need to open up our door to non- American workers. Until we are able to train people in these departments we should allow people to come into the U.S. for the time being.

Immigrants that come to the United States are not only benefiting themselves by taking the opportunities provided to them by this country but are also giving back. IT and Tech companies struggle a lot because they rely on STEM workers. These restrictions are really costing America and should be fixed immediately.
Not only are immigrants with worker’s visa valuable to our economy so are other immigrants. Immigrants who come to the United States are more likely than native born american citizens to be self empolyed. And these small companies that are started by immigrants are creating job opportunities for american citizens. A census taken in the year 2007 found that, “small companies owned by immigrants empolyed about 4.7 million american people”( White House) in that year alone. Also having more people in the country will increase tax revenue. Immigrants boost the demand for local consumer goods because the more people there are in the country the more buying that happens. Immigrants overall are a good economic addition to our country and the misconception that they are bring down our economy is a lie. We can use it to our advantage and to build our economy. Immigrants make the economy run and be on a level to compete with other countries

Another issue that is very concerning for this community is Obama’s Deferred Actions. The U.S. Supreme Court granted review in the state’s challenge to the Obama administration’s program of “deferred action” but President Barack Obama’s new program has been put on hold since February and has yet to be acknowledged by lower courts. Texas and 25 other states rushed into court to try to block the new programs; in February 2015, a federal district court stayed them(“Will”). The State of Texas the opportunity to review the deferred action program and this can give them a chance to get rid of both DACA and DAPA(“Will”). This will guarantee that unauthorized immigrants will never be able to move up to citizen status. Legally being able to work in the United States will become impossible for parents until DAPA is also granted to them. It has not yet become a case of the Supreme Court but it is being questioned. Why would these states be so concerned if these people are legalized? They aren’t going anywhere anytime. People who came to America with good reasoning should be given a chance to become citizens or at least apply for the position in due time. They are not going to leave the country so we should help integrate them into society in a way that is both beneficial to them and to the country. We should be allowing unauthorized immigrants to apply for citizenship of work permit in a couple of years so they can be apart of society and not “Aliens”.

People in third world countries think that America is the most accepting place in the world. Immigrants believe the United States to be a very tolerant country but with recent events the citizens and even politicians are becoming very closed minded. To get a better perspective of how immigrants have experienced intolerance I interview Abdullah Salam a 59 year old from Mendi, Ethiopia. He came to America in 1997 and has lived here for 19 years.Mr. Salam during the interview said that he came for protection to the United States. When he was young the OLF an Oromo rebel group (1969-1970) came to arrest his father a political figure in the community and he was forced to leave his country. After leaving Ethiopia because of war he was approached with hatred yet again in America. After the 911 terrorist attack he said that he, “got name calls in the streets, waiters refused to serve him,  and people even pulled down his wife’s Hijab. Yet still there were more gruesome crimes committed against his community like murders and vandalization of mosques. The hatred came from all directions blacks, whites, Latinos, even children. These terrible acts were commited over such a prolonged period of time that people’s fears got stronger.The media is a very powerful tool in altering our thinking. It has a very big impact on what people think about immigrants. For example, in this age the media has brainwashed us to believe that all the Syrian immigrants are disguised terrorists. This nation’s leaders were ready to turn away families whose homes have been destroyed by people they despise as much as we do. When watching the news or any other source of information, we should look out for how the media generalizes groups of people and carefully think about which pieces of information to believe.
Abdullahi Salam came to the U.S. as many people do for opportunity because, “back home if your family is rich you will be rich and if they are poor you will be poor. You follow your parent’s steps” In america he says you are likely enough to break that circle. Although he is only a shopkeeper his daughter is a nurse and his son is in the process of studying computer technology.  Like many others Mr. Salam is grateful and willing to work to repay whatever was given to him. These are the true colors of immigrants. Abdullahi is able to live his American dream through seeing his children do better than he has. We should live up to our name as a country that is a safe haven and serves as a place people can do better with themselves(Abdullah Salam).
An argument that is often used by anti- immigration groups is that people migrate to the U.S. and then abuse the social safety net system.  I agree that there is some abuse of the system but it is not abused by most immigrants. People who come to the United States legally are given some help to allow them the flexibility to get use to their new home and protect them from falling into poverty. This is a very common practice and given to everyone who is here legally. However, those who find their way into America illegally usually don’t receive any help and few politicians believe in giving them any benefits. This means that approximately 11.4 Million men, women, and children are without help. The Wall Street Journal reported in March 2016 that states that “ 20 out of the 25 counties with the largest illegal immigrant population have programs in place to pay for the low-income and uninsured to have doctor visits, shots, prescription drugs, lab tests and...surgeries”(Radnofsky).Officials in these counties say that the clinics they have funded to treat illegal immigrants are less expensive than emergency rooms, therefore a better economic alternative. The clinics care for at least 750,000 unauthorized immigrants. “If federal programs exclude people who live here and get sick here, then someone has to care for them,”(Radnofsky) says George Leventhal, a Democratic council member. Almost all lawmakers and presidential candidates are against providing healthcare for anyone that is unable to prove they are a legal resident of the United States. I agree with George Leventhal because as a council member you have every responsibility to take care of the people that live in your neighborhood/ county. The people are given very low cost or free treatment. This costs more than $1 billion a year they consist of ¼ of 30 million uninsured people in the United States. A typical visit to the emergency room would cost anywhere from $50- $200 so a program that is designed to look out for its residents legal or not shouldn’t be questioned(RADNOFSKY).  Many already struggle enough trying to find suitable work and barely make ends meet. They also pay taxes just like anyone else.

Anti- Immigration activist believe that any sort of help we as a country provide to immigrants will encourage their behavior of migration. They further think that these people take advantage of our tax money, take jobs from the american people and bring crime and drugs within our borders.An argument famously made by Donald Trump is that,“When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”"(Immigration and Crime."). Immigrants are actually less likely to commit serious crimes or be behind bars than the native-born, and high rates of immigration are associated with lower rates of violent crime and property crime. This holds true for both legal immigrants and the unauthorized, regardless of their country of origin or level of education ( Immigration and Crime). In other words, the overwhelming majority of immigrants are not “criminals” by any commonly accepted definition of the term. Immigrants for the most part do come into the country looking for work.They do not have an ulterior motives, the majority of them are not criminals or rapists and they shouldn’t be treated with such. They are hard working individuals who deserve acknowledgement.

Anti immigrant groups and even some of our Candidates for the presidential race believe that Immigrants should be deported on the stop because they are taking away work from american citizens. Many immigrants live in constant war and are tricked by traffickers, and exploitative employers. These people keep immigrant women from seeking local law-enforcement protection by convincing them that police officers are working in partnership with DHS and will deport victims instead of protecting them. Essentially, these enforcement measures increase the likelihood of abuse and assault against immigrant women by cutting them off from help and giving their perpetrators a powerful tool to silence their victims and escape prosecution(“Immigration”). We should look out for those in our country because if we refuse to give any work to immigrants it will increase their involvement in illegal work such as drugs and trafficking.This will create problems for the workers and the country.American jobs are not or have ever been in danger of being taken away from the citizens. By helping the people in our country find good employment it will allow trust to be formed between government and immigrants.

The united states need to become supportive of those who want to live a better life and are a good contribution to our society. We should put in laws that are helpful to them and allow them to live without discrimination.Law-maker and regulators and the american people should understand the reasons why immigrants do come to the united states and make sound decisions based off what is best for these people.We should make laws that work to help immigrants progressively become citizen regardless of where they are from. Misunderstandings of immigrants is formed by what we see in the media or what is told to us, which is why everyone should take the time to educate themselves about how immigrants affect them rather than assuming the worst.

Works Cited

"Anti-Immigrant." Southern Poverty Law Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2016.
"Immigration and Crime." Immigration Policy Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2016.
Lillis, Mike. "Congress Struggles to Respond to New Terror Attacks." TheHill. N.p., 03      Apr.  2016. Web. 05 Apr. 2016.
Maraniss, David, and Robert Samuels. "Donald Trump’s False Comments Connecting Mexican Immigrants and Crime." Washington Post. The Washington Post, n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2016.
RADNOFSKY, LOUISE. "Illegal Immigrants Get Public Health Care, Despite Federal Policy." WSJ. N.p., 24 Mar. 2016. Web. 05 Apr. 2016.
Salam, A.(2016, April 26). Personal Interview.
Soergel, Andrew. "America Needs More Skilled Immigrant Workers, Study Says." US News. U.S.News & World Report, 29 Mar. 2016. Web. 05 Apr. 2016.
"Will the U.S. Supreme Court Tell Obama to 'Take Care'?" The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 21 Jan. 2016. Web. 05 Apr. 2016.