English 223 - Legal Immigrants: Road to Success by Assimilation

Shannon Stefaniga

English 223

Professor Marinova

10-17-2014

Legal Immigrants: Road to Success by Assimilation

Immigrant is not a term new to American society. An immigrant is a person that moves to another country to live permanently. Immigrants flood here in thousands every year looking to embrace the American dream and make a new life for themselves. It seems that there is a direct correlation between the amount of incoming immigrants and the negative attitudes of the Americans population. There are rumors of illegal immigrants stealing jobs, destroying the economy, and distributing the peace; this creates a negative connotation for all immigrants. People tend to stereotype immigrants and lump them into one category when in truth there are two subgroups of immigrants: legal and illegal.  Legal immigrants have proper documentation^[a][b][c] and an approved reason to be here, the most common reasons are employment, education, and family. Illegal immigrants are defined as immigrants that come into the country uninspected and without proper documentation. Moving to a new country is a huge decision and it comes with many changes including a new land, new people, and often a whole new social make up. As immigrants assimilate into American culture it will help them connect to the natives and become more comfortable in a foreign land. For legal immigrants to be successful in the United States it would be highly beneficial for them to assimilate into American culture. To be considered as an assimilated migrant, foreigners must be able to communicate well, in English, with the natives, take pride in America and all it has to offer, and lastly, have the drive to be successful.

 When immigrants move to the Unites States they should want to assimilate into society by adopting the core values of American culture. The main focus of America is to succeed and to be successful in society immigrants have to learn and accept American culture as their own.

”The dynamic engine that has been the American economy- combined with the constitutional framework of rights protecting the individual in the attributes of citizenship and the possession of property- has been both a magnet for immigrants and a guarantor of their willingness to adopt American behavior and attitudes.” (Gordon 103)

This quote mentions many keys factors that pull immigrants into the United States like the blossoming economy, the protection of individual rights, and the opportunity for citizenship. These factors should encourage immigrants to assimilate so that they can possesses these qualities. The many opportunities that America has to offer to new aspiring immigrants also comes with the commitment to accept the core believes of its culture. With past generations the immigrants have been willing, even excited, to embrace American culture. As recent generations have migrated to the United States there has been a decrease in the willingness to assimilate, “faced with the choice, they decline” says Samuel P. Huntington (76). Today’s immigrants have no desire to be a part of America; they want to keep their values, traditions, language, and culture. By embracing these characteristics in American society that will never change like language, pride and success it will help immigrant be successful. “Immigrants and their children must involve themselves in the socioeconomic processes that move them and their families toward the mainstream, for it is in their interest to learn American behaviors and attitudes in pursuing their own aspirations”(Gordon 124). There is no specific measurement for success, but for an immigrant to be considered successful they must have a strong sense of financial stability, have a feeling that they are integrated with America citizens, and are positively moving toward their American dream.

Assimilation is in many ways subjective. Sociologist, psychologist, immigrants, Americans, etc. all have different definitions and views of what assimilation actually is. Social assimilation defined in the Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences as “the process or processes by which^[d] people of diverse racial origins and different cultural heritages, occupying a common territory, achieve a cultural solidarity sufficient at least to sustain a national existence.” (Park)  A popular analogy to describe cultural assimilation is the melting pot theory. It is the concept that a group of diverse immigrants and natives come together in one community and blend different elements of their cultures together to create one common culture. In short, each ethnic group will contribute characteristics from their native culture and mix them into what is already the standing American culture. Some sociologists will say that the melting pot theory is sometimes viewed as “Anglo conformity” (Branigin). In Immigrants Shunning the Idea of Assimilation by William Branigin, he tells a story of a Mexican family from Omaha trying to assimilate their current generation into American society. The eldest daughter does not like the idea of adopting American culture and says “I think I'm still a Mexican, when my skin turns white and my hair turns blonde, then I'll be an American." The young girl shows resistance to assimilate because she believes she must give up her dark Hispanic features to become an American. Assimilation is not about immigrants giving up their complete identity, it is about immigrants adopting certain aspect of American culture to help aid in their success in the United States.

Communication is a big part of human nature, to be successful one must be able to communicate their want, needs, opinions, likes, and dislikes. English being the dominant language in the United States creates a challenge for incoming immigrants. If you are a new immigrant and you do not speak English it is likely that English will be forced upon you. In most schools, restaurants, stores and other local places English is the prominent language and to get by, an immigrant must learn at least the basics. Usually first and second generation immigrants are bilingual trying to speak their native tongue at home with the family, an interview with fellow CNU student Brittany Le supports this statement. Brittany’s father is computer engineer from Vietnam and he moved to the United States when he was ten years old. He speaks both Vietnamese and English fluently. Brittany’s mother is a teacher from the Philippines and moved to the United States in her early twenties. She speaks both, her native tongue, Tagalog and English fluently, however she has a strong accent when she speaks English. Both Mr. and Mrs. Le only speak their native languages with friends and family. Brittany is a second generation immigrant and cannot speak Vietnamese or Tagalog but she can understand both when people talk to her. Brittany’s parents did not feel that it was a necessity for her to learn a foreign language since she speaks English fluently and lives in America. Mr. and Mrs. Le came to the United States at different points in their lives, Mr. Le when he was ten and Mrs. Le when she was in her twenties, even though they were at different stages they both knew that to be successful in America they would have to learn English and so that what they did. This interview demonstrates that language is such a big part of American culture that it is vital for immigrants to acquire the knowledge and proficiency in English:  “the language of American opportunity”.