In this essay, I argued that immigration is not harmful but is beneficial to the United States. To give a quick background, immigration has always been part of the United States and of America overall, but in recent years, it has been viewed as a danger or a threat rather than as a strength. As an immigrant myself, I challenge this negative view by showing how we immigrants have a positive impact on the economy, culture, and society. Immigrants work basic jobs that are essential to keep industries running—especially jobs such as construction and agriculture. There has been much research showing that the claims about immigrants taking American jobs are completely false. Instead, immigrants help local economies grow. Immigrants have contributed to the success of major companies like Google and eBay, according to sources. Culturally, immigrants bring traditions, foods, and values that may now be seen as American but were actually introduced by immigrants. Things like tacos, bagels, and Chinese food are now part of American culture, shared among all nationalities. Apart from this, the most important contribution is how immigrants help society through education and career goals. In this essay, I share a more personal side by including interviews with two of my immigrant friends from Ecuador. Both came to the United States seeking a better future and are now working hard toward careers in business and medicine. Their stories show that we immigrants do not come to harm the country, as many claim, but to build a better economy and life to support the future of the United States. This essay proves that without immigrants, America would be nothing.
Immigration is not harmful but beneficial
The biggest topic that has always surfaced around the United States is immigration, especially in
these past few years, where immigration rates have skyrocketed. It has become one of the most
discussed issues in news headlines, particularly following Trump’s entry into office. However,
we must remember that immigration has not just been happening in recent years—it has been a
fundamental part of American history for centuries. In the past, immigrants arrived from
different countries, sailing by ship to places like New York in search of a better life. Today, the
process has changed, with many immigrants entering through the U.S.-Mexico border for the
same purpose. However, the perception of immigration has also shifted. Immigrants were once
seen as contributors to the nation’s growth, but now they are often viewed as a threat to the
United States. As an immigrant myself, I strongly disagree with this notion. Immigrants play a
crucial role in the economy, culture, and society. They do not pose a threat but instead bring
strength, diversity, and resilience to the country.
Immigrants are essential to the U.S. economy, contributing millions of dollars and filling crucial
roles in the workforce. Many viral TikTok videos highlight jobs such as fruit
picking—specifically strawberries—being done predominantly by immigrants, with claims that
without them, these products would not make it to supermarkets. The same applies to physically
demanding jobs like construction, which are also largely performed by immigrants, as it is rare to
find Americans willing to do these jobs. Based on this, it is clear that immigrants significantly
benefit the U.S. economy.
According to The Brink article “Do Immigrants Help the Economy?” by Andrew Thurston, the
belief that immigrants steal American jobs is a long-standing misconception. Boston University
economist Tarek Hassan’s research shows that immigrants actually stimulate local economies by
sparking innovation and driving up wages. This evidence debunks the false claim that
immigrants harm the economy by taking American jobs, when in reality, they help drive wages
and contribute to economic growth.
Additionally, many of the world’s leading companies were founded or co-founded by
immigrants. According to How Immigration Changed U.S. Society, based on the book One
Quarter of the Nation by Professor Nancy Foner, in 2018, more than half of the 91 U.S. startup
companies valued at $1 billion or more had at least one immigrant founder. Over 80% of these
companies employed immigrants in key management or product development roles, such as
chief technology officers and vice presidents of engineering. Even major corporations like eBay
and Google were co-founded by immigrants, with Google’s co-founder Sergey Brin being
Russian. This highlights how immigrants contribute significantly to the engineering and
technology industries in the United States. Without immigrants, the U.S. would not have the
thriving and innovative economy that it does today.
Immigrants contribute a lot to culture in today’s society, such as family traditions, food, and
music. According to Nancy Foner, “Earlier Jewish and Italian immigrants brought us bagels and
pizza; salsa today outsells ketchup, and tacos are standard fare. In 2015, Chinese restaurants in
the U.S. outnumbered all the McDonald’s, Burger Kings, and Kentucky Fried Chickens
combined, and now include a broad range of regional dishes and flavors.” These cultures can be
viewed as American but have origins in other countries. When this culture—in this case,
food—is brought by immigrants to the U.S., Americans adapt to it. As stated by Nancy Foner,
Chinese restaurants outnumbered major fast-food restaurants that started in the U.S. and are part
of American culture. These restaurants are now preferred by Americans and could possibly be
considered part of American culture.
I have also seen that many cultures are being gentrified, meaning they are being used and
adapted into American culture. One example of this is Taco Bell and Chipotle, which are
considered Mexican food but lean more toward American cuisine since they have been adapted
to American tastes. Overall, you can see that traditions and cultures from other countries have
been adopted into the United States, along with typical foods that we may have never expected to
become so common. American culture is composed of different cultures from immigrants who
have moved to the United States, bringing their traditions and cultures with them. By embracing
these influences, they have become a part of American culture.In reality, immigration is not
harmful but rather beneficial, especially culturally. Without immigration, we would not have
access to great foods like bagels and Chinese cuisine, which we can now conveniently find t
around the block whenever we crave them.
Lastly, immigrants contribute to society. But by how well? They are very important due to the
fact that they can be the future of the United States. According to some of my family members
and friends, they came into the United States not because they wanted to harm the country, but to
contribute to its society by bringing people who want to progress in life and get an opportunity to
work or go to school.
Many of these people come as immigrants and contribute a lot—they could be the future of the
United States. Some attend college, just like me, someone who wants to better herself. I would
like to work as a teacher, contributing to society and being part of the education system, which is
very important. A teacher holds the future in their hands, as they are in charge of the next
generation, educating them for the future.
In this case, I conducted two interviews with my closest friends. Both have different stories, but
they had the same motives when they came here. They both stated that they felt forced to leave
Ecuador due to the lack of jobs and the lack of education the country offered. They shared that
feeling forced to leave was difficult because everything was new—a new language, new people,
and a completely different environment. However, they knew that they had a brighter future
ahead and wanted to become better.They stated that they are both in college—one aspires to
pursue business and become a business owner, while the other aims to enter the medical field.
The purpose of sharing these interviews is to show that these individuals and their sources are to
show evidence but show that immigration is not harmful but benefits. They do not come with
harmful intentions, but instead, they come to contribute to society, to help the next generations of
this country, and to strengthen not only its economy but also its cultural aspects . So without
Immigrants we will not have the America we have today .
Sources :
ttps://www.bu.edu/articles/2024/do-immigrants-and-immigration-help-the-economy/
https://virguezlaw.com/2023/06/21/the-cultural-impact-of-immigration-in-the-united-states/
https://www.gc.cuny.edu/news/how-immigration-changed-us-society
https://www.globalrefuge.org/news/why-do-people-immigrate-the-different-causes-of-immigrati
on-lirs/
This entry is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.
