Racism has been a problem for more than just the past centuries, dehumanizing and denying the rights of the people. This can be seen throughout history, colored people being denied the same rights as white people. Things such as proper healthcare, education, hygiene, freedom, and food can be some of the things taken away or restricted to make oppression easier. Segregation or discrimination of people because of color and race are rooted in our society. Problems caused by this have led to the American Dream feeling unobtainable or far-fetched for both legal and illegal immigrants due to policies, barriers, and racism.
The United States has encumbered illegal immigrants with barriers, in the form of laws, policies, and political views. The United States provides many more resources to its citizens than to its immigrants. Social Security, along with medical insurance and government aid, is denied to immigrants. Some may be fortunate to have a small amount of aid granted, but the majority of the people are ignored. The lack of equal opportunity can be seen in the median household income. This is because of the Immigrant and Nationality Act. People in the U.S. were recorded to make $50,000 compared to the $36,000 of their undocumented counterparts. Not only do immigrants make less money, but education is also denied, and the immigrants are kept at the bottom of the working class. Opportunities are kept from them to keep them working low-paying jobs, from which the upperclassmen derive success.
Illegal immigrants contribute a lot to the working economy. According to “The U.S. Industries That Rely Most on Illegal Immigration.” In 2022, the undocumented immigrants of the United States made $46.8 billion in federal taxes, $29.3 billion in state and local taxes, $22.6 billion in Social Security, and lastly $5.7 billion in Medicare. This money has been generated by undocumented immigrants, so without them, all of that money would not exist. Not only are immigrants just trying to make a living, but they also contribute to the community, yet are met with stereotypical racism. Stereotypes have ruined our perspectives of different races. An example seen throughout the United States is toward African Americans. The stereotype is as follows, their race is the most likely to commit crimes. This is not true as actually the race that is most often arrested and comits the most crimes is actually thw white race.
The recent presidency has increased racism and violence towards immigrants. Due to the presidency of Donald J. Trump, there has been a resurgence of discrimination and hate towards immigrants. Claims have been made by the new President to “Deport and send back all illegal aliens.” This has increased racism and hostility towards “aliens” or immigrants who are undeserving of this. A tactic the President likes to use is to paint immigrants as evil. The majority of immigrants are law-abiding citizens, yet instead of the majority, the focus will be placed on the minority of immigrants, felons. He will then paint it larger and make a scene about it. This allows him to easily stereotype and then manipulate the crowd to be swayed by him. He then unrightfully and unjustly captures and sends them to terrorist camps. A group of Venezuelans were sent to an Al-Qaeda terrorist prison and were kept there without any sentences nor public speech. The President then proceeded to tell the public that they were “Drug traffickers and pedophiles,” while the Venezuelans didn’t even have a criminal background; they were just undocumented and caused no harm.
While others may argue that deporting immigrants will make the United States a better place. While others may agree with this statement, they are far from right. The United States would lose a large part of its manual workforce, and productivity along with demand would go down. All the culture that the immigrants have brought to America should leave if the people who brought it have to go as well. The United States would become bland and lose the diversity that makes it a nice place. Not only would the communities suffer, but the economy would take a hit. After all, immigrants contribute a lot to the United States, with taxes they can’t even receive aid from.
This is why we must make a difference and stop letting extremists take charge and divide us. Everyone should vote for an equal and non-power-hungry representative that will make life better for all the people of America. We can fight this by stopping systematic racism, violence, and injustice. We must fight this to protect families and prevent large amounts of poverty. Immigrants should be given equal opportunities compared to their legal counterparts. After all, they are no different from us.
