History repeats itself as new waves of immigrants are rejected from achieving the ‘American Dream’

According to the Oxford Dictionary, the American Dream “is the ideal that every citizen of the United States should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative.”

With this principle being a vital part of this nation’s identity, many immigrants from different nations have been influenced to move to the “Land of the Free” with the promise of opportunity.

Many groups moved here with different motives. The Irish moved due to the Potato famine in the 1850s. The Italians moved due to hardship in the 1900s. The Chinese moved due to agricultural opportunities in the 1850’s.

But a common trend that these immigrant spikes demonstrate is now amplified with the recent increase of immigration within the U.S.: rejection and hate.

Immigrant communities across the nation have never been more tense than they are now. Households, kitchens, construction sites, and public areas in general are now hot spots for Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents (ICE) to raid using manipulation or force at a moment’s notice.
Even havens such as New York City, San Francisco, and Los Angeles have already been heavily affected in the past weeks, signaling potential sweeping effects in local communities.

ICE, throughout history, has been allowed to detain underprivileged people, even if they claim to only target those with a criminal record. There are many cases where they racially profile, lie about having a warrant, and even lie about their identities, using manipulation and force to enter people’s private domiciles.

A common method ICE uses to manipulate people is by handing detained immigrants a document that can sign away their rights and deport them without a fair trial, providing the document in English to further confuse the person signing.

A system that is used to justify ICE’s constant presence is the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s 100-mile rule, stating that the agents can “search within a reasonable distance from any external boundary of the United States…100 air miles from any external boundary of the U.S., including coastal boundaries.”. While this rule seems reasonable for border security, the range covers a ridiculously large portion of the nation, leaving every 2 out of 3 people in the zone and vulnerable to a search.

But ICE’s aggressive searches are not the only thing that has recently affected immigrants, as recent executive orders have been placed to execute deportations rather than working towards humane solutions.

These recent orders have revoked the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) extension for Haitians and Venezuelans, according to the U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services , making existing TPS expire this year., and in turn making hundreds of thousands of people vulnerable to deportation unless they seek asylum, which is already difficult to access.

The Department of Homeland Security implemented the Alien Registration website on Feb. 25, requiring non-citizens to register themselves with the intention of tracking them: yet another method to hand people over to ICE.

The move faced backlash almost immediately, as it would essentially force undocumented immigrants to announce their status with the penalty of criminal and civil charges—an immoral endeavor that mimics unforgiving historical patterns.

The current administration has also paused federal funding, devastating organizations trying to help immigrants, such as The U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants and many other non-profit organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation and the New York Immigration Coalition.

Perseverance is key in these troubled times, as those who work in these nonprofit organizations are currently working to aid as much as they can with the threat of being laid off. Paralegal Bridget Navas is one of these individuals.

Navas is a Paralegal for Immigration Relief based in Long Island, NY, and is passionate about immigration because she is surrounded by an immigrant community, both in her family and environment.

“This fear-mongering and extreme policies are showing a display of power and appealing to those who oppose immigrants, basically telling the nation ‘we can make it last long and this is what can be,’”Navas said. “Maybe some people want that, but if they do, they have to understand that it is immoral.”

While helping immigrants get their asylum application, social security card, or work permit by informing them about easier pathways and how the legal system works is rewarding, nonprofit organizations often deal with the inevitable acceptance that many people cannot qualify for TPS or asylum relief due to financial and legal issues.

“Immigrants can’t afford private attorneys because they typically charge thousands of dollars and they don’t have that because they just got to the country,” said Navas. “They don’t have a work permit, they can’t work to make money, so they are basically stuck and even voluntarily depart to their country, which costs thousands of dollars as well, and even makes [them] wait a year to even be sent back.”

Due to these counterproductive conditions, immigrants find themselves backed into a corner: either get deported while losing thousands of dollars and being detained for a period of time in the process, or stay in America and work vigorously towards a green card or asylum and remain illegal.

Conversely, in rural communities, immigrants are an exceptionally small percentage of the overall population, with only 1.9% of Bristol’s population originating from outside the U.S.. Compared to urban cities, rural areas do not have the same sympathy and understanding towards immigrants. With such a small percentage, immigrants in rural communities struggle harder due to these conditions–as they have a smaller community thus lacking protection, harder access to asylum and citizenship, and are more targeted by hostile opposers.

It is difficult enough for those who are fighting a constant legal battle towards citizenship, providing for their families, and fulfilling the ultimate goal of success in this country all at the same time to all of a sudden have a target on their back.

One may argue that individuals in this scenario deserve this backlash, as they are breaking the law and are considered criminals. A consistent factor that this negative attention seems to attract, however, is the fact that nobody truly knows if an immigrant is legal without evidence.

Therefore, undocumented immigrants and immigrants in general are often grouped and are projected to hate, anger, and fear due to ignorance and reliance on stereotypes. Mexican construction worker? Illegal. Strong accent at a grocery store? Illegal. Darker skin tone, black hair, and Hispanic name? Illegal.

The ideology of patriotism and isolationism has blinded many individuals to view an entire group of people as an “enemy of the state” simply because of political opinions, projecting hatred toward a group of people because of said opinion, confusing prejudice for justice.

“The desire to protect Americans and put America first is an admirable thing,” said Navas. “But we shouldn’t let our desire to be wealthy and patriotic allow the suffering of other people, especially if it’s known to be morally wrong and so have a physical toll on people.”

Likewise, a common misconception that many people have about immigrants is that they do not pay taxes and “leech” off the U.S. economy. However, to work without a permit, immigrants typically work jobs that provide payment through cash and have an Internal Transaction Number (ITN), allowing them to file for taxes.

Despite this falsity, immigrants contribute to the economy rather tremendously, generating $579.1 billion dollars in 2022 in taxes based on the American Immigration Council analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data.

While current ideologies picture undocumented immigrants as “parasites,” “criminals,” and even “monsters,” it is vital to keep in mind that these are still human beings who breathe the same air, work the same hours (if not more), and should be treated as such.

While this might seem obvious to others, as it is typical that good people are taught to treat others as one would treat themselves, it goes without saying that an alarming majority has put sympathy and humanity aside for the sake of political principles.

It’s crucial to understand that many families are not as fortunate as the typical Americans; not everyone has the privilege to live a normal life. There are fathers who work physically demanding jobs from sun up to sun down just to provide for their families, aiding the economy in the process. Yet, they are called lazy. There are mothers who lack the privileges of healthcare and insurance and benefits from the taxes that they pay, yet continue to provide for their children so they can live a glimpse of the average American life. Yet they are called leeches.

Instead of creating policies that degrade immigrants, or send them back, or separate their families, a solution needs to be implemented that would aid them to have easier legal channels.

Because, at the end of the day, a human life is a human life—not a Non-American life, not an Alien—a human one that strives to achieve the American Dream by sacrificing everything, just as every “American” ancestor before them did.