Reading on Monday, June 20th

The United States is basically composed of immigrants from all over the world. Since in the United States abundant ethnic groups exist, it is sometimes very difficult to adapt the most suitable and proper regulations in order to preserve security and harmony. Thus, although many government regulations have been passed in order to protect the equality and civil rights of immigrants, those who live as members of the lower classes seriously suffer from unfair treatments from the majority. Still, there are many successful stories of immigrants who could obtain better quality of life in the United States. In fact, the lifestyles and quality of life of immigrants in the United States are dynamic and difficult to explain clearly.

In the article “Fifteen Years on the Bottom Rung,” the author, Anthony DePalma illustrates the struggles created among immigrant groups in the workplace. The article particularly compares the level of success of two immigrants, John Zannikos and Juan Manuel Peralta. Zannikos, who is from Greece, successfully achieved the American dream with upward mobility with his hard work. Unlike Zannikos, Peralta, an illegal Mexican immigrant, is still “stuck in a permanent underclass of the poor, the unskilled, and the uneducated” (113). Because Peralta’s status is illegal, he cannot be fully protected and secured by government policies. For Peralta, it seems as if achieving the American dream is impossible.

Many stereotypes exist towards immigrants, especially those who come from poor countries. Because Peralta was Mexican and illegal he experienced more bias and unfair treatment at his workplace. Besides Peralta, many illegal immigrant workers have their security and rights threatened by immoral employers. Those unethical employers are likely to use the lower-cost labor of those illegal immigrants.

Interestingly, in Portes and Rumbaut’s piece, “Making It in America: Occupational and Economic Adaptation,” they talk about unfair treatment that Mexican immigrants face in the United States. They note the lower representation of Mexican immigrants at the top occupational positions: 2.6% (68). Despite many other successful immigrants and advanced overall educational backgrounds of current immigrants to America, the authors also discovered that “Latin American immigrants rank at the bottom of both distributions, and also had much higher poverty rates” (79). A Mexican “ethnic-group effect” explains the significant amount of earnings gap for Mexicans: “Mexican men earned about 6 percent lass than non-Hispanic whites” (81). With language problems and residence issues, many Mexicans have a difficult time obtaining higher social status in the United States. However, the ethnic-group effect would not be a problem only for Mexicans, but for other ethnic groups as well.

Concerning immigrants in the United States, socioeconomic factors such as neighborhoods, working environment, and communities are also important because of their influence on the ability of immigrants to advance. Many controversial issues are continuously covered by the media and research; however, it is an undeniable fact that the labor force of immigrants is essential to keep up stable economic conditions in the United States. Immigrants are an indispensable part of America.