Spencer Anderson 1

Spencer Anderson
Mrs. Martin
Advanced Composition
6th hour
5 October 2014
Immigration is a way for our country to give refuge to those in need. People come to
the United States for a variety of reasons. They are drawn by factors such as family,
education, equal opportunities, safety, and even possibly economic values. Men and women
migrate to the United States to have a chance at the American dream. While the American
dream is different for everyone, every persons own thought of the American dream is
important. It gives our society diversity and its what makes this country so different from
others. Over the centuries, immigration has changed the shape of America and the entirety
of its society. Today, immigrants make up a little over thirteen percent of the population in
America (Macdonald). This is important to us as a country. Many immigrants migrate to
America because they believe the United States holds favorable immigration laws for all
making the aforementioned factors even more obtainable.
The question becomes do we really have such favorable immigration laws? Is it the
same for women as it is for men? According to Cecilia Menjivar, a professor at Arizona
State University and Olivia Salcido, a researcher who studies law, immigration and domestic

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violence spent more than a decade researching the experiences of women and men who go
through the legalization process. Together they released a study in May of 2013 that proves
there is a gender bias. Immigration law, which on its face appears gender neutral, actually
contains gender biases that create barriers for many women trying to gain legalization within
the current immigration system. American procedures is failing women who want to come
to our country in work based immigration, family based immigration, and how the Senate
bill failed to address existing gender inequities.
The idea of the American dream is a set of ideals in which freedom includes the
opportunity for prosperity and success (Wikepedia). People come to America for equal
opportunity and to get good jobs. Men and women both come for these very reasons. If we
dont give them those equal opportunities, isnt that going against what we stand for as a
country? Do we not stand for equal rights and equal opportunity for anyone seeking such?
Women and children constitute three fourths of all immigrants, women alone make up 60
percent, and yet only 25 percent of work visas are given to women. If a man tries to come
into America looking for a job he will have much more luck finding one rather than a
woman. Migrating men can apply for a work visa and obtain a job quickly in factories,
construction or many other high value jobs in the United States. This type of American
visa for highly-skilled workers is called an H-1 B visa. Yet, immigrant women struggle.
This is partly due to discrimination in hiring immigrant workers, but it is exacerbated by a
womans previous employment and educational from their home countries. This then hurts
their resumes and makes it harder for them to get a job offer in America. Immigrant women
are often the ones to clean our houses, cook our food, serve us in restaurants, plant and

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harvest the food we eat. They perform many other jobs on the lowest rungs of the economic
ladder. These domestic jobs are not considered by U.S. immigration law as high demand
jobs which is a requirement to obtain an employment-based visa. Thus the reason women
are often the ones stuck cleaning hotel rooms or being stay-at-home moms, rather than being
out in the work force all simply because their jobs back home werent high demand.
Therefore, when it comes to applying for employment-based visas, many women, instead of
applying as principle visa holders, rely on male relatives to petition for them to get such
visas. Women who were born in America are treated equally when it comes to getting jobs,
but women trying to come into our country to get a job are denied for having the same job
experience as women who were born in the America. With only 5,000 immigrant visas
available each year for unskilled laborers it is virtually impossible for a housekeeper, nanny,
or other domestic worker to secure lawful status. (Paparelli)
According to immigration laws if a woman is denied a H-1 B visa (a highly skilled
working visa) in order to come to American they are required to come on a dependent visa
for spouses. Two-thirds of immigrant women come to this country through the family visa
system, not on work visas. Most people might think that this is a good alternative for
immigrant woman. Family is what American is built upon. Its the structure upon which our
values are made. You would think a woman should be willing to come to America this way
if her husband had already been working here and providing for their family. There are two
problems with this. First if a woman obtains a family or dependent visa they are not
allowed to work once they get here. This often limits family income and a womans
independence. She must rely on her husband from there on. Secondly, There are so many

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people coming to America on a family visa that it is causing a back-up. Women are trapped
in the system. According to Angelo Paraelli, in 2012, more than 1,000,000 people
immigrated lawfully to the United States, and nearly 66 percent of them did so based on a
family relationship with a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident. So many women are
applying for family-based visas that they are being held up and cannot every make it here.
The holdup is so severe that women are waiting for years, even decades to be reunited with
their families. Immigrant women are already being discriminated because they cannot get a
work-visa and then it is almost impossible to gain this type of visa either. Men rarely have
this problem.
Our immigration laws to the blind eye appears gender neutral, but they actually
create barriers for women trying to gain legalization in America. Women are not only denied
work-visas because their job in their home country is not considered high demand, but then
when applying for a family-visa, it could take years, even decades to process and/or be
accepted. Male immigrants simply only have to apply for one or the other and it takes no
time at all. Today, nearly 16 percent of Americas workforce are immigrants. In 2012, almost
3 million immigrants came to America, applying for a work visa. Only 10 percent of those 3
million immigrants were women. Our immigration laws completely go against what we stand
for as a country. We should not keep our laws for coming into this country so difficult to pass
through. If we truly stand for equals rights between men, women, and all races, shouldnt
our laws for immigration reflect those standards, not go against them?
To be quite honest, our immigration laws are completely one sided. They dont show
what we really should be looking at. If there are men or women immigrants already staying

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in America, shouldnt we allow their families to stay with them and thrive in our land of
opportunity? Why would we make a family suffer on a one-income job? If we truly stand for
the saying land of opportunity, we need to show that in all aspects of our laws and our
government. Rejecting an application for a work-visa simply because we personally dont
think they have the right qualifications is outrageous. The only way they might gain those
qualifications is by learning them here, in the U.S. Give people the opportunity to make a
living and be happy. No one should be rejected their vision of their American dream, whether
a citizen, or an immigrant.
Parker, Ashley. "Gender Bias Seen in Visas for Skilled Workers." Politics. New York
Times, 18 Mar. 2013. Web. 9 Nov. 2014.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/19/us/politics/gender-, bias-seen-in-visas-for-skilledworkers.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0>.
Nervarez, Griselda. "US Immigration Law Contains Gender Biases against Women."
Voxxi. 4 June 2013. Web. 10 Nov. 2014. <http://voxxi.com/2013/06/04/u-s-immigration-lawgender-biases-women/#ixzz2VMDKb9S6>.
Paparelli, Angelo. "Immigration Voices Immigration Reform Must Redress the
Current Laws Gender Biases." Nation Of Immigrators. 22 Dec. 2013. Web. 10 Nov. 2014.
<http://www.nationofimmigrators.com/employment-based-immigration/immigration-voicesimmigration-reform-must-redress-the-current-laws-gender-biases/>.

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Macdonald, John, and Robert Sampson. The Opinion Pages. NYTimes.com. NY Times,
19 Jun 2012. Web. 13 Aug 2014. <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/20/opinion/the-beneficialimpact-of-immigrants.html?_r=0>