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Amarbir Singh
English 113A
Professor Santosh Khadka
November 18, 2015. Argument Essay Assignment.
American Dream with respect to Immigration and Economic Crisis
People are known to immigrate from place to place for their needs and want since the
earliest of times. Humans beings are always finding an opportunity to get more resources. People
new to some place are known as immigrants by older people. So the question always comes in
my mind is why all the new immigrants in America are looked down by the older immigrants,
that get to a particular place a little earlier? Why does everybody not have an equal right to use
the resources that are created by God for all human beings? Immigrants have a significant role in
putting the America in the list of top nations in the world. People who established America were
also immigrants coming from Europe, and they took over native Americans to make America a
better place. America and American dream cannot exist without each other.
There was a survey conducted by ABC News/Yahoo News poll, in which they asked
people, if you work hard, you will get ahead still applies. But the results of the survey were
entirely disappointing. 43% of the people answered this question that this concept once held
true, but not anymore (ABC News/Yahoo News Poll). Earle Geoff writes an article on this bitter
truth. He writes, The cherished American Dream has become little more than pie in the sky to a
large group of Americans dejected by the tough economy (Earle Geoff). He writes that now
low-class people have a tiny chance of achieving their American Dream. So does it mean that
immigrants who left their homes to achieve their goals in America have little or no opportunity

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towards their Dream? Let's talk about what is going on with American Dream and immigrants in
todays world.
The American dream is always explained as related to immigrants since it was started in
1931 when everyone was suffering from the great depression. Before American Dream started,
people everywhere in the world used to move from one place to another seeking an opportunity
to get better environment and resources that they cannot get in the current area. Ancient human
beings were always going from place to place in search of food. They settled where the resources
were sufficient to live a prosperous life. People in the Europe in the 15th century were finding
new places to live. Christopher Columbus was the first modern human came to America. I am
sure that Columbus was looked by Native Americans the same way as Residents look on
immigrants today. Everybody who came to America at the beginning including English, French,
Dutch, were all illegal immigrants if we look from the perspective of the Native Americans. But
if all these illegal immigrants never came to live in the America, then America would never
become a dream place for most of the world. It proves how immigration is crucial for the
development of a location.
Before understanding the effect of American Dream on immigration we have to
understand that American Dream is independent of the immigration. Everybody has an American
Dream, who live in America, including immigrants and residents. The definition of the American
dream is the ideals of freedom, equality, and opportunity traditionally held to be available to
every American. The definition explains that American Dream is the motive for everybody in
America without considering where you came from. Everybody wants to be successful in
America, residents or non-residents. So not only immigrants but residents also have an American
Dream to live a life better than their present life.

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Humans immigrate because of two main reasons, either to solve their problems or to get
better opportunities than their present conditions. 11.8 million immigrants are living in the
America now, and many
more are living not
counted in this figure.
First I will give an
example of the
immigration caused by
people facing problems in
American Dream is getting harder and harder to
achieve: People going to America in hard situations
other parts of the world.
because their present situations are even harder.
Between 1845 to 1852, residents in the Ireland were starving because their whole potato crop
destroyed. They were dying of the hunger, so they decided to leave Ireland, and many of them
came to America. 25% of the population left Ireland (Wikipedia contributors). The unfortunate
condition of the people in Ireland made them immigrants and set a goal in their mind to go to a
better place. The disaster that happened in the Ireland can occur in any part of the world, even in
America too. So we cannot blame people for immigration, as it is a natural phenomenon.
Many people are coming to America because of their life in the native country is awful.
If their life is hard in another part of the world, then they have right to make a better life in
America. Immigration is the matter of life and death for many of these 11.8 million immigrants.
The second kind of immigration is directly related to the American dream, which is people
immigrating for better opportunities. People might be living a decent life in another part of the
world, but they migrate to get a better education, better living standard, and better status in
society. America is widely known for its developed technology, military power, high living

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standard and equal social life worldwide. So it is an attraction for people all around the world,
being the biggest cause for the American Dream outside of America and also cause of the second
type of immigration I had explained earlier.
The article Bring on More Immigrant Entrepreneurs by Shayan Zadeh is a perfect
example of immigration for seeking better opportunities and problems that immigrants had to
face to be successful in America. Shayan came to America on a study visa because study system
in America is better than his native country. He had many difficulties to establish his social
networking company Zoosk. His country was not very developed, so he did not have enough
resources in his country to fulfill his dream. He faced many negative circumstances to achieve
the nationality of United States. However, once he had established his company Zoosk, it gets
very famous. His company expanded to a multi-million corporation and produced jobs for many.
His story is a perfect example of how immigration can be helpful for the economy of America.
Shayan explains that granting legal status to illegal immigrants would create 121,000 new jobs
per year in America and help in growing Americas economy by 1.4 trillion dollars. So if
immigrants are welcomed in America, it would fulfill the American Dream of many as well uplift
the economy of United States of America.
The article in the Atlantic magazine Who still believe in the American dream: Portraits
of a Nation in search of a better life by Chris Arnade represent different aspects of American
Dream among different people. Chris Arnade interviews different people in various parts of
America. Some people think that American Dream was long ago gone, but others believe that we
can still achieve it by right opportunity and hard work. People do not want to live a luxurious and
enormously rich life, but they wish to live a satisfactory and happy life. People want to give their
children a life that they did not get because of wrong policies of the government. So people in

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the article of Chris Arnade are a perfect example of an opportunity seeker described by Shayan
that are looking to be successful. People are willing to work harder and harder to achieve what
they want. But the survey I mentioned at the beginning of the essay explains a very different
belief of not achieving anything by even working hard.
The residents in America are blaming immigrants that they are taking their jobs. But if
somebody is doing a job better than you, then he or she have a right to the opportunity. If
someone is doing work cheaper than residents, then the cost of the products gets lower, and it is
good for the

consumer too. So I decided to

investigate are

immigrants taking jobs from

citizens. I asked

about 20 random illegal immigrants

that I knew as

friends. These were the people

working on a

Catering and food preparation

business. About

17 of them were working for

minimum wage.

About 14 of them were doing work

that do not need

any special skills. I questioned the

owner of these

workers that why he only have

illegal workers?

He replied I am making more

profit with it,

and anyway no Citizen is willing to

wash dishes all

day long (Mr. XYZ, India Sweets,

and Spices). So mostly immigrants

Occupation held by Immigrants (PEW
Research Lab).
are doing what residents do not want to do. So the point that immigrants are taking jobs from
citizens is totally vague. Immigrants are just living their life independent of affecting citizens.

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There is another blame on immigrants that immigrants cause the adverse economic
conditions. However, it is true that the income inequality is caused by immigrants working for
very low wages, but immigrants are forced to work for lower wages because of our economic
system. If somebody has to live happily, then he or she need money, which immigrants get by
working for lower wages. To know more about the relation of economic crisis and immigration, I
interviewed a guy named Shamsher Sidhu, who is a Broker and Realtor in Sunrise Star Reality. I
asked him that if immigrants are taking our jobs? His answer was immigrants are doing the
work that Americans do not want to do. Mostly immigrants are helping Americans rather than
taking over. I asked him that if immigration caused the great recession? His answer was that
economic downturn and immigration are both separate from each other. The recession is
unavoidable, and immigration has not significantly affected the economy. His statement made
me very concerned about the political system as he said that if someone is born not in a
particular place, which is natural, then why should he/she do not get the equal opportunity to all
the resources (Shamsher Sidhu)? After hearing all these statements, I started thinking that
immigrants are not living an American dream. These people are not getting the right opportunity,
for which they came to America. The immigrants are not the reason for the income inequality,
but it is our system. The American dream is being murdered by our system and bad policies.
Before understanding the effect of economic conditions on American Dream, we need to
know why we had such a bad economy.This time, the presidential campaign is going on. Every
political party has their issues regarding the immigration. Some politicians are attracting
immigrants by proposing laws for immigration, and some are attracting residents by proposing
laws against immigration. The documentary Inequality for all explains some main deficiencies
in the political system that are the primary reason for the economic crisis. Even if so many

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politicians argue over taxing the rich and benefitting the poor, most of the money is going to the
top class of the society. Former United States Labor Secretary Robert Reich argues in the
documentary that political parties are concentrated on benefitting the wealthy. The poor and
middle class is working harder but reaching nowhere near their American Dream. Because of a
tiny chance of achieving their American Dream, immigrants less concerned about being
successful and more about getting enough money to live. American Dream is dying and fading
away because of our bad political system.

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American Dream has no effect on the economy, but as I explained American Dream is
dying or changing because of the bad economy. It is transferring to a totally new and different
idea. The concept of
American Dream has
continuously changed with
time. It has differed from
gold rush to being the most
powerful in the world and
from being extremely
wealthy to living a simple
and happy life. When
people had more opportunity to be successful, then American dream was considered as living an
extremely rich, and luxurious life. People had big dreams, and it they believed that we can
achieve anything by the hard work. Even if they were living a good enough life, they wanted
more. However, bad economy eliminated opportunities to get extremely wealthy. So people
started to think of earning enough because they were not getting enough. It re-defined the
definition of the American dream, but it did not finish or decreased the peoples will to work hard
to be successful. People want to work even harder now, if not to get extremely wealthy, then to
live a decent life, if not to live all luxurious, then to provide their children with a better
opportunity that they never got.
I interviewed a guy named Jaswant Singh Samra, a delivery van driver, who illegally
came to America in search of a better life. He told me a long story of how hard he came to
America. He spent several months reaching America in many life-threatening conditions. He

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spent all his money he had in his native land to come to America. But the life he has in America
is utterly disappointing for him. He said, I was amazed by the kind of work I had to do in
America in the beginning. People in my country cannot even imagine working 18 hours a day
like a machine in America to make just enough to live. It is not worth it. I do not think I will ever
achieve my American Dream; I once dreamt in this way (Jaswant Samra).
Even after all these polls and surveys, some people still think American Dream is
achievable. Fitzgerald Joe writes an article, Immigrants proves American Dream Still Exists
explaining the story of a successful immigrant Elio Imbornone. Elio faces many problems in the
path of her successful journey. She was discriminated by residents and some people even used
violence against her. But nothing affected her dreams, and she kept working hard. Now she has
her Pizza shop, and she is living a happy life. Elio says, If you're not afraid to work, you can be
whatever you want to be in this country. I believe that" (Fitzgerald Joe). The story of Elio is an
example for determined immigrants that it is possible to be successful, but it take a lot of hard
work. So to achieve the American dream, immigrants has to work harder, but it is everybodys
responsibility to support immigrants to be successful, which I think immigrants are not getting.
Immigration is a crucial part of our society and the American dream. America is America
because of immigrants. If people did not immigrate from different parts of the world, America
would never rise to the height that it gained now. Economic downturns had affected the
immigration and immigrants got a wrong label for economy destroyers. However, the truth is
that if we let the immigrants come to America, it would not only give the opportunity to people
that they cannot get in their country; it would also help American economy by producing
employment. Our government system needs some significant changes if the America want to stay
at the top.

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Immigrants have a tough journey to come to America, but even harder to achieve their
dreams. Immigrants are working harder and harder, but they are not receiving the right support
from government and residents. Immigrants want to Achieve the American Dream, but they are
nowhere on the path to achieving it. Unless government make proper laws that protect
immigrants and provide them with opportunities, American Dream will not have its real
meaning. These low paid unskilled immigrant workers to need a lot of support from government
to get to their American Dream. If government increase minimum wage, give immigrants
resident status and stop protecting wealthiest, then it would not only help immigrants, but
Americans also to achieve their American Dream.
Our workforce and our entire economy are strongest when we embrace diversity to its fullest,
and that means opening doors of opportunity to everyone and recognizing that the American
Dream excludes no one (Thomas Perez).
Works Cited

Arcade, Chris. Who still believes in the American Dream. Atlantic. n.p. September 23,

2015. Web. November 10, 2015.

Bond, Jill E. American Dream is getting harder and harder to achieve. Digital Image.

Blue Nation Review. Blue Nation Review. 6 July 2014. Web. 6 November 2015.
Bump, Philip. Occupation held by immigrants. Digital Image. Pew Research Centre. 27

March 2012. Web. 6 December 2015.

Earle, Geoff. "AMERICAN DREAM DEAD." New York Post: 3. Sep 22 2010. ProQuest.

Web. 6 Dec. 2015.

Fitzgerald, Joe. "Immigrant proves American dream still exists." Boston Herald 5 Feb.
2000: 005. General OneFile. Web. 6 Dec. 2015.

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Inequality for all. 72 Productions, Robert Reich. The Weinstein Company. 2013. Cosmos

documentaries. Web.
Parkinson, Sarah. What Americans think of American Dream. Digital Image. Centre for a

new American Dream. 2014. Web. 7 December. 2015.

Perez Thomas. BrainyQuote.com. Xplore Inc, 2015. 6 December 2015.
Samra, Jaswant Singh. Experiencing American Dream. Personal Interview. 13

November 2015.
Sidhu, Shamsher Singh. "Economy and Immigration." Personal interview. 12 Nov. 2015.
Wikipedia contributors. "Great Famine (Ireland)." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.

Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 5 Dec. 2015. Web. 5 Dec. 2015.

Zadeh, Shayan. Bring on More Immigrant Entrepreneurs, They Say I Say. New York:
Cenveo Publisher Services, 2014. 623-626. Print.