I
am doing a research project that is mostly about
“discrimination against Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs in America
especially after September 11. I decided to choose this topic
because of many reasons. One reason is that I am also an
immigrant and I want other people to learn how hard life is for
immigrants. Also, because after 9/11, many immigrants have been
treated badly.
What
an immigrant is:
An immigrant is a person who moves from his/her native
country to settle in another country because of some problems.
The main problems are economical, religious and educational
problems. There are two types of immigrants. Legal immigrants
and illegal immigrants. Legal immigrants are the immigrants who
have proper documents and valid visas. Illegal immigrants are
the immigrants who don’t have papers because either their visa
has expired or they entered the country illegally. In this
paper, I am talking about both kinds of immigrants.
Why
people choose America as their new country:
In history, during 1845, 1880 and
World War –2, many people immigrated to the America. People immigrated to America because it is an immigrant
country. People from different countries wish to come to
America. That’s why my family and I decided to immigrate to
America.
Reasons
that make immigrants to immigrate:
There are many reasons that make
immigrants immigrate. The main reasons are educational,
economical and religious problems. For example, increase of
population, the things are expensive and they don’t have that
much pay, tax burdens, life in other country is the best place
to live, they need job, they are poor, they need good future and
they want good education.
Problems
they faced in their country before immigration:
Immigrants
always had to struggle before they could immigrate. They have to
face a lot of problems. The main problem is getting a visa.
Before they immigrate, they need to have a visa. Sometimes they
get the visa and sometimes they don’t. It depends on their
documents. After immigration, they can be questioned several
times. For example, they can be questioned at the embassy, when
they apply for a visa and at the airport. But after the attack
on the World Trade Center, many immigrants were deported. They
got deported if they don’t have they don’t have
proper/complete papers or they are illegal or they does any
crime. It means that the immigrant’s struggle was wasted when
they got deported and sent back to their country. I know this
that immigrants have to struggle a lot before they immigrate
because I am also an immigrant. My family and I struggled a lot
before we came to America.
Their
journey to America:
Some immigrants come here by airplane and some immigrants
come here by ships. Some immigrants come here directly and some
immigrants come here by visiting some other countries. Some
immigrants face problems in their journey and some immigrants
come here comfortably. Some immigrants come here in short time
like some hours and some immigrants come here in to much time
like some days. Some immigrants came here by Ellis Island in
1880’s but now it is just a museum.
Problems
they faced after immigration:
1.
Language problem:
After
immigration, immigrants also face problems. When they come to
another country, the main problem for immigrants is they don’t
know the language. Some people know the language. Some people
don't know the language. They need to know the language if they
are in school, in college, or on job. If they don’t know the
language, they cannot understand what other people are saying to
them and they cannot speak with other people in their native
language.
2.
Living problems:
To
live, immigrants need a house and a job. Getting a house and job
is also a problem for citizens, but it is harder for immigrants
because they are from different country. If they don’t have a
job, they cannot pay the rent of their house. They cannot even
eat if they don’t have any money and to get money they need to
have a job. Getting a job is little bit easier for legal
immigrants because they have proper papers. It is not easy for
illegal immigrants to get a job because they need to have proper
papers.
3.
Immunization problem:
Immigrants
also need to have a complete immunization especially immigrant
children. There is a law that no children can go to school
without immunization. Immunization is a problem for some
immigrants because some immigrants don’t have immunization
cards in their new country so they have to start the whole
process again. It takes time to finish immunization process. It
is a big problem because if they don’t have immunization, they
cannot go to school.
Immigrant’s
rights:
Immigrants do have some rights in
America. For
example, children can get free public education. If illegal
immigrants are really sick and they don’t have proper papers,
they can get free medical care. Immigrants who have citizenship
can vote. If any immigrant (legal or illegal) does a crime and
he is in jail so he can get a free lawyer.
Groups
helping immigrants:
Many
groups are helping immigrants. Different groups help in
different problems. For example, groups help them to get
citizenship. Groups help them when they are in jail. Groups help
them when they have different kinds of problems. A problem can
be language problem. One of those groups is DRUM. DRUM stands
for Desi Rising Up and Moving. Their mission is to work with
undocumented and non-citizen members of the South Asian
community to unite and demand human rights for all immigrants.
What
is happening after September 11:
After the attack on the World Trade Center, many
immigrants are being sent back to their country. Many immigrants
got arrested because they looked suspicious. There are many
examples of immigrants who have been treated badly. There is an
incident of an Indian man. He has very long beard. Some people
beat him because they thought that he is related to Osama Bin
Laden. I read that in an article. That article was published
after one month of 9/11. The news also reported that a Muslim
man who lived in Long Island. He is also a taxi driver. He has
been beaten by some of his neighbors just because he is Muslim.
What
government is doing for immigrants and what it should be doing:
Government is paying money to
immigrants’ families who died in the attack on the World Trade
Center, but there are some immigrants who lost their jobs after
the attack on the World Trade Center. It is hard for them to get
a new job because some people are not giving jobs to those
immigrants who don’t have proper papers. Another reason
immigrants are not getting new jobs is just because of their
race or religion. I think that government should give immigrants
jobs, they could earn money to feed their family.
My
opinion:
I think it is very bad that immigrants are treated badly
by some people who believe in stereotypes. When someone behaves
badly with immigrants, immigrants feel sad because they left
every thing behind to immigrate here. They start their new life
in a new country and it is bad for them. They don’t immigrate
to another country for fun. Poor conditions at home make them
become immigrants.
Other
people’s opinion:
I took interviews from some
immigrants who faced negative experiences after the attack on
the World Trade Center (especially Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs).
Most of them think that discrimination against immigrants is a
big issue in this country. Most of them faced negative
experience because of their race and religion, after the attack
on the World Trade Center. For example, people look strangely at
them and give them the name of terrorist. If any Muslim girl
wears shalwar and kameez, they say bad words to them. Most of
them think that government should make some new laws to protect
all immigrants from prejudice attacks.
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