Our Fear Of Immigrants Summary

The topic of immigrants has been debated for centuries, and has been an even larger topic for discussion since the attack on the two towers in 2001. Many people contemplate whether immigrants are a reason to be scared, not; and if so, then why? If one finds themselves asking this conflicting question, Jeremy Adam Smith’s article, Our Fear of Immigrants, provides an answer. Relying on research from psychologists and sociologists, Smith gives sufficient evidence for why immigrants bring such intense feelings of both hatred and compassion, and recommends a way to increase empathy toward them.

In “Our fear of Immigrants” by Jeremy Adam smith, the author recalls a story about a young elementary student that got deported during Christmas break. Immigration has always been a controversial topic in this country. Many have different views on why deportation is beneficial and why it is not. In this instance Rodrigo Guzman’s classmates were saddened and confused about why their classmate and dear friend had gotten sent to another country for no apparent reason. It was something these students didn’t understand since it was a subject they knew nothing about, however, the students knew it was not fair to their friend. Smith wanted to dig deeper on what emotions immigrants bring up in people and why was it

Immigrating to America is a process in which many people all across the world entrust as their one way ticket to a better life. Whether they do so legally or illegally, coming to the United States ensures better opportunities, economically, politically, and so on, to people who would have otherwise been worse off in their countries of origin. Even so, the common understanding of being “better off” can be considered a misconstrued concept when it comes to living in the states. Many families that choose to immigrate to the U.S. fail to realize the cultural hardships that newcomers tend to face once on American soil. Anything from racial discrimination or bias at work, in neighborhoods, at school, etc., can all be challenges that people encounter when making a move to the U.S. Such challenges are described by Richard Rodriquez in his autobiography Hunger of Memory. In this passage, he explains how cultural differences between Mexican and American ways of life have shaped him into the person that he is today. He also chooses to highlights the problems that he faces growing up in a predominately white neighborhood, while attending a predominantly white institution. Much of his writing consists of the cultural differences and pressures he feels to assimilate to Western culture and how this process, in turn, changes him into the person that some may find to be unethical, but nonetheless, someone he is proud of.

In the essay “Our Fear of Immigrants,” Jeremy Adam Smith writes about why it is we fear immigrants. Smith divides his essay with numerous examples and comparisons, through biological, sociological and psychological explanations. As unorthodox as it sounds, our hesitation towards outsiders can be explained in various ways we never believed imaginable; in Smith’s investigation, he unveils the bewildering reality about the contrasts between ourselves, as adults, and children when it comes to immigration. He begins with a distressful story of a classroom of 4th graders from Berkeley, California, who missed their classmate named Rodrigo when he didn’t return from Christmas break, due to his parents’ expired visa. Rodrigo’s classmates thought that it was so unfair, that they complained to their congressmen. Smith then contrasts this response of empathetic children to unsympathetic adults from Berkeley, California, who protested against immigrants who seek shelter in the U.S for the families. Smith pondered the questions: “Why do immigrants provoke such strong feelings of both empathy and revulsion, a polarization that pits fourth graders in Berkeley against the citizens of Murrieta?” and “What characteristics and qualities do Rodrigo’s classmates possess

The first essay in chapter twenty four is “Five Myths about Immigration” by David Cole. He begins his essay by exploiting a group from the mid-nineteenth century called the “Know-Nothings” who blamed all of America’s problems on immigrants. Cole then goes on to acknowledge what he believes are the five myths about immigration. These myths include: America is being overrun with immigrants, Immigrants take jobs from U.S. citizens, Immigrants are a drain on society’s resources, Aliens refuse to assimilate and are depriving us of our cultural and political unity, and lastly noncitizen immigrants are not entitled to constitutional rights. Cole gives reasons why these five myths are not true and by using facts he makes his argument more believable.

Writer Jeremy Adam Smith, starts his argument by telling a story about a little boy named Rodrigo Guzman. Rodrigo’s teacher noticed that he has been absent for a few days and found out later, that him and his family have been deported back to Mexico. Rodrigo’s teacher had told the fourth-grade class what happened to Rodrigo and his family. The kids in his class were shocked to hear that their friend had been deported and wanted to do something about it. In Jeremy Adam Smith “Our Fear of Immigrants”, many Americans fear immigrants based on what they learn from their in-groups. He believes that some people fear immigrants, find them a threat and how people try to tame xenophobe.

Christine Bowman, writer of the essay “Undocumented Lives: Migrant Latinos in America”, presents a strong response to a book of a similar name. Bowman’s authority is already shown without having to read her review at all due to her choice of topic alone and how controversial it is. She brings up the stereotypes and misconceptions about immigrants and how they are exploited for their hard work, challenging the idea that migrants are only here to take away American jobs (Bowman 261). Along with this, she argues against the complaints relating to the miscommunications between our languages and reminds us that migrants are “scared because they do not speak English” (Bowman 262). As proof of her credibility, Bowman cites a quote that further expands on the language barrier. Her use of I throughout the essay adds a personal touch, allowing her to bring up the things she feels are most important, including how migrant workers should not all be treated as they’re part of the same story (Bowman 260).

Jeremy Adam Smith’s “Our Fear of Immigrants” proposes a sympathetic outlook towards immigrants. Smith wants the disgust and loathe of citizens to stop, and instead for them to start retaining empathy for newcomers. While reading the article, there is a sense of fear that people hold for immigrants. Many of these fears are mainly blamed on many motives such as psychological reasoning, genetic cognitive, and social status. Although Smith provides plenty logic behind the behavior of citizens, there should also be the point of view behind the immigrants themselves.

Our country was founded on immigration, but in recent decades the term ‘immigrant’ has been linked with turmoil. There has been great uncertainty within the American population of what to do about immigration reform, or if immigration is even a problem in our country. Arizona’s Scarred Generation by Fernanda Santos describes the chaotic changes taking place within most densely populated latin american states, mainly Arizona. Policies such as DACA have relieved some of this uncertainty within younger immigrant populations, especially latin americans growing up here who had no choice in being “undocumented” immigrants, but some laws such as SB 1070 ( a law allowing police to search latin american citizens based on their appearance), Proposition

Fear of immigrants might be the most intractable of people, and they believe it is strongly linked to survival and natural selection. The most common human reaction is to monopolize resources. Some people might feel that having immigrants or foreigners in their counters are Threat. In “Our Fear of Immigrants” by Jeremy Adam Smith, one of the reasons or a real threat posed by the immigrant’s ability to distressed the power or the rich people of that country. Those rich people never think carefully about what other individuals can offer and contribute, and this leads them to embrace stereotypes. One of the most common stereotypes about immigrants is describing some Latinos or Mexican as rapists, killers and drug dealers. Fear and misinformation

Here in the Rio Grande Valley immigration has become the hit. An immigrant in my own words is someone from a different country that travels to an alternative country permanently for a better life. I belief they are many unlike reasons why people live in their country but cross to another country. Actually, I’m not in immigrant, I’m a US citizen but I have experienced many stories and seen families struggle from this situation. Nevertheless, to my own experience, some people move to the US to find better jobs, but some move to different counties to look forward not only to better their education but their children’s as well. In this research paper I will be pointing out the important factors and expectations of illegal immigrants in the US,

Public views toward undocumented immigration is not much positive because we are not welcoming their presence in our society. here, I would like to examines the receptions of undocumented immigrants in the US society. when we talk about illegal immigrants, people have first thoughts that they would be Hispanic, criminal, and uneducated people. However, studies and data show, there are other groups of people, who are living in the US without proper documentation. Findings suggest that many undocumented immigrants have been discriminated in the work place and public forums, such as school, restaurants, and streets by behavior, verbal abuse, lower pay, and labeling theory.

Immigrants arrive here in America to establish a better quality of life. They come here to get a job, raise their families, and get an education. To express their need for stability is important. In “Border on Our Backs,” Rodriguez carries some sociological information of how Latinos feel judged. The author states, “Just who precisely needs to be pardoned? Those who are exploited and who’ve been here forever…or those who’ve been complicit in our dehumanization” (562)? He feels criminalization in the way the Latin immigrants are treated. Rodriguez talks about some racial profiling in

On his article regarding Xenophobia, Massino Pegliucci takes a scientifically approach describing xenophobia as a condition that will be very difficult to eradicate. He believes that humans have a natural

I chose this article because it reflects intolerance attitude that unfortunately exists towards immigrants. This newspaper article describe the negative attitude that has one of the candidates for President- Donald Trump. He claims that immigrants from Central America and Syria are wicked and thus US has to build a US border and have stricter polices towards immigrants from these countries. I found this claim very disturbing. I would like to hear your opinion about it.