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Immigration Threatens to Divide the United States
America has become a multiethnic, multiracial society. A cultural ethnic pot seems wonderful if you see it as a diverse country living in perfect harmony. The problem presents itself when the pot turns cold and the cultures compact. In a perfect world foreigners will come eager to try new foods, make new friends, and come together as a people. However, walking into a high school cafeteria makes clear that this is not a perfect world. People like to cluster with their own kind and comfort their nostalgia by surrounding themselves with familiar faces. There is a gloating pride of superiority, especially among immigrants of Hispanic culture, that displays itself when they arrive in a new place. This is not to say that the bond between people from the same country doesn’t have its benefits. After all, if you want a taste of Argentina, you don’t need to get on a plane. Just go to 71st street on Collins and right away you’ll find it full of Argentinean shops, restaurants and people. This place is also nicknamed “La pequena Argentina” or “Miniature Argentina” by its people. The same can be found in California with Mexicans or right here in Miami in Little Haiti for a taste of Haiti. Turn to 103.9 and MEGA radio station will greet you with “Regeton” and “Salsa.” The same is true for 99.1 FM for the Haitian radio station along with TV channels. All these, however, bring with them a deadly threat to America’s cultural unity and controversial issues, such as bilingual education. The solution, then, seems to consist of two possibilities. The politically correct approach is to open the doors to illegal aliens and to create elastic borders that will vastly increase immigration. Although this idea may be politically correct, it’s not exactly “economically sexy,” in that it would open the gates to calamity by encumbering the middle class with new taxes. On the other hand, we could ban all immigrants, lock the borders, and really come down on prohibiting illegal aliens, making their entry a federal offense. This idea denies entry to people who are being prosecuted for their beliefs, starving in their own countries and seeking for opportunities their right to freedom. After all, as Samuel P. Huntington, chairman of the Harvard Academy said, “Blood is thicker than borders.” Meanwhile, with neither of these solutions seeming attractive to everyone, this issue lingers in midair, leaving a thick line dividing Americans and “others.” |
If you’ve ever been to Little Havana in Miami and saw, “We speak English” on a sign, you know you’ve stepped into a different world. The influx of Hispanic immigrants threatens to divide the United States into two languages, two cultures and two peoples.
Cultural melting pot? Unfortunately, the pot becomes infected with a nationalistic stubbornness that becomes the greatest challenge to overcome.
The integration of more immigrants into American society only becomes more difficult as people prefer to cling to their own kind. 
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