They Took Our Jobs! Sociological Perspectives on Immigration

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2fGl9587X8

Immigration is a process that has been happening since our country began. Since the Pilgrims first landed on Plymouth Rock, there have been people from other nations seeking prosperity in America. And since then, there has always been controversy about it. When the country was mostly English descendants, there was an uproar against the influx of Irish immigrants coming to the States. Later it was Italians and Pollacks. Now in the twenty-first century, the overwhelming majority of immigrants are from Mexico or Latin America.

Functionalist:

Throughout American history, there have been fears that this new class of immigrants was going to drain the economy, change the culture for the worse, and ruin the country. Yet after wave upon wave of immigrants, the nation is still standing. Immigrants often help solve labor shortages, taking jobs that many normal citizens would not want or simply do not have the manpower to fill. Besides, America is the great Melting Pot, where people from all over the world can come to live and chase down the American Dream. Just because immigrants bring different culture to the country does not mean that they are hurting it. Would anybody argue that the country is worse because of all of the Irish and Italian immigrants that came in the 1800s and early 1900s? No, but at the time they were derided. Similarly to Hispanic immigrants today, they take low ranking jobs that nobody wants, and those that work hard can get ahead.

Conflict:

Whites, having always been a strong majority possessing the dominant ideology traditionally are opposed to many forms of immigration to the country. Those who are in power strive to keep things the same. Over time, these new immigrants will fight their way out of the lower class and begin fighting for middle and upper class jobs from more tenured citizens. There are only so many good jobs to go around, and there is also competition for other resources such as education and housing and even tax dollars. As unpleasant as it may sound, it is survival of the fittest, and those in power in society will fight to keep the finite resources that exist.

Sources: http://www.migrationinformation.org/feature/display.cfm?ID=649
http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=b328194d3e88d010VgnVCM10000048f3d6a1RCRD&vgnextchannel=b328194d3e88d010VgnVCM10000048f3d6a1RCRD