Moving to the United States has been an almost entirely positive experience for me. Coming from a small, lower income neighborhood just outside of East London, my prospects in life were not as good as they are now. Not to mention, my Essex accent would not have done me any favors.

 

Instead, I was fortunate enough to move to the United States, attend a good public school and eventually attend the best public university in the country. This is the American dream – it is alive and well. But it’s not available to everyone.

 

As an immigrant, I want it to be. I would like everyone who is willing to work hard to have the opportunity to live a better life. Unfortunately, I don’t see this ever happening. 

 

Even in the midst of the wildest of fantasies, if the U.S. did a 180° on immigration policy and declared open borders, people would stream in from all over the world in the hopes of a better life. Yet, when they arrived, that dream would still be inaccessible to some.

 

This is solely due to the way America views immigration. It was the same in 1890 when the Irish arrived on the East Coast, it was the same when the Chinese came in the 1850s to build the transcontinental railroad. It was the same when Mexican immigrants came across the border and it’s the same for Muslims in the wake of 9/11.

 

Immigrants are discriminated against in this country.

 

Gaining access to visas and green cards is one challenge, but it is a challenge that can be overcome with sufficient legislation. In regards to how immigrants are treated once they get here, how American ideology is shaped around immigration, that is not something that is easily changed with the ratification of new laws.

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Instead, we would need to change the way we talk about immigration. The way the news reports on immigration, the way we talk about the political aspects of immigration, the way we talk about immigrants as a whole and the way we talk about undocumented versus legal immigration.

 

The way we talk about the 13%.

 

43 million is a lot of people.

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For reference, about the same number of African Americans live in the U.S. as immigrants.

 

In comparison, only about 4.5% of the U.S. population identifies as LGBTQ.

 

These other communities are ones that act together in solidarity, if an act of hatred is perpetrated against one, it is against them all. They are known in society, and significant discrimination against them is extremely looked down upon in modern society.

 

Why is a similar sentiment not reflected in the immigrant community?

 

Why can a Muslim mother on a flight with her children be asked if she’s a terrorist?

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Why can a Mexican family be turned away from the US border because they don't meet the standard for asylum, but may very well be in danger in their own country?

 

Why can I be refused employment in some parts of the private sector due to my immigration status, even though I am a permanent resident?

 

Why can a young DACA dreamer be barred from voting in the federal elections of the only country they've ever known, as their peers line up to register to vote?

 

A significant act of discrimination against the African American or LGBTQ community would be hard pressed to be carried out without extreme push back from American society. This isn’t to say there isn’t still, unfortunately, discrimination against these groups as well.

 

Why is it so different for immigrants?

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As an immigrant, I am viewed so differently in society than someone whose second language is English or whose skin color isn't white. I blend in with the stereotypical idea of what an American is, and therefore I am rarely grouped into the "immigrant" bucket when that conversation arises.

 

I might “look” American, I might “sound” American, I might “act” American, but I am not. Even if one day, I choose to become one, I will still never stop being an immigrant.

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The segmented structure of immigration is nothing new, there are visible differences and there are cultural differences that separate us in the eyes of society, but also in the eyes of each other. Immigrants in the U.S. have often been known to form tight-knit communities with other immigrants from their "homeland." However, a bridge can be built in order to connect those separate communities to each other.

 

We may all look different, we may have arrived in this country in different ways, speak different languages and wear different clothes, but we are all immigrants and that is meant to be the point of this country. The diversity and culture that each of us bring makes the U.S. better and more interesting, no matter how big or how small.

 

The best future for immigrants is if we stand together against the misconceptions that have been slowly curated about each of us and in different ways. A united front of immigrants would be much more powerful than what activists and others are able to do now. It might also be the only way to change American’s perceptions of a concept that they all have a part in.

 

While this would create more of a united front for immigrants, it could also distance us even more from Americans. But, to have to choose an identity of either immigrant or American is something people shouldn’t have to do.

 

Mainly because natural born Americans are themselves, in essence, immigrants.

 

They are fully aware of this fact. I have friends that boast their mother’s polish ancestry or tell me their father’s family is 15% Scottish when they find out that’s where I am from.

 

Yet, they seem to be in denial that these family members were immigrants. The colloquial term “nation of immigrants” isn’t descriptive of an ideology that is meant to be welcoming for new immigrants. It is descriptive of the cultural make-up of this country.

 

We are all immigrants.

 

Therefore, when we build bridges to connect first-generation Mexican immigrants to first generation British immigrants, we are also connecting my friend who is 15% Scottish and someone who’s grandfather moved here from Mexico.

 

Natural-born Americans can join the immigrants from the countries they have all descended from as fellow immigrants themselves. This isn’t that different than how American’s view their identities now – they just have to remember that if they are 20% Polish, that means someone in their family was an immigrant.

 

If this were to happen, the dichotomy between immigrant and American would be much less harsh. Immigrants wouldn’t have to choose to be either an American or an immigrant. Americans could feel more connected to their heritage if that’s something they choose to do.

 

It’s not too hard to imagine this happening. The history of America makes this idea easily accessible because it is true. Most people who live here have descended from immigrants. They are, in so many ways, immigrants too.

 

The ideology surrounding immigration is something that is not discussed enough. It also happens to be one of the most important aspects of it. Border walls can be built and new immigration policies can be ratified. However, until Americans change the way they think about immigration and until they begin to understand the long and broken system that is currently in place, things in the United States will never change.