Dans cet article, nous abordons le sujet de l’immigration dans le pays qui y est le plus confronté : les États-Unis. Nous commencerons par revenir sur l’histoire plus ou moins lointaine de l’immigration américaine. Puis, nous nous référerons au lien entre politique et immigration, pour finir sur l’impact économique des migrations aux États-Unis.
Lire en anglais est très efficace pour se familiariser avec les formulations et la langue, alors lance-toi ! Profite de la lecture de cet article pour noter quelques expressions idiomatiques ou chiffres importants ! Ils te serviront en dissertation.
L’article sur l’immigration
“For more than 200 years, our tradition of welcoming immigrants from around the world has given us a tremendous advantage over other nations. It’s kept us youthful, dynamic, and entrepreneurial. It has shaped our character as a people with limitless possibilities”. Those words were said in 2014 by Barack Obama, then President of the United States. Indeed, the US is without a doubt a place of immigration with 49.5 million immigrants. The US is breaking every record with such a figure.
It can be explained by a history of immigration dating back from the XIXth century when thousands of Europeans decided to start a new life in what was commonly known as the “New World”. Between 1840 and 1860, 4 million Europeans arrived in the US, 75% of them were Irish or German. Many arguments pushed them towards taking the decision to come to the States, whether it be the Gold Rush or the promise of a land of their own. This way, the population skyrocketed from 31 million inhabitants in 1860 to 105 million in 1920.
As they were confronted with an ever-growing number of arrivals, the first Immigration Act was passed in 1882 imposing a tax of $0.5 for every entry on the American soil. It is that same year that Ellis Island was first used for immigration purposes. This act was followed by many others imposing quotas, alphabetization tests, and financial requirements. It resulted in a sharp decrease by the beginning of the 20s.
In 1965, the quotas were abolished by Lyndon Johnson in favor of a numerical ceiling in order, according to him, to end the discrimination based on the country of origin. This law allowed many familial gatherings, mainly of people coming from Asia and Latina-America, and way more people entered the US than what was first expected. On top of that in the following decades, more and more immigrants were entering the US illegally by the Mexican border which resulted under Bill Clinton’s mandate to restrictive policies. It is the beginning of huge expenditures to control the border: from CCTVs to the purchase of land to build a fence. However, the border continued to be a key point in the immigration to the US with about 8 million undocumented immigrants entering there between 2000 and 2005.
Nowadays, whether it be on the left-hand side of the political spectrum or the right-hand side, politicians all agree on one thing: the American immigration system is broken.
On the issue of immigration, the lines between Parties are sometimes blurred. For instance, quite surprisingly for many, under Barack Obama, 2.5 million illegal migrants were evicted, which is more than during the entire XXth century. Immigration is a subject that has allowed bipartisan projects to appear, for instance, the DREAM Act or Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors. The DREAM Act was a proposal firstly made jointly by a democrat and a republican senator in 2001. This legislative proposal would have granted temporary residency with rights like the one to work to undocumented migrants which had entered the US as minors. However, it did not pass in Congress then, and still under B. Obama’s term.
Another example of this is DACA (Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals), which Obama had taken as an executive action in 2012 and concerned 700 000 people called “Dreamers”. This executive action meant for them that they could stay and live in the country if they arrived as children. DT’s administration wanted to stop that protection which Obama created saying that he didn’t have the legal authority to do so because it was an executive action. It went all the way up to the Supreme Court. They decided to block the cancellation of DACA as they didn’t agree with the argument that Barack Obama didn’t have the authority to do so. It was Justice Robert appointed by Bush Jnr in 2005, that was said to be conservative that didn’t vote for the cancellation.
Because immigration is subject to a lot of debates and controversial opinions in the US like everywhere else, it is important to speak about the economic impact of migrations.
According to studies, an increase of 1% of the population will result in a 2% increase in the GDP per capita in the long run. In the US at the moment, it is said that 2/3 of the economic growth is made by immigrants. They create 30% of new businesses but account for 15% of the overall American population. In addition, immigrants are twice more likely to win a Nobel Prize or start a firm because they took a heavy risk when migrating so they are willing and ready to take other risks.
If ever you are not convinced yet of how much immigrants are an asset to the American economy, this last figure will surely convince you: 40% of the Fortune 500 companies were created by immigrants. This can be said to be the result of the “brain drain”.
Tu es maintenant incollable sur l’immigration aux États-Unis ! Pour en apprendre davantage, regarde cet article !
