Immigration and Popular Culture: A Literature Review Through the Lens of Discourse,
Abstract
The aim of this literature review is to describe the relationship between immigration and popular culture. It analyzes existing literature on the matter to find the impact of popular culture on the nature of immigration and associated policies. An analysis of this connection is important to identify where popular culture poses a challenge to immigration and the inequalities that exist. The personal experiences and opinions of immigrants are important because they contribute to the larger social and political structures at play. Because of this association, the literature review will rely on feminist theory: personal is political. This paper also employs a disciplinary discourse lens to analyze the findings of previous researchers on the matter. In so doing, this paper aims to give insight into how immigration policies can be adjusted to be more inclusive.
Introduction
This study focuses on analyzing the impact of popular culture on immigration, and the input of immigrants into popular culture. The attitudes of people towards people from other nationalities have a huge impact on the policies that they develop to regulate these activities. Similarly, immigrants bring their culture with them, and it finds ways of impacting the culture of their host countries as well.
The United States accepted the largest number of immigrants in the last decade of the twentieth century, and this number has continued to increase in the twenty-first century. This can be attributed to many factors, and the impacts of these mass migrations into the country have had lasting positive and negative effects on the social, political, and economic structures of the country. An important factor that has had a huge contribution to the United States migration patterns is the language used in the country. The country has widely adopted Spanish in addition to the native language of most residents with is English. The wide adoption of Spanish reflects the high proportion of Spanish speaking people. These are mainly from Latin American countries like Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, among others. Many immigrants are familiar with the popular culture of the United States and find it attractive and different from what they are used to in their home countries. For this reason, many people choose to migrate to the United States because of the ease of integration and the existence of diversity in a country that was founded by immigrants. Their immigration has seen the adoption of numerous cultural aspects from their respective cultures, ranging from food, clothing, and even language.
The way that the immigration system is designed in the United States leaves many immigrants at the mercy of the immigration officers handling their cases. Many times, the criteria used to determine who gets admission into the country and who is denied are not standardized. There is, therefore, a wide room for bias and discrimination. Immigrants are usually subjected to a lot of scrutinies as they attempt to enter countries like the United States, sometimes in dehumanizing ways that strip them of their dignity. Sometimes, their human rights are denied. In cases where people do not meet the stringent requirements that are set by immigration regulatory authorities, they find alternative ways of entering the country, often illegally as undocumented immigrants. The immigration experience for people coming from developing countries like Mexico is usually traumatic because of the treatment that they receive from the immigration officers. Even more traumatic is the experience of undocumented and illegal immigrants under the United States justice system, which most times conspires against immigrants to keep them out of the country. Holding centers for immigrants who are still in the process of resolving their immigration issues have been accused of gross violations of the human rights of the people there.
Social support systems for immigrants are seriously deficient in the United States. Many argue that they are designed that way to control the rates of immigration and keep them low. Many immigrants end up frustrated, and some even lose their lives as a result of the defunct social support systems that they rely on. Finding employment can be a difficult task for an immigrant. Education, housing, healthcare, and other needs are usually out of reach for many immigrants, which is dangerous because it leaves them vulnerable to all sorts of dangers and prevents them from achieving their life goals. It is worth noting that most immigrants come into the country with the hope of improving their status and condition. Ironically, some of the immigrants end up facing a lower quality of life than they did in their countries, on top of constant harassment and persecution from the society and the existing political systems in the United States. The American dream, therefore, remains far out of reach for many immigrants.
Literature Review
Immigration in the 21st century
Popular culture has had a massive impact on the patterns of immigration and has influenced the way policymakers approach the issue. Immigration also brings about culture exchanges, thereby helping to reshape popular culture. By 2010, the number of immigrants entering the United States was 38 million. This number accounted for the largest share in the population growth of the United States. Studies carried out by government agencies have shown that one in three immigrants in most groups is undocumented, though the ratio might be higher in certain groups. The presence of such huge numbers of undocumented immigrants indicates the difficulty of entering the United States. Immigrants have a huge contribution to the economy of the country. They often provide much-needed labor in the various industries present in the United States economy. Despite the country’s need to accept immigrants, policies continue to make it difficult for people to enter the United States.
The majority of immigrants in the United States come from Mexico. A large portion enters through the Southern border of the country, which borders Mexico to the North. Immigrants using this route usually originate from all over Central America in countries such as Mexico, Ecuador, Puerto Rico, among others. Immigrants also come into the United States from Asian countries like China, Japan, and India. African and European immigrants also account for a significant proportion of immigrants in the country. All these countries have different languages and cultures from the United States. The result is that culture exchanges occur, adding to the diversity in society. Immigrants usually adapt their behavior and culture to fit in the United States. The behavior change is an attempt to integrate into a new community in order to coexist peacefully.
There are many reasons why people choose to move from their home countries into the United States. In the 21st century, the main reason for the movement is economical. Many people believe that moving into the United States is bound to produce better employment opportunities. This explains why most immigrants enter the United States on work visas. Education is also a major motivator for immigration, especially higher education. United States higher learning institutions are usually better equipped than those in the home countries of immigrants seeking education. Other immigrants are in the country to seek asylum. People escape persecution from their countries as a result of their ethnicity, cultural background, political positions and even sexual orientations. The seek the protection of the United States.
Popular culture usually reflects the collective views of individuals in the country. Many people have positive views on the issue of immigration and believe that the government should be supportive of immigrants willing to enter the country legally. However, many other people are opposed to the idea of immigrants and feel threatened by the upward surge in immigration rates. Some people fear that immigrants will compete with them for scarce resources in the country such as education, employment and healthcare. Others consider immigrants to be dangerous and highly likely to involve themselves in criminal activities. Since policies reflect the opinions of the population, the United States has adopted policies that frustrate the efforts of immigrants attempting to secure employment in the country.
Many media sources depict immigrants in bad light. They focus on the negative and ignore the positive. Many movies cast roles where immigrants are criminals, social rejects, dishonest people and even terrorists. Media influences the opinions and perceptions of people who consume content towards the issue of immigration. Similarly, media reflects the image of immigrants in the minds of the general population. Popular culture therefore seems to be opposed to the mass immigrations occurring at the moment, even though the same immigrants have influenced it.
Language in Immigration
Many immigrants have a hard time adjusting to life in the United States because of the language barrier. A large number of immigrants enter the country with little to no understanding of English which is a foreign language to them. For this reason, they continue to speak their native languages in the process of learning English, the country’s most dominant language. Chinese immigrants continue to speak Mandarin, Latin American immigrants continue to speak Spanish, and so forth. In recent years, the rapid spread of Spanish has caused some Americans to raise concerns over the security of the national identity and heritage.
Language barriers pose an obstacle to communication between immigrants and natives of the countries to which they immigrate. Because of the failure to communicate ideas and emotions, language barriers propagate fear and suspicions between the two groups. Migrants lack the opportunity to communicate their intentions. As a result, misunderstandings often arise. These misunderstandings can be a source of frustration for both the native and the immigrant. People tend to fear what they cannot understand. The case of natives fearing immigrants reflects this notion. Unable to understand immigrants, native individuals resort to suspicion and a sense of being defensive in anticipation for a potential threat from the immigrants. Language barriers are therefore a major hindrance in the path to integration for immigrants.
Sometimes the language barrier can frustrate efforts to secure employment. Since most businesses target the majority of Americans who are actually native English speakers, it becomes difficult for the immigrants to secure employment in industries where communication with clients is necessary. For example, an immigrant who does not speak English is less likely to secure employment as a receptionist at a hotel or as a primary care doctor. Immigrants often feel inferior to natives because of the language barrier. Sometimes these frustrations can be strong enough to motivate an immigrant to return to their home country.
Foreign languages can be intimidating to people. Studies have shown a link to increased exposure to a foreign language and elevated anti-immigration attitudes. In the United States, the main foreign language encountered among immigrants is Spanish, as a result of the large number of Mexican immigrants entering the country. People who encounter writings in Spanish tend to be opposed to immigration, and to believe that immigration is a problem. This may be associated with the feeling of exclusion that people experience when they are unable to understand what someone else is saying. In a country where immigration policies are engineered to make it difficult for immigrants to enter or remain in the country, such a negative association with a foreign language serves to worsen the plight of immigrants.
Immigrants are disadvantaged by language barriers in a country that is reluctant to accommodate them. The language barrier contributes to conflict with locals and authorities significantly. The spread of Spanish throughout the country is indicative of the high rates of immigration and an attempt by immigrants to integrate in the American society, While it becomes increasingly difficult for immigrants to enter and stay in the United States, being accommodative of their language is a strategy that can be used to reduce conflict and shift attitudes towards immigrants.
Discretion of the Officer
The fate of a potential immigrant is usually on the hands of the immigration officer at the point of entry. In the United States, the system is set up in a way that allows an immigration officer to be the prosecutor and judge when determining whether a person is to be granted passage into the United States. Immigration officials are expected to interpret the laws and policies established pertaining to immigration. They are then to use their judgement to decide on the immigration status of an individual. What this means is that there is no established measurement to determine whether a person deserves entry or not. Despite policies and guidelines, the matter is usually up to the immigration officer’s discretion.
Under immigration law, officers in the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have prosecutorial discretion. What this means is that they are allowed to decide whether or not to pursue a person’s immigration case. The officers choose who to pursue based on several factors. The most important is usually the importance of the case. By determining which cases are important enough and which are not, the officers can prioritize their work. They can pursue cases that they deem important and allow people whose cases they consider unimportant. Dropping unimportant cases frees up time and resources to ensure that what matters to the agency is dealt with first.
Prosecutorial discretion points to an essential aspect of immigration, which is negligence. The government underfunds the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Because officers cannot deal with every case individually due to the sheer numbers of immigrants entering the country illegally, they resort to prioritizing their work. If ICE was better funded, officers would have an easier time dealing with each individual’s immigration case. Detention times for immigrants as they await courts and immigration officers to deliberate on their cases are usually prolonged, causing anxiety and uncertainty among immigrants.