Immigration in America today

Immigration in America today

Immigration (derived from Latin: migratio) is the action of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence. Immigration is resorted to for many reasons, including economic, political, family reunification, natural disaster, poverty or the wish to change one’s surrounding.

Immigration plays one of the most important roles in the development of the U.S. In fact all U.S. residents are immigrants because their fathers emigrated from Europe to the New World many years ago. Native Americans, id est (ie) Indians, make up 1% of all U.S. residents.

Christopher Columbus was a navigator who made four voyages to America, with his first in 1492, which resulted in what is widely referred to as the Discovery of America. The 2nd voyage in 1493 was the start of the colonization of the New World. Over the next 50 years the Spanish treasure hunters and the poor people rushed to America to find easy wealth. Lately in 16th century settlers from England and France went to America with the same aim — to find gold and to take possession of new lands. This people were the first immigrants in the U.S.

During the 16th — 19th centuries one of the most important things for immigrants was a desire to get rich. Some of them, such as Henry Ford, became the founders of great companies. Others fell under the influence of gold rushes. Many people died, but even more came to America for wealth. Because of the Gold Rush of 1848−1855 period the California, one of the most beautiful states of America, was discovered.

Not for everyone the wealth was the aim for moving to the New World. There were people who had fled from Europe in search of religious and political independence. From 1630 through 1640 approximately 20,000 colonists came to the eastern coast of North America and settled in Massachusetts, Virginia and Caribbean. These people were called puritans. The Puritans created a deeply religious, socially friendly, and politically innovative culture that is still present in the modern United States. They hoped this new land would serve as a «redeemer nation.» They fled from England and attempted to create a «nation of saints» in America: an intensely religious, thoroughly righteous community designed to be an example for the whole Europe.

By 1670 the number of English settlers in America was about one hundred thousand people — most of them lived in colonies located on the east coast. A century later the natives of England were approximately three-quarters of the population. Later on the continent began arriving immigrants from other countries such as Ireland, Holland, Germany, France and Sweden. Throughout the period of development the North American pioneers needed work forces to handle the fields. These work forces were black slaves from Africa. Since 1619 hundreds of black slaves were brought to America. It lasted until 1808, when the importation of slaves was prohibited by law. Until the mid-19th century, the population of North America grew slowly.

The first significant wave of immigration the U.S. experienced in the 19th century. For several decades, more than 50 million people came to America from France, Germany and Italy. The reason was the political and economic instability in Europe. Later, towards the end of the 19th century the Chinese started to come in the country. Approximately 500 000 immigrants arrived in the U.S. during the Great Depression of 1929;1933. The period of the Second World War gave the United States nearly one million immigrants from different countries. During the 19th — 20th century, approximately 60 million people came to America. Most of them settled on the East Coast — New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and etc.

In the first decade of the 21st century, more than 90 million people from different countries came to the United States. Most of them are from Mexico, China, Philippines and India, but also a lot of people came from Russia.

They say that there were four distinct immigration waves from Russia to the United States.

The first one was related to the development of America in the 18th -19th centuries and represented by small number of Russian researchers, who settled along the Pacific coast.

The second one took place in the late 19th — early 20th centuries, and was represented by Jewish settlers from Russian Empire.

The third small wave was represented by political emigrants (mostly Jewish) from the USSR in the late '60s and early '70s of the last century.

The fourth largest wave of immigration took place at the period of the Iron Curtain fall in the late '80s — early '90s when many groups of Jewish, Russians, Ukrainians and others came to the U.S. According to U.S. immigration statistics, over 433 000 people from Russia and former Soviet republics were given the right to live permanently in the U.S., comparing with the period after World War II, only 65 000 people received a residence permit.

Brighton Beach is a district in New York in the south of Brooklyn on the Atlantic coast. Today it’s widely known as a «Russian district» of New York. Brighton Beach became famous for Russians in the '70s as a place for comfortable living for immigrants from USSR. Now it’s so densely populated by Russians that an electoral area is organized here during the days of state elections in Russia. It somehow helps to shorten the lines in the building of the General Consulate of Russia. There are a lot of Russian firms, restaurants, schools, services and of course the church. Also there is the Brighton Ballet Theater established in 1987, known as the Russian dance center in Brooklyn and it is one of the most famous Russian ballet schools in the U.S. immigration america united state

There are several causes of migration in the world, and economic and political ones are the most frequent. But there are some specific reasons for migrating people from Russia. For the last 10 years approximately 1.25 million people left Russia. Some of them couldn’t stand Putin and his government system, others fled in search for better jobs. The well-known «brain drain» from Russia started with a deep socio-economic crisis after the collapse of the USSR when decrease of the priority of science began. Neglecting of the scientific and intellectual resources, impossibility to self-realization and creative growth have led to such kind of migration.

Business emigration also undermines Russian economy greatly. Young businessmen, who have achieved success in Russia, go to the U.S. for further development.

Hundreds of people go to the U.S. because of excessively high real estate prices, low levels of education and health care service. Many people aren’t satisfied with the quality of domestic products or disrespect of the human rights and freedoms. A lot of people are fed up with corruption. There are also people who don’t like Russian mentality and just want to change something in their lives.

No matter why you want to leave your country, the United States provide you some opportunities for building your future. Of course it isn’t easy to do it because of the harsh immigration law, yet it’s possible.

There are several ways of immigration to the U.S.:

1. Participation in the «Green Card» lottery. Every year 55 000 visas in the U.S. stand out for different countries whose citizens don’t have a significant representation in the States. Winning in the lottery allows you to use practically the same rights as native Americans. You can live and work in the U.S., you are free to enter and leave it. For participation in the Green Card Lottery you have to fill in a form on the official web-site and just hope for your luck. The computer selects the winners.

2. Marriage to a U.S. citizen: You can try to get the Green Card within a few months due to your marriage to a U.S. citizen. However, the law appreciates only love-matches and prevents marriages of convenience. Green Cards in this case are valid for two years. Shortly before the end of this period you must prove that your marriage is actual and you live together as husband and wife. If you don’t prove it, you lose your Green Card. Marriage fraud can cause serious punishment for you and the U.S. citizen.

3. Religious visa: Religious worker’s visa belongs to a group of non-immigrant visas. Foreigners may come to the U.S. to carry out work of a religious nature with this visa. The visa is issued for five years.

4. Employment in the U.S.: If you want to become a permanent resident of the U.S. with an employment in a permanent job in the States, you and your employer need to pass a complicated multi-step procedure. It contains a lot of documents, forms and can be competently carried out only by qualified lawyer. It is difficult to understand it and to make right things for ordinary man. It will be better for him to consult with lawyers in the U.S.

5. Visa for businessmen: This is another complicated way of immigration to the U.S. For this method you need to open or buy a company in the U.S. which will sponsor you and your partners to get the Green Card.

6. Family reunification: It’s a recognized reason for immigration. The presence of one or more family members in a certain country enables the rest of the family to immigrate to that country as well. Under existing law, husband or wife, children, brothers, sisters or parents of the United States citizens may be sponsored for immigration by their adult relatives, those at least 21 years of age. The relative must demonstrate the financial ability to provide for the parents or other close relatives.

7. Visa for people with extraordinary abilities: Athletes, mathematicians, musicians, physicists and etc., those who have been widely recognized at home and have extraordinary abilities in the various fields of science and sport. Such people can take advantage of this visa. It’s used for temporary travels.

8. You can also use an investor’s visa or obtain refugee status, but such methods are used rarely.

As for me, I haven’t decided yet whether I want to leave Russia forever. Now I really want to go to America to get excellent command of English language and to get acquainted with the country. Perhaps in future I would like to move to the U.S. In this case I’ll try to get a job in the U.S. or take part in the Green Card Lottery.