It’s understandable if you do. We all want to feel comfortable in our culture. We want to know how to act and what to say. We want to know how to relate to the people around us.< However, if we are part of this country, we have to accept the reality that our culture is – and will continue to be – churned, mixed, and molded in the melting pot. Unless our ancestors were Native American, we are all fairly recent immigrants who have integrated a wide variety of heritages and customs to become the people we are today. Even though some of us would prefer to be in the ethnic majority, we can't deny the fact that we are well-practiced at navigating the unfamiliar. While we still have a long way to go before we are a post-racial nation, many of us not only tolerate but also celebrate cultural and racial differences for the beauty, lessons, creativity, and wider wisdom they bring to our nation. As Americans, we would all be wise to embrace this celebration of diversity. Choosing to fear or reject people based on their ancestry or place of birth will only cause increasing angst and personal misery in the years to come. In fact, according to a new study by the Pew Research Center, no racial or ethnic group will hold the majority in the year 2065. We will all be minorities. We can either choose to rail against this inevitability, or we can choose to welcome our more colorful future.
Here are the facts – by 2065, nearly one in four Americans will be of Hispanic origin, and Asian-Americans will make up a 14% share of the overall population. The year 2065 will also see a shift in the ethnic and racial makeup of people immigrating to the U.S. Asian immigrants will make up the largest share of the foreign-born population at 38%, while the Hispanic foreign-born population is predicted to drop to 31%.
The Pew Research Center also found that Americans have a far more positive view of Asian (47%) and European (44%) immigrants than they do of African (26%), Latin American (26%), and Middle Eastern (29%) immigrants. If you agree with 50% of the study participants who said that the foreign-born population has a negative effect on the country’s crime and economy, we have good news for you. This immigrant-crime connection is nothing more than a myth. According to this Wall Street Journal article, immigrants are actually less likely than native born Americans to be criminals, so more immigrants may mean we’ll actually have a lower overall percentage of criminals in our population.
If you are afraid of the economic impact that immigrants have on our economy, the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research reports that immigration not only help our nation’s economy but also actually increases the wages of native-born Americans.
Personally, we agree with nearly half of those polled in the Pew study who felt that immigrants had positively impacted food, music, and the arts in the U.S. At our law firm, we enjoy the American adventure that we are writing together as a nation made up of people from all over the world. We understand that the very foundation of United States culture is built on the multi-colored backs of our diverse ancestors. We have gratitude for the stories our grandparents brought to this country, and we welcome the tales that will be told on this same land by new arrivals in future years. It is only in the richness of our diversity that we can call ourselves American.
That is why we are here to help you manifest your American dream. If you or someone you know needs help with your immigration journey, please contact us today to schedule your free consultation.