We watched the documentary “Golden Venture” last class and we focus on immigration in class. So it is obvious that this review needs to be about immigration. However, I will take slightly different approach. I want to examine why people want to go in USA even illegally, what attracts those people.
First of all the documentary that we saw, showed that life of an illegal immigrant in the United States is not easy. Moreover, as a first generation immigrant I can add that even legal status does not make life easier in the America. I can start with taxes and finish with paid health insurance. So we need to understand that life of an illegal immigrant is difficult because of absence of documents and, therefore, person does not exist in the eyes of the government. However, life of legal immigrant or citizen is not easy too. We face the problem of common belief that life in the United States is good. Actually, the government itself propagandizes such idea around the world. Moreover, Americans are brainwashed with idea that everything is OK, even if it is not.
From this, I argue that problem of illegal immigration is the result of arrogance of the United States. America is the only superpower. It needs to maintain image that everything perfect in the USA. So the opposite side of it is illegal immigration. People all around the world see American propaganda and think that their they will be better in the United States, so they cross the board illegally. If you display yourself as a best place to live, “the land of freedom and opportunity,” you need to face the consequences-immigration.
Moreover, in the documentary we saw the ambiguity of legal status of people from “Golden Venture.” We saw how politicians fervently spoke about illegal immigration. Here I am not speaking about pro or against illegal immigration. I speak about morality. Every American (except native Indians) is a descendant of immigrants. So I do not see how it can be fair that immigrants deny other immigrants the same opportunities. Even if you ancestors immigrated a century ago you still an immigrant.
The problem with illegal immigration is the problem with the way the United States advertises itself. So if USA wants to stop illegal immigration it needs to start with telling the world truth about itself.