There Will Always be Dilemmas

New immigrants today still face similar challenges that old immigrants faced. There are differences between the times, some that benefited them, and some that hurt them. What I learned was that there were many factors that went into deciding how well the immigrants were going to do when they were first starting out. One of the main things was the changing New York economy, more so the changing times around the world. If you think about it, technology and opportunities have advanced so much in the last decade alone. So immigrants are able to get the education and foundations they need today, if they have the means to do so. This certainly helps immigrants when coming to America now. A hundred years ago, the city was changing and growing offering many low-level jobs, which immigrants could take advantage of. They weren’t very educated and only few spoke English, so they were able to do these jobs without the need for that knowledge. Today the gap between jobs is wider with more white-collar jobs than ever before, still leaving blue-collar jobs (janitors, building cleaners), but less in-between jobs. This leaves immigrants coming over in a dilemma. It benefits those who are in certain fields, for example the medical or business fields. They can come over and jump into the economic ladder right away, and those who aren’t skilled or still uneducated are able to find jobs low-paying jobs. However, those who are educated but maybe not as skilled and don’t have a specific degree are stuck. They may be forced to step down a level in economic status from where they were. And immigrants will accept low-wage jobs, because it is better than what they would get if they were still in their home country. This is the whole idea of coming to America, for immigrants to make a better life for themselves. They will do whatever it takes to make it, even if it means living and working in horrible conditions. Old immigrants didn’t have as many opportunities, and unless they had family or some ties here, they had to start off in the lowest of the low jobs. Where today they have the opportunity to come in and make it right away. But then there is this whole issue of immigrants coming in and taking jobs, illegal immigrants, and discrimination of immigrants. A new world of opportunities has opened and things have changed in general. Looking at it though, immigrants have and will always face challenges. We saw this last week with the tenement houses and this week with the work that they find. Will it ever change for the better or will it always be this way?