Immigration of refugees to America

Immigration of refugees to America

1. Introduction

Over the years, the United States government has admitted persons fleeing from foreign countries. Though number of refugee immigrant has been decreasing relatively, the government is mandated to offer settlement for such persons through the proper channels of the law. These refugees immigrate to the United States due civil unrest and political tension in their respective countries. However, after settlement; the immigrant refugees encounter several problems such as:

Culture shock: this is the feeling of confusion that new immigrants experience due to movement to areas of different cultures. It is evident that the culture of the American people is quite different from the culture of many continents in the world such as Africa, Asia, and the Arab communities. These refugees find it hard to merge in the society due to the indifference in the culture hence resulting un-comfort ability of the refugees (Mary and Karl 1).

Language barrier: many refugees moving into America have difficulty in expressing themselves in English. This results from collapsed education systems that resulted from long term conflicts and war. In addition, those individuals who are able to speak in English have accents of their home countries hence are prone to incidences of racism and ethnicity in their day to day activities.

Even though immigrant refugees face culture erosion due to the influence of the American culture, some elderly immigrants have put up strategies to ensure that the young generations value their homeland culture. This is achieved by immigrant refugees settling in one neighborhood hence preserving their cultural beliefs in the given area. Also, practicing of various cultural practices such as circumcision and religious rituals helps to preserve the homeland cultures of different communities such as the Jewish refugees.

2. Methodology

While carrying out my research on the immigration of refugees to America, I would use methods such as interview of the refugees; visit the immigration offices and also visit an event organized by the refugees.

Interview of the refugees: An interview with some refugees who have recently settled in the country would be essential for understanding the problems and challenges they face. I would be able to inquire about the process of fleeing their home country, their settlement procedures and their current social environment. Moreover, I would seek clarification about the methods they have put in place so as to combat cultural erosion commonly experienced in the US.

Visit the immigration offices: I would visit the immigrant relations and integration services (IRIS) and book an appointment with Teresa Castellanos, Immigration Relation Services Program Coordinator and Noemi Alvarado, Administrative Assistant. In this meeting, I would seek knowledge about the statistics about the number of refugees entering the country. I would also inquire on the government policies regarding refugee settlement and citizenship. Finally, I would seek clarification on the methods the government’s immigration agencies have put in place so as to deal with cultural shock and socio-economic adaption of the refugees in their new environment.

Visit a refugee event: In order to appreciate the cultural diversity in the refugee societies, I would visit one of the events organized by the refugees; this would provide an insight on the appreciation of the different societies cultures in the world. In addition, such events would contribute vital information on the challenges the refugees face in America.

3. Literature review

1) http://dash.harvard.edu/handle/1/3203265   

This article explains the ethnic and racial inequality in the United States. It further explains the social problems faced by refugees of different ethnic backgrounds and how they manage to adapt in such adverse conditions of the inner cities.

2)http://hepg.org/her/abstract/826 

This scholarly article deals with how immigrant youths face challenges in the education system. Apart from revealing details of how language barrier is a hindrance to immigrant education, it explains the social challenges these refugees face as they grow up.

3) http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2011/04/the-gifts-of-immigration

This article analyses factors facing immigrants while putting emphasis on the advantages of their immigration. It uses the comparison of previously thought misconception about immigration while comparing to the current state of refugees.

   4)   http://www.newschool.edu/milano/nycaffairs/publications_schools_thenewmarketplace_fiftharticle.aspx

This article not only analyzes the language barrier that new immigrants face, it gives details of how culture shock affects the psychology of refugees. This article also reveals that immigrants would prefer specific schools where they are more accepted.

Works cited

Karl, Escbach and Mary, Waters. “Immigration, ethnic and racial inequality in the United States.”  Harvard: retrieved online from http://dash.harvard.edu/handle/1/3203265     on 28^th October 2013.