Discussing Discrimination Against Immigrants

 Is discrimination against immigrants a crisis?

By: Victoria Trebicka

For generations, discrimination amongst immigrants has been an ongoing issue. Recently, unjust treatment, such as racial and lingual discrimination has increased. Americans need to become aware of the devastating impacts it creates for immigrants and their families and future families. How much longer can the United States deal with these abrupt fatal incidences. There is only so much that these desperate individuals can tolerate verbal and physical abuse, lost job opportunities, and question the safety of their families?

Even though Asian American lives matter, don't all lives matter? I understand the brutality and ignorance that immigrants may be faced with often but isn't every human being faced with their own issues each day as well? 

All in all, this bullying going on in America needs to stop. This is a country where all Americans should feel safe and share peace. 

More cases have occurred due to the spark of the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically targeting Asian Americans. Amongst those Asian Americans are foreigners who immigrated to the United States to start a brand new life for their families. Little did they know, they were to be blamed for a virus just because of their physical appearance and accent. 

During, the COVID-19 pandemic, Asians have experienced racial discrimination, which has taken a toll on their lives. According to Justin A. Chen, Emily Zhang, and Cindy H. Liu's article on, "Potential Impact of COVID-19-Related Racial Discrimination on the Health of Asian Americans", published in the American Journal of Public Health stated, "Historical precedent suggests that COVID-19-related racial discrimination will exert harmful effects on Asian American health...the experience of racial discrimination has been associated with worsened psychological and physical health outcomes, including increased pain and disability and higher all-cause mortality". Not only is this extremely impactful on the lives of Americans, but imagine if your family and kids were put in this position because they were belittled based on their ethnic background during a pandemic.

Racial discrimination in America is not to be tolerated. The mental and physical well-being of all Americans is important and should be taken seriously.

Too much judging and mistreatment going on around here! The sad thing is that it's totally avoidable!

 Not only can foreigners be racially discriminated against, but they are mistreated due to their language or dialect. In an article from UNDARK, Stanely Dubinsky, Kaitlyn E. Smith, and Michael Gavin stated, "People speaking differently have been denied restaurant service or lodging, lost access to public transportation, and even been physically assaulted". 

Every company has the right to deny service to individuals, but being physically assaulted is absurd and not of our American nature. 

These types of incidents have been reported following Chinese people with a Wuhan accent, Italians traveling with a dialect outside of their country, and even Americans within their own country. 

Even though the language or dialect that human beings speak is crucial to their national identity and ethnic group when you are in someone else's country, their native language is essential as well.

When it comes to looking to get a job in America, it is almost always important that all immigrants should learn and speak English. If not, immigrants will have a hard time finding jobs. Now that you are in America, it will benefit you for the best.  

In contrast, yes, someone could argue, "But the United States is known as a melting pot to the world and should accept any language spoken in the country without being abused for it,". I agree that no one should be abused for speaking another language. But on the other hand, I still insist that people should try to learn English. In a newspaper from Townhall, Seman stated, "Individuals without English proficiency earn an average of 25 to 40 percent less than their more acclimated counterparts, according to the report,". Therefore, as addressed earlier, job opportunities for immigrants will decrease.

Without finding a job, who knows what will happen. Perhaps, the person's family may end up on the streets without any money, which can lead to hunger and being homeless. Also, communication will be very difficult and frustrating when you want to know how to travel to certain places or buy certain items. 

Also, according to an article from Townhall, Seman stated, "More than 1 million people living within the United States are fluent in the English language, according to a recent report by the Brooking Institution,". Consequently, shouldn't people, immigrants want to speak the English language?

Around the world and especially in the United States, there is a diversity of people and many languages. Although it is important to speak this country's native language, America is a land to have freedom and express speech. And the racial and lingual discrimination against immigrants is outrageous and unacceptable. Those who commit these heinous crimes must be punished. With awareness, patience, and change, discrimination against immigrants can finally come to an end!