The Impact of Immigration on Humans and Environment in the United States

📌Category: Environment, Immigration, Social Issues, United States, World
📌Words: 638
📌Pages: 3
📌Published: 04 February 2022

 

There are many forms of expansion that have impacted several countries. One of these is immigration. Immigration all over America had a substantial impact on not only the environment, but people as well. 

One example of an impact immigration had on humans was Irish immigration. Life was difficult for Irish immigrants arriving in America. As written by David R. Roediger in his book Wages of Whiteness, “Gangs of Irish immigrants worked ditching and draining plantations, building levees and sometimes clearing land because of the danger of death to valuable slave property.” This quote proves how many of the Irish were discriminated against when they came to America. Slaves in the South were worth too much to the owners to be used for such risky work. Roediger also wrote, “If the Paddies (Irish) are knocked overboard… nobody loses anything.” This was seen as a solution to the problem. Most Southerners believed that it wouldn’t be a problem if an Irish worker died or was injured. Irish immigrants weren’t only used as slaves for dangerous jobs. Irish-Americans that were too young to work as slaves could possibly become “bound boys.” These children were servants of the early 1800’s through the entire Civil War. They were also less regularly called “white slaves.”

Another example of how immigration impacted humans is Chinese immigration. Chinese immigrants faced racial injustice during their lives in America. According to the Chinese Immigration and the Chinese Exclusion Acts article by Newsela, “Some advocates of anti-Chinese legislation therefore argued that admitting Chinese into the United States lowered the cultural and moral standards of American society.” This demonstrates how the Chinese laborers were discriminated against by showing how the Americans resented them. The American workers had to receive more money in order to support their families in the U.S, while the Chinese workers sent money back to their families in China. Because of this, some Americans believed that the Chinese laborers were attempting to steal their jobs, or lessen their wages. They eventually came to a point where they were against Chinese immigration altogether. Multiple actions were taken by the California government, all of which targeted the immigrants. Even a Chinese Exclusion Act was passed in 1882, suspending the immigration of Chinese laborers for a total of 10 years. The acts also made carrying a certificate identifying your status necessary when traveling in or out of the country. The Acts weren’t reversed until 1943. 

Immigrants traveling to America also faced different obstacles at Ellis Island. As stated by the website Ellis Island Interactive Tour, “Third-class passengers often would wait for hours or days until a smaller ferryboat took them to Ellis Island for immigration processing.” This shows how immigrants had different challenges when heading to America. For instance, first and second-class passengers had a different experience, as well as women and kids. Women weren’t allowed to travel alone. If you were younger than 16, you would be sent back to your home country, a rule set after 1907. Being first or second-class, health officers arrived after the difficult boat ride to inspect you. Also mentioned in the website, “These lucky few were processed quickly and could leave the ship when it docked at New York City.” Unfortunately, third-class passengers weren’t included in those “lucky few,” having a more burdensome experience. They waited several hours, possibly even days, just for a ferry to arrive. They were taken  to Ellis island for the immigration process. 

Overall, immigration has impacted humans and the environment in several ways. For example, Chinese immigration started off average, with laborers arriving in America for work. Discrimination occurred after the Americans were afraid they wouldn’t receive enough money from wages to support their families. Although the discrimination was problematic, not all immigration was like this. Immigrants of Ellis island may have had an onerous occurrence with immigration processing, but it was only a few hours. The arrival at New York City was a chance for great reunions with family, giving them the opportunity to start a new life in the U.S. For many immigrants, experiences differ, possibly more or less than others, but immigration had a vast effect on the world as we know it today.

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