Immigration and the Image of Amarica:
"Ankara benim ikinci memleketim" (Ankara is my second home), says Dr. John J. Grabowski, from Case Western Reserve University, at the beginning of his speech on October 25.
Dr. Grabowski first presented the history of immigration to the USA and later focused on some aspects of the current immigration situation. He tried to clarify why America has always presented an attractive image to immigrants.
The first immigrants to the USA were the African-American slaves who were sent to the new-world in chains or for punishment. As America grew, the original immigrants found it an attractive place to live and sent letters, telegrams and stories back home to Europe. That encouraged more immigrants to move to the USA.
The second phase of immigration was encouraged by new technological developments in transportation which allowed great masses of people to immigrate. At this time, many of the immigrants were escaping from their homelands just to stay alive (seeking political asylum in the USA). Interestingly, the new immigrants established communities. For example, many German immigrants would live in the same area and start their own culture, newspaper, etc.
During the 20th century, Hollywood skyscrapers, entertainment, and the notion of freedom influenced many people from all over the world to immigrate to the USA. As a result of heavy immigration, the American government restricted it by a law in 1965. The immigration laws have been revised several times. With the most recent changes in 1990, immigration to USA has become easier again.
Prof. Grabowski was asked about the current situation with respect to Mexican immigrants in the USA. He claimed that the US government has been implicitly allowing immigration of Mexican workers in order to strengthen the Mexican economy. According to him, in the short run there will be a significant influx of Mexican immigrants, but in time this will stop because the Mexican economy will start to need, this labor. If the immigration process were restricted, the Mexican economy would stay weak through high unemployment, and the excess labor problem in Mexico would fundamentally continue.
