A Call To Action

Joshua Taylor, Josh Casto, Leonardo Martinez, and Jordan Taylor

Leadership Class: Holyoak
1/25/17

Immigrants have never had an easy life when coming to the United States. Americas

history with immigrants is a long and rather drastic story on our treatment of immigrants and
assimilating them into our society. Ever since the early 1800s, many immigrants came to this

country in search of freedom from persecution, free practice of religion, or just for a chance of

having a better lifestyle. However, they were still met with opposition and distaste as in their

home country. As immigrants poured in looking for jobs or freedom in the 19th and 20th

centuries, many people persecuted them for their beliefs. In addition, many laws were placed

restricting their rights if they werent yet citizens and even restricting their rights if they were

citizens. All these laws that restricted the amount of immigration or their rights have thankfully

been repealed in the 21st century. However, immigrants still face discrimination today in

education, work, and society.

Children of immigrants face discrimination in schooling. They often are treated worse in

these schools and dont learn as much as they should. An article by New America (2015) says

that most children of immigrants are segregated into different schools and are being taught by

unprofessional teachers without the resources necessary to teach the children effectively.

Children of immigrants that are able to go to school with native born citizens are often bullied by

students and treated worse by teachers. These situations can damage their learning experience

and demoralize them to the point of depression. Immigrant adults struggle just as much as

immigrant children, especially in the workplace. A study by News Release Bureau Of Labor

Statistics (2011) tells us that most immigrants who come to America have to take low paying

jobs, usually in construction, and are being payed less than they should be payed. A statistic by

Canadian Research Data Centre Network (2011) says that most these immigrants, who dont

speak English, face high discrimination and get paid less if they talk about their discrimination.

Cultural differences also cause discrimination against immigrants. The Immigration and

Naturalization Act governs how immigrants and their families must act in society, how their jobs
are obtained, and how they become a citizen. Immigrants have had a hard life trying to be a

citizen in the United States and a solution to these problems must be found.

A legitimate solution is required to fix these forms of discrimination against immigrants.

There have been many proposed solutions in the past, but they havent really solved all the

problems. The solutions our group have came up with include increased funding for immigrant

outreach programs, more resources for schools with high levels of low-income immigrants, more

diversity classes for high schools and workplaces, culture nights open to the public, and equal

pay for immigrants in the workplace. The first solution in this packet of solutions is increased

funding for immigrant outreach programs. These programs would help more immigrants learn

English, learn transferrable skills, and help them become more familiar with American culture.

The second solution requires increased funding for schools with high amounts of immigrants.

Since schools with high amounts of immigrants usually receive less funding and have less high

quality teachers, it is necessary to give them more resources that will improve the quality of

education they receive. Immigrants and children of immigrants deserve to receive a high quality

education. In addition, they need to receive extra help that will allow them to succeed. English as

a second language programs should be expanded and bilingual teachers should be readily

available to students. Thirdly, diversity classes and nights should be given to the public to

increase cultural awareness and decrease discrimination. These events and classes could have

refreshments, performances, stories, and other activities that bring people together and allow

them to share their cultures. Last on our solution list involves equal pay for all immigrants who

are US citizens. This will decrease discrimination among workers since equal pay will be

enforced among workers.

 In conclusion, it is necessary to understand that a solution is needed. Immigrant children

are being discriminated and segregated into different schools. The working men are taking low-

paying jobs because no one accepts them into better jobs and are being discriminated by other

workers. Their culture is being harshly discriminated. In order to solve these problems, some

basic suggestions have been made to increase funding of elementary schools with high-levels of

immigrants and children of immigrants. Also, creating immigrant awareness programs will help

decrease the discrimination immigrants receive. Cultural nights and diversity classes should be

required for all students so that they can understand the culture of immigrants. Equal pay

between immigrants and native born citizens is necessary to ensure discrimination goes down

and that immigrants can provide for their families. English classes should be readily available to

immigrants so they can succeed in this country. These solutions will not succeed without the help

of the people, however. Therefore everyone's help if we are to stop discrimination against

immigrants.
 References

Carnock, J. T. (2015, September 18). How Young Children of Immigrants Face Discrimination

At

School. Retrieved January 27, 2017, from

https://www.newamerica.org/education-policy/edcentral/early-discrimination/

Preston, V., Chua, J., Phan, M., Park, S., Kelly, P., & Lemoine, M. (2011). What are Immigrants'

Experiences of Discrimination in the Workplace? | Canadian Research Data Centre

Network.

Retrieved January 26, 2017, from

https://crdcn.org/what-are-immigrants-experiences-discrimination-workplace

U.S. Department of Labor. (2015). Foreign-Born Workers: Labor Force Characteristics.

Retrieved

January 27, 2017, from https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/forbrn.pdf