American Dream Essay

The American Dream was first coined by James Truslow Adams in the 1930s. In The Epic of America, he defined it as “ that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for every man, with opportunity for each according to his ability or achievement.” Even after all these years, the idea of The American Dream brings thousands to America’s shores. But immigrants are at a big disadvantages when compared to native born Americans in education, occupations, and wages. Today, there is also the same irrational fear of immigrants that dates back many years ago. This fear has lead to discrimination which in turn has limited opportunities for immigrants. Some argue the American Dream is still attainable, however, many immigrant issues have made the dream unattainable and only an illusion.

 

While it may be true that to some individuals the American Dream is as alive as ever, the reality is that many immigrants deal with countless factors that limit their opportunities for a “richer and fuller life”. In America still Remains the Beacon of Success, Tim Rohmer argues that America continues to be a place of opportunities. He used research from 2007, to show 25 percent of U.S and tech and engineering start-ups that collectively generated an estimate of $52 billion have at least one or more of the founders are immigrants. Rohmer makes the idea of starting a business seem effortless even for immigrants but fails to mention the obstacles many immigrants face in pursuing the creation of their own business  Shayan Zadeh is the co founder and CEO of Zoosk, an online dating website. In his essay, Bring on More Immigrant Entrepreneurs, Zadeh describes the challenges faced by immigrants including getting permission to study in another country and being told they couldn’t start a business because they were not “born within a particular border”. Even though he was accepted to a PhD program in mechanical engineering and computer science, he still  had to obtain his F1 visa in order to attend the school he had worked so hard to get in. To get the visas he had to visit the American Embassy. Since there were none in Iran, he had to take a bus, walk, and hitchhike into Ankara. Once in Maryland, The Office of International Affairs at the University told him he would not be able to start a business on a student visa and his lawyer said if he wanted to build the online dating website, he should “do it in another country”. In order to receive the same financial support as U.S citizens,  Zadeh battled through the 13 year process and was finally able to create his business. It was not easy, and his immigrant status put him at a big disadvantage. The process is unpleasing to  a lot of people and can hinder people from achieving the dream.

Another limiting factor on being able to achieve the American Dream is the challenges faced by legal immigrants enrolling in college and those already enrolled to finish a degree. It is important to note that these statistics are based also on difference of origin as those born in Latin America tend to have the lowest number of enrollment compared to immigrants from Asia and Europe, this can be due to difference in adaptability, English proficiency, and past education. According to the Census Bureau, among immigrants age 18-24, “ only 70 percent had graduated from high school, compared with 86 percent of their native-born peers”. This puts immigrants at a disadvantage as these kids are forced to take jobs with low wages and become limited in their opportunities. There are also many other barriers stopping students from continuing to receive a higher level of education including the stress related to immigration like adjusting to a new culture, work and family responsibility, limited “English proficiency”, and a lack of exposure to higher education as some immigrant families, the child would be considered first generation. All of these barriers make it harder to enroll and complete a college degree especially since many do not have the support to “navigate highly complex admissions and financial aid system”. Over half of survey respondents consisting of immigrants believed that only American citizens were eligible for federal financial aid. This emphasizes how little they are exposed to since they are not explained about some opportunities that are available and therefore they can not take advantage of such things. Ultimately, education is correlated to income and as many immigrants are limited in their pursuit of a higher education, some are forced to take lower wages and their opportunities are even more limited. By limiting the support immigrants get, there is a big effect on economic growth and social progress.

Finally, immigrants have lower wages and and many are left without health insurance. Native-born workers are more likely to be employed instead of foreign born workers in management, professional, and sales and office occupations. This can be due to the limitations imposed on immigrants in the educational system but maybe also show hidden discrimination due to the stereotypes revolving immigrants. Either way, the median weekly earnings of foreign-born full-time wage and salary workers were $681 in 2015, compared with $837 for their native-born counterparts. Salary is significantly less for immigrants than native workers which shows some form of advantage for the native born worker. Another trend is that ⅓ of immigrants do not have health insurance, this is  two and one-half times the rate for natives. Having no form of health insurance does not make a life “richer” or “better” for anyone. The are not being accounted for and this can impact their health in a negative way. Since they are forced to pay high costs in medical expenses and many are living on low wages, they could be neglecting their health needs. This number can be accounted for similar barriers in education, not being aware of what health insurance is available, the lack of English proficiency, and more.

In many different fields including education and work, immigrants are at a disadvantage. Lower pay and more obstacles in education for immigrants makes the dream less achievable. As a country we need to work to make the dream achievable for all. We need to implement more laws policies, and programs to help immigrants have the same amount of  opportunities as American citizens to achieve the American Dream. In order to do this we need to address the issues like English proficiency and support immigrants by creating more programs to help them become familiar with educational system and on an international level help more entrepreneurs, doctors, artist, etc be able to achieve their dreams because that is what the American Dream is about.