Are Immigrants Abused In America

Do immigrants have a right to freedom of speech, in America?

Freedom of Speech is a basic right for all people. The US Bill of Rights recognizes this right specifically because it is one of the basic human rights most often abused by governments all over the world. The US government is specifically forbidden to infringe or limit anyone’s Freedom of Speech and this includes immigrants whether or not they are citizens.Keep in mind, however, that no one is ever free from the consequences of speech. Threats may be taken literally and that could result in preemptive action to mitigate any threat. Keep in mind also that speech specifically designed to cause harm is not covered in the Freedom of Speech as determined by most Western Cultures. There is such a thing as “fighting words” that will get a person punched in the nose or worse.And finally and most important, there is no requirement for anyone to listen to you if you are exercising your freedom of speech. Most people who say things no one wants to hear get ignored. Don’t be surprised if you are an immigrant concerned about something in your home country and nobody in the US will listen. It is up to the speaker to engage his audience and you cannot use force or coercion to do so.

Why do immigrants from Central America come to the US instead of South America, which is closer?

Original question: Why do immigrants from Central America come to the US instead of South America, which is closer?There are probably several reasons - but it’s a good question because Colombia is a nation that will benefit greatly from internal peace and then would be quite a growing economy.However:It’s impossible to cross Darien (the southernmost part of Panama) by land, even the Pan-American Highway doesn’t exist there. That’s an issue.I’d imagine that Costa Rica and Panama would also take a very dim view of this crossing.The Colombians are trying to develop a prosperous nation after years of internal strife - they already have a lot of poor people that are their citizens, and therefore their responsibility. People from El Salvador and Nicaragua are not.Then again, there’s no welfare piggy bank to tap into.South America has enough problems trying to end centuries of intense poverty - there are quite enough poor folks down here.North American politicians and the press, naturally, feel that the US doesn’t have enough poor people that lack skills to work in the modern world, and feel a compelling need to import some. The new ones often even come with an inability to speak the language, no concept of even 20th Century technology, let alone 21st.American cities must be perceived as places totally free of poverty (and its companions, crime and violence) by certain elites. Naturally, there was a lack of organized crime groups, since the Mafia has been sorely hit by successful investigations since the 1990’s, so importing some from Central America seems to have been beneficial for their objectives.Naturally, traditionally marginalized groups, like African-Americans - citizens that have done much to develop the nation - must not be worthy of the total support of the government to try to correct the traditional wrongs of centuries.None of this is actually irony - there’s just no other logical explanation for the behavior. If a nation already has vast problems with disadvantaged citizens, why import more people?On the other hand, many people immigrate legally from Latin America and make huge contributions to the US; many of my friends fit into this category - they will naturally be mentally marginalized by the majority.They, the elites in the US, want to put out the welcome mat that an illegal immigrant won’t necessarily find down here.

How does America treat its immigrants?

To add a little to Dan Holliday's answer, it also may depend on where you go. Here in Texas, a Mexican immigrant can get vastly different responses to their nationality based on where they decide to settle. In some places, they may face racism or anti-immigrant sentiments (those are usually places where they have big problems with illegal immigration or where unemployment is high  and they see immigrants as competition). In others, no one really cares. Learning English is your best bet, but I've lived in places where it's not at all uncommon to be walking in a public place and here even American-born people of Mexican descent speaking Spanish to one another. And they'll turn right around to ask you a question in perfect English. And no one really thinks much of it. In those places, Hispanics are often teased if they don't speak Spanish, even if their families have been here for generations and even people who's families have been here for generations often still speak with a slight Mexican accent. I can't tell you how many times I've been waited on in a store or restaurant by someone who doesn't actually speak a lick of English (they just know how to recognize certain words you say when they need to). In those places, even being white or black (or what have you), not speaking at least a little Spanish can actually hurt your chances of getting some jobs (not because they need you to speak Spanish specifically, but because there's bound to be a candidate that can speak both). Healthcare and restaurants come to mind.And if you come from an English-speaking country or even a country where most/many people also speak English (i.e., Sweden), you're just a person with a cool accent who's likely to get asked a load of stupid questions about where you're from. (Do they have summer in Sweden? Do they have cars in Nigeria? Is that near London? Is that near [insert name of some country that's on a different continent]? No, but I mean, what's the real language you speak there? Oh! Do you know [insert name of some other guy they know from that country they met at a party once but haven't seen since college]?) Please don't be offended. We mean well, we just get excited because we've never been there. : )

Why don't immigrants from central America head south or elsewhere rather than to USA?

When they have education and money, Central Americans fleeing violence and statelessness do try to go to other countries such as Canada, Panama or Spain. However, most migrants are not able.Push Factors: Physical barriers, lack of infrastructure and already burdened poorer economies in South America.There is a land barrier of the Darien Gap, the world’s most dangerous jungle, separating Panama from Colombia; it is deliberate strategy to hinder ilicit trade. The Pan-American highway ends in Panama for that reason.2. It’s no bed of roses in South America. Once one gets to Colombia, the first country large enough to integrate waves of migrants. However, Colombia may not be very able to do so:Venezuela, next to Colombia, now has net emigration fleeing the dire socio-politico-economic situation there with starvation, unemployment and statelessness. Colombia is thus dealing with the exodus of Venezuelans in addition to domestic issues.Ecuador, next to Colombia, is also a smaller, less developed state.The economic situation in elsewhere in South America means unemployment and low wages.Pull Factors:Especially in the seasonal or cyclical agriculture and construction sectors, US employers willingly hire undocumented laborers i.e. they can get jobs. In comparison, Canada criminalizes hiring “under the table” and the claiming the cost as a business expense, so most Canadian employers don’t hire under those conditions.Family reunification - legal migration. The US now has the 2nd largest Hispanic population in the world at 55 million. So, it is much more likely that a Central American has a relative who could sponsor his case.Previous migrants to the US means that a reception network exists for Central Americans. It is easy to cross Mexico that has few natural barriers over a very long border.Central Americans, as Meso American Indigenous people, may feel an ancestral right to the historic lands of Indigenous America, even across modern political boundaries.

Why do Americans say immigrants steal jobs?

When I first read the question without the qualifier, I was ready to explain the passage of heavy industry jobs, mostly to China, and with them the long-gone assurance that you could land and keep a living wage job with only a high school diploma. There are few opportunities for the retraining and placement of displaced workers, and fewer are the jobs they, as well as under/trained high school grads, qualify for. Thus their perception is that jobs are scarce and that immigrants offer unwelcome competition for them. Americans first, they demand. There is in this an attitude of entitlement that we’ve just seen in action in the general election. Donald Trump promised to bring the absconded jobs back home, but he has not the power to do that. So what does he do? He blames immigrants.But having said that, when I read your fine print, it became plain to me that you haven’t got a very good handle on the economic realities faced by every family, especially displaced workers, in America. Immigrant workers should not be allowed to work for below minimum wage, nor should anyone else. The minimum legal wage is pitifully low, and at it has created a class of working poor. The reason it is so low is the steadfast opposition of Republicans who, apparently like you, would rather see people starve than admit that their economic Invisible Hand of the Marketplace is an inadequate device for ensuring the general welfare as set forth in the Preamble to the Constitution. Meanwhile, frustrated workers have become desperate enough to elect the likes of con-man Donald Trump, who promises only to make matters worse. So how about giving these shellshocked people a break? I don’t at all favor anyone taking sub-minimum wages, which drives down wages for everyone.