Ikrar
States
College of Islamic Studies of Watampone
Abstract
This
paper discusses the reason of immigrants come to the certain country. The
author found some interesting topic about what does the reason of immigrants
come to United State and also Indonesia.
Both countries have
their respective reasons, besides the United States
as a developing country compared with Indonesia which is
still regarded as developed
countries. That is the key points that are discussed in
detail.
Keyword:
Reasons, Immigrants, US, Indonesia.
1. Historical
Background of Immigrant in United States
During
the late 19th and early 20th centuries, millions of immigrants were coming to
the United States. The majority of these immigrants came from eastern and
western Europe. Immigration increased during this time period for several
reasons. One reason was the hope for a better life, which included economic
opportunities and an escape from oppressive governments. Another reason was for
the adventure. A final reason includes religious freedom, especially for the
Jewish people who were facing religious persecution in Russia.
2. Why
do immigrants come
to United States of America?
The answer to this question lies in
the history of this country, because the history of the United States is deeply
related to immigration. For many years, the United States opened its doors to
welcome those seeking political and religious freedom as well as the
"adventurer, the wanderer, the persecuted, the fortune seekers, and
others." Immigrants built up the United States from the very beginning.
This country was, and continues to be a kaleidoscope of ethnic and cultural
groups.
One
common belief is that wanderers from Northeast Asia originally peopled America
about 20,000 years ago. These wanderers were believed by some to be the
founding population (and ancestors) of today's Native Americans.
Around
the year 1500, the great European migration began. All of them came full of
hopes and dreams of the "Promised Land." Many settlers from Europe
and Asia came to seek their fortune in a new country which was thought to have
unlimited resources. Many people from Africa and the Caribbean, however, were
brought forcibly to America to work as forced laborers in the building of a new
nation.
Europeans
were the immigrants back then, but they did not behave like today's immigrants
do. Instead, they executed, isolated, and attacked Native Americans. Although
Native Americans could not fight back with guns, they did what they could to
defend themselves.
There
is always a touch of irony when a citizen of the United States complains about
immigration. Except for those of pure Native American origin, everyone in this
country is of immigrant descent. The United States gained its territory largely
through the dishonest and violent removal of the indigenous population. Yet,
somehow Americans maintain the idea that this land is theirs alone and that it
is not only harmful but also immoral for other people to enter it.
But, why
do people from all over the world want to come to the US?
a. Some Reasons
Immigrants
chose to come for various reasons, such as to live in freedom, to practice
their religion freely, to escape poverty or oppression, and to make better
lives for themselves and their children.
Some
people already have members of their family residing in this country, and
desire reunification. Through family-sponsored immigration, a U.S. citizen can
sponsor his or her foreign-born spouse, parent, minor, and adult married and
unmarried children, and brothers and sisters.
Some
immigrants come to the U.S. because of employment opportunities. Through
employment-based immigration, a U.S. employer can sponsor an individual for a
specific position where there is a demonstrated absence of U.S. workers.
But
the real reason is prosperity. For decades, economic growth has easily
surpassed population growth, giving the U.S., and much of the rest of the
world, both more people and more prosperity. Simply put, the desire for a
better life somewhere other than the current residence. And this country offers
that better life they wish for.
After
they get here, immigrants start contributing to the economy of this country.
They wear many hats in American society. They are family members, students,
workers, business owners, investors, clergymen, and members of the armed
services, to name just a few of their roles. Actually, according to a very
recent study found that in all their combined roles, immigrants make
indispensable contributions to the economy. They compose an increasingly
essential proportion of the workforce.
The
study also found that immigrants are a Plus for the Economy. Immigrants and
their children bring long-term economic benefits to the United States as a
whole. Immigrants add about $10 billion each year to the U.S. economy.
If
the media disseminated positive information about immigrants, Americans would
have very different perceptions of immigrants. American citizens believe that
the poverty of developing nations is solely of their own making, that way they
find it easier to justify keeping them out of this country.
The
only way to stop this irony is spreading correct facts about these issues. This
will be the first step in working towards a more fair immigration policy.
Hopefully, a greater dissemination of knowledge and deeper ethical meditation
will spur to adopt a healthier attitude towards immigrants in the future.
In
short, the
reasons as shown below:
a. They
came to escape poverty.
This
was probably the biggest reason. Famine, particularly the Great Potato Famine--an
Gorta Mór--of Ireland in the 1840s to early 1850s, compelled people to seek
their living in another place.
b.
They came for religious freedom.
We've
all heard that this is why the pilgrims came to America. Many of our ancestors'
narratives passed down contain this reason. But don't forget that in centuries
past the church ran the government, so in a sense they were coming for liberty.
However, religious freedom is one of our rights we cherish in America.
c.
They came to
avoid persecution.
That
reason does not appear in any family Bibles, but it was feared enough that the
US government put in place more stringent immigration rules so we did
not end up with all world's criminals. This did not appear to be a widespread
problem at the turn of the 20th century, however. Tthere were some good stories
out there, though, about folks who ran from the law.
d.
They came because a relative was already
here.
Often
men would come first, get a job, earn money, and then send for their wives and
children. Or older children in a family would come first and prepare the way.
I'm sure many people have stories in their families about reunions at Ellis
Island and other immigrant stations. At Ellis Island in the room where families
were finally reunited, there was a post nicknamed The Kissing Post.
e.
They came not to stay.
This
was particularly true of some Italian immigrants in the early 20th century.
They brought no family, sent for no one, and came just to work and save enough
money to buy their own businesses or farms in their native country. This was
the Industrial Revolution. American needed workers. These immigrants put up
with squalid living conditions because they hoarded all they could to send home
to their families and to invest there. It's not a story you hear very often
when you look at those tenement pictures. I'm not saying everyone who came
chose that kind of life, but some did. And some who had planned to only stay
temporarily actually never did go home.
3. Historical
Background of Immigrant in Indonesia
The experts have their
own views about the origin of the Indonesian population, there was
investigating the origins of the Indonesian people based on the spread of
language, heritage artifacts, as well as its ancient human fossils. Dr. H. Kern,
scientists from the Dutch stated that the language used in Indonesia, came from
Asian, can be considered the root of the pattern languages such as Polynesian
, Melanesia , Micronesia , all of which are Austronesian. Another expert called
Hogen stated that people who inhabit the coastal Malays from Sumatra which was
then mixed with the Mongols called Proto Malay nation then spread around the
territory of Indonesia in the year of
3000 to 1500 BC, while Deutro Malay Nation came to Indonesia around the
year 1500 to 500 BC.
But historians of Indonesia, Prof. . Mohammad Yamin opposed to
the earlier theories, according to him, the Indonesian native is Indonesia's
own territory, he even believes that some nation or tribe overseas from
Indonesia.
Indonesia
today is a pretty big country providing various stories, the population until
now spawned a variety of different ethnic cultures. In regard to the discussion
of this paper, immigrants from outside also contribute enough to the changes in
this country, as countries spread across Asia. Among the common reasons that
are often known by many people, most of them have settled and not temporarily
stay but also infrequently, the next discussion will discuss the reasons of
these migrants come to Indonesia .
4.
Why do immigrants come to in
Indonesia
In general, Indonesia as developed country do not have as
much attractive to newcomers to settle in Indonesia in this case talking about
the good purpose of establishing the Indonesian State to be better, because
most of them want to move to Indonesia only to seek asylum or refuge, and many
of them are considered as illegal immigrant, this will be explained for more
detail about the reasons of immigrants as shown below;
1.
Seeking
for refuge
As
a result of the prolonged war and conflict from the various countries,
Indonesia is the most frequently visited places, geographical viewed of the
state of Indonesia consists of 17 thousand islands, so we can imagine how long
coastline that would be easy to reach by the immigrant who wants to come to
Australia as one of the biggest immigrants receiver, moreover the security in
this country is weak because the lack of technology. So in this case the
Australian also played an important rol.
Power
of immigration policy in Australia is a biggest weakness from over time. One of
the forces that is used by illegal immigrant , who claimed to be refugees is
when Australia gives space to the refugees by giving them shelter facility.
2.
Planting stock
Indonesia
has abundant natural resources, many mines are scattered in 33 provinces, such
as oil, coal, gold, silver, copper, diamonds, asphalt uranium, iron, nickel,
tin, iron sand and much more. If we think , Which country has natural resources
like that, it is no wonder many foreign companies competing for planting stock
in Indonesia, such as Exon Mobile, Newmont, Freeport, and much more, but
ironically again, Indonesia as the host only enjoy a fraction, while outsiders
get the biggest
5.
Conclusion
During the late 19th and early 20th
centuries, millions of immigrants were coming to the United States. The
majority of these immigrants came from eastern and western Europe. Immigration
increased during this time period for various reasons, such as to live in freedom, to
practice their religion freely, to escape poverty or oppression, and to make
better lives for themselves and their children, which included
economic opportunities and an escape from oppressive governments.
When
we talking about Indonesia,
due to its position as the developed country which are so many immigrants
who use it to
manipulate, even most
of the reasons of the settlers came
to Indonesia become negative
impact for the
country, because the
majority of the immigrant
is illegal and
has no settled country, they just
want to seek protection
and asylum, in addition to the
other reasons which ironically migrants trying to re-colonize Indonesia which
has already to be free, by planting stock in this paradise of natural
resources.
Reference
[1]
Dr. Sztrik János, Basic Queueing Theory, University of Debrecen, Faculty of
Informatics
[2]
Hendrayana, , Sejarah, Departemen
pendidikan Nasional, Jakarta. 2009
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