caswell simpson 101

Caswell Simpson

Professor: Mary Louise Penaz

English 2150

20 April 2009

  The Right to Opportunity : 

The Disadvantages of being an Immigrant in New York City

 

Does a person’s race or class determine who they are or what they can achieve in life?  In New York City, many individuals have proven that hard work can yield success. However, in reality, everyone doesn’t get what they expect; some people will be more fortune than others in accomplishing their goals. Certain factors that come into play when dealing with a person’s achievement is their social class or race. As an immigrant in New York City there are many disadvantages which can hinder successful employment as opposed to natural born citizens. Because of these disadvantages there is a disproportionate percentage of successful employment  in New York City when immigrants are compared to natural born citizens.

In the book Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehremreich is an American born individual that goes undercover and starts working in minimum wage jobs within three different cities similar to New York City. During her experience she encounters multiple individuals that are immigrants and experiences their hardships working an “unskilled job. She finds that working such “unskilled jobs” is not as easy as people believe it is. She concludes that no job is for the “unskilled”, there are skills one must possess to work under such harsh conditions for example, standing for long periods of time, taking survey questioner, doing even drug test and mostly not being treated as an equal by her employer and society. Although she faced all these difficulties as an American born person, her situation would have been more of a challenge if she was a of an immigrant. Her race would have become a factor or a “problem” when it came to her obtaining the job. In America, the number of undocumented immigrants are on the rise. In year 2007 an estimated 12 million immigrants has been reported living in the Untied States. Without citizenship it can be difficult to obtain a comfortable status in America.

As an immigrant the option of health insurance would not be available to her. With not enough money to buy more nutritious foods due to low wages, there would be a greater possibility for health issues to occur. As a citizen if an injury were to occur then emergency temporary medicaid would be provided to help ease the expense for uninsured patients. Undocumented Immigrants would not have the option of temporary insurance. Therefore the expense of the medical bill would be less affordable for a natural born citizen.

In the position of an illegal immigrant who speaks a different language, a population with english-speaking citizens would be hard to communicate with. An immigrant would have to spend time learning english while balancing a busy workload. For an immigrant obtaining jobs that require speaking to others such as a waitress and a nurse. Suppose the immigrant  knew English? He or she may also encounter racial conflicts. Immigrants  would have been discriminated against as a minority. Employers who discriminate against Immigrants would offer lower wages making it even more difficult to make ends meet. Other employers may not even hire immigrants at all. 

To avoid residential expenses an immigrant can be granted with the luxury of staying at a friend or family member’s  apartment. An immigrant would not have had any friends or family to stay with if he or she is the first to be outside of their native country. He or she would search for a place to live as well as find a new job. Other expenses that can occur while obtaining a job is the application process. The process takes a toll on time, patience, and money. Time was requires to travel from site to site and take drug tests for the application process. Money, was required to pay for the drug tests. As an immigrant, all the disadvantages mentioned will make the application process even more of a hassle. Immigrants are faced with multiple challenges, and despite their obstacles they still manage to become successfully employed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Work Cited

Ehrenreich, Barbara. Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America, 

Metropolitan Books, USA 2001.

Robles, Damarys. “Immigration City.” New York Sun 3 Apr. 2006 <http://

www.nysun.com/editorials/immigration-city/30243/>

Schaefer, Richard T. Sociology Matters. McGraw-Hill, New York, New York 2008.

Mazelis, Fred. “Immigrants make up 40 percent of New York City’s population”  World Socialist Website. 31 Jul. 2000.International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI).<http://www.wsws.org/articles/2000/jul2000/nyc-j31.shtml>