Dillon Norman

UWRT 1103
Professor Steele
11/1/14
Land of Opportunity

In 1492, a Spanish Explorer by the name Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue and
introduced the New World to the European Countries (Christopher Columbus). This discovery,
sponsored by King Ferdinand of Spain (Christopher Columbus), had sparked interest in the entire
known world. These fertile, unknown plains were viewed as opportunity by everyone, and many
traveled across the seas to claim their stake. Fast forward to July of 1776, the land had declared
independence from tyrannical England, and the United States of America was born. This nation,
born on the ideas of opportunity for everyone, invited everyone who sought opportunity to come
and populate its lands. In a joint effort between the United States and France, a statue was
created to commemorate the United States declaring independence (Statue History). This statue
would be given the name, Statue of Liberty. The New Colossus, a poem written by Emma
Lazarus, is engraved on a tablet held within the pedestal of the statue (Emma Lazarus Famous
Poem). The New Colossus invites all to come to the land, stating, Give me your tired, your
poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door! (Emma
Lazarus Famous Poem). This poem makes a bold statement to those yearning for freedom, that
there is a land where they can pursue their dreams. Contradiction exists; however. The United
States of America enforces laws that put a cap on immigration to the United States. We offer

immigrants access to the land, yet create limits at the same time. Does the United States deserve
the right to proclaim the name, Land of Opportunity, and if so, what measure can they take to
preserve that title?
Asian-Nation.Org, a website that hosts a list of the Socioeconomic Characteristics of Immigrant
Groups, reports inspiring numbers representing different characteristics of success for
immigrants. Africa, a continent known to be stricken by poverty, failing educational systems,
and widespread hunger, shows some heart-warming results. Asian-Nation.Org states that 43.8%
of African-Americans possess a college degree (Demographic Characteristics of Immigrants),
beating out the U.S.-Born category by 20.5% (Demographic Characteristics of Immigrants).
They (African-Americans) also have the lowest rate of having less than a high school education.
African immigrants are also more likely to be in the labor market (Demographic Characteristics
of Immigrants).

In an interview conducted by Erin G., a man by the name of Gill M. gives a recounting of
his experiences immigrating to America from Djibouti. Gill was only 19 years old, with a
daughter, Asia, who was only a year old, when he decided that the future of his daughter lied in
the United States of America. Gill was impoverished, and had no financial support to take his
daughter to the United States. Gill was forced to illegally board cargo ships as a means of transit.
After nearly being beaten to death, Gill finally boarded a ship where he could take the guise of
being an American who needed to get his daughter back home for medical care. Gill went
through many hardships, from only having some bread to share between him and his daughter to
nearly being beat to death. Gill should not have had to face these grueling hardships because he

wanted to be in a successful environment for his daughter's sake (Erin G Interviews Gill M
Djibouti).

The current immigration laws that the United States enforces does not support
uneducated immigrants in their journey to success. The United States allows a yearly cap of
140,000 permanent employment-based immigrants to enter the United States of America (How
the United States Immigration System Works: A Fact Sheet). Of these 140,000 immigrants who
are allowed into the United States yearly, only 5,000 of them are allowed to be uneducated in a
professional field (How the United States Immigration System Works: A Fact Sheet). In other
words, for every 28 employment-based immigrants that come into the United States, only one of
them will be allowed to be uneducated in a professional field. This low of a number is
problematic, as the amount of immigrants who can come to the United States from an
impoverished state who are searching for an education will have to race others with the same
goals to fit into such a small allowance. If the Land of Opportunity truly believes in offering
opportunity to those who are striving for it, then they should allow a larger amount of
uneducated immigrants to gain entry to the United States.
In order to support the title of Land of Opportunity, the United States should start up a
fund dedicated to helping those who are impoverished and actively seeking an education.
Whether for themselves or a family member who is not of age to live alone in the United States,
it could assist many in finding the success that they are looking for. This theoretical fund could
support immigrants by waiving the fee for legal processing and documentation. The fund could
reasonably function as a handout, with the logic being that the immigrant will contribute to the
economy of the United States with his or her education and unique skills. In an editorial from

The New York Times, multiple payments that legal immigrants make are discussed. In 2010,
immigrants paid $930 for a green card, the cost of collecting fingerprints and bio metric data
came at a cost of $80, and the cost of employment authorization was $340 (The High Cost of
Immigrating). According to the numbers recorded by The New York Times, the total cost an
immigrant faces in legal fees is $1,350. If the government skimmed a measly $1 billion dollars
from other expenditures and dedicated it to this venture, they would be able to support a total of
740,740 Immigrants. This isn't too farfetched of an idea, considering the total government
spending in the United States is projected to be $3.9 trillion dollars in the year 2015 (Federal
Spending: Where Does the Money Go). If the government were to support immigrants in this
fashion by paying for the legal expenditures to gain access into the United States, many would be
given the opportunity to a strong public education that they may not have previously had access
to.

Work Cited
"Emma Lazarus' Famous Poem." Liberty State Park. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2014.
<http://www.libertystatepark.com/emma.htm>.
"Christopher Columbus." Bio. A&E Television Networks, 2014. Web. 08 Nov. 2014.
<http://www.biography.com/people/christopher-columbus-9254209#subsequentvoyages>
"Statue History." The Statue of Liberty - Ellis Island. The Statue of Liberty - Ellis Island
Foundation, Inc., n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2014. <http://www.libertyellisfoundation.org/statuehistory>.
Federal Spending: Where Does the Money Go. National Priorities Project. N.p., n.d. Web. 7
Nov. 2014. <https://www.nationalpriorities.org/budget-basics/federal-budget101/spending/.>
"The High Cost of Immigrating." The New York Times. The New York Times, 21 June 2010.
Web. 11 Nov. 2014.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/22/opinion/22tue3.html?_r=1&>.
"Erin G Interviews Gill M Djibouti." Interviews With Today's Immigrants. Library of Congress,
26 Apr. 2006. Web. 11 Nov. 2014.
http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/
immigration/interv/interviews.php?immigid=231

Le, C.N. "Demographic Characteristics of Immigrants." Asian-Nation: The Landscape of Asian

America. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2014. <http://www.asian-nation.org/immigrant-stats.shtml>

"How the United States Immigration System Works: A Fact Sheet."Immigration Policy Center.
American Immigration Council, 1 Mar. 2014. Web. 6 Nov. 2014.
<http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/just-facts/how-united-states-immigration-system-worksfact-sheet>.