Advanced Essay #2 : Obligation as it Relates to Immigration

Introduction:

My goal for this essay was to explore the idea of moral obligation and where in American history we began neglecting that obligation towards immigrants, migrants, and refugees. I also wanted to think about what enabled people to be able to deny their obligation towards other human beings, specifically immigrants, migrants, and refugees.

Matalai Lee

Block

English 3

14 January 2020

            Obligation as it Relates to Immigration

T.M. Scanlon, a Harvard professor of Natural Religion, Moral Philosophy and Civil Polity, wrote and published a book entitled What We Owe to Each Other. His novel grapples with the topic of morality, specifically “our obligations to other people in general”. As his writing explores this subject it also evokes the question of in what situations do we act on this obligation we feel? Or when should we act on this feeling? These questions are very much relevant today with the ongoing global refugee crisis and trends of immigration and migration to the United States, and other countries over the world. As different countries alter laws and their stances on these subject matters it forces people to consider whether or not countries have an obligation to immigrants, migrants, and refugees? Specifically, does America have this obligation? For almost as long as immigration to the United States has existed, so have restrictive immigration laws. Though immigrants were coming to America from all over, in 1790 the access to US citizenship was, unsurprisingly, restricted to “free white persons” who had lived in the country for two years. The Naturalization Act of 1790 was just one of the first of many racially motivated laws regarding immigration and citizenship in the United States. The country aided “white” immigrants on their road to obtaining United States Citizenship but created laws such as the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the Immigration Acts of 1891, 1917, and 1924 that established which ethnic and racial groups the United States felt obligated to help where immigration was concerned. (1924 is also the year when the United States Border Patrol is established, as the number of people immigrating illegally into the United States increased). At multiple points throughout the history of the United States, these acts were repealed and replaced by ones that broadened the limitations put on different racial groups trying to enter the US. There were many acts, signed by various United States presidents as wars raged on in other countries and more people sought refuge from their homes. Despite how America has responded to different crises over time relating to immigrants and refugees, there are still many restrictive laws and institutions in place that make the lives of immigrants and refugees, both “legal” and “illegal”, difficult. The United States uses federal agencies and arms like ICE and Border Patrol to try and control the lives of immigrants in the country. The laws and agencies that have been put in place have the sole purpose of criminalizing immigrants. The criminalization of immigrants and refugees not only justifies the lack of obligation the United States government feels towards them but also fuels our current President to introduce laws that are specifically targeting immigrants. It allows people to feel ok about treating immigrants and refugees poorly, although their generalized views of them are oftentimes false. Regardless, a large number of Americans hold these beliefs about immigrants and refugees, leading to detrimental words and actions towards them. One of the most effective ways to inform people of the truths about immigrants is through writing. Novels, articles, poems, and other mediums of publications help to illustrate the truth about immigrants and tell individual stories that inform people. Books like Behold the Dreamers, by Imbolo Mbue and Exit West by Mohsin Hamid, provide readers with a new or different perspective on the lives of immigrants. Throughout each of these books, the main characters face the strifes of moving from their homes and living in another country. Mohsin Hamid writes about two characters, Saeed and Nadia, who’s home is torn apart by war, forcing them to become refugees and travel through different countries. Saeed and Nadia had to leave behind family, culture and sacrifice any sense of stability they once had in their home country. Behold the Dreamers tells the story about a family from Cameroon, living in New York and their journey in trying to obtain permanent US citizenship. The relationships within the family suffer as the stress of trying to become a citizen begin to affect them, and their lives back in Cameroon continue happening while they’re living in New York. These books give insights to the immigrant and refugee experience that help people begin to grasp what the lives of immigrants and refugees are like. Through having a better understanding of the experiences of immigrants and refugees, it’s possible that people will begin to acknowledge that as human beings we should feel obligated to help and accept immigrants and refugees from different countries.

Works Cited

History.com Editors. “U.S. Immigration Timeline.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 21 Dec. 2018, https://www.history.com/topics/immigration/immigration-united-states-timeline.

Scanlon, Thomas. What We Owe to Each Other. Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2000, https://epdf.pub/what-we-owe-to-each-other.html.

Ellis, Maliya V, and Woojin Lim. “Asking Philosopher T. M. Scanlon ‘What We Owe to Each Other’.” Asking Philosopher T. M. Scanlon ‘What We Owe to Each Other’ | Magazine | The Harvard Crimson, Fifteen Minutes, 10 Oct. 2019, https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2019/10/10/scanlon-and-the-good-place/.

Hamid, Mohsin. Exit West. Penguin Books, 2018.

Mbue, Imbolo. Behold the Dreamers: A Novel. Random House Inc, 2017.