The American President Must be Dyed-in-the-Wool American

In the United States, only the President has to be a dyed-in-the-wool American–that’s prescribed by the Constitution. However, the 304 million people who elect the President are diverse like no others. Whether European, Latino, Asian, or African–each region sends more immigrants to the US than to any other country. In this number one immigrant destination more than 11% of the population was born abroad. More than one million new immigrants arrive each year. The “Melting Pot” America, a pot of cultures, is constantly changing its face.

“Here practically everyone is a foreigner,” the Americans refer to their 400-year immigrant history. “Welcome to America!” It began in the 17th century with the arrival of the British and the Dutch, followed by the Germans, in order to settle the wide land. Until the middle of the 1960’s it was mainly a story of European immigration, at which point the largest number of foreigners began to come from South America and Asia. With them they brought an entirely new dynamic.

New York lured in neighborhoods like Little India and Little Pakistan. Chinatowns quickly sprung up in metropolises like Washington D.C. However it is on the west coast that the Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese, and Koreans are making their mark. The Tech-El Dorado of Silicon Valley is firm in Asian hands. “It used to be that the Chinese came to the US to make restaurants or cleaners,” said the Asian manager of a computer company. “But that has changed in the past ten years.”

Already about a quarter of all High-tech firms in the region are owned by Asian immigrants. They are the elite of upwardly mobile Californians: over 80% graduate high school, and shine with good notes, occupying on average a quarter of all positions at elite west coast universities. One in four Doctorates in technical science and engineering given in the U.S. goes to Chinese students. A large part of Asian immigrants to the U.S. originate from the middle class of their home countries–a difference between Asian and Hispanic immigrants.

The immigrants from Central and South America are the largest and most quickly growing group. By the calculation of the U.S. census bureau, by 2050 there will be over 102 million Hispanics living in the U.S. In large Californian cities like Los Angeles and San Diego there is already spoken “Spanglish.” The new slang, a mix of English and Spanish, is making its way through the whole country. “No Hangear” reads a sign warning the youth in Springfield, Massachusetts: “No Loitering!.” A Professor at Amherst College has already offered the first course in Spanglish in the state.

Past are the times in which Americans automatically became English speakers. In a third of the U.S., above all in southern Texas, Spanish is the second language of business–and the median language. Stations like Telemundo and Unovision flourish country-wide. Spanish services are a must in many municipalities. Whenever one calls an office one can speak in either Spanish or English. Some congressmen are fighting to make English the official language of the country–-attempts that fail repeatedly when branded as “discrimination.”

The controversial Harvard Political Scientist Samuel Huntington warns of a “flood of immigrants,” of America becoming a land split between two languages, two cultures and two peoples. According to the collections of the renowned Pew think tank the rise against immigrants is increasing. “The reasons for these subcultures are complex,” states a Pew report: “fear for jobs, fear for the lost of American values, concern about public expenses or the fear for terrorism and crime.” In addition, according to Gallup Poll: there is displeasure over the reduction of the average size of Americans because of mixing with short South Americans.

Researchers at Duke, New York University, and Harvard speak against this, stressing the importance of immigration to the U.S. economy: according to their studies a quarter of the enterprises started between 1995 and 2005 were begun by immigrants. Without Latinos, Asians, and Africans, whole factories, restaurants and service industries would close their doors. The investment bank Goldman Sachs found recently in a study that over half of the wealth in the U.S. is gained by below average wages. This is asserted as proof to the large contribution by immigrants, above all illegal immigrants, to the U.S. economy.

The question of how to handle the around 12 million illegal immigrants is a delicate topic. The majority come over the 3000 kilometer border with Mexico into the U.S. In 2006 President Bush’s proposal to provide legal status to illegal immigrants failed. His own republican party reject the proposal. Instead the congress decided to erect a 1100 kilometer fence along the Mexican border, with the approval of the presidential candidates from both parties.