Why does immigration work better in the US and why doesn’t the US have the issues Western Europe has with its mass immigration for example?

44 comments

  1. We don’t buy into ethnicity = nationality. Anyone can become American. Germany has third generation “Turks.” 🤷‍♂️

  2. Well the important word here is “integrate”. There’s a difference between that and “assimilate”. We’re called the melting pot for a reason. We don’t expect people to abandon their heritage and cultural identity to be a part of existing gestalt when they come here, rather the people should bring what they have and add it to our national tapestry. And **YES** before some smug fuck come and say we have no culture, that is indeed creating new culture. Romans got their gods from the Etruscans and Greeks FFS.

    It’s also why when we display patriotism; it’s in the form of civic nationalism rather than ethnic. The vast majority of the world are ethno-centric states, whereas our national identity is through ideals. There’s no expectation of sameness and homogeneity. I can live in France and never be French or German or Chinese, but I can always be accepted as an American.

    I’m an immigrant myself and just yesterday I was at a Vietnamese pho restaurant filled with white, black, Hispanic, other Asians and everything else in between.

  3. Europeans across the continent are generally xenophobic and believe that immigrants, especially those from the Middle East and Africa, will undermine their core values. Of course, it’s not all. However, the number is significant and it’s caused a surge in support for right wing, nationalist, and anti-immigration parties across the continent — AfD, FPÖ, Rassemblement National, PVV, FrP, etc.

    In fact, it’s directly responsible for the UK’s vote to leave the European Union.

    https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2016/06/25/483362200/brexit-whats-race-got-to-do-with-it

  4. Americans generally like novelty and variety, and that extends to people and culture. We’re less attached to narrow traditions than some places are, and don’t equate ethnicity and nationality.

  5. From reading the news, talking to the W. Europeans, and talking to immigrants to W. Europe. Western European nations have extremely high standards for their immigrants. They’re like the US back in the 1800s to early 1900s, they expect their immigrants to leave their home culture at the door and completely assimilate to the new country.

    Problem is of course, is that this only works for other European immigrants. Those from none European backgrounds are still treated as eternal immigrants. The actual immigrant parents deal with it, but their native born children suffer worse from it. The nation of their birth rejects them, so they turn towards their heritage culture for refuge, but they too reject them. Creates really bad identity issues and can lead to societal problems with immigrant integration especially as these non European immigrants tend to be lower and working class. You see this in countries like France and Sweden, the rejection of the children have made them begin to lash out against the home nation.

    In contrast the identity of the duel identity in the US is more prevalent. You can have two or more identities and no one will give you shit for it. Creates less societal problems with the children of immigrants in the long run.

  6. Because the US gets mostly Mexican immigrants—who are hella hard workers and don’t behead teachers for showing Charlie Hebdo cartoons in class—while Europe doesn’t.

  7. The simple answer is that over the past few hundred years, the US has practiced integrating new immigrants.

    Europe has had an umm different experience that has ended poorly for ethnic/religious groups that ended up on the wrong side of an imaginary border (occasionally causing them to immigrate to America).

  8. We just generally like folks that take the time and effort to get here.

    Hell, we even kind of like the folks that do it illegally.

    Not a fan of illegal immigration but I kind of give a head nod and “how dare you” to those folks. Their kids will be citizens anyway so good work you criminal bastards. We now have more Americans.

  9. The Christian missionary zeal of wanting to integrate and help out everyone

    It’s no coincidence “protestant work ethic” is a phrase, alongside the many Christian hospitals and church services offered in different languages

  10. America was founded on the backs of immigrants. Many people can trace their ancestry back to a grandparent or great grandparent or even farther back, who immigrated to America for a better life. America tends to emphasize the idea of “we are one big melting pot of all kinds of cultures” and we cherish our differences. Yes, of course we want people to generally follow “American” norms of how society works, but most people also hold strongly to connections they have with their ethnicity. After enough generations, people born in America tend to have accustomed naturally to the unique quirks of American culture and lifestyle, while also usually having ties back to the culture of the country or ethnicity their family came from. For example, I am Mexican but was born in America to parents who were also born in America. I can’t even speak Spanish, but I still have a strong fondness and appreciation to the food, music, and other aspects of Mexican culture despite seeing myself as American.

  11. Quite simply, American society is more willing to accept them.  In parts of Europe, you can be born and grow up in a place and still be seen as an outsider in the only home you’ve ever known. You see it everywhere from the French banlieues to German poverty to Russian rural districts. It’s not that European countries can’t assimilate; most European countries are the products of assimilation themselves. But there is just less will to view people from different places as fellow countrymen.

  12. The US was founded on being multi-cultural…it’s part of our DNA. We don’t think twice when we see someone of a different ethnicity (unless you’re inherently racist)

    European counties on the other hand are much more secular and aren’t keen to accept different cultures within their own. Their societies do not share the cultural complexities of America, and as a result, they’re having a very difficult time adapting.

    In America, different cultures “assimilate” to American life…while Europeans expect different cultures to “fully integrate”. We allow them to maintain a portion of their identity while still becoming American at the same time.

  13. Well europeans are very ethnocentric, they see non-euro immigration as a slight on their culture or whatever. Americans see anyone from anywhere as being a potential american

  17. It’s significantly harder for extremists and radical people from the middle east to get into the US since we’re on the other side of the world with oceans between us; is less likely to have a valid passport (and any other documents) to get onto a plane to the US.

    It’s why we’re more likely to see news of violence and sexual harassments from immigrants in France, Germany, and Sweden as it’s easier to get into those countries. Especially when they welcome immigrants that don’t share the same values as them with open arms.

  18. Part of it is that the cultural gap between the US and Central/Southern America is smaller than the gap between Western Europe and the Middle East/Africa. To integrate Europe’s immigrants into Europe is simply a taller order than it is to integrate Mexicans into the USA.

  19. According to my friend who immigrated to the US from China and lived in Europe for a while, it’s because there’s not a “right” way to be American. She can cook her traditional foods and celebrate Chinese holidays without compromising how “American” people view her as being. She’s just being Chinese-American. 

  20. When you get German citizenship, you will still never be really considered to be German

    When you get French citizenship, you will still never be really considered to be French

    When you get American citizenship, you are American

    Immigrants recognize this and act accordingly

  21. When comparing the US to Europe on immigration I realized that your average Europeans are **a lot** more racist than your average Americans. MAGA republicans don’t even come close to the Europeans in this. Take a browse through the Europe subreddit. Look at who they elect as their representatives and see how they comment about certain topics involving race in particular. For example, look at that knockoff Donald trump guy they elected in holland. Look at what he says and the policies he wants to implement. Who got this guy in? The people that voted for him.

    Usually the targeted minority with immigration is mostly with Muslims. Under every instagram post that I see “Muslims” and “Europe” together I always see comments like “☪️ancer” —The crescent moon with the star being the symbol to represent Islam, for example.

    So it’s not just Reddit I’m seeing this racist demeanor they have. On instagram, and in the political world. And thus the racist attitude making it harder for immigrants to assimilate into their new society because they’re always being rejected for who they are. Something they can’t change.

    More yapping:

    Furthermore, immigrants are likely better to integrate here because America is a nation built from immigrants. The founding fathers were not native Americans, but were born in America. They saw themselves as American as the native Americans, regardless of their ethnic background. Like the comment the guy said way above me, ethnicity ≠ nationality.

    Another reason could be having a history of people always wanting to come here. Even Back then in the 1800-1900s companies would want to move here, as it was a capitalist heaven. Even just as simple as moving a factory here for example. This would in turn result in more jobs. More jobs that immigrants could work at and better assimilate. Wherever companies go, the money goes. And wherever money goes, opportunities go. And opportunities are what immigrants usually seek (like the ones that want to immigrate for a better life, not asylum seeking). From having an entire Industrial Revolution in our country, to having a civil war over two opposing ways of life [industry vs agricultural (aka slavery)], to being an industrial powerhouse at the end of the Second World War.

    Plus the idea of us being a capitalist heaven REALLY starts to kick in when you realize we haven’t been invaded since 1812 (aka our mainland has been mostly untouched since then). So yay for the CEOS! They’re factories are safe and sound. Oh yeah and also let’s not forget the American army even before ww2 is very formidable. We might have been a laughing stock to the Germans in ww2 but the second they set foot on our land they’re getting tossed around. So the idea here is that the American government collapsing is probably **very unlikely**. And why is that bad for companies? Because new laws/rules could be enforced on them that they don’t like. Imagine being a company owner in Europe from in the last century. Jesus fuck you went through two world wars, a communist revolution(rip to your company), and having all your nice machinery being used for wartime equipment rather than what you intended to sell, which likely ended up getting destroyed. A complete fucking disaster.
    So us being “impossible to invade” is another reason why people would want to immigrate here over Europe. Especially given the hot climate in Europe that only ended after ww2, and the fear of another hot climate still lurks on… historically it’s just more safer here is what I’m trying to say.

    Another factor as to why it could be easier to assimilate would be that the language. English is a language that is commonly used throughout the world due to the British colonizing “throughout the world” quite literally. It is easy to pick up for Spanish speakers so already our fellow Latinos who want to immigrate here won’t have a tough time learning the language. Our fellow Indians who want to immigrate here also will have an easier time learning the language due to alot of them learning the language from the british. Hell even parts of their language include English words, that’s how deep colonialism can impact a culture. Our fellow (insert X Y Z nation that has been colonized by British before) will have an easier time learning English because it’s likely that they know some English already/have been exposed to it.

    Oh and speaking of the british. **The idea of having a nation based upon freedom is very attractive for people living in third world countries who have likely been subject to colonization in the past.** Regardless of which superpower it was. But you can best believe most of the 3rd world had been colonized by these superpowers. So when they see America and when they also see that they kicked one of these colonizers ass, it can be a very attractive choice. That a superpower like America was once colonized just like how theirs once was. And the lesson of not taking liberty for granted.

    So it’s a combination of factors honestly. The culture here is a lot more relaxed when it comes to immigration. Here watch this funny clip I found too: https://youtu.be/O5vGr0HIKfc?si=79caNhjEJV_isDH8

    I wanted to post that video because it’s the fact that anyone can be an American regardless of their ethnic background/composition. The ethnic “American” race is a minority in their own country—due to other “Americans” (I.e lawmakers back then) genociding them. They both believed that this was their land. They were both born on it. It’s very sad but The fact that there isn’t a majority native population in America likely also makes it easier for immigrants to assimilate here unlike European nations because weve made it to where there is no true American dna. Alot of households in America have different cultures and standard practices. There isn’t really an exact way of living your life as an American, like due to our culture literally being a combination of other cultures, there is no exact way of life that immigrants have to live according to. Which provides flexibility for them.

  22. Funny enough it’s by worrying less about integration than Europeans. On some level you can’t really force it and some of the efforts employed in Europe just end up alienating folks even more than if they just let it lie.

  25. Usually those who come here put 100% at making it here, from working 16 hours a day to starting a business, they put everything they can at being successful.

    When one is trying to be successful, ususally no one really has an actual complaint.

  26. Sort of the same as others are saying.  First gen immigrants have language and culture issues assimilating. They might not want to fully integrate and that’s ok and super common. 

    Where I am, half my class in school had immigrant parents and spoke other languages at home. But we kids all spoke English at school, played together, hung out at each other’s  homes. As long as you could speak (even heavily accented) and read/write English you all have similar opportunities going forward. So the second gen takes off like rocket ships (if they work hard) and the parents may regret how American their  kids are but accept it as they did come to the US for that opportunity 

    My friends from other countries report that immigrant groups are not fully accepted. Because of that they keep to themselves more and especially if the education and job opportunities  seem closed off they get resentful. The young people will cling to the older culture more and not assimilate. That’s what my European friends who live here say anyway

  27. Well, it’s geography. The US is surrounded by vast oceans and they’re able to use that isolation to limit who comes here from most of the world. For example, when the refugee crisis broke out in Syria, it was geographically much easier for these people to get to mainland Europe and while the EU did try to manage the influx somewhat, a million people is a million people, any way you slice it. The US had the ability to limit Syrian refugees from even trying to set foot here. Meanwhile, there are lots of people from Central America and South America who are trying to escape similarly precarious situations and since these countries are geographically much closer to the US, that becomes our immigration issue.

    As someone who lived in the US and now lives in Germany, I don’t think the US does immigration entirely better than EU countries. It does some small aspects better, like the green card, but writ large it is worse in many, many ways. It is much more expensive and difficult to get a working visa in the US than in Germany, for example. Don’t get me started on migrant workers who pick our crops but can never get proper documentation and are exploited horrifically. On the other hand, the US has a longer history of being a “melting pot” (at least for white people). German society is currently struggling with defining what it means to be German and the unbelievable amount of baggage that entails. The US has this attitude that anyone can be American…but we have a troubled racial history that belies that idea and we haven’t addressed it properly. Germany says that as long as immigrants follow the laws and customs and speak decent German, they can be considered “integrated” but obviously it’s easier to integrate if you’re white/white-passing than a POC. There’s a decent amount of Islamophobia here, some people declare with their full chest that Islam is antithetical to Western culture. So…the way I see it, both the US and Europe have a ways to go in improving immigration, but I think in general Germany has a better system that allows people to come, study, and work without too much trouble.

  28. We’re a settler society. Everybody comes from everywhere. What’s more, even native-born Americans move around a lot.

    Basically, learn the language, obey the laws, be a good neighbor, and try to be sociable, and you’ll find your place.

  29. People are listing a bunch of cultural reasons, and while those are good and real there’s a more important economic one: our immigrants have purpose. They’re coming here to do a job. From tech immigrants to people who hop the border with nothing to pick fruit. Having a job gives you purpose and prevents a lot of feelings that develop extremism or resentment. It also allows them to slot into society better overall.

  30. One reason that hasn’t been mentioned is that we have a lot of land, a lot of natural resources, and a seemingly endless need for labor. The ethnic and cultural factors are there, but I’m not 100% convinced our national positivity toward immigrants takes root of it weren’t for how obvious it was that they’re needed economically. That promptly puts everyone in regular contact with each other, discovering each other’s tastiest food, leaning on each other’s networks for opportunity.

    Ultimately that had a positive feedback loop: immigrants had places to go and the legal and social systems built up repeatable ways to get them settled, creating a pool of integrated immigrants ready to assist the next arrivals.

    That’s not to dismiss the ways it has failed, led to exploitation, or created all kinds of ironies, like white supremacists growing up fluent in Spanish. But there’s simply more physical, economic, and metaphorical “space” for people to integrate.

  32. Because that’s the whole point of America. Anyone can go to america and become American. Despite the extreme stuff you see online, the vast majority of Americans are usually receptive to foreigners

  33. I never put two and two together that for Europeans ethnicity = nationality. That’s some of the internet freaks out when they mention they have Irish ancestry. We know we aren’t Irish and we aren’t trying to say we are.

  34. I think distance plays into it. If you immigrate from Eastern Europe to Western Europe you can go home for a few days here and there, it’s a 3 hour flight that’s relatively cheap. But if you immigrate from just about anywhere to Denver, Chicago, Atlanta or just about anywhere in the US you can’t go back to your home country to visit easily. It’s not just a weekend trip kind of thing. If you don’t have any money it’s really hard to do. So I think the mindset of immigrants that come here is “Welp. We’re Americans now. *This* is home.”

  36. I don’t mean this as something that’s 100% positive about the US, but American culture is much more like the Borg than a lot of European cultures. People show up and we grab bits and pieces of their cultures and cuisines and holidays and all that. And we take it and run with it and a couple generations later people are taking these weird fucked-up versions of traditional dishes back to their “home countries” and folks there are eating it up at the expense of their traditional culture.

    And we’re fucking GOOD at it. There’s a reason Hollywood dominates the international cultural scene and why you can find lots of people across the world with NWA and Nirvana shirts. We’re good at finding that lowest common denominator and marketing the hell out of it.

    Other countries and cultures are often on the wrong end of this stick, so they feel like they have to play protection games. IF YOU MOVE HERE YOU MUST SPEAK THIS AND DO THAT AND WEAR THESE CLOTHES AND EAT THIS FOOD AND ALWAYS DO THINGS OUR WAY! Doesn’t work. You see that way of thinking from pathetic old white people in America too and it never works and it’s such an expression of cowardice and weakness. It says “Our culture sucks so hard that nobody who thinks they have a choice about it would ever choose it, so we have to prevent people from choosing wrong.”

    And not like you don’t see that shit from, again, pathetic old white people who are all pissed off that their grandkids call each other dawg or whatever. But mostly American culture says: Show the fuck up, act however the hell you want. We don’t care and we don’t gotta care. Go ahead, just you fucking try and protect your original culture and preserve your traditional whatever. We’re gonna own your kids, and your grandkids are gonna be just plain old Americans with some different home cooking and a last name that’s hard to spell.

  37. in the USA they accept and face racial differences and disparities with the goal of a more unified community.

    europeans pretend they don’t exist and therefore do nothing about it.

    “wE dOnT caRe abOut RacE LiKe AmeriCans Do” yeah sure

  38. acceptance. They are always immigrants in WE. In the US, if you come here and say “I adopt america, I am an american” we say “welcome fellow american!”

  39. Farmers and factories don’t care if you’re German, Costa Rican, Indonesian, or Egyptian, if you have two hands and two legs, they’ll hire you. Other than the defense and aerospace industry, your nationality isn’t going to matter.

    There might be ethnic tension here or there but if a Romanian and Hungarian immigrant gets into a fight at work or in public, people aren’t going to think “Oh those stupid Hungarians.” Instead they’re going to be thought of as that asshole who got into a fight over something that happened in a completely different continent.

    My point is that you aren’t treated as a Nigerian, an Indian, or a Bulgarian, you’re treated as *you* in America, and that can go a very long way

  40. We were founded on ideals, not as a distinct people. Therefore, as long as you accept those ideals, America can be a very comfortable place to live and you can be considered American. If you don’t, at least you’ll make enough money to return and be wealthy in your home country.

  41. Basically, most Americans don’t give a crap where you or your ancestors came from. Oh, you know something about your ethnic background(s) and traditions? That’s cool! Now, tell us about your foods …

  42. The answer is pretty complicated but at its core, America is a nationality and a series of ideals that draws people here. But it doesn’t change who someone is.

  43. American culture is people having their own culture. Consider this: there are about 3 million people who trace their line to the original inhabitants of North America. The other 327 million came from somewhere else 😂

  44. I think you have some good comments here. But I have a thought to add…

    Americans are famously bad about asking “where are you from?” to ask about heritage (not where they actually lived) or saying “I’m from X other nation” when referring to their own heritage (not where they were born or grew up). It drives some people nuts because it can come across bad or (reasonably) sound like they are claiming to live somewhere they didn’t live.

    I think this habit of ours demonstrates that to some extent, we view origin more as how others view “race”. And less like a point of us vs them.

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