The United States constitution describes different forms of freedom, such as freedom of speech and freedom of expression. However, different people have diverse descriptions of what freedom should comprise based on their current situation or experience. Individuals often understand liberty within the political context but rarely consider its meaning at a personal level. While some individuals understand freedom as merely being free from restraints, I have a deeper understanding of freedom.
I define freedom as having the ability to express myself without fear of discrimination or victimization. Freedom means not being discriminated at the workplace due to my ethnicity. It means that I need not disguise my social identity to be accepted in American society. Freedom, to me, also means that I can walk around and perform my duties without getting concerned about my safety. I appreciate that the freedom of others limits my freedom. If my liberty hurts the freedom of others, it undermines its essence. Respect for the freedom of other people is an essential factor in the expression of personal freedom.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
A genuinely free individual can choose their moral compass and make decent decisions based on their cultural values. Freedom should guarantee people the ability to practice their diverse cultures as they interact with each other without fear of racial or cultural discrimination. It should allow individuals a right to choose and practice their religion without fear of religious discrimination. It should also allow an individual to choose and shape their future career. A free individual should not be wary of selecting some career paths due to their gender, race, or ethnic membership. Freedom should offer equal opportunities to all people across the United States.
Veterans fought for our freedom and put their lives at risk to ensure our independence. I am familiar with what it's like to be denied essential freedom rights. I have seen people dear to me give up their lives to secure our freedom. I was two years old when my parents and I came into the U.S. in the early 1990s. As I grew up, I saw my immigrant parents struggle to succeed in American society. My parents were casual laborers, and the discrimination they faced at the workplace and other social settings changed my understanding of freedom. Freedom means a lot to me because my parents fought for it all their lives. Also, my freedom as a Hispanic immigrant in the United States has significantly been influenced by historical events that occurred during and after World War II.
A series of historical events in the United States since the beginning of World War II has led to the freedom that most immigrants enjoy today. Although these events date back way before I came into the U.S., I believe that the fight for freedom by our predecessors shaped our liberty. It is, therefore, crucial to consider what they did to widen our perspective about freedom.
Several factors have influenced immigration to the United States. In the 17 th century, the French revolution influenced French immigrants to move into the United States. In the 19 th century, unfavorable conditions in their home countries pushed European immigrants to move to the U.S. However, the influx of immigrants into the United States has often caused fear and panic among the native citizens and the U.S. government. This has often resulted to discrimination of the immigrants and infringement of their human rights. Over and over, the U.S. government has passed policies to protect the immigrants and guarantee their freedom. Such policies, however, have been undermined by some individuals, thus making it difficult for immigrants to enjoy total freedom across the United States.
The most significant campaign against immigrants occurred in the 1930s when the United States suffered from the Great Depression. The government and the Native American citizens felt that immigrants had contributed to this significant economic downturn in U.S. history. Thousands of Mexican immigrants were sent back to Mexico. Some of these immigrants were U.S. citizens with all the legal documents. However, during World War II, there was a labor shortage in the U.S., and immigrants were allowed into the U.S. to fill this gap. The "Bracero" program, created in 1942, provided temporary asylum for the immigrants. They worked under hostile conditions, and their children were not allowed to go to school. Congress ended the program in 1964.
The major milestone in the fight for the freedom of immigrants was made in 1965 when President John F. Kennedy signed into law a bill that reformed the immigration laws. The bill allowed immigrants into the country based on their skills and family ties. The implementation of the 1965 Act saw large waves of immigrants from Hispanic and Asian countries moving into the United States. As the immigrants’ numbers grew, racial issues increased in the country. President Nixon enforced strict laws to counter the fears which once again saw deportation and racial profiling of immigrants. Their freedom was limited under Nixon's administration. Illegal immigrants were mainly targeted, and their human rights were violated. The essence of freedom was significantly undermined.
At the end of the Cold War, anti-immigrant sentiments once again increased in some states such as California. At the time, California suffered an economic recession that was partly blamed on the influx of immigrants. In 1994, undocumented immigrant children in California were denied primary rights, such as healthcare and education. Subsequently, in 1996, President Clinton's administration passed the Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, which made the deportation of illegal immigrants much easier. In the same year, the Welfare Bill was passed into law, putting barriers to illegal immigrants' access to public benefits. Legal immigrants were also denied access to food stamps. The freedom and rights of immigrants were once again violated. Naturalized immigrants, however, fought for their rights, which saw the Congress return some benefits to the legal immigrants.
Fast forward, in 2002, the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Reform Act made it difficult for immigrants to move into the United States. The verification process of documents at the border points was made stricter, crushing the hope of many immigrants to pursue their dreams in the United States. In 2006, a bill that allowed construction of a wall along the Mexico-U.S border aimed to keep Mexican immigrants from getting into the U.S. soil. The U.S. government has continued to use billions of dollars to enforce stringent policies to curb immigration. However, in the process, immigrant U.S. citizens' freedom has been infringed in the implementation process. The immigrants have been subjected to unwarranted house raids and illegal deportation of legitimate immigrants.
The events leading to the current immigration situation in the United States have had a significant influence on how I define and experience freedom as a U.S. citizen. The efforts by our forefathers who first immigrated into the United States have guaranteed us the freedom we enjoy today as immigrants. Without their sacrifice, I probably would not have lived to serve my country as an army veteran in the U.S. government because of my Hispanic origin. Their relentless fight for their rights has made it possible for legitimate immigrants to exercise their constitutional rights like any other Native citizen. The nation's founding fathers' hard struggle for freedom saw the amendments in the U.S. Constitution that guaranteed freedom to every U.S. citizen irrespective of their gender, race, or ethnic group. I, therefore, regard freedom to be an essential component of human life that goes beyond the political boundaries.
