This coming November 11th will mark the seventeenth year since my parents decided to pack up their lives and take my sister and I from central Moscow across the world to Toronto, Canada. Moving to Canada provided a significant marker and though I do not remember much of life before the move, I will be forever grateful for the decision my family made and the country I am able to call home. It has allowed for unimaginable opportunities that everyone in my family has experienced that may have not been presented if they had not emigrated from Russia. Not only did this decision benefit myself and my parents, but it also meant that Canada would receive two working-class citizens and their children—future working-class citizens –adding to the economy and the future of the country.
Immigration is defined as the act of moving permanently to a foreign country. There are many contradicting views on immigration throughout North America and across the world. Immigration is a subset of globalization and is able to shape society into a multicultural nation through the developing diversity, economy, trade and business. “Popular immigration countries like the United States of America, Canada and Australia took advantage of this boost in productivity. By the early 20th century, these countries entered the world stage as forces to be reckoned with. At the same time, however, they made significant efforts to control these large migratory flows, in process inventing novel forms of bureaucratic control and developing new surveillance techniques designed to accumulate more information about nationals while keeping ‘undesirables’ out.” (Steger 34). This statement proves that immigration from a controlled standpoint is very positive and can act as a catalyst for development. It creates greater connections through people, goods and information through immigration into Canada. As an example, my father uses the skills and education that he acquired back in Russia here in his job in Canada.
In May of 2011 we saw how humanitarian crisis of astounding proportions can displace a population of 6 million Syrians out of a total of 23 million. “The massive refugee flows pouring out of Syria strained the available material resources of host communities and also created significant cultural tensions with domestic populations who saw these outsiders as a drain on their country’s economic resources” (Steger 68). Illegal immigration does not hold the same positive benefits that legal immigration does as it is usually composed of “squatters”. These are people who cannot get legal jobs, do not contribute to the economy and consume precious resources. Not only does this have repercussions but this creates a sense of global instability and upheaval. This situation enables strong feeling of responsibility and global citizenship.
Although many people associate immigration with negative generalizations, I personally believe that immigration holds a lot of value for individuals who are seeking different circumstances which can change their life for the better through globalization. Our decisions and actions have a wider global impact resulting from globalization and immigration, ultimately creating an obligation towards global citizenship.
Maxim Yasnopolskiy's Blog 