Resources from California Dreams and Realities

"Coming to California: Chasing the Dream" by Gibbs and Bankhead

In this article, Gibbs and Bankhead emphasize the influx of Asian immigrants to San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge, which represents freedom and opportunity in correspondence to the Statue of Liberty for European immigrants in the east coast. The number of Asian immigrants exponentially increased as the telecommunications and corporation industries required large pools of entrepreneurs. In addition, Asian immigrants worked on United States's agricultural and railroad systems in Northern California. Available job opportunities became scarce, and tensions arose between the white majority group and nonwhite minority groups that affected the Los Angeles metropolis, along with its surrounding cities in California. The influence of jobs in California can be effectively evaluated with this article because it specifically refers to the influx of Asian Americans and other minority groups setting individual goals of success upon migrating to California and persistently working towards achieving the American Dream. Although the information is useful in connecting the plausibility of the American Dream for several immigrant groups, the article does not provide evidence that are up to date. In fact, the sources are dated to be in the first half of the 20th century and refer to historical facts such as the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1904 and "the earliest days as a part of the northward expansion." However, I do plan on utilizing this source to support the dynamic nature of the American Dream for both nonwhite and white groups. In addition, Gibbs and Bankhead possess a neutral position on the relationship between the immigrants and whites in California, as well as the Chinese-American's choice to assimilate in American society. They further proclaim that "skin color supersede[s] all other salient characteristics" in the land, for segregation and discrimination continued to exist in the city of Angels.

State Needs a "Time-Out from Mass Immigration" by Yeh Ling-Ling

Because of continuous immigration to California, progress involving educational reforms have been static since the decline in the state's education system in 2000. In this article, Ling-Ling asserts that due to the mass immigration of individuals from all over the world, California has been unable to improve in its financial standing and educational system. The author depicts that the flood of immigrants and "import[ation] of poverty" attempting to assimilate in a supposedly flourishing American society actually hinders the state in particularly financial ways. The information provided in Ling-Ling's article includes critical statistics about the disadvantages brought to California due to immigration, such as the budget deficit of $24 billion and 30 percent increase in poverty levels due to working-poor immigrants. The statistics reveal information from the far past, but the opinions given by Ling-Ling are in reference to California's current condition. Both the factual evidence and analysis given by Ling-Ling can be useful resources in supporting the financial perspective of immigration in my essay. Furthermore, the author claims that although "we are all immigrants or descendants of immigrants" as "good workers," the several years of mass immigration has hurt the state government in  prominently financial ways. Her perspective shows that mass immigration should be halted so that California has time to improve and fix its own infrastructure in the time being.