Immigrants have long contributed to America's prosperity and culture through hard work and assimilation. However, recent trends toward dual citizenship are concerning. Some immigrants form insular communities and send money abroad, hurting the US economy. Dual citizenship can also promote feelings of alienation and distrust of mainstream American culture, potentially encouraging radicalization. For the welfare of the country, immigrants should embrace single allegiance to the US and encourage their children to assimilate fully into American society.

1. Nan Somasundaram
October 12, 2009
English 111/DL06
The Perils Of Dual Citizenship
America has long been seen by foreigners as a land of opportunity: a fabled country
where the streets are paved with gold, plentiful oil flows beneath land waiting to be drilled,
fertile soil stretches out for miles, and the Statue of Liberty beckons to newcomers promising
liberty, equality, and freedom for all. She has opened her doors to immigrants from around the
world and watched as successive generations have toiled, shaping the country from a beautiful
wilderness into a well developed, modern powerhouse of energy and innovation. Foreigners
have come in huddled masses, established small communities, and gradually dispersed across the
land, interweaving their culture into the fabric of American life. They have given as much as
they have taken. America has been enriched by these waves of immigrants who have fertilized
her native soil with their hard work and ingenuity and added vigor and green growth as they
assimilated into her society.
However in recent years there has appeared a disquieting new trend: immigrants who
have come to this country to work and learn; who have established small thriving communities,
but do not wish to blend into its society. They instead prefer to marry amongst their own, send
money back to relatives in their native lands, and establish residences and even citizenship in two
countries. This trend does not bode well for the welfare of this country. Americans should not
be allowed to hold dual citizenship as this is not proving economically or socially beneficial to
the United States.
There are a sizable number of immigrants who own businesses but prefer to employ
wholly or mostly people from their own communities. This is sometimes because of a language
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2. barrier. Immigrants who speak a native language other than English prefer to have as employees
other people who speak the same language. It is also due to issues of trust. Immigrants who feel
that they are foreigners in the United States feel more comfortable working with others who are
like them. Whatever the reasons, the ultimate result is that the money generated by these
minority-owned businesses goes first to pay other minorities from the same community. While it
is true that they will then spend some or most of this money in the United States, there are still
many who will send money back to relatives and/or friends in their native lands. The wealthier
ones will also invest American dollars in their home countries by buying land, homes, and
businesses there. The amount of money flowing out of the United States in this way amounts to
millions of dollars a year. It is money which could have been spent in the United States to help
stimulate an economy which is now ailing. This is a big loss for this country’s economy and a
gain for the economies of those foreign countries.
The United States of America is a country of immigrants who have woven the fabric of
its society through shared cultures and intermarriage between diverse peoples. When immigrants
settle down in the U.S. in enclaves formed of largely people from one ethnic group, they tend to
make friends with people of the same group, do business with each other, and marry other
members of the same immigrant group or people from their home countries who immigrate to
the United States. This phenomenon is not a new one. Almost all immigrants to this country
have done this, especially in the first generation. However, today many immigrants are
encouraging or coercing their American-born children, who have been educated in the American
school system, to do likewise. This is due to a mixture of fear of the unknown, a comfort level
with people who are like themselves, and feelings of superiority to the relative youth of
American culture. Many of these immigrants come from countries which have been in existence
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3. much longer than has the United States. They come from countries which have well-developed
cultures and traditions dating back hundreds of years. They fear that their children, by
assimilating into American culture, will forget their ancestral culture and so these parents
discourage them from assimilating. This is a big loss for American society as it does not get the
benefits of exposure to the long-standing traditions of these other peoples.
The allowance of dual citizenship could promote feelings of alienation and thus
encourage the formation of radical and terrorist organizations in this country. By allowing
immigrants to have dual citizenship, we are allowing these Americans to show loyalty not only
to our country but also to their home countries. When these feelings are passed on to their
American-born children, they develop a distrust of the dominant social groups in America and
gravitate towards their own kind. They will tend to congregate in groups which share their
feelings of alienation from the dominant culture in America. Those who feel the most alienated
will even join fringe elements which promote the use of terror, violence and intimidation to
achieve their ends. After having been through a harrowing event like 9/11, our country could ill
afford to encourage the growth of organizations which again threaten its internal security.
It is best to dissuade immigrants from having dual citizenship. When they know that the
United States will be their only home, immigrants feel compelled to show her whole-hearted
loyalty, and encourage their children to assimilate into its society. The ingenuity and hard work
of these immigrants generates income and increases spending, thus hastening the growth of new
jobs and fueling the expansion of the American economy.
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