American Dream Part 2

In an earlier post, I talked more about what the American Dream used to be than what it is now. After studying illegal immigration's effect on the economy in modern day, I have gotten a better feel for why people come to America today, and how desperately they want to be Americans. These days, the people who come to America due to poor conditions in their own country, are not immigrating legally. The legal immigrants tend to come from other first-world countries, and can usually start in at least the lower-middle class. However, impoverished people in poor living conditions in one country are now trying to get into America without going through the legal process. Most illegal immigrants today either sneak across the border, or come with a visa, and stay after it expires. This shows that people with the American Dream are willing to take huge risks to improve their lives, even if it means committing a serious crime that would eventually lead to deportation. Often, these people aren't coming to America with their whole families to try to set up a new life there, but are just going to live there and make some money to send back home, until they have enough to get by with whatever jobs are available in their home countries. They aren't looking to become doctors or lawyers or anything like that either, but are looking for "low-skill jobs" that most Americans don't want to take, such as construction, farming, and working in restaurants. People used to come to America in order to make something big of themselves, and some still do, but lots of people are now coming to America just to make enough money to get by.