People throughout history cite a better life as their motivation for emigrating to the United States. In the search for a better life the idea of ​​freedom is born. For example, Protestants fled persecution because of their religion. They believed with all their hearts that they would discover a better life full of freedom in the new world. As the story continues into the 19th and 20th centuries, more and more immigrants from around the world come to America in search of longed-for freedom. For example, Irish immigrants dreamed of America as the place to escape the potato famine and English oppression during the mid-1800s (Irish Immigrants to America During the 19th Century). In the early 20th century, waves of Southern and Eastern European immigrants crashed into the United States (Immigration to the United States). As the story progresses to the present, people still dream of freedom, now Mexicans seek it. Everyone is chasing freedom, but what is it? In “Becoming American,” Dinesh D'Souza describes freedom as the ability to “determine [your identity and destiny] for yourself” (D'Souza, p. 345). With this definition, D'Souza explains why America attracts immigrants: not for money, but actually, for the choices the country offers. Instead of D'Souza's approach to immigration, many critics believe that immigrants travel to America in search of wealth. . As D'Souza states, “What the immigrant cannot help but notice is that America is a country in which the poor live relatively well” (D'Souza, p. 340). Compared to third world countries, the American people are spoiled. The poor do not need to collect water from the rivers or they die of infection because they have no money for the basic aspects of American society, such as running water… middle of paper… from which to free themselves from the constraints that have held them prisoner, so that the future becomes a landscape of its own choosing” (D'Souza, p. 345). In America, an immigrant will no longer be forced to live based on where they come from, but rather who they become. This is the true freedom that millions of people, in history and in the present, need and would risk everything to find. Works Cited D'Souza, Dinesh. "Becoming American." The Blair Reader: exploring issues and ideas. By Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell. Boston: Prentice Hall, 2011. 339-45. Print."Immigration to the United States." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2011. Network. November 19, 2011. "Irish Immigrants to America During the 19th Century." Kinsella Page. 2011. Network. November 19. 2011. .