In America today, all one has to do is look around to see the myriad of different types of people that currently make up the population. Most of these people are descendants of immigrants, and quite a few may be immigrants themselves. Understanding the role of immigrants in our society is important, especially when there are such different opinions about whether they help or hurt us as a society. Integration programs have been put in place to attempt to integrate immigrants into American society and help allay fears that our country will lose its identity, focusing instead on our shift to multiculturalism. Most immigrants who come to America do so for one of four main reasons: education, work, family reunification, and some are refugees. While the first two aren't quite comparable to the fourth, they tend to center around the idea of ​​people escaping a bad situation and trying to find a better one. (Cooper,680-682)When immigrants attempt to integrate into the society of their new homeland, there can be obstacles. There may be language barriers, unknown customs, and religious and cultural differences. Thanks to the recognition of some of these obstacles that have occurred in the past, several remedies have become available, such as integration programs. The US government has steadily increased the amount of money for its integration programs since the early 1990s and currently spends approximately $1,432.5 million per year specifically for this purpose. ((Fix, Zimmerman and Passe,38,43) Some of the countries' non-government programs also receive private funds, thus increasing support for these integration programs. Integration programs help, among other things, with legal services, financial, educational, and familial. .....ications/410227.html>.Juo, Jennifer. “High-Tech Immigrants Drive Growth and Innovation in the American Economy.” among Chinese migrants in late 19th-century Chicago. Do cultural norms survive immigration? - Cantonese and Mandarin fertility in the United States." Journal of Comparative Family Studies 40.1 (2009): 25-46. Elite Academic Research. EBSCO. Network. February 13, 2011.One America, prod. Obama's remarks at the Immigration Meeting.Youtube.Youtube, July 7, 2010. Web. February 21. 2011