THE POLITICAL BENEFITS OF THE U.S. IMMIGRATION POLICY REFORMS
Introduction
The recent reforms that have been proposed by the U.S. government have attracted debate from different circles. To a great extent, they have been viewed as the urge by the government to ensure that it streamline the country’s population make up by adopting the reforms. The issue has gained great significance in the recent past due to the increasing number of immigrants in the country. As years go by, the number of immigrants in the US keeps on increasing. This has been fueled by the urge by such people to seek new opportunities and better life in the country. This is what has come to be commonly referred to as the “American Dream.”
The main concern that has been identified as part of resolving the issue is evaluating the immigrants’ population especially those who do not have the required documents. Critics of immigration argue that it is such immigrants that pose a threat to the security of the country.
Therefore, this is the main facet that has sparked the need for reform in the immigration policy.
Currently, there is no comprehensive framework that provides guidelines of how such immigrants should be incorporated within the country’s population framework. According to statistics released in 2011, the number of immigrants in the US who did not have the documentation required was 11.5 million (Roberts para 4). To some extent, different authors have presented the argument that the strategies adopted by the US government are political. This has been based on the huge support that the immigration policy reform has received from the US government more so from the democrats.
Joan Robinson:
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This report evaluates the political benefits of the immigration policy...
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...kely to positively impact on the political development of the democrats now and in the future years.
Part of keeping the promise
To some extent, the immigration policy reform that has been proposed by the US government could be seen as strategy of keeping the promise that was made during the election campaigns. Prior to the elections in year 2008, the Obama administration had made a promise to the country to make immigration policy a key priority during the term. However, this did not materialize. The plight of the immigrants remained unaddressed during the four years of his administration. This caused discomfort among the immigrants as they felt shortchanged. This led to nationwide protest by the immigrant population advocating to the reform of the immigration policy in the country (See photos 1 and 2). This painted the Obama administration on the negative light.
...ous statements it can be inferred that in some ways the Obama administration was like the Bush Administration in terms of foreign national policies. Obama also made poor choices by expanding on Bush policies that were already a dangerous jaunt from constitutional practices. Another thing Obama did was increase our expenditures by the billions, which can cause harm in his domestic reform agendas, and might lead to divisive and expensive foreign wars.
There are several social implication that were affected by these four proposals, mainly centering on the immigration
The United States is admitting more than 800,000 legal immigrants a year, with at least 200,000 more illegal immigrants settling permanently as well (National Review 12.13.93). This figure can also be bolstered by the "commuter" immigrants, illegal immigrants which cross the border for a period of time to work in low-paying, labor intensive jobs. These immigrants are creating one of the biggest burdens facing the government of the United States today, unemployment.
Eleanor Roosevelt said, “the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” That statement holds strong for immigrants in America. Equal access to opportunities allows immigrants to achieve the American dream. Their success correlates with America’s success because of the contributions immigrants provide to America. Unfortunately, the current immigration policy in America denies many immigrants the American dream.
this issue that has the potential to pulverise this country is why it is such a
Immigration, having a great influence in America, has torn through the country and has sparked heated debates and turning one against another in the battle of how to tackle the United States’ policy. The United States and Mexico border battle has been going on for decades, illegal immigration being the main issue. Having people flee from their homes in Mexico because of violence and drug cartel influence. With the drug cartels putting racial stereotypes, there is immigrant discrimination. Immigrant discrimination of Mexicans is reminiscent of discrimination against blacks in the sixties. The government seems to use Immigration laws and operations to steer away from the fact they are doing something unconstitutional. These factors of immigration
Immigration has been a key factor of the success of the United States from the start. More specifically, without the influence of immigrants our country would not be the place that it is today. There is, however, great controversy surrounding the idea that immigration, whether legal or illegal, should be accepted or denied. Since the beginning of time, immigration has played a large role in the history of the United States. Immigration to the U.S. has been a popular desire since before the world wars (Archiv 141). The desire continues even today. One of America's most influencial leaders, George Washington, said:
The United States has been historically a country of immigrants. Since the first British settlers landed on the shores of the eastern United States in the 1600’s, there has been a strong and steady influx of immigrants to North America. They were driven by the promise of a new and better life for themselves and for their families. Over the last 400 years there have been successive waves of immigration that have risen and fallen over time. Historically most immigration has come from the European nations with waves coming to the United States by region and specific countries. In the 1800’s there was a mass migration of Irish, German, British, and French Immigrants. The largest group, the Irish, was escaping the Potato Famine that left Ireland in an awful state of poverty and famine. These groups sought a better life from the poor economic and social times of Europe and were lured to the United States by the hope of land, freedom, opportunity, and jobs. Later improvements in technology in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s led to lower transatlantic fares. Many Slavic people, Greeks, Hungarians, Poles and over 4 million European Jews came over during this time in search of a better quality life, better jobs, and more oppor...
The United States of America, being a country founded by immigrants, is known all over the world as the land of great opportunities. People from all walks of life travelled across the globe, taking a chance to find a better life for them and their family. Over the years, the population of immigrants has grown immensely, resulting in the currently controversial issue of illegal immigration. Illegal immigrants are the people who have overstayed the time granted on their US, visa or those who have broken the federal law by crossing the border illegally. Matt O’Brien stated in his article “The government thinks that 10.8 million illegal immigrants lived in the country in January 2009, down from a peak of nearly 12 million in 2007.”(Para, 2).
America is known famously throughout the world with the nickname 'The melting pot.' The reason behind this is that America is extremely diverse and has many different people. Immigrants give America the chance to know the culture of many countries. They bring in their culture, religion, economic benefits, and ideology to America. I believe that the United States should allow legal immigrants from all over the world because they bring many benefits to it. Immigrants are a positive influence on United States of America.
In many countries, immigration turns into a political issue. For example, in 1970’s India, there was
Illegal immigration was an issue in the past and is a pressing problem in the present. The U.S. Government has been trying to find a resolution to this issue for years. The United States approved the Immigration Reform and Control Act in 1986, which allowed the American Government to punish American companies that consciously employed illegal immigrants (Nadadur 1037-1052). The United States’ Government Immigration Reform and Control Act has been unsuccessful in controlling illegal immigration. It is estimated that illegal immigration into the U.S. has a yearly interval of three hundred fifty thousand people (Rousmaniere 24-25). It is apparent that the 1986 act was not able to keep a handle on illegal immigration. Illegal immigration continues due to the fact that immigrants only take the jobs available to them, which in turn helps support the United States’ economy, so measures should not be taken to halt immigration.
Immigration is a huge topic in the United States and made the country that it now is today. “Immigration has profoundly shaped American politics and culture. Immigrants not only provided labor for the growing economy but also gave the United States a distinctly unique social and political culture. These effects continue today.”
The study also took a close look at how the courts deal with the issue, the administrative interpretation of the law, and the application of the reform to be very critical and increasingly impossible. The author discovered that immigration reform has chronic problems, citizens’ disinterest to participate in the political process, government inefficacy, and centralized decision making away from the very communities imparted. The lack of enforcement is mounting pressure on states’ budgets (appropriation and allocations) of resources as the number of beneficiaries for social services increased. On the other hand, Dorsey and Diaz-Barriza (2007) studied President Barack Obama stands on immigration when he was then senator and compared them to conservative and liberal position. In the research, the author lamented that then senator Obama called for a comprehensive immigration reform that would deal with the issues of border security, employers sanction for hiring illegal individuals and a path to earned citizenship. Both sides agreed in part, but disagreed with the issue of path to citizenship which created gray lack. Today, the debate continues between the both political parties and the states leading the president executive action on immigration in recent
There are 11.8 million illegal immigrants in the united states. An immigrant is An Immigrant is a person who migrates to another country, usually for permanent residence. In the united states labor force about 5.1% is made up by illegal immigrants (5 facts of immigrants in the U.S). Part of this percent is because