The United States has always been known as a nation of immigrants; however as of late, the policy enacted upon immigrants does not seem to reflect that ideology. In order to understand how to effectively write immigration policy, it is important to acknowledge the history, politics, and philosophy of such legislation. Particularly in the last ten years, congress has worked on a lot of immigration policy like the Dream Act, a piece of legislation that worked to provide citizenship to undocumented immigrants. This policy, similar to the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007 and many other legislative actions, was either overly politicized or passed in one house of congress but could not garner the support to pass in the other (Robertson). In November of 2014, President Barack Obama released an executive action on immigration; this document demanded progress in terms of getting serious about illegal immigration and border security, deporting people who threaten national security, and ensuring accountability by implementing background checks and taxes (The White House). While this executive action has the full force of law, it must go under scrutinous judicial review before it is implemented as part of American policy.
The current governing immigration policy is the Immigration and Naturalization Act, it mainly focuses on immigration based on family and employment, but also includes a 70,000 persons quota on refugees seeking asylum. There is such an urgent need for comprehensive immigration reform because the Immigration and Naturalization Act does not provide solutions for illegal immigrants or offer a path to citizenship for people who are undocumented. Although politicians haven’t made overwhelming progress in terms of imm...
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...ly targets immigrants and puts them at a great disadvantage. It is not difficult to see the inherent injustice that exists in restricting people who have such a great respect for American ideals from fulfilling their basic political rights.
When Congress is writing legislation concerning immigration reform, they should consider tackling the issue from historical, political, and philosophical standpoints. Writing comprehensive immigration policy is difficult because of political divides and an fundamental inability of America’s legislature to overcome its partisan issues and find a solution to an issue that has lead to the deportation of nearly two million people. However, legislators may be able to overcome partisan divides if they understand the history of failed comprehensive immigration reform and importance of the “America is a nation of immigrants” philosophy.
Immigration Battle helped me comprehend the importance of immigration reform and how it substantially “died”. As a Mexican-American, I can fully grasp the frustration undocumented and advocates of immigration claim towards Congress. Passing an immigration bill is influential to us all to establish a common ground within humanity. With every year that proceeds, Latinos expand in numbers, influencing the electoral vote. Rep. Luis Gutiérrez might have given up on the legislation to modulate immigration; however, he has not given up on establishing a pathway for undocumented foreigners to become citizens of the Unites States of
In June 2012, President Obama announced an immigration policy that would grant deportation relief to qualifying immigrants. The policy, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), would also give these undocumented immigrants the right to work. Although DACA has changed since President Obama’s initial announcement, the policy still has stringent requirements. Beneficiaries must have immigrated at a young age, and they need a high school education. Yet despite DACA’s restrictions, the policy has proven controversial. While Democrats have cheered DACA as a step towards immigration reform, Republicans have denounced DACA as an example of executive overreach. The conservative organization Heritage Action for America, for instance, has accused DACA of leading “residents of foreign lands [to] illegally enter the U.S.” Indeed, according to Heritage Action, Obama’s amnesty policies make undocumented immigrants believe that “they will not be returned home.”
...ves of immigrant groups such as the Indians, Chinese, and Germans have proved that prior policies have been based on anti-immigrant rhetoric at that time. Therefore, reforming the immigration policies today should not be based on racism, or nativism. In addition, it is important to dispel the misconceptions of the Latino/a immigrations today because it is a mistake to formulate polices based on preconceptions of racialized groups.
Every year, hundreds of thousands of immigrants, legal and illegal, from around the world, come to the United States. These immigrants come because they want a chance at a better life; others are refugees, escaping persecution and civil wars in their home country. Many people believe the United States is the best place to go. There is more freedom, protection, and benefits, which seems like a good deal to immigrants. But the large number of immigration is affecting the current citizens of the United States. Taxpayers are forced to pay for the welfare and schooling for many of these immigrants, some who are illegal aliens. Some citizens believe that immigration can be hazardous to the environment. Others blame crime, poverty, and overpopulation on immigration. About sixty-eight million immigrants have been added to the United States since 1970, and it is estimated that 130 million people will be added over the next fifty years. The government has tried somewhat to restrict immigration but the laws are still too lenient. Nearly every other advanced country in the world is moving quickly towards stabilized population or has already achieved it. The United States is moving towards it very slowly. This country would have to reduce immigration down to 255,000 a year to do this (Beck 1). If nothing is done to stabilize the immigration to this country, what will become of population in the next decade? The population will continue to grow even faster - not due to births, but to massive immigration to this country. Immigration can become a serious problem to this country if the government does not produce stricter laws.
The lives of millions of immigrants are affected everyday due to limited access to acquiring legal citizenship. Out of that group there are 2.1 million children and young adults under the age of 18 that are eligible for permanent citizenship at this time (The DREAM Act). In 2001 Dick Durbin and Orrin Hatch presented a Development Relief and Education of Alien Minors (DREAM) Act that provides a path to becoming a legal citizen. The DREAM Act has yet to be passed, but there is a temporary Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)(The DREAM Act). The DREAM Act will provide options and opportunities for people to continue their path of life in America. The DREAM Act should be passed as it will benefit our economy, positively affect and strengthen our military, along with increased access to education.
Other countries see the United States as a land of opportunity and freedom. Because of this, Americans should be honored and willing to share their concept of freedom and equality with others. Instead, immigrants are forced to jump through hoops and struggle with red tape in hopes of experiencing American life. Currently, this hyped preconception is causing the immigration rate to become out of hand. With the illegal immigrate population growing by over 300,000 annually, it has developed into a national controversy. Like pouring sugar into a cup of coffee: some people don’t want any at all, while others think “the more the merrier”. This rift between parties will only be bridged by implementing a new, reformed immigration policy that incorporates the best of both worlds.
For over ten years, efforts to make changes to the United States immigration system have been put aside due to wars, attacks within our homeland and even worldwide financial crisis but it seems as though this being brought up more and more often. The history of the US immigration policy was more concerned with immigration enforcement over immigration reform. It was not until a few years ago that the US citizens voted they were tired of enforcement-only immigration policies and the pain they caused on immigrant families. So most feel now is the time to draw up new immigration laws that reflect American values and beliefs, and it ne...
President Obama recently declared, “What makes someone American isn’t just blood or birth but allegiance to our founding principles and faith in the idea that anyone- from anywhere- can write the next chapter of our story” ( Immigration Reform Quotes). In the United States of America, immigration has been a thorny issue due to the fact that some Americans do not want immigrants living in the United States illegally. Undocumented workers come to the United States for a better life for their children as well as a better life for themselves. They come here only because they want to provide their own families with better opportunities, something the may have not been able to have. What many Americans do not understand is that immigration policies
Currently, there are 11.7 million undocumented immigrants in the United States; 6 million of those immigrants are Mexican-born (Preston). Within that undocumented population are individuals who were brought to the States as children. These individuals have grown up in the American culture and consider themselves American, but struggle with being treated as second class citizens due to their undocumented status. On June fifteenth of 2012, the Obama Administration announced the executive order Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). This order will allow immigrants who were brought illegally to the U.S. as children to apply for work permits and avoid deportation (Hennessey and Bennett). President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals is not only beneficial to it applicants but also to the United States as a whole.
America is sometimes referred to as a "nation of immigrants" because of our largely open-door policy toward accepting foreigners pursuing their vision of the American Dream. Recently, there has been a clamor by some politicians and citizens toward creating a predominantly closed-door policy on immigration, arguing that immigrants "threaten" American life by creating unemployment by taking jobs from American workers, using much-needed social services, and encroaching on the "American way of life." While these arguments may seem valid to many, they are almost overwhelmingly false, and more than likely confused with the subject of illegal immigration. In fact, immigrants actually enhance American life by creating, not taking jobs, bolster social service funds through tax payments, and bring valuable technical knowledge and skills to our country. If we are to continue to excel as a nation, the traditionalists who fear an encroachment of foreign-born Americans must learn to accept that we achieved our greatness as a result of being "a nation of immigrants."
Ideas for capping immigration have been voiced in the past, but have not been heard. While some will argue legal immigration should have no restrictions, most Americans will agree illegal immigration is indeed a problem. With some 6 million people living in America illegally, and only 46, 750 deportations last year, a solution must take hold soon (Zarembo 26). President George W. Bush has been working on a plan to reform immigration that could make millions of undocumented workers legal. Bush may only open the application for legal residency to Mexicans, but nothing will be final for at least another year. As a result of negotiations, mayhem has broken out on Capitol Hill, with politicians pulling fiercely on both sides. Some believe this will trigger more ill...
In 2006 the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act was established to prevent illegal border crossing, improve law enforcement and provides legal immigrant status for the 11-million immigrants who already live in the U.S. Unfortunately, this and the Senate’s bipartisan Immigration Reform Bill passed in 2013 were not amended into law. The paralysis to adopt this policy change may be due to uncertain future cost and political polarization. Further, one could argue another reason is because the United States democratic system works hard to provide the best practical problem solving policy that benefits the greater good. But despite the U.S. democratic system analysis, it is long overdue to reform the law and now it’s time to change it.
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
Many people choose to migrate in hopes of having a better life for their families, but for people within mixed-status families, this means that they have to challenge immigration policy. The United States’ immigration policy attempts to regulate
We are now in the 21st century and like the beginning of the 20th century the United States finds itself in the throes of a period of mass immigration. More then one million immigrants enter the Unites States, both legally and illegally every single year. Many argue that this new wave of mass immigration may help sustain the success that our nation is having in regard to the way of living that many American have come accustomed to and yet others believe that although our nation was created by immigrants it is time to "shut down" our borders. The truth of the matter is that there will always be issues in regard to immigration and the policies that the government sets forth in order control who comes into this country. Also now more then ever immigration policy has a greater affect on the American people because of the fact that we find our selves living in a time of danger or as some might argue, a perceived danger in regard to terrorism. Also with the proposal of President Bush?s new guest-worker program raises more issues in regard to immigration. The following paper will attempt to overview current immigration policy and also state what immigration policy should be over the next 25 years.