Undocumented immigrants often elicit the images of Mexican immigrants illegally crossing the border by car or by foot. Many Americans may also think of the soccer field immigrants at the border of Tijuana and San Diego, or the immigrants running away from the drug lords. While majority of undocumented immigrants in California are from Mexico, there are a number of other countries that have immigrants finding refuge in America that reside in all states. Undocumented immigrants are a wide group that may encompass the following people groups: asylum-seeking refugees, migrants from war torn countries that are not under a refugee status, and those that arrive at our borders hoping for a better life in America than in their home country. While many do come from Central America, the following table illustrates that undocumented immigrants come from many countries around the world.
According to the National Immigration Law Center, an undocumented immigrant is a foreign national who entered the United States without proper documentation usually entering legally as a nonimmigrant but violated the terms of their status by staying in the United States without authorized permission (National Immigration
Law Center, 2003). Now, the Department of Homeland Security categories these undocumented immigrants as “unauthorized immigrants” in legal paperwork.
In 2010, there were approximately 1.23 million children entered the United States (Hoefer, Rytina, & Baker, 2010). Historically, the United States has granted amnesty towards these individuals, while introducing stricter policies in regards to employment. However, in recent years, with the states' budgets on the line, a slew of anti-immigrant laws have emerged into the political arena. Rece...
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...ls, C. V. (1999). Responding to Undocumented Children in the Schools. ERIC Digest. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
National Immigration Law Center. (2003). DREAM Act Reintroduced in Senate, Immigrants’ Rights Update, 17(5).
Passel, J. S. (2005). Unauthorized Migrants: Numbers and Characteristics. Washington, DC: Pew Hispanic Center. Retrieved April 5, 2011 from http://pewhispanic.org/files/reports/46.pdf.
Plyler v. Doe, 457 U.S. 202 (1982)
Porter, E. (2005). Illegal Immigrants Are Bolstering Social Security with Billions. New York Times, April 5.
Simon, J. (1997). Errors about immigrants: The government spends much more on the
native born. Retrieved April 5, 2011 from http://www.cato.org/dailys/6-25-97.html.
United States v. State of Arizona, No. 10-01413 (D. Ariz. prelim. Injunction granted July 28, 2010) appeal docketed, No. 10-16645 (9th Cir. July 29, 2010)
There are thousands of immigrants from Mexico and Central America who live here legally or
...e undocumented youth, it is not where they were born that constitutes them, but where their heart lies. For these individuals, their heart lies in the Unites States of America.
Early statistic provide from scholar article has proved that since the 1970s to 80s, Census by state has documented a high population of undocumented immigrants in the United States. Passel and Woodrow indicate that the estimation of undocumented immigrants is 2.06 millions in 1980s; most of the undocumented immigrants are Mexicans. By the year 2000, more than 1.6 million captures were along the U.S border. In southern California, “with almost 2.5 million unauthorized immigrants residing in the state, California is home to almost one fourth of the nations unauthorized” (Gonzales 473). This group can split into two major types, which are people who enter U.S illegally and people who enter through admission with their overstay visa.
“Immigration is the term utilized to describe the action and process by which a citizen of one country relocates to another country after petitioning for residency into that country.” (Martinez). An immigrant, also known as an alien, is person or people who come from a foreign country. Aliens are broken down into two main categories: the legal aliens and the illegal aliens. But what are the differences between the two? Legal aliens owe allegiance to the country. In America, aliens have the opportunity of becoming legal by either having a green card or becoming an American citizen and having dual citizenship. Green cards holders are permanent residents who have been authorized to live and work in the U.S. legally but they are not American citizens. To become a citizen, you must be legal, know fluent English, have a clean record, and go th...
Secondary education is a highly debated subject. Many critics of secondary education say that inner-city high schools and students are not receiving the same attention as students from non inner-city high schools. Two of the biggest concerns are the lack of school funding that inner-city high schools are receive and the low success rate in sending inner-city high schools graduates to college. Critics say that while inner-city high schools struggle to pay its teachers and educate its student’s non inner-city high schools don’t have to deal with the lack of school funding. Also students from non inner-city high school are not being given the opportunity to attend colleges once the students graduate. But opponents of these critics blame an entirely different issue; and that is illegal immigrant students over crowding and attending high school at the expense of taxpayers. It cost millions of dollars a year for illegal immigrant students to attend high school and this is the main reason why schools are experiencing budget problems. Teaching illegal immigrant students creates a difficult learning environment and that is why students in inner-city high schools are not moving on to a higher education. This paper will explore the controversy and issues of secondary education; it will expose the hidden truths and prove that illegal immigrants are taking a toll on the education system.
The United States is in the midst of a major debate over immigrants and their place in our economic and political life. As during other times in our history, immigrants, are being blamed for causing or contributing to the social, economic and political ills of our society. Politicians from both major parties, at both the national and state levels, are promoting a range of punitive legislative proposals that single out immigrants for adverse treatment by the government. Many violate basic civil liberties principles.
Immigration reform has been one of the “hot” topics that have been consistently at the forefront of many American discussions. At this time, there are more illegal immigrants in our country than legal immigrants. This is a major controversy in the realm of other social policies. Illegal immigration, or undocumented immigrants, refers to foreign people entering the United States without government permission or violating the immigration law. This is typically done by sneaking into the country or staying beyond the allotted time frame.
Undocumented immigrants are mostly in every country, the U.S maintains a high status of illegal or undocumented workers. Every country seems to think there is a problem and are trying to cut the number of undocumented immigrants or illegal workers. We seem to think, why is this happening? Are undocumented workers ruining the economy or supporting it, are they stealing jobs from Americans or just taking unappealing jobs? Undocumented workers are moving to the United States, seeking a better life and opportunities for themselves and their families. They live in a country where their unable to find work and eventually struggle. Some feel that undocumented/illegal immigrants shouldn’t be a major concern. They support this opinion by denying the major problems that result from the arrival of illegal immigrants into our country.
Illegal Immigration is “the migration of people across national borders, or the residence of foreign nationals in a country, in a way that violates the immigration laws of the destination country.” (Google). Illegal immigrants are people that cross into boarders illegally. For immigrants trying to come to America, most of them resort to trying to cross the border illegally. They risk getting caught, bad conditions, and some even risk going through the Sonoran Desert. There is no boarder control around, so that means they have a small chance of getting caught. However, the trip is very dangerous. “The most deadly crossing is between Sasabe, Mexico, and Three Points, Arizona. The trip is 45 miles. There is no water here. Temperatures can reach 112 degrees or more.” Many illegal immigrants endure these harsh conditions just for a chance at freedom. So they can experience the “American Dream”. However, most of them will not make it into America. And if they do not make it into America then they will get deported back to their home country. On the other hand, if they do make it into America, then they will have to constantly live in hiding, and accept jobs that regular United States citizens will not take for little pay. That is just the beginning to what illegal immigrants have to go through. They withstand harsh treatment, discrimination, and laws that prevent them from becoming a citizen.
It is often argued that undocumented criminals are draining the system and endangering American society. Opponents claim that illegal immigrants take up a large percentage in federal prison, which is costing taxpayers billions per year. Many of these immigrants are released back into society to re-commit crimes which they have been arrested for. Another claim is that immigrants broke the law with their presence and that alone should impede immigrants from any form of amnesty. Despite the 1986 law which made it illegal to hire undocumented workers, employers are still filling available positions with immigrants because it is cheaper. On “Illegal Immigration”, Ira Mehlam argues that young immigrants shouldn’t be granted a pathway to citizenship because it would
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) While some argue that illegal immigrants burden the United States of America and its economy, others believe that they have become essential and are an important part of the US, economy.
What really is an illegal immigrant? It is defined as “an alien (non-citizen) who has entered a country without government authorization or remained beyond the expiration date of a visa”.
Who is an immigrant? An immigrant is a person who has a citizenship in one country but enters another country to set up as a permanent resident. Sometimes countries are suffering greatly from lack of leadership, internal strife or war, and a collapsed economy. This is the case in Somalia, as well as in Syria, Libya, and Yemen. Syrian people are moving to Europe in order to find a peaceful home. Mexican immigrants come to the US looking for jobs. The people then move to new countries where they don’t speak the national language. In America, when the immigrants come, there are many difficulties: cultural differences regarding time and scheduling, transportation issues, and language difficulties.
First of all, I want to explain what the immigrants are. By “Immigration Assist” website, Immigrants are people who have citizenship in one country; however, they go to another country to establish a permanent residence.
Illegal Immigration can occur for various reasons but one of the main causes over years has been civil wars which made people cross borders of other countries. One more factor can be poverty where people migrate from other countries legally or illegally to higher paid jobs, better living conditions and one of the main examples of these are thousands of people who apply for H1-B (highly skilled workers) every year to legally work for a company in America. Another factor could be persecution in their own country for person’s wrong doing in religious or political beliefs and fleeing to adjacent country to take sanctuary. According to Anderson, immigrants come to America from neighboring countries especially Mexico to benefit fr...