2. How I have viewed the issue
All Americans are immigrants
Diversity has created rich culture and history
Immigration builds the economy by increasing the work force
Immigrants should have easier time obtaining citizenship
Reform is needed on the issue
People deserve to live the American-Dream
3. What I found in my research
During research I found many differing viewpoints about the issue.
Claims ranged from outlandish to practical plans such as:
Immigration should be open in the United states
All illegal immigrants should be deported due to breaking of American laws.
We should assist in Central American Immigrants border crossing to avoid death cased by
dehydration and lack of supplies
We should assist with those persons who go through the proper channels and allow more
individuals to apply for citizenship
4. Early Immigration
FIRST IMMIGRANTS REGULATION
Immigration began in the early 16th After WWI immigrants were
century with European settlers. screened for things like literacy
before they were aloud to enter
Immigration was mostly
the country
unregulated until after WWI
The civil rights era brought new
WWI brought a new sense of
awareness to the rights of
distrust to other nations
minorities and their rights
New waves of central American and
Asian immigrants begin to arrive
soon after
5. Emergence a Social Problem
Immigration was first considered a Current Immigration problems
social problem soon after WWI arouse post 9/11
Classic reasons why outsiders are Suspicion of outsiders, especially
considered different were middle eastern immigrants, greatly
accentuated after this period increased in the early 2000’s
Both early and later social New areas of unrest have steamed
pathologies can attribute to this from a weakening economy and
social problem. In early social many immigrants are blamed for
pathology, the idea to fear taking American jobs.
outsiders, or immigrants, has been
present in the human mindset
forever
6. Views on Immigration
ANTI IMMIGRATION GROUP PRO IMMIGRATION GROUP
F.A.I.R. wants to make immigration Border angels look to better the
affordable by limiting the type of quality of life for Central American
people that enter our country immigrants
Manage the borders by increasing They want to aid immigrants in
security on all sides their transition decreasing the
number of deaths in the Arizona
Decrease environmental impact by
desert
limiting population numbers
Support immigrants as they enter
Manage effects of immigration on
the United States with a focus on
healthcare, jobs, and education
illegal migrant workers
7. Pro Immigration Claims
The Century Foundation published this set of statistics that states that
“For service-related and professional workers, immigration has had little impact on wages.
If anything, increases in the number of newly arriving immigrants actually have slightly
positive effects.”
“For manual laborers, increases in the share of newly arrived immigrants have no
statistically significant negative impact on wages; but increases in the share of immigrants
who adjust their immigration status after they have been in the United States—for
example, from student or tourist visas (which do not permit employment) to green cards—
have a small negative effect.”
“The annual wages of low-skilled native workers are about 2.4 percent below where they
would be otherwise as a result of the presence of immigrant workers.”
8. Anti Immigration Claims
Immigration limits jobs for natural-born Americans
Undocumented workers do not have rights to work in the US.
Unemployment rates continue to rise and will continue to rise as more workers enter the
country.
Immigrants act as a “pollutant”
Genetic differences and stereotypes increase this mentality
Improper passing of information from generation to generation contributes
High influx of immigrants increases crime rate
Immigrants are unaware of social “rules” that are present including cultural norms
9. Proposed Solutions
Worksite Enforcements:
Issuance of the “No Match” Regulation
All workers must hold legal status in the United States
The Social Security Administration will send letters to employers explaining the potential liability
of hiring illegal employees
Reduce the amount of documents accept to verify identity and work eligibility
Increase fines for hiring illegal workers
Increase investigation of employers who hire illegal workers
Federal contractors must use the Federal Electronic Employment Verification System to verify
each employee
Increase the use of E-Verify to other industries
Make E-verify integrated with DMV’s around the country to avoid illegal workers from obtaining
job by showing a fake driver’s license
10. Proposed Solutions Cont.
Guest Worker Programs:
Reform the H-2A Agricultural Seasonal Worker Program
Reform the H-2B Program for non-agricultural seasonal workers
Extend the TN work visa eligibility to 3 years
Improve the current immigration system:
Streamline the background checks conducted by the FBI when required by the USCIS
Make sure that illegal aliens do not earn credits toward social security
The Naturalization Process:
A revised naturalization test (citizenship test) with focus on the American democracy, U.S. history
and what is expected of a U.S. citizen
Increased training of immigration coaches that help applicants through the immigration process
The development of a web-based learning tool meant to increase the English language skills
11. Possible shortcomings of reform
The issue with all of these proposed solutions is the
cost to benefit ratio. Is the cost of adding additional
border security warranted with the “threat” proposed
form undocumented workers and immigrants? Is the
cost of e-verifying identifications implemented
throughout our DMV’s congruent with the problem,
and so on? However, the proposed legislature for this
particular social problem seems to fit the desires of
the policy makers, and the people that they influence.
12. Where I see the issue going
Like other social problems, the issue is rarely actually solved. There is always
a compromise that is beneficial for one group and detrimental to another.
Immigration reform may solve the problem for a short while, but there will
be new arising issues that need to be dealt with.
However, I do see the current legislation contributing to a more reasonable
way of operating. Security will be increased, immigration will be slightly
harder to achieve, but the overall affects will be beneficial.
Editor's Notes
http://www.unc.edu/~perreira/198timeline.html)
AntiGroup F.A.I.R. (http://www.fairus.org/)Pro Group Border Angles http://www.borderangels.org/)