Immigration Reform
Lorenzo Luevano
The University of Texas at El Paso
Abstract
The community report concerns on immigration reform that has been an issue for years. Over centuries, millions of immigrants left their homeland to come to America. The only problem with immigrants coming is that there is no immigration reform that will help them succeed. Also many immigrants face difficulties when arriving to the U.S because of differences in culture and language. Over the past few years the immigration topic has been an important issue but nothing has been done. Proposals for a reform have been set on the table but before we see any action there are requirements that are need. Some of those topics include border security, workforce enforcement, and ratification of the immigration system. The problem of immigration is looked upon to improve the life and living conditions of immigrants that come to the U.S. The report shows statistics concerning the immigration reform and how much money is wasted.
America, the Promised Land, and the land of opportunity for many centuries have become the destination point for immigrants. These immigrants have come from all over the world: including Europe, Mexico, South America, and India, not only to escape the hardships back home, but to improve their lives and their families. These immigrants want to see an immigration reform solution. There have been various proposals that have been presented but we will talk about and their requirements. To implement those proposals there are issues to be consider, before seeing an immigration reform. The problem here about the immigration reform has to do with completing the requirements stated in the proposals to help immigrants reach the idea that life in the U.S is better.
Historical Overview
During the civilization of America, many migrants from around the world, especially Europe came to the colonies. As the Revolutionary war started, the number of immigrants decline, but “later picked up strongly again during the 1840’s and the 1850’s” (Finch ,Sitzer.,2006). Because of the famine in Ireland and Germany, many were forced out from their homes. Those migrants settled in “New York City, where the population increased from 200,000 residents in 1830 to 515,000 in 1850(Finch ., Sitzer.,2006). By 1850, most of New York City was populated by immigrants and their children.
As America became an industrial economy, more and more workers were needed to fill the required jobs. Because there was a great demand for workers, “approximately 25 million arrived between 1866 and 1915” (Finch, Sitzer.,2006).As years passed more and more people left their homes to come to America, “by the 1880’s most new immigrants were arriving from southern and eastern countries such as Italy, Poland and Russia” (Finch, Sitzer.,2006). A majority of those who came to America decided to come because they were pushed out by the industrial revolution in Europe. When World War I started, the numbers of immigrants decreased, “and remained low through the Depression Era of the 1930’s and the World War II years of the early 1940’s” (Finch, Sitzer., 2006).
The new era of immigration, in which we live today, began in 1965, “when strict quotas based on nationality were eliminated” (Finch, Sitzer., 2006). From that year on, only 290,000 immigrants would be able to enter the U.S. Some years that number exceeded to a million immigrants. In the past “there are approximately a total 10.8 million of illegal immigrants right now in the United States”, but it has increased to 12 million, (Carpeton., 2010., sec. 25). From the video we can see that 92% to 98% of illegal immigrants keep trying to cross into the U.S (Carpeton., 2010 ., sec. 25). As, shown in figure 1, we can see the numbers of immigrants that came to America per decade (Immigration to the u.s.a by decade,. n.d., Google image).
Proposals for an Immigration reform
The president of the United States is “deeply committed in fixing our immigration laws and has been aggressively searching for partners in congress who are willing to work with him to pass a new law”(Agency group, n.d par 1). As President Obama said in a speech ‘we are not going to ship back 12 million people, we’re not going to do it as a practical matter’ (Immigration reform., 2010. p 3).Obama’s proposed Immigration Reform included: border security, worksite enforcement, guest worker programs, improve the current immigrants system, and the naturalization process.
The main concern about the proposed reform border security, because before we see a reform the borders need to be safer, add more fences, install more technology, and reject visas to criminal immigrants (Immigration reform., 2010. p 4). Some requirements for the worksite enforcement included: that all workers must have a legal status, fine those who hire immigrants, and implement the E-verify program to all work sites. (Immigration reform., 2010. p 4). The guest worker programs laws should all be reformed concerning agricultural workers. Because there has been a change with immigration laws, the system should be improved for background and identity checks (Immigration reform., 2010. p 6). Finally to see the reform come to life the naturalization process should be changed by adding new training ,creating a new citizenship test, and implement the English language for the immigrants.
In the National Review, Mark Krikorian gave a package which includes 3 proposals toward an immigration reform focusing on future republicans. The package include 3 basic memberships which are: “a basic plan, an upgraded plan and a premium- regarding immigration enforcement and numbers” (Krikorian.,2011, p 36).
In regard to the basic plan, “there are two main goals: fencing and mandating the use of all employers of E-verify” (Krikorian.,2011, p 36). The other part of the basic plan includes ending the program called visa lottery and terminating the brother-sister chain migration. As the plans are upgrade from the previous ones the laws against immigrants become more and more strict and the number of deportation increases. The upgraded plan will consist of
everything in the basic package, plus the following legal- and illegal-immigration reforms. The first is to double deportations. Much of the reduction in the illegal population will come voluntarily, as illegal aliens come to understand they will not be able to find work or live a normal life here. (Krikorian.,2011, p 36). The second part of the upgraded plan will include
the US-VISIT program, which is supposed to check in and checkout foreign visitors, verifying their identities with biometric information, allowing us better to know who’s entered, who’s departed, and who’s remained here as an illegal alien. (Krikorian.,2011, p 36).
The premium plan will be a combination of the first two plans, and it “ends birthright citizenship, and reduces the number of immigrants entering the country on skilled-worker or refugee/asylum grounds” (Krikorian.,2011, pg 37). Overall the proposals presented by the president and Krikorian offer a wide range of ideas that will help form an immigration reform. Some common topics presented in both proposals include a safer border and changing the immigration laws.
Issues to consider
The immigration issue has not only formed the America from today but also it has also brought many problems like:
cultural differences and language barriers among different ethnic groups have frequently given rise to hostilities between them. Also, immigrants' inabilities to quickly assimilate themselves to the norms of mainstream American social life have often prevented them from realizing the economic advancement they sought when they left their homelands. (Finch, Sitzer., 06)
As MacDonald, author of Say no to immigration, said “our economic future depends on a labor force with the advanced knowledge to compete with a fiercely disciplined Asia” (Macdonald.,2010 ). With the economy how its , “ by no means clear that we can provide steady employment for the large number of immigrants who continue to arrive at our shores with the hope of attaining better lives for themselves” (Macdonald.,2010 ).
The immigration problem has been deadly, “5,607 immigrants have died trying to cross the border for the last 15 years” (Carpeton., 2010., sec. 40). With this problem the law enforcement, budget has increased by 714%(Carpeton., 2010 ., sec. 53). If no immigration reform is passed it would cost the government a total of $2.6 trillion over 10 years, but a reform will add a total of $1.5 trillion over 10 years (Carpeton., 2010 ., min 2:20-2:34).
Conclusion
Immigration has been the building blocks of America, but it also has brought problems. Some of the problems created by immigration include cultural differences, language barriers, and job opportunities. Because of the problems mentioned above it is important “we examine current policies in order to assess whether they best serve the interests of both American citizens and of those immigrants who arrive with the belief that opportunities for a good life will be available here” (Finch, Sitzer., 06). Proposals have been made to congress, but before any action toward the immigration reform there are some requirements that should be made. What kind of policies do we need to create to solve the issue on immigration?
References
Agency Group, O. (n .d). Immigration update: Maximizing public safety and better focusing resources. FDCH Regulatory Intelligence Database, Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
Carpeton, R. (Producer) (2010), Immigration reform by the numbers. [Online Video].Available from http:// www.youtube.com
Finch, D. (editor). Sitzer, L. (06) American Immigration Past and Present: A Simulation Activity
Teacher Notes. Retrieved from http://score.rims.k12.ca.us/activity/immigration/
Immigration to the u.s.a by the decade.(n .d) [Google image]. Retrieved from http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&gs_upl=44100l44100l0l44802l1l1l0l0l0l0l0l0ll0l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&biw=855&bih=758&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&q=).%20Immigration%20to%20the%20the%20usa%20by%20the%20decade&orq=).+Immigration++to+the+the+usa+by+the+decade
Immigration reform. U.S. Immigration Reform (2010). Retrieved from http:// www.usaimmifrationreform.org/
Krikorian, M. (2011). To reform Immigration, Legal and Illegal. National Review, 63(15), 36-37. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
MacDonald, H. (2010). Say no to immigration reform. (Cover story). Forbes, 185(11), 24-26. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
