Examining the Anti-Immigration Policies
United States immigration policies are designed as deterrents to immigration into the United States. Frankly, their message has always been "Stay out!" Recently, California policies have taken a harsher stab at immigration, namely Mexican immigrants that constitute the largest Latin American minority in the United States. This paper intends to examine these policies, the effects they have had on the Mexican population in California, and the connection they have to the anti-immigrant sentiment felt throughout the country.
First, though, looking closely at anti-immigrant sentiment in America and policies that have been enacted in the past by the U.S. are necessary to the understanding of the
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During World War II, the U.S. and Mexico reached an agreement in which a massive number of Mexicans would be transported to America as temporary workers in agriculture because of the anticipated worker shortage created by the war. (6) Of all the labor used in production throughout the first half of the century, 75 percent is believed to be Mexican. (7) It is obvious then that since the beginning of the century, the United States has been a source of employment for Mexicans out of work and it is this attitude which has created the incentive for Mexican migration during the latter half of the century.
Anti-immigrant sentiments felt in America have much to do with this attitude. The fact is that most Mexicans immigrate to this country in search of employment and of a better life for their children, as do most other immigrants into the U.S . This is seen as an economic threat by many Americans because of the large number of Mexicans residing in the United States: 62 percent of the entire Hispanic population of America as of 1988.(8)
California, which is home to the largest Mexican population in the U.S., has vigorously expresses its discontent with the current status of immigration. Pete Wilson, governor of California and an anti-immigrant proponent, claims that the large numbers of immigrants settling in California are reeking havoc on its economy. According to him, Los Angeles alone is inhabited by
In 1931, the California legislature barred any company doing business with the state from hiring “alien” workers on public jobs, forcing the removal of Mexicans from construction work, highway repair, school maintenance, and jobs in government buildings (Sanchez 211). At the same time, officials in Los Angeles
The writer, Maribel Garcia Ochoa, begins her piece with making the claim that because of Donald Trump being elected, California shaped this “defensive” attitude. Then Ochoa supported her claim with the evidence of the immigration policy issue. In addition, she believes that, “SB 54 would prevent the use of state and local resources to assist federal deportation efforts.” In fact, SB 54 has been recently amended in Senate on March 6, 2017. Another claim that Ochoa made was that California’s immigration policy was not completely for Asians it was also towards Mexicans. Ochoa used statistics, “Early into the ’30s, over 15 million Americans, about one quarter of all wage earners, were unemployed,” to show that once Mexicans entered California the unemployment rate of whites skyrocketed.
U.S. immigration policy has always been an important topic debated by Presidential candidates for decades. Immigration reform has been ignored by Congress, leaving decisions up to the President and Supreme Court. In the meantime, the hopes of about eleven million illegal immigrants in the U.S., as well as future rules for legal immigration, rest on the shoulders of those decision makers. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump both agree that changes to U.S. immigration policy are needed; however, Donald Trump is taking a radical approach suggesting mass deportation and completely revamping U.S. immigration policy, whereas, Hillary Clinton is overlooking some issues and wants to continue to support the policy set forth by the Obama Administration. Regardless of who becomes President, they will have a hard time getting these issues passed through Congress.
There are more & more immigrants coming to the US from Latinamerica and the American people are feeling threateend by them. They are afraid they will become a minority very soon.
The Los Angeles freelance writer Richards discussed the changing ideology and opinions that have shaped California’s immigration policies. Even though Los Angeles is a sanctuary city that hosts several hundred thousand of immigrants, the city was once a tough place for immigrants to settle and enter. For example, in 1986, the city had instituted measures that could deport immigrants more so the ones who had a higher risk of recidivism (Richards). However, as the immigrants’ population surged and their political relevance increased, a federal court eventually awarded them the right to be accorded public services that other city members were entitled to, retracting the 1994 discriminatory policy that denied immigrants such privileges (Richards).
California is a mecca for outsiders. The history of the United States, and specifically California, is influenced from people who were previously outsiders in their homeland who are now seeking a new reputation in the New World. Many dreamers come to California in hopes of finding a clique because many believe that California holds many opportunities no other state provides. While this may be true, this perception can be misleading. These people believe that they are guaranteed a significant role in a community, but realize that they are put in a position further away than they are to begin with. These outsiders will remain outsiders in California until they find their belonging in the world. Minorities, such as immigrants, descendants of immigrants,
During the 1930s, the Mexican Americans had a tragic on The Great Depression. Back then the Hispanics were also called Chicano because that name is another short version of saying Mexicano. Thousands of people had ran away from Mexico and if they go to the United States, they are considered as a United States citizens so they are marked as white on the United States all the way till the 1930s by law. In that time a lot of Mexican Americans had move to the United States “Mexicans and Mexican Americans make up one of the largest and most rapidly growing minority in the United States.” (Gelletly,4-15-16 Book). This also makes the Mexican and Mexican Americans the second largest minority group in the United States. In the United States the government is in charge and counting on how many people living in the United States, so about 20million Mexican and Mexican Americans are living there. The Great Depression had led all of the people’s life to a bad and poor condition liken living, food, money, jobs, and etc. Especially if they have children(s), it makes it a lot harder for them to work and they got to work extra hard for not only themselves, but also for their family too. One of the important thing why Mexican Americans moved, they all just one to have a good and better life besides them struggling for their life “…Many Mexican choose to
Mexican immigration has impacted many important components here in the United States of America (U.S.) and in its major institutions of society. In the following paper I will be focusing on the nature of social policies (or the lack thereof) that Americans had developed with respect to Mexican immigration by 1960. Specifically this paper will be detailing six different areas: the Mexican American War, Anti-Mexican American violence, Texas, the Great Depression, the Bracero program, and documented versus undocumented status. Each of these areas will be explaining the mistreatment that Mexicans encountered because of the nature of policy enactments by
The reforming of America?s immigration policy is something that can no longer be avoided and must be dealt with as soon as possible. Years of neglect by governmental agencies and policies makers have now made this issue one of the biggest in American politics. First of it must be understood that immigration does no only effect curtain areas of the country and curtain aspect of public life but rather all of American life. Both legal and illegal immigration affect major issues such as jobs availability for all citizens, wages, education in public schools system and in general, health care issues, and the homeland security.
In 2009 a Pew Research Center found that nearly one-in-four (23%) Americans said Hispanics were discriminated against “a lot” in society. A recent study has shown that there are more than 11.7 million Hispanic immigrants living in the United States (“Mexican Immigrants in the United States”). This means that more than 11.7 million humans live in fear of their livelihood being taken from them on a daily basis. With the rising number of Hispanic immigrants coming into the United States, the want of a solution to the problem becomes more popular. Although the concern for a solution is highly desired, American citizens should consider different factors such as: the two different type of immigrants, the
No matter what a person’s ethnicity or race may be, every person has thoughts, feelings, values, aspirations, needs, and desires. People are uncomfortable if someone else’s values and culture are different from their own. The term for a group or community fearing another person’s perspective and lifestyle is called ethnocentrism. Ethnocentrism is the reason that American citizen’s highly debate and criticize illegal immigration, arguing that illegal immigrants are drug addicted thieves who thrive off of stealing American’s jobs and harming the United States labor force and the economy. As the immigration rate progressively rise’s it simultaneously concerns those who favor strict immigration laws and believe that illegal immigrants are harming the United States. However, these assumptions are hardly fact based and people fail to acknowledge that immigrants are human beings who only want to help and support their families. The reality is that without illegal immigrants, the United States would economically suffer.
The changing tides of immigration have all been impacted by the attitudes of society, it has caused change and halted change from occurring as well. Government action and inaction have been impacted by political opinions of the public. Throughout the history of immigration in the United States, “opinions on the government's ability to handle immigration issues, in addition, reveal extremely clear and negative attitudes.” For a long time, the public has seen a problem with the government and their capability when it comes to addressing illegal immigration. It can be inferred that due to the lack of support from the American people, the government were pushed to increase political action toward illegal immigration. By doing so, again there is a correlation with the restriction that has pushed people to illegal measures. There is a strong unified relationship between how history, and the opinions of society have governed immigration in the United States. Most notably, immigration has been divided into clear distinctions where some carry more weight than
Although many states have illegal immigrants, the majority of them reside in California and Texas. According to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services “California has 2,209,000 and Texas at 1,041,000 as of the last census in 2000. The next leading state is New York with 489,000. The state with the lowest amount is Hawaii, with only 2,000. The immigration population is between nine and 11 million people” (Statemaster.com).
Immigration is a controversial topic that has impacted our society for decades perplexed by policies media coverage, perceptions based on one’s own lack of knowledge, personal experiences and a host of other factors that influence how our society views immigrants and immigration policies. The United States is a diverse population of people and filled with experiences that come from various walks of life that contribute to enhancing our social culture, economic development, and cultural acceptance.
Unquestionably, the most resented and controversial aspect of America’s immigration policy has been the growing concern over illegal immigration and its effects on the economy. During the mid 1990’s, public fury over illegal immigration reached new heights especially in the state of California, which borders Mexico. It was during this time when the United States witnessed one of the highest profile immigration bills in United States history emerge. Proposition 187, also known as the “Save Our State” initiative, appeared on the 1994 California ballot (Migration Dialogue 1994). Proposition 187 sought to restrict illegal immigrants from receiving public education, non-emergency medical care, and publically funded social services. Even though California voters passed this bill by a narrow margin, it was eventually overturned and never went into effect.