In each individual classroom, every student is different; they all have different backgrounds, cultures and traditions, different educational needs, abilities and talents, and overall different identities. In Leigh Patel’s book, Youth Held at the Border: Immigration, Education and the Politics of Inclusion, she evaluates how immigration and citizenship, two important identity markers, impact education, specifically, the practices of teachers and the experiences of students in schools. Patel’s research was conducted at a school called Franklin High School, which was exclusive to immigrant students, documented and undocumented, and she follows the stories of several students who shed light on immigration’s impact on education and identity. Beyond sharing anecdotes, she examines the systems that are in place to hold immigrant youth “at the border” beyond the physical borders between nations. The United States is seen as the land of opportunity by many new immigrants to the country. However, as they cross the border into this country, they immediately encounter new borders. These borders are social, linguistic, cultural, economic and more. For immigrant youth entering the American education system, it can be especially intimidating. Not all schools are like Franklin High School as Patel describes it. Due to Franklin High Schools status as a school for recent immigrant youth, "Franklin High School followed an international model of schooling, which meant it served only recently
Out of those million immigrants there are about one out of five children under the age of eighteen are either an immigrant or a child of immigrants parents. (Orozco, 2001). The majority of immigrants are from Latino or Asian origin. The United States has been experiencing a large wave of people coming into this country to start a new life from what they had before. Every region in the country is experiencing the growth of immigration every year. With this new immigration the U.S is witnessing immigrant children take over public schools. Today immigrant students are becoming the fastest population to grow in the child population in the United States (Hamilton, 2010). Many parents send their children to the United States and separate themselves from them because they want them to have a better life and live the American dream. Many kids go to school at a young age and get through high school and college and even start their careers. But many of them have to live in fear of being found out. They can’t trust many people, even the closest one to them (Vargas,
When immigration policy is discussed, typically, it is discussed within the confines of egalitarian notions and sentiments, and inside the boundaries and parameters set by generally Marxist-influenced social democracy. Characteristically, it is not discussed pertaining to the concept of a social order built on the rights of property owners, sharers, and contributors to and of the common stock- which at their discretion- may exclude bad apples, lazy contributors, rotten characters, trespassers, and terrorists. Once egalitarian sentiments and notions are rejected full-scale- (only giving credence to those that have empirical weight or logical consistency) more proper, more substantive interdisciplinary analyses may reveal that the current investigative techniques employed by current mainstream political theorists are- in the context of reality, incorrect, superficial and quite shallow.
Throughout the years there has been and increasing number of illegal immigrants in this country. Just recently Obama took executive action to shield illegal immigrants from deportation. A Texas Judge though blocked his executive action on immigration. Illegal immigration is a huge controversy here in the United States partly due to Americans thinking that illegal immigrates are taking jobs, causing lower wages, and the costs of education. In Immigration and the American Worker, George Borjas found that the presence of immigrant workers, whether they are legal or illegal, made the U.S economy about 11 percent larger each year. If overall the U.S economy is better off with illegal immigrant workers, then why is there a push for harsher immigration policies? The controversy is due to the fact that the impact of illegal immigration changes from state to state. I hypothesize that the problem is the distribution of illegal immigrants across the United States. I believe that the benefits outweigh the costs and that because of the distribution of illegal immigrants, the costs are only felt by a few. By granting amnesty to the undocumented workers we could increase the level of tax payers and better the lives of those who feel the costs of illegal immigrants the most. I will test this hypothesis out by looking at the impact illegal immigrant on the labor market, the cost of illegal immigration, cost of ant-immigrant policies, impact of legalization, and impact of amnesty.
Immigration has played an important role throughout American history. What fundamentally sets America apart from other nations is the foundation that it was created by immigrants seeking a better life for themselves and their children (Camarota & Zeigler, 2016). During times of economic growth, laborers have been imported, and deported during recessions (Flores, 2016). An average of 1.1 million immigrants relocate to the United States annually (Storesletten, 2000). US Customs and Border Control officials, have witnessed a significant increase in the number of “unaccompanied alien minors” from Latin America, anticipating 75,000 minors (if not more) from 2016 to 2017 (Rush, 2016). The average age for “unaccompanied alien minors” is 11 years
The majority of American children grow up learning that Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492. There is little room for argument against the idea that the United States is a nation founded on immigration. However, there are some Americans who contend to the idea that new immigrants should not be allowed into United States and should receive no help adapting to their new culture. When people travel to the United States, the majority choose to bring their children with them. These children leave their homes and must come face to face with their new surroundings. If children are rejected at the border, what does that say about American citizens? How the children are treated by their peers can have a considerable impact on their likelihood of success. If nearly 44 million foreign-born people live in the United States 22 percent of those people are children, that leaves with America nearly 10 million immigrant children who may need assistance while trying to go through school. Immigrant children are typically described as those who have at least one foreign-born parent. These children deserve the same opportunities to succeed as the typical American born children. With assistance, immigrant children are likely to graduate high school and even move forward with college. If American citizens wish to make the United States a better place, they must move forward with helping the immigrant children.
Every year thousands of undocumented students graduate from high school with uncertainty about a post-secondary education. Many of these students do not have the financial means, and are often too scared about their legal status to continue their education. This issue is extremely prevalent in the state of California, hosting 2.6 million “alien residents”, it has the largest population of undocumented immigrants (Gonzales, 2006). Immigration policies have been controversial topics in the United States for a long time. Although there is still an ongoing debate about reforming the current immigration laws, there has been progress in making post-secondary education a possibility for undocumented students. This paper will focus
An analysis of illegal immigration in the United States reveals one challenge facing the banks and other institutions: whether to provide banking and other services to the illegal immigrants or to treat them as criminals because they are illegal and therefore, not to provide them with banking and other services.
There are approximately 43 million immigrants in the United States and about 11 million are illegal. Compared to the total American population, only seven percent of the nation’s population are non-citizens. Approximately 22 percent of inmates in federal prison are non-citizens. (Perez)
Undocumented immigrants make up a good percentage of the workforce, although they have a high rate they earn half the average California income. Throughout chapter 2, Gonzales analyzes two different groups, one is the early exiters, and the others are college-goers. Early exiters are those individuals who were not able to complete school, and the college-goers were those who went to college. He began to follow these two groups and studied every aspect of them from personal and social being to how their legal status affected them. School experiences help to shape people’s lives and determines what their future will look. The school experience differs for both early exiters and college-goers, a vast amount of college-goers attended a community college or university earning a degree other than high school diploma. On the other hand, the early exiters is lower due to having to work to keep up with paying expenses and having to take care of their families.
About four months ago in government class, we had a class discussion. The topic was illegal immigration. One student said that America should send the illegal immigrants back to their country because they are taking American’s jobs. He stated that he would send his dad back to Mexico because he is an illegal immigrant. Going around the circle that we created, everyone gave their opinions, most disagreed, but some agreed with the student. When it was my friend’s turn, she agreed with him and said that teachers, professors, friends, and etc. should report any undocumented person to the police. It will also help if police officers knock on door after door to verify whether the family in the house is illegal or not. If one of your friend, neighbor, student, or even family member is illegal, would you report him or her to the police?
With the social dimension, successful integration would mean living alongside the population without fear of systematic discrimination, intimidation, or exploitation by the authorities or the people of the country (Friedman, November 8th, 2016). The implication of social mobility has long lasting impact on undocumented Americans. Many immigrant youths with undocumented status saw being open with their peers regarding their immigration status as a threat to their standing in social groups at school and within the broader community. In order to make their life seems as normal as possible and avoid situations where they could be excluded, many college-goers keep their undocumented status a secret from friends. Many of the respondents in Lives of Limbo hide their status from their friends because they felt embarrassed and did not want to experience exclusion (Gonzales, 113). The negative discourse about Latino immigrants also take a toll on the routines and activities of undocumented American. The racial constructions of Mexicans as criminals caused immigrant youths to repel this stigma by concealing their undocumented status (Gonzalez, 109). When they were young, they had inclusionary access; however, once they become young adults, they are denied of participation in many institutions of mainstream life. Even if they discover their status at a young age, they would still conceal it due to the fear of deportation. Many state and local government are turning police officers into de facto immigration agents to crack down on undocumented immigrants and those who provide them jobs and housing (Ewing,7). This stigmatized identity leads to social exclusion, which also prevents these undocumented Americans from integrating into the US mainstream. They feel out of place and unwelcoming by their peers if their undocumented status is known by their friends and community. Integration is a
Along with its economic classes, American is known for its freedom, its liberty, and the melting pot of ethnicity. This ethnic diversity comes form the immigrant population in the country. However this perfect country is a major falsehood. These untrue ideals of harmony, freedom, success, and equality are deceptive and do not show the struggles that immigrants face when coming to this class dominated country. The immigrants of today do not come from just Europe, but overwhelmingly from Asia and Latin America. “They are driving a demographic shift so rapid that within the lifetimes of today 's teenagers, no one ethnic group – including whites of European descent – will comprise a majority of the nation 's population’ (Colombo, Cullen, Lisle). These immigrants challenge the social myth that everyone has an equal chance in life. They
Immigration is one hot topic in today’s conversation and society. Many think that immigrants coming to America are taking many jobs away from who need them. Some also think that there are jobs being taken away are not ones that Americans would not perform due to the horrible working conditions, low pay, and lack of important medical coverage. The immigration issue has come to a point where the United States must make a decision to spend a lot of money to curtail the amount of immigrants coming here.
Immigration is important for the growth of the economy because it’s a major contributions towards the economy. The United States has often been referred to as a global melting pot due to its assimilation of diverse cultures, nationalities, and ethnicities. Today, this metaphor may be an understatement. Edstam and Carlson an immigration activists reports that, without the extra work and consumption provided by immigrants, the economy of the United States would collapse. They include in the article saying that, despite the common notion that immigrants steal jobs from Americans, the 2005 Economic Report shows that The Federal Reserve in fact recently raised its benchmark interest rate because it observed a strengthening U.S. economy with reduced unemployment, rising wages and some labor shortages Immigrants continue to strengthen local economies through their higher productivity and increased consumption (Edstam and Carlson). An article by Savajlenka added, Studies show that competition with American workers among immigrants is very minimal and limited to the unskilled labor. Therefore, Savajlenka immigration analyst states that, “Numerous studies have documented that immigrants are needed to replace the large number of retiring Baby Boomers and that the future growth of the U.S. workforce will come from immigrants and their children” (Savajlenka). This is an additional like a shot in occupations that presently use several older employees, like janitorial and truck driving
This paper will examine the problem of Immigration and Immigration Law. I will first discuss what Immigration Law is and how it works, then I will define the number one problem of immigration laws, “illegal immigration” and why it’s so important to follow procedures. It will also address the consequences after violating the laws. Next the paper discusses three policy solutions to the problems of illegal immigration: Legalization of Immigrants, Strengthen Border Security, and Immigration Amnesty. The paper will first explain each policy solution. Then it will analyze the pros and cons, and potential strengths and weakness of each solution. Last this paper will offer some personal observations on the problem of immigration.