Immigration Laws: Putting Immigrants at Risk? In the light of the film being entirely fictional, some might not view the film as a credible source regarding immigration; however, the situation portrayed in the film proves as the reality for millions of immigrants in the U.S. today. In the film, Tarek is unknowingly seized by authorities while at a subway station with Walter. The authorities state that he is being seized for failing to pay his train ticket as an excuse to detain him when in fact the train ticket was paid. As Walter informs the authorities that Tarek did pay, it is revealed that those were immigration officers and Tarek was being taken to a detention centre. Tarek did nothing wrong; however, like the problem millions of …show more content…
148). Solely due to the fact that these immigrants are undocumented, such innocent behaviors are criminalized as they are stripped of their constitutional and human rights. These undocumented immigrants came into this country in the hopes of a better life; however, they are not given any rights. The unfair treatment of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. provide a juxtaposition between the U.S. constitutional rights and the existing immigration laws that strip these immigrants of all their rights. How can one enjoy the life they lead if they live in constant fear even when they are innocent? From a personal experience, my grandfather was a U.S. veteran who served for the army in World War II and petitioned my family and I to be able to live in the U.S. for a better life. Due to harsh immigration laws, it took my family and I 19 years to get to the U.S., and my aunt, who came here years before us, have just recently become an American citizen on July 2015 after 22 years of being a legal immigrant in the U.S.. Documented and undocumented immigrants alike suffer from these governmental immigration policies. Undocumented immigrants are well on their way to becoming legal immigrants in the U.S.; however, they are not even given the chance to do so as they are criminalized. They are not given their freedom. Recent shifts in political action and governmental policies have led to an increase in immigrant incarceration. From
In the United States of America (U.S), illegal immigrants have been oppressed by the government. The reason why they come to the U.S is for a better life, so they can live “ The American Dream.” However, illegal immigrants struggle to live a better life due to the fact that they have a lot of disadvantages such as finding medical help, jobs, and plenty of other resources that someone who’s not citizen aren’t able to have. The U.S is known as a country that gives people human rights no matter the situation they are living in which is clearly stated in The Constitution, however, for illegal immigrants, it is the opposite due to the fact that they live in fear. Some examples would have to be taken advantage by people, and oppressed by certain races/ groups. Therefore, the U.S Citizenships and Immigration services (USCIS) should give green cards to illegal immigrants who have not been convicted of a crime because they will no longer live in fear, be able to find better jobs to support their families financially, and will have opportunities of going to college.
Immigration has always been a complex issue in the United States. Previous and current administrations have had great difficulties in setting policies and programs in place to address this problem. During the course of American history, laws were enacted to address such issues. There were numerous legislative milestones in regards to immigration in the United States. In order to understand the current issues regarding immigration, we have to look back at the policies that were in place along with the goals that they intended to serve. According to (Barusch, 2012), the United States had an open immigration policy; which means that anyone could relocate to this country. As a result of this policy, the government had to redefine
Globally, the United States has been known as "a nation of immigrants" almost from its inception. Beginning in the 1600s with English Puritans and continuing today, America is a melting pot of culture and ethnicity. In fact, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, immigration was the major source of U.S. population growth. Looking over our 200+ years we find that to clearly be true, with approximately 1 million immigrants coming to America during the 17th and 18th century. Almost 3 million arrived during the 1860s, and another 3 million in the 1870s. In the next four decades, the number of immigrants rose to over 25 million people, most from various European nations, most arriving in New York or one of the Eastern seaports (Damon, 1981). Despite the politicization, as of 2006, the United States actually was the number one country globally to accept legal immigrants into the country, with a current immigrant population of almost 40 million (Terrazas and Batalova, 2009). In fact, the peak of immigration was 1907, when over 1.2 million Europeans entered the country beginning a push towards legislation limiting immigration in the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1924 and the 1921 Congressional Quota Act. These immigrants came for two sociological reasons: the push factor (wars, famine, persecution and overpopulation) and the pull factors (jobs and the promise of freedom). Most came by ship, and a passage often cost the equivalent of an entire life's savings causing many
Throughout the history of the United States immigration has become apart of our country’s fabric which, began centuries ago. Only to become a hot topic in the US in recent years with its primary focus being illegal immigrants. Illegal immigration is when people enter a country without government permission. As of 2008 the Center for Immigration Studies estimated that there are 11 million illegal immigrants in the US which is down from 2007‘s 12.5 million people. Although the Center for Immigration Studies estimates are very different from other estimates that range from 7 to 20 million. While the Pew Hispanic Center estimated in March of 2009 there are 11.1 million illegal immigrants and that number is from March 2007’s peak of 12
More and more immigrants are coming in to the United States each year, and we as a nation
Many of the undocumented immigrants have both successfully and unsuccessfully tried to find different ways to migrate into the United States. They have traveled by swimming across borders, driving, trafficking, from many underdeveloped countries around the world like Mexico, Cuba, Africa, and many others. Many have become part of such a vulnerable population because they have come to the United States to seek a better life for their families, the healthcare, job opportunities, as well as having been in the united states and staying past the time allowed on their visa.
Many applicants are not getting equal or fair treatment and are lacking help. Some immigrants that escape their own country are fleeing because they are missing the opportunities they could have in the United States. Millions of undocumented workers face discrimination and are taken advantage of in the workplace. As a result, the U.S. had a petition filed against them for failing to protect the rights of the workers (American Civil Liberties Union 132). There have been many cases or videos showing how citizens are criticizing and discriminating other races who have worked and been successful at becoming citizens. In one video, a woman told another Hispanic citizen that she needed to go back to where she came from and that no one wanted her here. The Southern Poverty Law
Deportation has been around for quite some time, but has only now become a controversial topic due to the high incarceration and deportation rate in the last decade. According to Tanya Maria Golash-Boza, sociology professor at UC Merced, and author of the book Deported Immigrant Policing, Disposable Labor, and Global Capitalism, Obama and his administration deport more than 1000 immigrants a day. In the year 2012 the Obama administration established, “an all-time record high of more than 400,000 deportees” (Golash-Boza). What is more surprising is the fact that in 2012 more individuals were deported then the sum of all the individuals deported before the year 1997 (Golash-Boza). Mass migration of illegal immigrants began with the end of Keynesianism and the beginning of the neoliberalism. The ramifications of Neoliberalism has not only affected the us economy, but U.S. laws that directly influences the well-being of illegal immigrants.
Undocumented immigrants are foreign nationals who entered the United States without authorization or entered legally but remained in the United States without authorization. However, undocumented youth and students usually have no role in the decision to come to this country. They are usually brought to this country by their parents or relatives, generally due to economic hardship and they have spent more years in the United States than in their country of birth. (Baum, Flores, 2011) Over the years, undocumented immigration has grown tremendously in the United States. “Among the nearly 12 million undocumented immigrants, a
In the United States, immigration has been high topic of debate. As of 2015, 13.5 percent of the United States population of 321.4 billion were immigrants (Jie). Immigration has been shaping the way America works for many years now. It has brought changes to the economy, workforce, culture, language and politics just to name a few changes. America is often referred to as the melting pot of cultures. Where the “American dream” can be reached as long as you are willing to work hard. However, citizens also demand strict boarders to prevent illegal workers but we still want the free movement of goods. A lot of legislative bills have been past in recent years that have brought change to immigration and the way it is done. The top five bills that have affected the country are as follows; The Immigration Reform and Control Act, IRCA, of 1986 penalized employees for hiring unauthorized workers. However, did nothing towards changing the immigration system or provide resources to implement the employer sanctions provisions. The Immigration Act of 1990 overhauled the immigration system by raising the number of permanent vistas form 290,000 to 675,000 and allotted 555,000 visas annually of underserved counties. The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibly Act, IIRAIRA, of 1996 dealt with government spending and a three or ten year bar on returning to the United States for people who were caught without proper documentations from applying for asylum status within one year
Although illegal immigrants only make up less than four percent of the total population in the United States, five percent of the population in both state and federal prisons is made up of those who are not United States citizens. Between 2010 and 2014, 121 illegal immigrants who were released from immigration custody were later charged with murder (Shoichet, 2015). Figures show that immigrants are three times more likely to be convicted of murder than the general population. Each year, approximately 900,000 legal and illegal immigrants are arrested, and 700,000 of these end up being released. Illegal immigrants account for 12 percent of murder sentences, 20 percent of kidnapping sentences, and 16
For many years, people from all over the world have come to the United States seeking a better life for themselves, their spouse, their children and even their children's children. However, not every immigrant comes into this country legally and many of these illegal immigrants are poor, uneducated and may be carrying contagious diseases. They may arrive here via human trafficking, smuggling or other methods. There is one thing we know for sure that many of them choose to remain silence when they become victims. The three main reasons they become invisible victims are they are not aware they are victimized, they don't know the right way to ask for help and they are afraid to be fired or even deported.
Illegal immigrants are just that Illegal. Illegal immigrants should have no rights in this country and no support the same way an American criminal has no rights or support. Americans businesses don't wan't to hire a citizen that get's 7.25 an hour vs an illegal who gets maybe 2 dollars a day. No one, no matter how bad their circumstances, has the right to break American law every day they are here illegally,
Today, many immigration laws have been passed due to terrorism and other criminal activity. A lot of immigrants are taken advantage of at their jobs because their bosses pay them very little compared to someone who is legal. Also people immigrate into the us free of any criminal background hoping to create a better future only to be sent back to their original country leaving behind anything this person worked for and sometimes even
As long as you are living in the United States, you are entitled to some rights no matter your legal status; at least that should be the case. This isn’t true for most immigrants. As Jorge Ramos stated, “I don’t want to live in a country in which some people have privileges and rights and then you have 11 million people who have no rights whatsoever.” (Manjarres). Anti-Immigration laws are degrading, and cause a lot of racial profiling. There are also times when an immigrant will get harsher punishment for the same crime as somebody who is legal, or even have to wait months in order to find something out about their case. Laws should be upheld in the same manner for all people; immigrant or