The Immigration debate in America has become a household topic in 2016 given the controversies surrounding it. Immigration laws in the United States are set in place to help control how many can immigrate into the country every year. As expected with any controversial topic, there are proponents for the implementation of Immigration reform and those that strongly oppose it. Those in support of the reform cite more security for American citizens while those who oppose it focused on the decline of the American economy. In this essay, I will be discussing the reasoning of those who support immigration reform as well as the reasoning of others who oppose the proposed reform. Secondly, I will discuss the responses to this issue by President Donald …show more content…
Those in favor of the issue argues that limiting the amount of immigrant allowed in the united states would provide more security and more jobs for American born citizens. Mr. Trump, who is known to regularly smear immigrants as terrorists and criminals, has shifted his focus from illegal immigration to legal immigration as well. According to (NYT- trumps backward) “ last month [January 2018] his department of homeland security released a report that dishonestly claims that those who entered the county via the lottery were more likely to be tied to terrorist attacks.” This report is believed to be a fear-mongering tactic as a study done by the Cato Institute found that among 3,037 Americans murdered by foreign-born terrorist since 1975 only eight were actually killed by lottery visa holder (NYT- trumps backward). Furthermore, in July 2015 Mr. Trump stated that immigrants in the United States were stealing jobs from American born citizens. However, many economists have suggested that immigration in the United States is actually good for the economy. According to (how immigration benefits) “ more than half of the billion dollar companies in the United States are founded by an immigrant- and each of these, on average create 760 new jobs”. Those who are against such strict reform have stated …show more content…
The issue concerning the effect immigration reform on the American economy can be examined using all three of Mills’ questions regarding the sociological imagination. Mills’ first question can be used to look at how immigration is connected to the economy, and how they are influenced by each other. His second question can be used to examine how these two aspects of the society influenced each other throughout history and can help predict how they will influence each other in the future. Lastly, his third question can help understand how the people of the society are categorized and how those categories influence the way the society functions. Based on Mills’ definition of the sociological imagination his three questions perfectly analyze the relationship between the surrounding society and the individual. Using mills three questions to analyze the issue at hand can help understand the relationship between the individual and the society, which in turn makes the issue discussed above
Brannon, Ike, and Logan Albright. Immigration’s Impact on the Texas Economy. Austin: Texas Public Policy Foundation, Mar. 2016. PDF.
Back in 2007 there were several concerns over immigration as a whole and exploding proportions of illegal immigrants crossing the border in the Arizona area. Arizona attempted to resolve the influx of people across the border by imposing heavy fines on employers hiring illegal immigrants. At that time in Arizona there was a democratic governor Janet Napolitano that continually vetoed the Arizona’s legislature attempt to reduce illegal immigration. In 2009 the state replaced the Democratic governor with a Republican governor Jan Brewer who was supportive of reforms for immigration in Arizona. In 2010 the immigration problem was so sever that Arizona passed legislation allowing the state to enforce federal law for identification of legal immigration into the United States. This sparked a nation wide discussion on illegal immigration and immigration reform.
In the United States of America there are an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants currently residing in the U.S. Many industries depend heavily on immigrant labor , legal and illegal, to achieve productivity. The construction industry, nationally , employ at a fast rate about 1,000,000 illegal immigrants; almost one in five illegal immigrants work major industries. (Passel,2006). Immigrant reform will undoubtedly reduce the supply of illegal immigrant by encouraging enforcement of current laws by creating new legislation with harsher penalties for illegal immigration. The enforcement of the new laws will allow for industries to allow employers to recruit and hire foreign born workers only with signs of identification. However for the industries
Immigration Reform is a serious and current issue in politics, in government, and in the lives of millions of people. Immigration reform is a term used by the American government and in politics. It refers to the changes to the current immigration policies in the United States. “Reform” is defined as a “change into an improved form or condition, by amending faults or abuses.” So, in a nutshell, Immigration Reform means the improvement of the law regarding how we, the United States, handle immigration. The only reason a country may revise its immigration policy/policies, is if it is having troubles such as illegal immigration. In the United States today, our government is having such troubles – illegal immigration. The statistic on illegal
Immigration Reform At this time, the United States has allowed more immigrants to enter the country than at any time in its history. Over a million legal and illegal immigrants take up residence in the United States each year. Immigration at its current magnitude is not fulfilling the interests or demands of this country.
Immigration is a controversial topic among many people in the United States today. A lot of people from different countries often settle in the United States in search of jobs, freedom or a better life in general. The United States has become a hot spot for immigrants because it has much to offer for people seeking a better life. The Immigration Reform Bill has been created in order to make illegal immigrant legal citizen of the United States. This Immigration Reform Bill provides a process for illegal immigrants to become citizens without any penalties. President Obama has come up with the bill that he believes will solve the immigration problem that been affecting the United Sates in the past years. Obama thinks that if illegal
Mexico was estimated up to 70% from those undocumented workers. (Reiff, 2013) In 2001, Bush and congress hoped to help Mexican immigration to U.S. by the legislation immigration reform but the reform had to hold on since the terrorist attacks in September 11, 2001. In 2005, the U.S. House of Representatives supported the Border Protection and the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act were passed by the Senates in 2006. However, both of these cannot be a law because their contents are a few differences and had conflicts with conference committee. (Nakamura, 2014) In 2009, Barack Obama restarted this comprehensive discussion of immigration reform. In the speech of November 20, 2014, U.S. president Obama stated the current immigration system is broken and summed up the necessary of the immigration reform such as new immigrant families were flout by others, business owners provided the less wages and benefits to undocumented immigrants and most of immigrants only wanted to earn the money, regardless of the responsibilities of living in the U.S., which caused them being apart from the others and society, staying in the dark shadows all the time. (Obama, November 2014) In case of the problem coming worses, President Obama began a series of executive actions to fix the system on immigration. This article introduces some key players in US politics and how their strategies to support
Immigration Reform Has Been a hot topic lately, President Barack Obama has recently used his power of executive order to give protection to some 5 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States. The program protects about 5 million immigrants from deportation, and allows them to stay and work here legally. There has been a lot of opposition; republicans believe that the president’s action is unconstitutional, and that the president is usurping power from Congress. What the President is trying to do is push congress into taking action, to pass a bill on immigration reform. In whitehouse.gov, they have a section that outlines the president’s plan for immigration reform. They have for points that they want to attain. Immigration reform usually accomplishes most or some of these objectives. One is to reinforce and strengthen border security. Second is to provide a legal way for undocumented immigrants to earn citizenship. Another objective is to crack down on the hiring of undocumented immigrants. Last objective is to make legal immigration simple and efficient. Within these objectives is amnesty. Amnesty is a hotly debated topic in immigration reform. Those who oppose amnesty argue that amnesty rewards lawbreakers, encourages more illegal immigration, and doesn’t help the economy; they think that it does the opposite of that. Those who argue for amnesty argue that it would be beneficial to the economy because of the increase tax revenues they will receive from the
In 2011, it was calculated that over 40 million immigrants lived within the United States (figure 1-1). Among those forty million individuals, a reported 11.1 million are illegal (figure 1-2)1. It is clear that we need to create a plan of attack to address this large number of people living in this country illegally. There are essentially three avenues that we could travel down in order to complete this task. Either the United States could provide an easier path for citizenship for these people, or we could allow them to stay in the country without becoming citizens through work visas or permits. The third option is to increase the level of enforcement and implement laws that would assist in the deportation of these
There are not many people who know that there is war going on within America. A war, that is capable of impacting the future of America. Millions of “Dreamers” are fighting to be recognized as American citizens. In recent months and years, the debate on immigration reform has been heated and often uninformed. Every president mentions in his speech to take action on immigration reform. But unfortunately he ends up taking action against immigrants by deporting them. Is the country founded by immigrants has closed doors for the immigrants? People are fighting for the immigration reform. In order for the bright future of America we need to fix the present problems. A land of opportunity has taken many hits but the immigration reform made us think about our legal system. It is essential to understand that “immigration reform” is not a cup of tea. The question many are asking is that how can we accept millions of people into our labor force? We are already struggling from unemployment rate, which is peaking high. In this paper I will be primarily focusing on the role of immigrants on our economy, businesses and society, and how it impacts our society.
The return and removal of illegal immigrants from the United States is one of the most widely discussed topics. Since 2007the United States Customs and Border Protection (ICE) has returned or removed over 1.2 million illegal immigrants from the United States. ICE has expanded its Criminal Alien Program to included incarcerated criminal illegal aliens. In 2007, ICE identified 164,296 convicted criminals who were incarcerated in Federal, state and local penitentiaries (These are people who came into the United States illegally and committed a crime.)
The federal government has failed to enact immigration reform and invest in infrastructure to restore the U.S. economy. More illegal immigrants are residing in the U.S., unlawfully crossing the border, and overstaying visas each year. The goal of American politics is equal treatment under the law. All persons that stand before the law are treated the same regardless of their race, religion, skin color, national origin, and even sexual identity. I think that the U.S. is ready for immigration reform because it’s become a matter of basic civil rights for the millions of people who are living in the U.S. illegally. Immigration laws encourage racial profiling by law enforcement. The problem for immigration is that the institutional design of the
Imagine that you are a senior in high school. You are nervous and excited to start the process of getting a job and attending college. You obtain a couple of job applications and a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to fill out. Naturally, as you fill out these forms you ask your parents for your social security number, however, this is the moment you find out that you are undocumented. Shocked and in disbelief, you can’t help to see all your hopes and dreams go down the drain. Nevertheless, like many other undocumented students, you discover there is still hope for your situation. For instance, your research leads you to former President Barack Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which protects minors who were brought to this country illegally as children. Created through executive action in June of 2012, DACA gives young undocumented immigrants: protection from deportation and a work permit. Subsequently, on September 5th, 2017, the Trump administration rescinds the DACA policy, and approximately 800,000 young immigrants will become eligible for deportation at the end of six months. Therefore, the only way to update our immigration system is for Congress to pass immigration reform, which offers a pathway to citizenship, plus, acknowledge that the 14th Amendment applies to homosexual conduct and illegal aliens.
Today the United States is the home to the largest immigrant population in the world. Even though immigrants assimilate faster in the United States than any other developed nations, immigration policy is still a highly controversial issue. The steady increase in the immigrant population in America enrages the natives who think the immigrants take away jobs opportunities, benefit from government benefits unfairly, increase crime and terrorism in the country, and do not integrate into mainstream social and political life which threatens to erase this country’s culture and distinctive character. However, economic theory predicts and academic research confirms immigration has a net positive effect on the natives and the overall economy.
Immigration has been an essential but disruptive aspect of the people and the political state of the United States; however, debates related to immigration and its benefits are intensified significantly. Opposing immigration keeps ranting on how government should exercise better law to control over the people entering into the States from the foreign land. One of the most buzzed argument is that American citizen is unemployed because immigrants stole their jobs and disrupted the economy (Hoban, 2017). Also, an appeal to National security and vulnerability after several terrorist attacks all over the world and also to the government to keep track and maintain the no. of immigrants to create a safer environment (Cafaro, 2009). However, the contrary to these arguments have often been proven right. The pattern of the immigration shows that the contribution of the immigrants has resulted in an economic boost that cannot be overlooked by the government.