Immigration Rights Group Analysis

Eleanor Roosevelt said, “the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” That statement holds strong for immigrants in America. Equal access to opportunities allows immigrants to achieve the American dream. Their success correlates with America’s success because of the contributions immigrants provide to America. Unfortunately, the current immigration policy in America denies many immigrants the American dream. It is crucial to understand the historical context of immigration in America. Initially, most immigrants were from Europe and were not restricted by any immigration laws. Now, most immigrants come from Latin America but are restricted to severe immigration laws. The Latino/a community is one of the most

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 following section includes background information pertaining to the DREAM Act, including history and facts about its enactment and its effects on program beneficiaries and mainstream society. Opposing viewpoints are then presented from both sides,

With that money Lacey and Larkin have formed the Lacey and Larkin Frontera Fund. The fund works to give to non-profits that support the rights of Latinos and Hispanics who have experienced prejudice at the hands of law enforcement and other public

Migrant children over the years have have made up and continue to make up a large portion of the influxes of people to this country. In spite of this and the and unique problems of immigrant children, immigration law and procedure is as absent of a child-centered structure as our history is. History and law pay little attention to the immigrant child’s voice and future. An unique exception of this is that many unaccompanied migrant children in the U.S. can gain permanent residency through a Special Immigrant Juvenile visa. This is the only child-centered form of immigration relief in existence in our country. Created in 1990, SIJ status allows petitioners who have been abused, neglected, or abandoned to obtain permanent residence. This status is achieved

With my experience as a United States Coast Guard officer, working intimately with migrant operations, I propose that revisions to the previous DREAM Act is necessary to ensure safe passage of the 2017 proposal. Following 9/11, national security became the central focus, enacting policies and legislation aimed at protecting the American people. Yet, with the influx of Immigrants into the United States, legislators can no longer ignore the needs of illegal immigrant already residing in American society and national security can longer remain an excuse to delayed action. More specifically, as proposed for nearly two decades under the DREAM Act, children brought to the United States after birth should receive an expedited citizenship process

Founded by Michael Lacey and Jim Larkin, the duo is credited with sourcing settlement money to fund migrant institutions in Arizona. The settlement money which totals to $3.75 million arises from their arrest dated October 18, 2007 by County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. According to reliable sources, the journalists were unceremoniously grabbed from their homes in the dead of night by the Police Department. The raid was conducted in the misguided attempt to reveal the proceeding of a grand jury covering the Sheriff’s

Over the last quarter of a decade, illegal immigration and enforcement have dominated mainstream policy making (Meisnner, Kerwin, Chishti & Bergeron, 2013). There has been a lot of public debate too, on whether or not the successive governments of the US have been able to effectively address illegal immigration and its enforcement thereof. However, as Meisnner et al. (2013) state, in the wake of the terror attacks of 2001, a paradigm shift appears to have been established, with the enforcement of illegal immigration taking a de facto stance. As such, as Dreby (2012) intimates, the number of immigrants who have been deported or removed from the US since 2001 has risen from 190, 000 to close to 400, 000. Considering the fact that there are more than 11 million illegal immigrants living in America, deportation on such a large scale without a doubt will result in a continuous chain reaction. One such consequence, as The New York University School of Law (2012) states, is that families are inherently broken apart by the removal of a family member. Additionally, there are other psychological and psychosocial impacts on families that are far-reaching. Because of these and many other compelling factors, this paper argues that the US should work to prevent deportations, rather than enforce them.

Case Study #4 – Working with an Immigration Family Case #4 introduces us to Esmerelda; a 15 year-old teenager, born in the United States (U.S.) to El Salvadorian parents who fled to the U.S. in the 1990s. The intent was to secure a “better life” (Lee & Gonzalez, 2015, p. 164) that would counter the detrimental living conditions and the possibility of starvation they were facing in their native country. Unfortunately, Esmerelda’s family is poor, resides a “rural southern town” as a family of six. Her parents work extremely long shifts at a “poultry plant” to keep a roof over the family’s heads, food on the table and provide as much of their needs as possible. Due to the lengthy work hours, Esmerelda is forced to stand in as the ‘acting parent’ with effort to look after her siblings in her parent’s absence.

The fund was established by two seasoned journalists, Michael Lacey and Jim Larking who are also the Cofounders of the Phoenix based, Phoenix New Times and Village Voice Media using settlement money they received from the arrest by Sheriff Arpaio. The $3.75 million settlement was awarded by a bench of judges sitting at the US Courts of Appeal for the 9th Circuit. Lacey and Larkin were accused of revealing the existence of a secrete grand jury formed to seek reporters articles covering Sheriff Joe. In their continued efforts to report the plight of immigrant communities across Arizona, Laceyndlarkinfronterafund.com reported on June 14 2015, that a new bill recently passed may make border patrol officers who are corrupt even more

The earliest record of immigration policy in the United States is from 1790, when the Naturalization Act of 1790 was put into effect, in which it “establish[ed] a uniform rule of naturalization and a two year residency requirement for aliens who are ‘free white persons’ of ‘good moral character’” (“Timeline,” web). The United States of America is a country that gives value to hard work and freedom. Two hundred and forty years ago, in July, our nation was founded by “radicals” who immigrated by crossing the Atlantic while looking for the liberty to govern themselves and find a better lifestyle in which they could have control over their economic, religious, and educational decisions. Throughout the history of the United States, there has been many important milestones regarding the immigrants rights movement. Starting with the thirteen colonies, and later the industrial revolution, and the ones most of us are familiar with such as the 1986 amnesty passed by President Ronald Reagan and the DACA policy put into place by President Barack Obama through his executive power. There have been many leaders, many protests, and many organizations both pro-immigration and anti-immigration. However, in the current stage of the immigrants rights movement, one of the most important organizations that support and fight for the movement is United We Dream, the largest youth led organization in the country.

A group of DREAMers, organizers, and advocates came together to reflect on the DREAM Act campaign and talk about building a movement and organization that would not hinge on votes in Congress, but that was rooted in a commitment to build an immigrant youth movement that would work to not only pass the DREAM Act, but reshape and influence the broader movement for immigrant rights. That group determined that we needed to create a powerful organizing network that had its own resources, could set its own priorities, and produce results. In December 2008 a group of leaders made a meeting in Washington, D.C. with a bit of help with of NILC. The participants are a diverse group of immigrant youth leaders, met to discuss future advocacy efforts to ensure that immigrant youth obtain access to legal status and higher education. This shared a vision by key youth leadership that something should be created that was led by young people whose lives are directly impacted by unjust immigration laws and United We Dream was formed. United We Dream held its first meeting in Minnesota 2009 with only 40 participants. The members of the United We Dream met in Lexington, KY in 2010, in Memphis, TN in 2011, and in Kansas City, MO in 2012 and had over 600 DREAMER’s and helpers. To this day, United We Dream is the largest immigrant system led by the youth and is well connected with 55 affiliates in 26 states. UWD has been fighting to obtain higher education and legal status for undocumented Immigrant minors and developed its platform for change in

Over the years, the DREAM Act has placed a suspenseful toll in the lives of undocumented high school immigrants across the United States. Each year, approximately 65,000 students from high schools, many whom are at the top of their class, are unable to go to college, join the military, work or pursue their dreams because of their illegal status (The DREAM Act). These young

The United States for centuries has been viewed as a safe haven for immigrants seeking religious, financial, and racial freedom. Since the moment our founding fathers made the United States a representative Democracy, it has served as a prime example to other countries of what it means to be politically successful. Immigrants come to the United States in order to attain opportunities that are not achievable where they live. They renounce their home countries and endure countless struggles solely to call America their new home. However, it has become more apparent in modern day that these immigrants are not experiencing the equality, freedom, and fraternity that America once promised. Undocumented immigrants are a prime example of people living in America but are excluded from the rhetoric of democracy and freedom.

Approximately 43.3 million foreign-born people live in the United States. Separated by immigration status, the foreign-born population includes 20.7 million naturalized U.S. citizens and 22.6 million noncitizens. Of the noncitizens, approximately 13.1 million are lawful permanent residents, 11.1 million are unauthorized migrants, and 1.7 million hold temporary visas. Now when it comes to this topic it’s a very versatile matter. But many people don’t really realize how difficult it is for them to adjust and achieve the true American dream. There are countless issues they face when moving to the US. I’m going to be discussing the top 5 ongoing issues in the world today that goes on with immigrants.