The next major piece of legislation for Italy was passed in 1998, and is known as the

The United States of America, being a country founded by immigrants, is known all over the world as the land of great opportunities. People from all walks of life travelled across the globe, taking a chance to find a better life for them and their family. Over the years, the population of immigrants has grown immensely, resulting in the currently controversial issue of illegal immigration. Illegal immigrants are the people who have overstayed the time granted on their US, visa or those who have broken the federal law by crossing the border illegally. Matt O’Brien stated in his article “The government thinks that 10.8 million illegal immigrants lived in the country in January 2009, down from a peak of nearly 12 million in 2007.”(Para, 2)

The issue of immigration has become a major debate for everyone. Although people argue over the negative impacts of immigrants living in America such as overcrowding, less jobs due to immigrants taking them, drug trafficking, and threatening of American culture, immigrants still have a huge impact in the American society. The United States is by far the largest destination for immigrants, annually receiving over a million legal immigrants and about seven hundred thousand illegal immigrants. Many people come to the United States to get a better life for themselves as well as for the education system for their children.

Immigration involves the movement of a group of people from one country to another where they do not possess citizenship. There are many reasons in which people may leave their country such as employment, lack of resources, family, fear due to violence, exile, the American dream. In 1965, Congress changed immigration law in ways that allowed much more intake from Asia and Latin America than earlier. Before 1965, the intake was mostly from Europe. Since then, over half has come from Latin America—28 % just from Mexico. The share of population composed of non-Hispanic whites plunged from 84 % in 1965 to only 62 % in 2015 while Hispanics soared from 4 to 18 %. (Mead, L.M., 2016)

In the United States, citizens are very familiar and concerned about the topic of the Immigration Reform. Based on the research report from Senior Research Associate Pew Hispanic Center, Jeffrey S. Passel predicted around 11 million or more undocumented immigrants in the US in March 2005, which existed more than 6.5 million undocumented Mexicans, up to 57% of the total undocumented population and the Latin American countries are occupied by another 24%. (Passel, 2005) Furthermore, there are 9% in Asia, 6% of Canada and Europe, and the 4% rest for the others. (Passel, 2005) However, up to September 2006, there was nearly 13 million of the illegal immigrants but almost one-sixth of total, around 2.0 million undocumented

Undocumented immigrants refer to “people who presently possess no proof of any right to be present in the United States, whether or not they have been declared deportable by the US government (and the vast majority have not)” (Lyon, 2004, p581). According to the United States Census Bureau there are approximately eight to eleven million undocumented immigrants residing in the United States (Porter, 2006). Each year, approximately 500,000 more arrive without legal documentation. The number of undocumented immigrants now exceeds the number of documented immigrant arrivals. The majority of the undocumented immigrants arrive from Mexico (57 to 70%) and Latin America (23 to 24%), with a smaller number from Europe and Canada (5 to 6 %

The United States of America, a country created by immigrants, is currently facing what some consider to be an immigration crisis. As of 2012, there is over eleven million undocumented illegal aliens living inside the United States. Both the American public and the lawmakers elected to represent us are divided on the issue. Some people view the influx of immigrants crossing over the border from Mexico to America as a good thing while others view it as a disaster waiting to happen. Regardless of ones view on immigrants coming over, most people are in agreement with the idea that we must change the way we are currently dealing with illegal aliens.

According to Malia Zimmerman of Fox News, after an extensive study on crime rates and illegal immigrants, it was found that the 11.7 million illegal immigrants living in the US account for a total of 13.6% of all crime committed (Zimmerman). 13.6% may seem to be a small amount of crime, but it is not small when only 11.6 million of America’s 318.9 million person population are committing it. Additionally, approximately 12% of murder cases and 20% of kidnapping cases are committed by Illegal immigrants (Zimmerman). Another example of crime with illegal immigrants is in 2014 when the ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) released 30,558 criminals back onto US streets. That group of 30,558 people had a total combined 79,059 criminal convictions, including 186 kidnappings and 86 homicides

Immigration is a kind of movement of people into destination land, which can be traced back to a million years ago. Also, the debate over whether immigrants should be given more rights has been an intractable problem for a long period. According to statistics from Wikipedia, as for 2005, the United Nations reported that there were nearly 191 million international immigrants worldwide, about three percent of the world 's population (Immigration). Although it does not seem to take up a large proportion, actually the amount of the immigrant population is particularly huge. In this way, policies on immigration are considered remarkably significant. Moreover, recently the attacks in European countries have also poured fuel on the already-heated debate over immigration policy. In most cases, local citizens and governments do not welcome immigrants into their own country, which is partly due to the discrimination. Obviously, it is unfair to them. Immigrants should be treated equally and given more rights than the rights they possess now because they contribute to boosting economy, creating a harmonious society and they are legal immigrants.

In the year of 2015 reporters say over 350,000 immigrants arrived in europe sea compared to the 2014 year. Within that 350,000; 2,600 0f them died or were found dead. In July of this year 203 migrants died with the start to the end of that month. Reporters found out that many immigrants don’t even travel by sea anymore, they try to walk. Whenever they try to cross the border, they may go through deserts, and usually die of dehydration.

In countries such as France and the Netherlands, where there are large populations of immigrants, young people of foreign background often report that they are stopped by police without apparent reason. Ismael Attalki, an 18 year-old business student in Rotterdam, felt that “[The police] just don’t treat me with any respect...they should treat all people with respect, and not just the young people who are Dutch.” In the Southern French city of Marseille, where there are many Muslim immigrants from North Africa, public officials have often spoken out against immigration, even going

In the attempts to “manage the immigrant crisis” several strategic mistakes have been made, which have shaken the functioning of migration policy in the European community. Particular controversy was stirred up by a plan for the relocation of 120,000 refugees suggested in September 2015. Some months later (April/May 2016), the European Commission came up with the idea of fines for those countries which would not receive the relocated refugees. The fine for one unaccepted foreigner was supposed to be €250,000. The attempt to impose a quota of immigrants on member countries together with high fines contributed to further divisions inside the EU.

The important underlining problem is the fact that these migrants are arriving and staying in Italy and Greece. Both Italy and Greece are going through an economic crisis that cannot sustain the migrants that are landing within their borders; they are asking the European Union to give them relief, by imposing quotas to redistribute the migrants to other European nations that are a part of the migration policy. The migrant crisis also brings insecurity to nations such as Italy and Greece because of they are not prepared to deal with the amount of people entering in their borders. Not all European countries

Islam in Italy has a few Ahmadi Muslims in the country. Despite illegal immigrants representing a minority of the Muslims in Italy, the issue of Islam in contemporary Italy has been linked by some political parties with immigration, and more specifically illegal immigration. To add on Italy is the home for the fourth largest Muslim population in Europe. One in three migrants to Italy is Muslim, which accounts for nearly 3.7% the population—a value destined to become more than double by

As the world becomes increasingly interconnected, it is imperative to understand how societies interact and the issues they are facing. I have been interested in languages, cultures, and international affairs for many years which is why I have decided to major in Global Studies. To broaden my global perspective, I am currently participating on St. Lawrence University's Global Francophone Cultures program where I am studying abroad in Quebec, Canada; Rouen, France, and Dakar, Senegal. In addition to learning the French language, the main area of focus for this year's program is immigration. One of the courses I am taking is called, “The Age of Migration: Labor Mobility in the EU.” In this course we have read various articles on immigration, researched countries immigration policies, and are studying the economics of immigration. We

Stepping up the fight against illegal immigration and zero tolerance for trafficking in human beings