Third, Terrorism Damaged The Concept Of The Land Of Opportunity.

Before 9/11, the process of immigration was fairly easy. There wasn’t the extensive thorough background checks also boarder control wasn’t as strict like it is today.Also people traveling from different countries were not looked into as possible terrorist. But after 9/11 had occurred this had all change, immigration had decreased and deportation had increased. In fact Pakistan had the most noteable visa and immigration decrease, tourist visa decreased by 70% and immigration decreased by 40%. In the following years of 9/11 deportation,as a whole, rose by 104%. For example, deportation in Central America had increased to 430%. Also deportation of people from Egypt, Pakistan and Jordan had spiked in the years following 9/11. Especially the deportation of Egyptians, which increased to 205% making it have the highest and most notable increase. International tourism was also greatly affected for three years tourism fell. The amount of Americans traveling internationally also declined. It wasn’t until 2004 when tourism had begun to

President George W. Bush launched what he called the “war on terror” on October 7, 2001. The U.S. military was sent to Afghanistan to get rid of the Taliban regime who helped the terrorists involved in 9/11. (History.com Staff, “President Bush Announces”). Since the start of the “war on terror”, six thousand, nine hundred fifteen American troops have died

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.

The war in Afghanistan which has become the longest war in American history has also become one of the most expensive war in history behind the war in Iraq, which justifies the idea that the United States is unable to manage their expenses and resources in times of war. The war which has lasted for thirteen years along with two years of soldiers still stationed in Afghanistan has caused America to invest a lot into the war against terror. The cost of the Afghanistan war alone has reached almost 1 trillion dollars and counting. The Money has been used for military defense, medical aid, reconstruction, and post war relief (PBS). All of these expenses are from tax payer’s dollars and money that was borrowed and comes with a hefty amount of interest, 124 billion dollars already paid (CNBC). A total of almost two trillion dollars was borrowed and was approximately 20% of the total United States debt (Global Research). During this war money was not being spent effectively, one example includes 6.5 million dollars on communication towers that were never used. For the reconstruction of Afghanistan approximately 104 billion dollars was used and a billions of dollars lost due to wasteful spending, fraud and corruption (MSNBC). Exact values cannot even be placed on where the money went exactly and how much was really lost because the costs were never detailed by the government and further exemplifies the idea that the United States is unable to manage their spending

Since the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001, immigration control and national homeland security have been issues of concern for both the national government and private citizens. In the wake of the attacks, a lot of articles were written about what the appropriate response should be to prevent another attack. In 2004, Mark Krikorian wrote an article for the Providence Journal entitled “Safety through Immigration Control” in which he contends that the only means to keep America safe from a follow-up attack is to strengthen and enforce immigration law to prevent terrorists from being able to enter the country. Edwidge Danticat, writing for The Nation in 2005, provides a juxtaposition to Krikorian’s stance in her essay “Not Your Homeland”, in which she describes her witnessing of the inhumane conditions many immigrants are forced to endure in the name of increased security to protect the country. She questions whether the added protections are worth the human cost we are paying by treating immigrants and refugees as guilty until proven innocent. At the crossroads of these two perspectives lies the question: what is the proper balance between national security and the humane treatment of immigrants?

On September 11th 2001, the United States was hit with a devastating blow when four commercial airplanes were hijacked by Al-Qaeda terrorist who deliberately crashed two of the planes into the World Trade Center complex, and a third plane into the Pentagon. The fourth plane, headed for Washington D.C., instead crashed in Pennsylvania. Nearly 3,000 lives were lost on this egregious day. In response, President George W. Bush waged the controversial “Global War on Terrorism” which turned out to be a self-inflicted wound for America, bleeding still today. Bush’s highly-criticized decision was inconsistent with the strategic principles of war.

Immigration is both a domestic issue and global concern. It involves economics, politics, and culture. Unlike other current issues, it has been at the center of the American experience for hundreds of years (Tirman, John). Every year, hundreds of thousands of immigrants from around the world, come to the United States. These immigrants have many different motivations as to why they leave their home country; but as currents events indicate, it is injustice, poverty, and violence in their own country that generally make people move to save themselves and to ensure a better future for their families. Many of these people believe the United States is the best place to go, because there is more freedom, protection, and benefits,

The attack on the U.S. on September 11, 2001 changed the way Americans reacted towards people of Middle Eastern descent. A fear and bitterness settled in the American people that has been passed onto each generation. Americans now have an unease regarding immigrants of copper complexions. Government attitudes have changed as a result deeming it necessary to limit immigration, heighten security in airports, and stereotype a whole race of people igniting worldwide panic. Fear in America after 9/11 has not ceased to exist, influencing every aspect of American life that it can.

The U.S found itself confronted to new challenges that they didn’t think of before. This new challenges led to a shift of American attitudes towards immigration. This was due to the high influx of the immigrants coming from Europe and of the liberal paradox related to immigration (Tichenor 2002, 51). The United States found itself caught between two stools where immigration benefited the economy but the on the other side its obligation to set limits regarding social and publics welfare available to the new wave of immigrants.

Within the past 30 plus years, there have been three main things that either have or still currently impact our society and generation in America as a whole; Modern Day Immigration, the concept of “Reaganomics”, and the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11th, 2001 (also known as 9/11). For a variety of reasons, these things have turned into either political, economic, or societal issues (or often times a combination of the three). Over the years, these things have helped shape society into what we know and see it as today, for better or worse.

Since the early 1990’s, the immigrant population in America has doubled to over 40 million. The population could be higher factoring in illegal immigrants with the number estimated to be over 11 million. Majority of these immigrants both legal and illegal are mainly from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. Uncontrolled immigration has been blamed on loss of jobs, higher crime rates and housing problems in the US. While these immigrants play a unique role in the economy, the executive and the legislature have found it necessary to control the inflow of these immigrants for various reasons. A number of laws and immigration policies have been enacted to create order in this issue. How these laws are perceived by immigrants and the general American population has varied and has been a major topic for debate.

National security in America has taken a major turn since the most horrific attack on American soil…9/11. All Americans young and old have the tragic memory or knowledge in the back of their mind because they feel like we have lost our safety. Although many measures have been taken into consideration about the safety on transportation as well as cities most still feel unsafe. Years later the National security has grown but problems on immigration and identity still arise daily. Obama recently stated that, “"When I took office, I committed to fixing this broken immigration system. And I began by doing what I could to

2everything. Since 9/11 America has been a safer and more fearful place. We have developed safety from the event. We also developed many different organizations and programs such as the “secure Community”. We realized that we needed to change something. Terrorism also made immigration and deportation a big deal.2 In 2002, the bush administration came up with the “Department of Homeland Security”. This made the deportation level increase, almost double since 9/11. According to this administration there has been around 200,000 deportations annually. This number went even higher in 2004. It hit around 400,000 deportations annually. About half of those that were deported have had a criminal record. Even though most of them were low- level and non- violent. The “Secure Communities” program was made in 2008. This allowed the law enforcement to check if someone is an immigrant or not in a jail.

The United States has been at war since its creation in 1776. It has battled confrontation 222 out of 239 years or, 93% of its existence. Notably, one of the most crucial wars is the War on Terror. Beginning in March of 2003, this war initially served the purpose of getting rid of the country's leader Saddam Hussein to prevent his use of suspected stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction. Hussein has the questionable refinement of being the best known Middle Eastern ruler. He governed Iraq from 1979 until his capture in 2003. President Bush presumed he was harboring many chemical weapons such as synthetic warheads, shells, or aviation bombs. While politics justified this war the real war between Iraq and the U.S. began long before what recognized.

Ever since the beginning of the terrorist attacks on American soil, the War on Terror has been involved in the lives of Americans and nations near us. The War on Terror’s background originated through conflicts between warring countries in the Middle East; U.S. involvement started when a terrorist guided plane crashed into the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 in New York City. The attack was suspected to be the work of the middle-eastern terrorist group Al-Qaeda. The U.S. military, under the leadership of then commander-in-chief George W. Bush, declared a “War on Terror” on the terrorist group and the fighting began.