United States Immigration Policy

America has the largest illegal-immigrant population in the world. As a country we are not doing much to stop it. According to the Pew Research Center, there were approximately 5.7 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. in 1995. As of 2014, there are around 11.3 million living in America. Immigration is vital to this country. Unless you are 100% full blooded native, somewhere down your family’s history you immigrated to this county. It is evident that something needs to be done to fix our immigration system, but what? Strengthening our borders, and deporting illegal immigrants are not long term solutions to the United States’ problem. By passing legislation and making simple changes to our immigration and naturalization policy,

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

When immigration policy is discussed, typically, it is discussed within the confines of egalitarian notions and sentiments, and inside the boundaries and parameters set by generally Marxist-influenced social democracy. Characteristically, it is not discussed pertaining to the concept of a social order built on the rights of property owners, sharers, and contributors to and of the common stock- which at their discretion- may exclude bad apples, lazy contributors, rotten characters, trespassers, and terrorists. Once egalitarian sentiments and notions are rejected full-scale- (only giving credence to those that have empirical weight or logical consistency) more proper, more substantive interdisciplinary analyses may reveal that the current investigative techniques employed by current mainstream political theorists are- in the context of reality, incorrect, superficial and quite shallow.

Immigrating is to come to a country of which one is not a native, usually for permanent residence. It goes along with drive and determination to seek pleasure out of life, chase dreams, and purse happiness even in the most desperate of times. Migrating affects the communities that the migrants leave as well as the communities that receive them. There are many views as to why people migrate to different countries, the impact of immigration in countries, and how countries should go about regulating immigration. When discussing the ethics of immigration, it is important to view this topic from both sides and not just one side. In doing so, a person gets a sense of the bigger picture that the U.S. is currently dealing with due to immigration. With that being said, the United States should strive for an immigration policy that can benefit everyone involved as a whole.

The famous singer-songwriter, Conor Oberst, told huffington post, “How we treat the undocumented says a great deal about us as a people and whether or not we'll continue to fulfill the fundamental American promise of equality and opportunity for all.” According to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 240,255 people were deported in the year 2016. However, this year the number of arrest have rose up to 38 percent (Gomez). The number of people being deported have been increasing every year. The reason behind the increase of number is unfair hearings and policy of deportation. The United States Immigration System should change their policies on deportation because it violates the constitutional rights and exposes the inequality towards immigrants.

Although the issue of immigration policy has been at the center of political debates, largely discussed in the media and newspapers, no one has yet found a solution to this ill-defined problem, that would comply with the America’s core values. While I think the immigration policy does need a reform, the solution to this problem certainly is not a deportation of all undocumented residents.

In September of 2017, the Trump administration made a statement saying that DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) will come to an end, calling the program unconstitutional and criticizing it as "unilateral executive amnesty." DACA is an executive order created by former President Barack Obama, and the program allows hundreds of thousands of young immigrants who came to the United States as a child illegally to remain in the United States. The majority of applicants to DACA cannot have serious criminal history and must have been brought to the US before 2007, under the age of 16. DACA allows for these young people to live and work inside the US legally without risk of deportation. Now, the issue with Trump ending

The Government takes control of many of the actions that take place in the United States. The Government could be anyone or group like Congress, Supreme Court, or even the President of the United States of America. When President Obama was in office, he wanted to help implement a policy to help immigrants to get permission to work and go to school. He did this behind the backs of Congress and got away with it. Professor Michael McConnell, from Stanford Law School, said “President Obama waited to issue an executive order on immigration because he understood he did not have lawful authority to countermand an Act of Congress” (McConnell, 2017). President Trump pledged to demolish and dismantle the DACA program during his office

The Constitution grants the U.S. President ample power regarding almost every aspect of governing the nation; yet, it grants him none directed specifically at immigration policies. In fact, the Constitution was silent on immigration altogether. “None of the congressional powers [in the Constitution] explicitly mentions immigration… [which] led some to suggest that immigration was left exclusively to state control. However, the Founders gave primary control over foreign affairs to the federal government, and immigration was an important aspect of foreign affairs in the eighteenth century” (source 7). Therefore, Congress claims sole power over making immigration policy. Consequently, presidents utilize their powers that seem unrelated to immigration to gain control over it. To this end, most presidents use executive orders to defer deportation or expedite the process for green cards. Presidents also use executive pardons to pardon illegal immigrants from any punishment dictated by law (Article 2, Section 2). Thirdly, presidents use appointment powers to create agencies to address immigration issues. Presidents can also propose legislation to Congress to grant amnesty or

In early March of 2017, President Trump wanted to put an end to DACA. According to Michael D. Shear and Julie Hirschfeld Davis, he called an “amnesty-first approach” and urged Congress to pass a replacement before he begins phasing out its protections in six months. Some of the 800,000 young adults conveyed to the United States illegally as children who were qualified for the program, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, will end up eligible for deportation. Mr. Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who declared the change at the Justice Department, both used

With the creation of the constitution in 1789, came very little guidance from the founders on immigration. The only relevant clause regarding the issue can be found in Article 1 Section 8 Clause 4 that gave congress power to “To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;” Here we see that congress is given the authority to create laws regarding becoming a naturalized citizen. However, control over the citizenship process is hardly a mandate from the constitution for full authority over immigration policy itself. Immigration law professor at UC Irvine Jennifer Chacón writes that “But control over naturalization does not necessarily require full control over immigration. And indeed, for the first century of the United States’ existence, many states enacted laws regulating and controlling immigration into their own borders.” (Chacon 2014) Professor Vincent J. Cannato comes to a similar conclusion when he writes in National Affairs that “But on the question of who should determine just who can enter the country and under what conditions, the Constitution is silent. As a result, during America's first century, regulating entry into the country was a power left up to individual states. Apart from laws

Since the topic of immigration has become of broad and current interest, so have the different policies Democrats and Republicans tend to favor in regards to this issue. Switching from an eight year democratic, and mostly liberal influence, 2016 rang in the era for the Republicans, a mostly conservative direction. When it comes to the issue of immigration, the division between voters and non voters is not as clear as the division between party lines, which leads to immigration policy continually changing according to which party is in power. Consequently, immigration policy is dependant on what party is in power and/or office. Voter and non-voter demographics vary and are constantly changing as more Millennials and Generation Z reach the voting age. In the recent general election, republican

According to Article 4 of the Constitution, the United States has applied the principles of federalism to give the federal government sovereignty in areas that need national coherence such as defense, diplomacy, and interstate trade. Also, areas that are not mandated by the federal government have ensured that each state has autonomy. For this reason, even if the federal immigration authorities enforce a deportation policy against illegal immigrants, each state or local government is not legally bound to comply with federal regulations. The United States was built by immigrants, so there are many issues and policies about immigration. The Trump Administration has come up with a different immigration policy than the last administration, and

We are now in the 21st century and like the beginning of the 20th century the United States finds itself in the throes of a period of mass immigration. More then one million immigrants enter the Unites States, both legally and illegally every single year. Many argue that this new wave of mass immigration may help sustain the success that our nation is having in regard to the way of living that many American have come accustomed to and yet others believe that although our nation was created by immigrants it is time to "shut down" our borders. The truth of the matter is that there will always be issues in regard to immigration and the policies that the government sets forth in order control who comes into this country. Also now

President Trump was intensely adamant and vocal during his campaign trail saying, "he would terminate DACA immediately" and roughly within eight months in office he has. As it was made under former President Obama's administration it is legal to end it under a new president administration. With the rescission of the DACA program the Trump administration announced no applicants filed on or after September 5, 2017 will be considered. Renew applications filed by DACA holders, whose benefits expire on or before March 5,2018 will be considered up by October 5,2017. As early as march, six months, some of the 800,000 young adults brought to the United States illegally as children who qualify for DACA will be eligible for deportation. Some