History Essay

10/14t2019

From ABC-CLIO's American Government website https://a merica ngovern ment2.a bc-clio.com/

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IMMIGRATION DEBATE The debate over immigration policy in the United States has two opposing sides: one believes in heavy restrictions on immigration and the other believes in fewer restrictions on immigration.

There are several large and controversial organizations that promote heavy restrictions on immigration; one of the biggest is the Federation forAmerican lmmigration Reform (FAIR), and another is the Minutemen project. Both of these groups are vocal about their opposition to immigration and have a special focus on stopping undocumented immigration. There are also several nonprofit and advocate organizations, ranging from national, state, and city Sroups, that focus on immigrant rights. Together, these groups advocate for immigration legislation that is more inclusive, especially concerning the use of such public services as Medicare and the ability to work in the U.S. Many of these groups favor granting the same rights to undocumented immigrants as to other immigrants.

These two opposing views on immigration arise from a fundamental disagreement on the possible effects of immigration on U.S. society. One of the main points of contention is the effect of immigration on the nation's economic growth and prosperity.

Economic lssues

One of the most strongly held beliefs by advocates of strict immigration is that immigrants negatively affect the labor market. More specifically, they argue that increased numbers of immigrant workers increase unemployment and decrease wages of native workers. ln this view, immigrants increase unemployment because they take away jobs from native U.S. workers; they decrease wages because they are highly concentrated in low-wage occupations. However, most scholarly research on this subject has failed to provide strong support for these beliefs. The main conclusion of this academic research has been that immigrants only modestly affect the labor market opportunities of native-born workers-at least at the broad, national level. However, large populations of immigrants concentrated in a single area may adversely affect local labor markets. These local markets are the most visible, so U.S. society as a whole may have a distorted picture of the situation.

Another debate centers on whether or not the amount that immigrants pay in federal, state, and city taxes is large enough to offsetthe benefits immigrants receive in social seryices. There is some evidencethat immigrant households are slightly overrepresented among the welfare population and that immigrants may in fact "assimilate into welfare" the longer they are in the U.S. ln addition, some find that when examining all levels of government together (federal, state, and local), immigrants actually generate more revenue in taxes paid than they take out in social services received. However, examining the diflerent levels of government reveals that immigrants are sometimes the greatest fiscal drain on the local governments compared to federal and state governments. Deflnite conclusions about the effects of immigrants on the

economy is hindered by lack of consistent and reliable evidence or data, especially because the characteristics of the undocumented population are hard to measure.

Federal Policy

The reaction to the immigration debate is most visible in the legislation drawn up by federal, state, and local governments. One of the largest immigration reform laws in the second half of the 20th century was the 1986 lmmigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), which was intended to reduce undocumented immigration. IRCA also crimlnalized the act of hiring undocumented workers. One of the ideas behind this legislation was that immigration would decrease if immigrants had fewer employment opportunities, IRCA also established a one-year amnestyfor undocumented immigrants that had been working in the U.S. since 1982, Under IRCA, about 2,7 million undocumented immigrants and others that did not qualify for visas were legalized. Another law that was drafted in reaction to concerns over immigration was California's Proposition 187. This proposition restricted educational and health services from undocumented immigrants. ln fact, several states have attempted to pass legislation similar to California's proposition.

ln 2005, the House of Representatives approved the Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and lllegal lmmigration Control Act, which provided for a 700-mile fence along the U.S.-Mexican border; allowed the federal government to take custody of undocumented immigrants detained by local authorities; and required employers to verify their employees'legal status. The bill started some of the largest protests by immigrants and immigrant advocacygroups in recent U,S. history. ln early 2006, there were protests in about 102 cities, and the numbers of protesters ranged from 25,000 in Madison, Wisconsin, to 750,000 in Los Angeles, California. The most contested parts of the bill by these groups were the criminalization of undocumented immigrants and any individual that helped them stay in the u.s.

ln addition, many immigrant advocates called for a provision in the bill to allow a path of legalization for undocumented immlgrants already in the U.S. This "path to citizenship" was one of many provisions included in the Comprehensive lmmigration Reform Act, which was introduced in the U.S. Senate in 2007. ln 2010, the so-called Dream Act soughtto

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10t14t2019 Print Display - lmmigration Debate - Reference Articles

provide a path to legalization for some students in the U.S. illegally. All three bills failed to gain enough support and were not passed into law. OnJune 15, President Barack Obama announced that his administration would no longer deport certain undocumented immigrants who came to the country as children. The decision meant that as many as 800,000 immigrants under age 30 would be eligible for work permits. ln2012, Obama established the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program via executive order. The program shields undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as young children-so-called "DREAMers"-from deportation.ln 2017, the Donald Trump administration issued a memorandum announcing that they would begin to "wind down" the program.

State Policy

ln the absence of comprehensive federal legislation, border states have considered legislation to cope with the influx of undocumented immigrants entering the country. ln April 2010, the Arizona state legislature approved SB '1 070, which was signed into law by Gov. Jan Brewer. Considered by many to be the toughest immigration bill in the nation, SB 1070 allows the police to detain individuals suspected of being in the country illegally; makes it misdemeanor for a foreign nationals to be caught without proof of legal residency; and permits lawsuits against a government official or agency that fails to enforce federal immigration laws. ln June 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down some of the law's provisions. However, the Court upheld the law's requirement that state and local law enforcement check the status of people who have been stopped, detained, or arrested if there is a "reasonable suspicion" they may be in the country illegally. While supporters of the bill believe it will discourage undocumented immigrants from entering or remaining ln the state, opponents have argued that the law will lead to racial profiling and the harassment of both documented and undocumented residents who appear to be Latino. The Arizona law renewed calls for Congress to overhaul the immigration system.

Katy Pinto Further Reading

Desipio, Louis, and Rodolfo O. de la Garza. Making Americans, Remaking America: lmmigration and lmmigrant Policy. Boulder CO: Westview Press, 1998; Hing, Bill Ong. Deporting Our Souls: Values, Morality, and lmmigration Policy. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2006; Loucky, James, Jeanne Armstrong, and LarryJ. Estrada, eds. lmmigration in America Today: An Encyclopedia. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing, 2006; Ueda, Reed, Postwar lmmigrant America: A Social History. Boston, MA: Bedford Books of St, Martin's Press, 1994; Warner, Judith Ann, ed. Battleground: lmmigration. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2008.

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lmage Credits

Protest against Arizona immigration bill: Daniel Raustadt/Dreamstime.com

lmmigration Reform and Control Act (1986) : Ronald Reagan Library

National Origins lmmigration Act of 1965: Lyndon B. Johnson Library/Yoichi R. Okamoto

Chicago Citation Pinto, Katy. "lmmigration Debate." ln American Government, ABC-C1|O,2019. Accessed October 14,2019. http://americangovernment2.abc- clio.com/Search/Display/'1 6467 27 .

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