Immigration
description
Transcript of Immigration
Immigration
History
Current System
Backlash
Other Issues/Proposals
The modern Period
• 1965 Immigration Act- Not based on race or ethnicity
- priority given to family reunification
• The new boom--3rd world immigration- air travel, chain sponsorship
- 1986 IRCA granted amnesty for 3 million here illegally
- Today an estimated 12 million in the country illegally
Current System
• Types of legal immigration:- Family sponsored (for Green Card only
spouse or child)- Student or Employment based- Refugee/Asylee—“reasonable fear of
persecution for ethnic, cultural, religious reasons”
- Other—“Diversity Lottery”, etc.
Post 9/11
Is immigration (still) good for the country?
• costs: schools, medical, courts, police, etc.
• benefits: provide labor, pay many taxes, reinvigorate cities
• objection: new immigrants not assimilating like old--a permanent foreign underclass, especially given “new economy”
• defense: are assimilating
Backlash
• English as Official Language- Since 1980s 16 states and several municipalities passed
Official Language laws, ban bilingual ed and services
• 1994 Prop 187- denying illegal immigrants state-funded education and
non-emergency medical care
- thrown out by the courts
Other issues
• Drivers licenses- permitted in four states
• Matricular IDs- granted by foreign countries’ consulates
- accepted as valid in a dozen states, some cities
• Voting- a history of non-citizen voting
- NY and LA allow it for school boards
Proposals before Congress• House version:• Criminalize as a felony illegal immigration
• Penalties for assisting, or hiring
• Expand border patrol and build 700 mile wall
• No path to legal status from within US
• Senate version:• Illegal immigrants (and new immigrants) would be eligible for a new
temporary guest worker program if they:
• Pass a criminal background check
• Pay $1000 fine for illegal entry
• After 6 years of steady employment, can apply for a green card