US Immigration

Higher Modern Studies
Immigration and the USA
Keir Lynch 5W1

June 2014

Every year, 700,000 immigrants move to the United States of America in search of a better life with the hope of one day living the American Dream. It is not hard to see why the US is so appealing. As US citizen’s, immigrants can earn more and are protected with the rights of the constitution, they are less likely to be living in poverty and there are endless opportunities. Often, these pull factors exceed anything compared to what they would have in their native country. For example in Mexico roughly half of the population live on less than $5 a day. As a US citizen, you are protected by law with the national minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. Some believe that immigrants are damaging to the US and are worried that in 2043, whites will be a minority in their own country.
In 1990, the US Immigration Act (IMMACT) became law. This increased the limit of legal immigrants moving to the US each year from 500,000 to 700,000 and has family reunification as its main priority. This is on top 50,000 diversity visas for immigrants from countries from which few were emigrating, as well as 40,000 permanent job-related workers to benefit the US economy and 65,000 temporary worker visas. The temporary worker visas are seen to be controversial due to over ½ of those granted temporary admission failing to return to their native country or seek asylum once their period is over. The act also allows those with AID’s to immigrate to the US and increased work on maintaining the US border fence making it spread further into the deserts. This causes illegal immigrants attempting to cross the border greater risks which will be discussed later on. This shows that the US government see immigration beneficial.
The Anti-terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA) followed soon after the World Trade Centre and Oklahoma City bombings. This act aims to deter extremist attacks and to provide justice to the families of victims of terrorist actions. It also allows immigrants (including green card holders – US Visa’s) to be deported or placed into custody if they commit acts of crime.
Both of these acts are said to be controversial in the US. This is especially due to the estimated 7.5 illegal alien workers in over 12 million households. In the 2000 census there were 8.5 million unauthorised (illegal) workers in the US. This figure grew to 11.8 million in 2007 but was then found to have fallen to 11.4 million in 2012. It is estimated that there are another 700,000 – 850,000 illegal aliens moving to the US each year undetected. In 1990, there were over 8 million estimated illegals in the US from Mexico alone and it is estimated that 1 in 10 Mexicans in the world live in the US. Although the number of Mexican immigrants has been seen to decrease over the last 14 years it is estimated that between 2000 and 2008, 11 states saw their Mexican-born population grow by at least 50,000. In four US states, Mexican immigrants accounted for around one-fifth or more of total population growth between those 8 years. In 2009, 62% of all illegal immigrants in the United States were originally from Mexico and the number of unauthorized immigrants from Mexico increased 42%. It is also estimated that more than ½ of all Mexican immigrants in the United States were alien’s.
In 1990, almost half of Mexican immigrants lived in California. This is due to its close location in relation to the border and the fact that there are lots of work opportunities on farms. It is often the case that illegal immigrants will end up working long hours and for low wages to try and make ends meet. This is due to the fact that they are not US citizens so cannot highlight to the authorities that they are being paid under the legal rate due to fear of deportation. Even though the California’s illegal population had grown from 1.48 million to 2.45 million the state’s share of immigrants dropped to around a quarter by 2004. This is due to immigrants seeking jobs and establishing communities in other states such as North Carolina, Iowa, Ohio, Georgia and Oklahoma. North Carolina almost has 16 times the number of illegal immigrants than what it had in 1990 – those illegal immigrants add to the total of around 5% of the US Labour force. Since the US has failed to secure the border the number of illegal immigrants travelling to the US can only rise. Only 652 of the 1,954 miles of the border are fenced. This is only 1/3 of the border.
Although the immigration debate in the US is still and will always be ongoing, it is found that Xenophobia from 9/11 and the Boston Bombings has added extra pressure to the debate and to the people who believe that the US’s laws should be stricter.
Every year, there are thousands of economic migrants and refugees who travel to the US in chase of the American Dream. In 2012, 45.2 million people were displaced forcibly. This is the largest number since 1994. The US receives the most of the world’s asylum applications, followed by Germany (64,500). The US currently has around 168,886 refugees seeking asylum. Refugees are around 1/10 of the total annual immigration numbers. During 2007, the US gained refugees from 63 countries with Burma, Burundi, Iraq, Thailand, USSR, Ivory Coast, Cuba, Eritrea, Afghanistan, DR Congo, Liberia and Vietnam being the top 12. Since 1980, more than 2 million refugees entered the US and since World War 2 more refugees have entered the US than any other country in the world. In 2012, the US accepted 58,238 refugees.
George Bush (President of the USA 2001-2009) set a goal to resettle 90,000 refugees in the US each year. He tried to solve the immigration issue by bringing in the Immigration Bill of 2006-07 and with ‘Operation Jumpstart’.
Operation Jumpstart was Bush’s plan to rectify the immigration problem. Like the majority of Bush’s time as president, the bill failed to become law in June 2007 due to the congressional opposition. Operation Jumpstart would have meant that there would be a guest-worker programme which would allow skilled individuals to live and work in the US temporarily. Those who were effective and were seen to benefit the US used this as their gateway to citizenship. Although President Bush had the right motive to “secure our borders” and “cause the people in the interior of this country to recognise and enforce the law” he was not backed due to the conflict between the Republicans to main supporters. Although this was not passed, in doing this it shows that the US government see immigration as beneficial.
In a US Public Opinion Poll (May 2014), citizens were asked "Which should be the higher priority now: securing the nation's border, or addressing the status of illegal immigrants currently in the U.S.?" – 55% said that Securing the border was their highest priority whereas 37% said that the priority should be to address the status of illegal immigrants. This shows that there is a clear divided opinion in the US where the vast majority of citizens want to see changes in immigration. Some feel that the work that the government are doing is far from adequate and have taken matters into their own hands. The Minutemen are a large group of activist’s which was founded in April 2005 by a group of vigilantes who aim to monitor the United States border with Mexico. They feel that the US Government isn’t providing an efficient border control service to stop immigrants gaining access to the states. The Project describes itself as "a citizens Neighbourhood Watch on our border". There have been many reports of some Minutemen seriously injuring and even murdering immigrants trying to start a new life. The Minutemen frequently hold protests and stir up fellow citizens in taking part in boycotts of Immigrant related goods and services in a bid to build up a presence and recruit new members. Like anything, there is another side to the story. Pro-Immigration groups argue that immigrants help develop and enrich American communities by bringing their traditional cultures to the communities and developing their presences. Different ethnic backgrounds have now come together and celebrate the same occasions (as well as their native ones). Religion is another aspect which allows minorities to connect with citizens and find a common place of mind. This was the entire common factor when it came to ‘The Day Without Immigrants protest’. This had a knock on effect on the US economy as immigrants, who are often said to steal American jobs, work in the jobs that most American citizens won’t, such as; Restaurants, Vineyards, housemaids, cleaners, farmers and other low paid unskilled jobs were not working. This protest also highlighted the fact that these immigrants are usually paid less than the national minimum wage with no holidays or sick pay. CNN made a point to the US that without these immigrants many of them would be in their positions and highlighted that they should not ‘walk all over’ immigrants and not to try to forget about and dehumanise them. This event was seen to change many anti-immigration supporters and help them realise that immigration is beneficial to the USA.
Like here in Britain, it is commonplace to walk down a high street and hear a foreign language being spoken. Fewer than 4 million US citizens were from countries speaking Spanish in 1950. Now in 2014, 64 years later, that number is 27 million. This is 6.75 times the number speaking Spanish in 1950. Around ½ of all Spanish Speaking Hispanics in the US have their origins in Mexico. The remaining ½ are from other Spanish speaking countries.
In Miami, the city’s largest newspaper ‘The Miami Herald’ now prints separate editions in English and Spanish. This is due to the high number of Cuban Americans living in Miami. Some US citizens are calling for a law to be made to declare English as the official American language. Others feel that this would just cause further, unnecessary, division between the races and could cause tensions to rise. Many US Citizens argue that immigrants are just a ‘drain on their resources’. A study carried out by the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons came to a worrying conclusion that because of unpaid medical bills by illegal immigrants hospitals may be forced to close. Other hospitals would need to cut staff members or change their procedures in order to save money. All of this would have an adverse effect on the hardworking US citizen who requires the healthcare that they pay their Health Insurance for. In California, between 1993 and 2003, 60 hospitals were forced to close their doors. This provoked Xenophobia even further.
This problem also exists in education due to the children of illegal immigrants costing $7.7 billion each year in California alone to care for the illegal children. The US government were criticised after they advised teachers to check each child’s papers to make sure they are legal citizens.
Although pledging to do so, US President Barack Obama has not acted on the public’s request for an immigration reform. Supporters of this reform believe that it would stop the abuse that illegal workers are subjected to, improve their wages and create an increase in economic activity. President Barack Obama's handling of immigration was decided in an Opinion Poll earlier this month. It has dropped to 31%, while 65% of people who took part in the survey disapprove of his immigration policies. Overall, it is clear that Obama has failed in his pledge to act on Immigration during his second term in office.
In April 2010 a controversial law on immigration in Arizona called SB1070 was signed. This made illegal immigration an offence in the state and gave the local police the power to make contact in order to clarify a person’s immigration status if they believed a person was causing “reasonable suspicion” and to detain anyone who could not show the relevant documents. This was highly impractical and basically discriminating against anyone who had the complexion of a Hispanic. This caused Pro-Immigration groups to protest. Many companies cancelled business with the state and others boycotted it completely. It is estimated that cancelling the conferences cost Arizona around 2,700 jobs and a large amount of funding.
Supporters of SB1070 believed that this measure was successful in the ridding of illegal immigrants in Arizona. President Obama took a neutral side to the argument but slyly and politically mocked the law and Arizona’s state government. In the end, SB1070 was deemed to be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court – much to the delight of the victimised Hispanics and the Pro-Immigration groups. In conclusion, it is clear that immigration is beneficial to the United States of America. It is clear that immigrants are a vital piece of machinery when it comes to the running of America. Although this is beneficial, there should be an immigration reform as it is not fair that it is fair for immigrants to be exploited in the workplace – whether they are legal or illegal. It is vital to see the full US-Mexico border secured and adequate measures taken to make sure that it is impossible to cross the border – for the safety of the clandestine’s. It is clear that the US Government should act on what is happening and should ensure that the US is a fair and safe place to live.

Keir Lynch, 5W1
Word Count (Excluding Titles) = 2,260