The international immigrant and Obama’s new reform
Immigration, relative all other political, social, and economical process, has probably contributed the most to shaping of the United States as a country. The large and increasingly changing immigrant population of the United States makes the country to have arguably the largest stake in international stake in the world. This is especially the case considering the enormous direct and indirect impact of US immigration policies on almost all other countries of the world. It is highly evident that the American international immigration faces a host of major challenges and can even be termed as “broken” and needs urgent fixing. Many unscrupulous employers have taken advantage of the system by hiring lots of undocumented workers – a phenomenon is neither good for the country nor the economy. It is high time that appropriate action was taken to mend the broken immigration system in a manner that demands responsibility from everyone i.e. policy makers, employers, and the illegal workers. A policy that ensures that everyone plays by the same rules is needed urgently. With the interests of a considerably high number of people hanging in the balance, it is only fair that the all-important US immigration policy debate should be based on reliable data and analysis. A new comprehensive immigration policy is needed in the United States, focusing on four main elements: level of immigration, composition of the immigrants, rights to afford new immigrants, and law enforcement against unauthorized immigration.
Brief History of U.S. Undocumented Immigrants
The origin of illegal immigration in the United States has its roots in the late nineteenth century. A 1875 federal law forbade entry of prostitutes and convicts in to America while in1882 President Chester A. Arthur prohibited almost all Chinese immigration into the country. Shortly thereafter, paupers and criminals along with the mentally ill were banned from entering. Ellis Island was opened in 1892 as the nation’s premier federal immigration station. The earliest greatest wave of immigration was experienced between 1881 and 1920, where about 23½ million immigrants from all over the world ended up in the United States (Bush, 95). Quota laws were passed over the subsequent years reducing immigration every year, with the exception of Mexicans and northern Europeans. Immigrations increased sharply until the period of the Great Depression in early 1930s.
The current high level illegal immigration begun during the war years in early 1940s when many foreign laborers were imported into the U.S. to compensate for acute labor shortages (Wasem, 16). The enactment of the Immigration Act in 1965 resulted in simultaneous increase in legal and illegal immigration. The 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) saw approximately 3 million illegal immigrants offered amnesty. By the time President Clinton left office, the United States had about 7 million illegal aliens. However, a marked increase in undocumented immigrants together with a significant decrease in immigration enforcement was experienced during President George W. Bush’s administration, numbering between 10 and 20 million by 2005. At the moment, it is estimated that over 1 million immigrants cross into America legally every year, while illegal immigrant populations experiences growth of about 500,000 per year (Hanson, 37). This translates in about 12-20 million undocumented immigrants currently residing in the United States.
Mr. President, immigration-driven transformation of the United States’ social and economic landscape has happened during distinct historical periods. Unauthorized immigrants mainly find their way into our county through borders between ports of entry, and in so doing evading official inspection. A significant number of unauthorized immigrants also gain entry into the United States using fraudulent documents at inspection points (Chapman, 154). Yet many more enter the US legally but end up overstaying the terms stipulated on their temporary visas. Finally, Mr. President, a considerable number of unauthorized immigrants have remained in the country through violation of several other terms of their terms.
The large-scale immigration the nation is currently experiencing picked up in the 1970s. Following the recent recession with its roots in the 2008-09 global financial crisis, the momentum for urgent enactment of immigration reform legislation in the United States has significantly slowed down (Kanstroom, 51). The recent surge in illegal immigration in the country has largely been as a result of its crucial place in economic conditions. With the economy on a recovery path following the devastating conditions of the recession, many unauthorized immigrants have come to our shores because of the increasing employment opportunities coupled with the growing demand for low-skilled workers by employers. The expansion of the American labor pool to factor in unauthorized immigrants has had the ripple effect of better utilization of US capital, natural resources, and technology. While the contribution of illegal immigrants to the economic development of their communities has been significant, the social change and demands on public services that come with such contributions – including their illegal status – has generated public anger and resentment that has served to position illegal migration, and immigration as a whole, a current issue of national concern in the United States (Chiswick, 65).
The Immigration Debate
Your Excellency, the debate among the American public in relation to illegal immigration now surrounds concerns about the economy, social services, ethnic relations, the environment, and other related issues. In fact, the discussion has rapidly drifted to include debate on U.S. relations with Latin America, our national security, human rights, the global refugee crisis, and international trade. This is especially the case considering that the bulk our current immigrants originate from Latin America and Asia (Khony, 45). According to the May 2012 U.S. Census report, more than half of all U.S. births were of ethnic minorities. This is a testament to the rapidly changing U.S. demographics and the greater effect that federal immigration policy is bound to have on this large sector of the American society.
The American public is split in the middle between those supporting scaling down immigration on the one hand, and those in favor of maintaining it at current levels. Generally, American citizens believe that immigration is a key source of a range of potential benefits, but have concerns over costs that come with admitting foreigners into the United States. As the debate on developing a comprehensive immigration policy continues among Congressional representatives, there is need for all Americans to gain solid understanding of the issues under debate within a broader context of the nation’s long-term goals for immigration policy. The emergence of immigration as a major foreign policy has been in line with the increasing reach of globalization (Khony, 124). Policymakers are presently faced with the challenge of striking a balance between maintaining United States’ competitiveness in the global marketplace by capitalizing on foreign talent, and the urgent need to curb illegal immigration to secure U.S. borders. There is need for the nation to reach a consensus on how best to streamline an evidently bureaucratic visa application process that characterizes the US. Equally crucial, is the need to address the over 11 million undocumented immigrants currently in the United States – especially young people who came with their parents – in addition to implementing policy at local level without necessarily jeopardizing public trust with the immigrant communities.
Your administration is on record for committing to immigration reform, specially pushing for implementation of immigration enforcement responsibilities pertaining to employers, detention, as well as criminal aliens. You are also on record for emphasizing on the need for naturalization and modernization systems designed to support legal immigration in the nation. It is worth mentioning, Your Excellency, that your administration worked rather hard to broaden border control efforts so to focus on immigration and concerted efforts with Mexico in reducing drug-war violence together with arms trafficking. Thus far, your administration has achieved significant milestone in the sense record-high number of deportations – approximately 400,000 undocumented immigrants in 2011, as well increased reviews of firms hiring unauthorized workers.
The Solution
Mr. President, thus far, there is no doubt that the question of undocumented immigrants is one of the greatest challenges that your second-term administration is grappling with. However, in my considered opinion, there is a common sense, highly humane and cost-effective way of addressing this biting problem. This, I believe, is better approach than either amnesty or mass deportation of illegal immigrants currently in the United States. This middle-ground solution I propose is ATTRITION THROUGH ENFORCEMENT.
The underlying principle in Attrition Through Enforcement is based on the fact that, through legislation and practices, illegal living in the United States would gradually become both more difficult and less satisfying, forcing the illegal aliens to voluntarily return to their home countries. As such, there would be voluntary compliance with existing immigration laws as opposed to using forced deportation. The core elements of this strategy include compulsory workplace verification of one’s immigration status, strict measures to stop misuse of Social Security as well as IRS identification numbers; joining forces with state and local law enforcement officials; state and local laws discouraging illegal settlement; stepped up entry-exit recording under US-VISIT; and enhanced non-criminal removals.
If well followed through, the Attrition Through Enforcement strategy has the potential to cut the illegal population by at least 1.5 million individuals per year. This is significant considering that only about 183,000 illegal residents each year depart the United States on their own volition. Enforcing the requirement to verify the status of immigration would effectively lock out about 3 million undocumented workers in a span of just three years, impacting on at least a third of the undocumented immigrant population.
US-VISIT can be utilized to play a critical role in curbing undocumented immigration. This is because screening would be extended to Mexicans and Canadians, and DHS would make sure to deploy an exit-recording system. These measures should become pre-requisites to expanding any visa program. DHS can also step up non-criminal removals at a relatively lower cost each year, and in so doing bringing about balance between a “broken windows” strategy with its present triage approach used in interior enforcement.
Mr. President, combining the Attrition Through Enforcement policy with a mechanism to improve our border security, this approach promises to result in considerable reduction in the number of illegal immigrants besides helping deter future undocumented immigration into the United States (Bruno, 96). Implementing this policy would require modest investment in additional resources for some federal enforcement programs, approximately less than $2 billion within a period of five years.
Table 1 below illustrates the tangible better results that the United States stands to gain from pursuing the Attrition Through Enforcement in conjunction with such a broader control strategy as SBI. The country could attain 51 percent reduction in the undocumented population within five years.
Table: Five-Year Projections for Reduction in U.S. Undocumented Immigrant Population
The contents of Table 1 above draw from the most up-t-date as well as specific statistics from reliable independent research and government sources.
Conclusion
This brief has demonstrated that it is indeed possible for the United States to adopt a practical and beneficial foreign policy as relates to the question of undocumented immigrations and immigration as a whole. The Attrition Through Enforcement policy guarantees to significantly shrink the large size of illegal immigrants population in addition to relieving the American communities of the rather high burden that comes with it. Attrition Through Enforcement builds on tested immigration law enforcement strategies that considerably discourage increase in number of new undocumented immigrants entering the United States and increased probability that the immigrants will leave the US on their own will. The strategy is relatively economical and less radical compared to a massive removal or apprehension operation, or amnesty/guest worker program. There is sufficient evidence, both academic and recent experiments that prove migrants respond to deterrents to entry and incentives to return home. The Federal government has the means and ability to significantly reduce the undocumented immigrant population in the United States in a matter of few years.
References:
Wasem, E., Ruth. Unauthorized Aliens Residing in the United States: Estimates Since 1986. Accessed from: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL33874.pdf, 2012.
Hanson, Gordon. Regulating Low-Skilled Immigration in the United States. Washington, D.C: AEI Press, 2010. Print.
Chiswick, Carmel U, Tikva Lecker, Solomon W. Polachek, and Hillel Rapoport. The Economics of Immigration and Social Diversity. Amsterdam [u.a.: Elsevier JAI, 2006. Print.
Chapman, Roger. Culture Wars: An Encyclopedia of Issues, Viewpoints, and Voices. Armonk, N.Y: M.E. Sharpe, 2010. Internet resource.
Bush, Jeb, Thomas F. McLarty, and Edward H. Alden. U.s. Immigration Policy. New York: Council on Foreign Relations, 2009. Print.
Kanstroom, Dan. Aftermath: Deportation Law and the New American Diaspora. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012. Print.
Bruno, Andorra. Unauthorized Aliens in the United States. Pennsylvania: DIANE Publishing, 2010. Print.
Gans, Judith, Elaine M. Replogle, and Daniel J. Tichenor. Debates on U.s. Immigration. Thousand Oaks, Calif: SAGE Publications, 2012. Print.
Khony, R., Kavita. Global Migration: Challenges in the Twenty-First Century. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. 2012. Print.
