Immigration Impacts and Reformation Policy

Executive Summary 

Migration is simply the international movement that involves people from a different country into another destination state where they are not native or in a country where they possess no citizenship with the aim of settling in that particular country or even reside there. There are various reasons people would leave their homes to go work or even live in a different area, even if there are language barriers. In the midst of all the people that cross over the many borders, a mass of them are moving out for political and economic reasons that they might not agree with or will have dire consequences for them. For many years, immigration has been one of the greatest challenges facing the US. The immigrants have been entering the US through various borders such as the Pacific Ocean and Mexico border. There are those who have entered into the US with authorization on a visit visa however resided unlawfully and are currently employed in the country. The US population has been increasing rapidly as a result of the births in the minority and immigrant communities. The proponents of the free-market believe that there is the need to have an open border since the immigrants are the primary source of affordable labour and further can be harnessed to increase massive wealth. However, the traditional right-wing Republicans explicitly represented what could be seen as an older nativist position. They emphatically rejected any benefits that the economic might gain from the immigrants and looked upon the foreigners as having frail cultural values. The same conservative groups forced for the introduction of a plank within the Republican platforms while at the same time calling for the development of vital structures to enhance the southern border strength. 

Introduction 

According to Orrenius (2001), about a half a century immediately after the annexation of Texas in 1845, the immigration flow was merely a trickle to the extent that there emerged increased rates of movement in the opposite direction where the Mexicans left what was then a newly annexed US to resettled at the Mexican territory. Around the 1890s, there was the emergence of industries throughout the US particularly in the agriculture and mining sector which attracted the Mexican migrant labourers. The research found out that the Mexican Revolution between the years 1910 and 1920 led to an increased immigration flow where refugees that ran as a result of war from their countries and political exiles fled and entered into the US to escape massive violations of human rights and intense violence (Hanson & Spilimbergo, 1996). In addition to this, the Mexicans left their rural regions and moved to the US in search of employment opportunity and stability resulting into an increased Mexican to US migration. Around the year the 1950s there was a massive influx of the Mexicans moving into the US at an unprecedented rate. During this period, about 300,000 legal immigrants entered the US which was reported to have made up about 12 percent of the immigration flow ( See Appendix 1). According to Orrenius (2001), illegal immigration from Mexico rose up significantly after 1960 as a result of the abrupt termination of the bracero guest-worker program which led to the immigration of about 5 million Mexican-born farm labourers to the US between the years 1942 and 1964 (Orrenius, 2001). Later, between the years 1980 and 1990 studies established that the cross-border movement because tidal. Approximately 12 to 20 million illegal aliens had migrated to the US by the year 2009 (Hanson & Spilimbergo, 1996). Based on a report that was prepared and compiled by the Center for Immigration, the trends became moderate in the mid to late 2007. In addition to this The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) further established that despite the growth in the total number of aliens in the US by 303 million between 2000 and 20007, the rates declined rapidly by about 180,000 within the following twelve months (Hanson & Spilimbergo, 1996). The groups with the highest representation in the US are the Mexicans at 63.9%, Puerto Ricans at 9.1. %, Cubans with 3.5%, Salvadorans 3%, Dominicans with about 2.7%, Guatemalans at 1.9% and Colombians 1.7%. The high number of the immigrants in the US have created significant issues among policy makers where there is a group supporting immigrants on the ground that they are beneficial to the society while the opponents have founded on the economic and social problems caused by Immigrants hence the need for policy formulation to counter it. 

Economic Perspective of Immigration 

Illegal immigration is a dangerous concept to the US economy hence the need to stop it immediately. As result of these negative aspects associated with illegal immigrants. The supporters of the immigration reform argue that these immigrants have significantly impacted the US wages and the labour standards because, in most instances, they are more than willing to work in harsh environment and earn lower wages (Hanson & Spilimbergo, 1996). Therefore, there was the need for a policy that will help reduce the number of illegal immigrants which will then influence wages and the conditions positively for working. Illegal immigrants have been associated with increased rates of unemployment for the American citizens because the aliens are willing to work at lower wages and this further worsens the living standards of the working class Americans. Based on this, a comprehensive immigration reform policy would deal with the criminals who had broken the law by entering the US illegally and exploit the economy at the expense of the American citizens. According to Gallegos (2004), this will create jobs for the American who were unemployed and will further improve the working and living conditions. 

The increasing complaints by the opponents of the illegal immigrants reinforce the urgency to implement the immigration reform to improve wages and labour standards. Illegal migrants are an enormous economic burden to the economy of US majorly because they do not pay taxes rather they receive government support regarding amenities and education support (Hanson & Spilimbergo, 1996). 

The immigrants significantly impact the aspect of income equality. According to Orrenius (2001), there has been an intense level of inequality of American income distribution several decades ago due to the US economy globalization (see Appendix 2). However, it has competed with low-skill immigrant labour from the developing economies explaining why Hispanics oppose further the notion of the Hispanic immigration. According to the US might have benefited from increased immigration, but those who seem to compete with the immigrants have been hurt so much. In Los Angeles for instance, the Hispanics with their stronger social ties have been shown to displace the blacks from their manual jobs, contributing to the challenges of the troubled black society. 

Social Perspective of immigration 

The majority of the illegal immigrants enter the US without proper documentation and background information hence poses a threat of infecting the US population with Polio and tuberculosis. The diseases can rapidly spread causing massive problems among the US citizens. According to Gallegos (2004), the state further will have to pay for the education of these illegal immigrants and strain the existing social services creating an extra burden on the economy stretching the budget further. Most of the war-hardened immigrants entering the US from El Salvador and other unstable Central American states have been shown to contribute to increased crime rates in the US. Last year, more than half of the entire population that was arrested in the Los Angeles riot comprised of the Latinos. 

The current picture of the US has shown a changed society from what used to be. The immigrants have brought with them diverse cultures that have massive eroded the way of life and morals held for a very long time by the Americans. According to Gallegos (2004), the European heritage that defines the American Society, for instance, many multiculturalists have come out openly describe the European tradition as highly hegemonic, racist and classist in addition to highly oppressive society. All these factors have distanced the American society from what used to be considered as the building blocks of the country. 

For a long time, the US has been trying to build on its liberal belief and at the same time enhance individual freedom, but this is no longer the case as a result of massive immigration the country has witnessed which has negatively impacted the American Dream. According to Gallegos (2004), the US has massively inspired million of the immigrants to pursue their American Dream, but no significant achievement has been experienced. The country has become dissimilar in their efforts to assimilate and integrate the diverse cultures into a single and influential group. The American Dream has been derailed and diverted from the right course by the immigrants. All efforts have been turned to addressing the immigration challenges rather than achieving the American Dream. The Latino, for instance, has been highly dynamic shaping the Americans culture, identity and the entire society. 

Benefits of Immigrants 

Immigration has been established to have contributed immensely to the cultural diversification in the US. Immigrants bring about time-tested various traditional practices and rich customs from their homes that can significantly inform and uplift the US culture. Eastern wisdom greatly has deepened the US understanding of the aspect of spirituality. According to Gallegos (2004), the Eastern spiritual teaching massively grew in the Americans hearts. Some of the rich cultural practices brought in the US by the immigrants from Asia include yoga, meditation and even qigong. This knowledge has been widely practiced in the gyms, classroom and even in seminars and has enriched the American cultures. The American understanding of the Eastern spirituality has deepened improving the US culture with the full understanding of the religion and faith. 

In addition to this, the traditional cuisine has been shown to teach the Americans substantially on the proper diet. Today, throughout through the US, there have been increased new diet trends and fads that have attracted the attention of almost all the Americans. Diverse studies and perspectives related to nutrition from the foreigners have become widespread throughout the US (Gallegos, 2004). Today, the question of what individuals ought to eat has turned out to be very complicated. In Defense of Food, Michael Pollan, one of the renowned food authors clearly explains how reliable answers on healthy eating come from traditional cuisines. The American society is informed on healthy eating by the presence of immigrants who brought their traditional cuisines to the US. According to Orrenius (2001), the Americans have therefore learned so much from the immigrants, and there are still much more that they ought to continue learning from foreigners regarding our diets. 

Immigrant farmers, on the other hand, have come with rich knowledge related to successful organic agriculture. According to Orrenius (2001), in most of the developing countries, agriculture has remained organic by default, and this is because most of the chemical inputs required in the agricultural sector are very expensive and might be readily available. These cultures around the world played a significant role in the preservation of the old techniques adopted for cultivating food. Foreigners in the US associated with the knowledge of organic agriculture are considered the vital asset to the Americans as they attempt to grow cleaner organic foods for sustainability purposes. Typical immigrant farming communities in the US comprises of the Punjabis, Hmong, the Japanese, Mexicans, and Koreans. 

Medical treatments from the majority of the foreigners are considered a significant contribution to the US where they are used to supplement the Americans medical care. According to Orrenius (2001), various cultures globally have unique approaches to treating different forms of illnesses. Most medical approaches introduced into the US from foreign shores are very efficient and have gained wide popularity in American culture. The most critical immigrant medical systems that have been introduced into the US include acupuncture from East Asia, a herbalist from Latin America in addition to Ayurveda from India and they have enriched the American's body of medical knowledge (Hanson & Spilimbergo, 1996). 

Legal Perspective 

According to Hanson & Spilimbergo, (1996), in the years 1986, the Congress created the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) that had two distinct facets which are amnesty and enforcement. The immigration policy was passed with the aim of controlling and preventing any form of illegal immigration into the US. According to Cornelius (1989), the IRCA offered an amnesty to the immigrants who had completed two primary stipulations which include, resided in the US for the year 1982 or completed about 90 days of the agricultural work between the years 1985 and 1986. In addition to this, the amnesty gave legal status to a huge number of the illegal immigrants that was approximated to be approximately 3 million immigrants (Hanson & Spilimbergo, 1996). In the year 2000, IRCA was further extended through Late Amnesty that saw a massive reapplication by those immigrants that were denied the opportunity (Cornelius, 1989). In the same 1986 legislation, there were enforcement provisions that were meant to prevent future illegal immigration. It outlawed the hiring and even harboring of the illegal foreigners; however, studies have shown that the enforcement of the legislation received very few resources to put into effect these regulations (Hanson & Spilimbergo, 1996). 

Later in 1990, the Congress reformed the immigration statutes to include the 1965 act. According to Cornelius (1989), the reformation increased the number of immigration to approximately 700,000 which increased the available visa by about 40 percent. The act focused on retaining the family reunification as a key entry path which doubled employment-related immigration. In addition to this, the Reformation provided a room for the immigrants particularly from the "underrepresented” states to raise the variety of the immigrant flows through the creation of lottery system (Hanson & Spilimbergo, 1996). The policy was enacted to address problems caused by illegal employees in the US. IRA policy had two clear requirements: first “to hire only persons authorized to work in the US” and second “to not discriminate by citizenship status or national origin” (Gallegos, 2004). For an individual to be eligible to work in the US, he or she has to complete a 1-9 form and further prove to employers their authorization to work in the US. 

Conclusion 

The policy on immigration policy is critical to the US economy since it will help address major problems caused by these illegal immigrants. There were several provision in the policy, for instance, the legalisation of all the aliens who are not documented since 1982, legalise some of the agricultural workforce, sanctioning employers who had hired undocumented staffs in addition to increased enforcement particularly at the borders of the US. It is important that resources and efforts should be directed to strengthen the immigration policy to ensure that it becomes useful in managing illegal immigrants. The supporters of the immigrant reform further have argued that illegal immigrants for a very long time have become an economic and social burden to US hence the need to address it; therefore, the immigration reform will safeguard the rights of all employees in the US which will be spread equally to the American citizens. Despite the fact that the increasing number of illegal immigrants creates economic challenges, they also help in the establishment of a ready market for the new and current American products rising labour demand. Finally, as mentioned above, opponents of the immigration policy argue that by legalizing all the illegal immigrants in the United States might not be fair. It would be particularly unfair to the individuals who have already applied to legally enter the US and are waiting for their visa to mature and those who had to wait for long and have already migrated to the US. 

References 

Gallegos, G. A. (2004). Border matters: Redefining the national interest in US-Mexico immigration and trade policy. Cal. L. Rev. , 92 , 1729. 

Hanson, G. H., & Spilimbergo, A. (1996). Illegal immigration, border enforcement, and relative wages: Evidence from apprehensions at the US-Mexico border (No. w5592). National Bureau of Economic Research. 

Orrenius, P. M. (2001). Illegal immigration and enforcement along the US-Mexico border: An overview. Economic & Financial Review , 2.