Q. 1
Illegal immigration into the US has become a thorny and emotive issue that has sparked long-term political, socio-cultural and economic debate in the recent times. A review of this week’s material on immigration shows mixed reactions from different writers concerning the exact benefits and impacts of immigration to the US economy and culture. Some of the issues that have dominated the immigration debate in the recent past include issues of loss of employment for natives, erosion of the American English language and culture and prevalence of crime and gang activities associated with illegal immigrants. As a result, a myriad of policy measures has been recommended by different political, educational and media pundits. These proposals include, among other things, robust immigration reform legislation, tight border control, granting of temporary residence and total ban on immigration.
Q. 2
The single most critical issue in the immigration debate that conspicuously stands out is the issue of unemployment or loss of jobs by Native Americas as a result of the influx of undocumented illegal immigrants. The crux of this issue is that with so many immigrants gaining access into America, the American labor economy is becoming increasingly less able to support the large labor force. Hence, the labor competition means most otherwise qualified locals will lack jobs. Moreover, the issue turns on the fact that the immigrants have low job skills than most natives. According to Krikorian (2007), the fact that illegal immigration negatively impacts on the availability of jobs for local US citizens is evidenced by media reports from various states that with most illegal immigrants leaving due to attrition, jobs are increasingly becoming available for natives. However, Portes (2007) argues that any such fear that undocumented immigrants are taking away local jobs thus leading to high unemployment rates is misplaced and demonstrably wrong. According to this writer, the American economy and labor sector needs the services of these immigrants to work in industries that provide menial jobs that Native Americans find unattractive. Without their input, he goes on to state, the American construction, hotel and agricultural industries will be in disarray due to lack of labor force. The issue of unemployment as a result of illegal immigration is more important than any other because it touches on the very existence and living standards or social welfare of Native Americans.
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Q. 3
With most policies such as the use of militarized border enforcement and the establishment of temporary labor entry programs having failed, I think the best policy to deal with the immigration issue in the US is the creation of a path to legal status for the undocumented immigrants. As a recent research by Goo (2016) reveals, most Americans support the policy proposal to allow the current undocumented immigrants to stay legally provided they meet certain requirements. This way, the likely uproar and Constitutional challenge associated with other policy measures such as mass deportation would be averted. The best way to ensure such a policy sees the light of the day would be to carry out more radical immigrant rights movement akin to the 1966 African Americans and 1934 Workers’ rights movements. According to Bacon (2007), given the failure by the US Congress to pass a meaningful immigration reform piece of legislation, the only way forward is for immigrants to organize a strong movement to lobby for their rights. Through such powerful immigrant rights movement, they will be able to achieve basic equality and fairness instead of their problems remaining just ideas. Such a policy will also ensure that future immigrant issues are dealt with within the legal purview and in a humane manner.
References
Bacon, D. (2007, July 23). Time for a more radical immigrant-rights movement. The American Prospect . Retrieved July 4, 2016, from http://prospect.org/article/time-more-radical- immigrant-rights-movement
Goo, S.K. (2015, August 24). What Americans want to do about illegal immigration. PewResearchCenter . Retrieved July 4, 2016, from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact- tank/2015/08/24/what-americans-want-to-do-about-illegal-immigration/
Krikorian, M. (2007, September). Fewer migrants mean more benefits. Center for Immigration Studies. Retrieved July 4, 2016, from http://cis.org/articles/2007/mskoped092407.html
Portes, A. (2007, September 23). The fence to nowhere. The American Prospect . Retrieved July 4, 2016, from http://prospect.org/article/fence-nowhere
