Illegal immigration to the United States

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Calwatch (talk | contribs) at 07:26, 5 June 2006 (→‎Illegal immigration and crime). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

For related topics, refer to the articles Illegal immigration and Immigration to the United States

Illegal immigration describes migration across national borders without complying with the legal requirements. The phrases "illegal aliens" and "illegal immigrants" are commonly used to refer to those engaging in illegal immigration, though some take issue with this terminology. [1] The term illegal immigrant is the preferred language of the AP Stylebook. Some individuals prefer the term undocumented alien, undocumented immigrant, or illegal alien. The term undocumented worker is also used, although generally when this term is used, it encompasses all people who enter without documents including children, the elderly, and those who do not work.

Methods used to enter the U.S. illegally

Visa violation

Approximately 60% of people entering illegally into the United States crossed a border without having a valid passport and visa inspected by an immigration officer at a Port of Entry (POE). [2][3] Methods of crossing the border without inspection include utilizing underground routes, hiding in vehicles, breaking through fences, or walking on foot (mostly using the cover of night).

In some areas like the U.S.-Mexico border, human traffickers (known as "coyotes" along the U.S.-Mexican border) receive a sum of money from persons wishing to enter the U.S. illegally. Because these methods must be extralegal, they are often very risky and extremely dangerous. It has been reported that would-be immigrants who have paid such "coyotes" have suffocated in shipping containers, railroad boxcars, and trucks; and that others have sunk in unseaworthy vessels, or died of dehydration or exposure during long walks without water in the American southwestern desert. It has also been reported that sometimes the would-be immigrants are abandoned by their human traffickers if there are unforeseen difficulties; all too often, many of them dying in the process. Others may be victims of intentional killing. The official estimate is that between 1998-2004 there were 1,954 people who died in illegal crossings of the U.S.-Mexico border.[4] These smugglers often charge a hefty fee, and have been known to abuse their customers in attempts to have the debt repaid.

Visa overstaying

A visa overstayer is someone who has entered the United States legally and then overstayed his or her visa. An estimated 40% of illegal immigrants entered entered legally.

Two of the terrorists behind the September 11, 2001 attacks were visa overstayers. The federal government historically has not checked up on visa holders once they are in the country. Visa overstayers tend to be more educated and be better off financially than those who crossed the border illegally. [5] One common means of visa overstaying is coming to the U.S. on a student visa and not going to school or not leaving the country after finishing school. [6]

In addition, someone who violates the terms of their visa will not be present in the country legally, and thus overstay their visa. This could occur when a person is employed without the correct visas or commits a crime within the country,

From countries with no visa agreements

Immigrants from nations that do not have automatic visa agreements, or who would not otherwise qualify for a visa, sometimes cross the borders illegally. Individuals from North Korea, Libya, Cuba, Syria, Sudan, and Iran are required to submit to strict questioning from U.S. officials before their applications are processed. Their applications take longer to process than those for visitors and immigrants from other countries. [7]

Often, these individuals enter from a land border using falsified documentation from a third country. For instance, Ahmed Ressam, a member of Al Qaeda, originally from Algeria, entered Canada with a falsified French passport. Once in Canada, he procured a false Canadian passport to enter the United States. In the case of Cuba, the U.S. offers political asylum to many Cubans, but they first must reach U.S. soil. [8]

Illegal immigration debate

Working without legal sanction

One consequence of illegal immigration to the U.S. is that many undocumented workers seek and engage in work without legal sanction. In some cases, this is accomplished by entering the country legally with a visa, and then simply choosing not to leave upon expiration of the visa (as described above). In other cases people enter the country surreptitiously without ever obtaining a visa.

Increasing border security

One of the main points of the illegal immigration controversy involves an increasing number of U.S. citizens calling for increased border security (with the main idea being to reduce illegal immigration). Some critics of those who call for tougher border controls (and a subsequent crack down on illegal workers and their employers) suggest that their opponents are ignoring larger issues of wealth disparity, flaws in the immigration process, or other systematic issues which may have given rise to such a large influx of illegal immigrants, instead offering a band-aid solution. Many critics also suggest that their opponents are in fact motivated by racism or nativism. Border security advocates maintain the necessity of their cause, quoting Department of Homeland Security officials who have stated that "...illegal immigration threatens our communities and our national security."[9]

Illegal immigration and taxes

Opponents to illegal immigration also argue that illegal immigrants do not pay nearly enough taxes to pay for all the services they receive by living in the United States. Critics respond to this by pointing out that undocumented workers do pay taxes such as Social Security taxes and the federal income tax, and illegal immigrants in general pay sales tax and property tax (mostly through rents paid for housing and businesses). A study from Chapman University professor Francine Lipman states that illegal immigrants provide a net positive benefit to federal coffers, because of the tax law's treatment of those in the country illegally and those who are married to illegal immigrants. They are ineligible for the Earned Income Credit and the Child Tax Credit. [10]

Some studies show that the amount of taxes illegal immigrants pay to the different forms of local, state, and federal governments does not compensate for the amount of public services they and their family receives. [11] This problem has affected several states; perhaps the greatest impact has been on California.[12]

A study in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons concluded that the burden of illegal immigrants on the health care system in the US has forced many hospitals to close due to unpaid bills. Between 1993 and 2003, 60 hospitals in California alone were forced to close, and many others had to reduce staff or implement other procedures which reduced the level of service they could provide. The article's author attributes these closings to illegal immigration. [13]

Children of illegal immigrants also present a serious burden on education systems. According to Federation for American Immigration Reform, California's education system spends $7.7 billion each year caring for the children of illegal immigrant. The study did not include property taxes paid, directly or indreictly, by illegal immigrants, nor did it estimate how many of the children were citizens. [14]

Illegal immigration and crime

The Center of Immigration Studies (CIS) has stated that many violent crimes in the United States are committed by illegal immigrants.[15]. Because of the immigration status of the criminals, law enforcement official are often unable to accurately track and find many of them as they retreat back over the border where they are often untraceable and/or not extraditable.

A study by Dr. Deborah Schurman-Kauffin, director of the Violent Crimes Institute in Atlanta, Georgia, estimates that approximately one million sex crimes were committed by illegal immigrants in the period between 1999 and 2006. Of these, 70% of the victims were legal US residents. [16]

Illegal immigration and welfare

Advocacy groups for illegal immigrants claim that few are eligible for welfare due to the Welfare Reform Act of 1996. In addition, illegal immigrants receive far less in terms of welfare than most citizens of the United States. However, the CIS claims that many illegal immigrants use the U.S. welfare program with false identification. [17]

See also: United States immigration debate, 2006 U.S. immigration reform protests, and H.R. 4437

Criticism of the behavior of Mexico

The President of Mexico, Vicente Fox, has stated that remittances of Mexican nationals in the United States, both legal and illegal, total $12 billion, and are the biggest source of foreign income for Mexico. [18] Many commentators have pointed out the Mexican government enforces harsh rules over immigration to Mexico. Many critics of illegal immigration have alleged that there is hypocrisy by the Mexican government, which forbids any political activity by foreign nationals. [19] While most recent immigration laws passed in Mexico are a product of a policy agreement between Mexico and The United States of America. These laws were designed to stop the flow of Central and South America migrants before they got to the US Border with Mexico.

Language and culture

People with a different native language who fail to learn English may have communication problems with native English speakers. Many native English speakers are unhappy with the bilingualism embodied in such statements as "Press 1 for English" on voice mail systems. [20] However, it should be noted that the issue is not specific to illegal immigration.

Illegal immigration debate in Congress

At the end of March 2006 a debate erupted over the prospect of new laws to make illegal immigration and assisting those crossing the border illegally felons, as well to build a proposed 700 mile long wall along the (approximately) 2,000 mile border with Mexico.

This has followed a much longer debate over the effect of high illegal immigration levels into the United States. Some issues in the illegal immigration debate include:

Illegal immigration issues and concerns:

Organized political groups

Many organized political groups have begun to speak out on the issue of illegal immigration (and also legal immigration) resulting in a wide range of policy options under active consideration.

The immigration reduction movement seeks to reduce the levels of illegal immigration into the U.S. The Minuteman Project has been lobbying Congress for stronger enforcement of the border laws and is reported to be organizing private property owners along the U.S.-Mexican border for the purpose of building a fence to discourage illegal border crossings.

Other groups are organizing protests against the federal classification of illegal immigrant status as felons. These groups also demand various rights be established in law for undocumented workers to become permanent legal residents (with permission to work) or (eventually) a path for full U.S. citizenship. These groups have also organized large protests and rallies in many major urban centers in the U.S., including New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, and Dallas. However, some have reported that the movement may have generated a significant backlash among those opposed to illegal immigration, which, according to a number of political polls, includes the majority of Americans. A recent Zogby poll found that 61% of Americans were less sympathetic to undocumented workers as a result of the protests. [21]

Senate action

On May 17 2006, the Senate passed a bill affecting the millions of illegal immigrants already in the United States, plus those intending to come in via Mexico. The bill proposed that a 370 mile triple-layered fence would be built along the Mexican border to slow down illegal border crossings in the future. However, illegal immigrants already in the country would be provided a way forward to stay and indeed gain citizenship. The new scheme would also provide up to 200,000 placements per year for guest workers.

President Bush made the following statement at a Washington gala and fundraising event for the national GOP:

The Republican Party needs to lead on the issue of immigration. The immigration system is not working and we need to do something about it now. America can be a lawful society and a welcoming society and we don't have to choose between the two.[22]

On May 24 2006, the Senate moved to close the debate on immigration. The current bill creates a computerized system within the Social Security Administration for employers to check the legal status of their workers. [23] Employers would be required to submit data within three days of hire. The legislation also creates a process for current illegal aliens to become citizens. Meanwhile the President of Mexico, Vicente Fox, explained his opposition to the idea of a border wall while visiting Salt Lake City, Utah[24].

Documentation

Estimates of Origin into the United States

Africa & Other - 4%

  • 0.4 Million

Europe & Canada - 6%

  • 0.6 Million

Asia - 9%

  • 1.6 Million

Other Latin America - 24%

  • 2.5 Million

Mexico - 57%

Visas and passports

Roughly 60% of the illegal alien population are undocumented aliens and 40% are nonimmigrant overstayers. An "undocumented alien" is typically a foreign national that does not possess a valid passport and/or a valid U.S. visa. An "overstay" is typically a foreign national in possession of a tourist visa, which only permits that individual to visit the United States as a tourist, and strictly prohibits the individual from working in the United States. The maximum length of stay in the United States for an individual in possession of a tourist visa is normally six months. Other "overstays" include individuals with once-valid U.S. work visas or permanent resident (green cards) which have expired.

Crossing the border without a valid passport and U.S. visa is a misdemeanor for the first offense and a felony for subsequent violations. The first offense is punishable only by deportation, and in practice future offenses are only punishable by deportation and a ban on entering the U.S. legally in the future. Immigrants who are caught illegally trespassing U.S. territory are fingerprinted and immediately returned, unless they are a repeat offender, in which case they may be criminally prosecuted. The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) made the hiring of an illegal alien an offense for the first time. H.R. 4437 would have made the first offense of crossing the border illegally a felony.

Unauthorized workers

Enforcement of immigration policy in the United States has been lax due to the efforts of powerful lobbyists such as the Chamber of Commerce and the management of corporate America, which argue that cheap labor is needed by the American economy, although an immigration program for this category of worker already exists. Immigration officers, whose job entails investigating employers suspected of violating immigration laws by contracting illegal immigrants, have frequently complained over the last twenty years that politicians, caving under the pressure of powerful lobbyists, have directed management of the former INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service) and the current USCIS (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services) to abandon employer inspections. As a result, in fiscal year 2004, ICE issued just three "notices of intent to fine" in the entire country.

The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) made the hiring of an individual without documents an offense for the first time. Enforcement has been lax, but major businesses have often been found to use illegal immigrants. The act is somewhat redundant since the forging of government documents (fake immigration documents or providing falsified social security numbers) is already a felony, and for most companies such documents must be provided to the government in its tax filings. However, the government does not notify those whose identities have been stolen for the falsified social security numbers, thus making it difficult to estimate the extent of the problem. [25]

Some major companies have been accused of hiring undocumented workers.

  • Tyson Foods was accused of actively importing illegal labor for its chicken packing plants, but a jury in Chattanooga, Tennessee resoundingly acquitted the company after evidence was presented that Tyson Foods went beyond mandated government requirements in demanding documentation for its employees.
  • Wal-Mart was convicted of using illegal janitorial workers, though it claimed they were hired by a subcontractor without company knowledge.
  • Philippe Kahn, who wanted to stay in the United States, created the successful computer software company Borland International without proper legal status.

Well known people

There have been occasional incidents where immigration status has been an issue in politics.

  • During his 2003 campaign for California governor, it was alleged that Arnold Schwarzenegger had violated his visa by working without a permit in the 1970s; he vehemently denied the charge and produced his documents.
  • Linda Chavez, Zoe Baird and Tom Tancredo are among those accused of hiring illegal aliens, the resulting scandals sometimes being dubbed "Nannygate". In Tancredo's case, a home contractor allegedly hired illegal aliens.

Criminal activity

Drugs dealing

Some criminal elements enter the United States as illegal immigrants, most notably narcotics trafficking illegal immigrants and members of the street gang MS-13. With a total member count of 10,000 in the states and 50,000 worldwide they have already forced other gangs into submission or absorbed their members. [26]

Many immigrants commit another federal offense by purchasing fake documents such as Social Security cards, birth certificates and driver's licenses, and many use fake social security numbers "SSN" (knowing they will never see the money that they illegally pay into Social Security) in order to illegally obtain employment in the U.S.

Illegally entering, providing a fictitious "SSN" and illegally working in the U.S. are three separate federal offenses that are commonly committed by illegal immigrants in the U.S. Not paying all federal and state taxes would be a fourth federal or state offense.

Fake IDs

Some immigrants engage in criminal activity like identity theft while Mohamed Atta al-Sayed and two of his co-conspirators had expired visas when they executed the September 11, 2001 attacks. All of the attackers had U.S. government issued documents and two of them were erroneously granted visa extensions after their deaths. The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States found that the government inadequately tracked those with expired tourist or student visas.

A controversial alternative to fake IDs and other illegal practices is the Matricula Consular ID being used in the U.S., which is issued by Mexican consulates. This document is accepted at financial institutions in many states of the union and, with an IRS Taxpayer Identification Number, allows illegal immigrants to open checking and saving accounts. This has benefited American companies and banks who profit from remmittances of migrants towards their place of origin, while allowing immigrants to save money and identify themselves.[27] The passage of the REAL ID Act of 2005 (a part of Public Law P.L. 109-13) prohibits States from issuing identification or driver's permit cards to anyone who cannot demonstrate that they are legally in the USA, taking full effect in 2008. Citizenship and/or immigration status is to be clearly denoted on these ID cards and they automatically expire on the expiration date of non-citizens' visas or other authorizing documentation. These IDs will be tied to online databases which will allow instant verification of the validity of these documents at low cost or no cost to the person seeking verification. As of 2006, the anticipated effect of this legislation is to make it increasingly difficult for illegal immigrants to use counterfeit documents to or to live and work illegally in the USA. However, at the same time, the REAL ID Act of 2005 effectively imposes a mandatory national ID for all US Citizens as well.

Legal issues

See also: Immigration to the United States

Legal and political status

Immigrants without proper legal status in the United States often have no valid identity cards or other official identification documents, they may have reduced or even no access to public health systems, proper housing, education and banks, which may result in the creation or expansion of an illegal underground economy to provide these services. In the U.S. however, hospitals (which are not allowed to ask the citizenship status of patients) have the obligation to provide care regardless of a patient's ability to pay. This has led to many hospitals running a deficit and being forced to close.[28] Also, free public education is extended to all children in the U.S. regardless of their citizen status. The matricula consular and passports are usually considered legal identification by many police agencies and governments.

Sweatshops

People smuggling may also be involuntary. Following the close of the legal international slave trade by the European nations and the United States in the early 19th century the illegal importation of slaves into America continued for decades, albeit at much reduced levels. More recently, a sweatshop in Los Angeles, California was discovered in 1995 to be staffed by 72 imprisoned Thai persons who had been smuggled in for the purpose[citation needed]. Concerned for the workers' safety if returned to Thailand, the federal government granted them legal residency with the right to work in the United States. In 1997 57 deaf Mexicans were found to have been kidnapped and enslaved as pan handlers in New York City, these people were deported to Mexico after being placed under house arrest to secure their testimony for the trial[citation needed].

Human rights

The United States has laws requiring workers to have proper documentation, often intended to prevent the employment of illegal immigrants. However the penalties against employers are not always enforced consistently and fairly, which means that employers can easily use illegal labor. Agriculture, construction, domestic service, restaurants, resorts, and prostitution are the leading legal and illegal jobs that illegal workers are most likely to fill. For example, it is estimated that 80% of U.S. crop workers are without valid legal status[citation needed]. Undocumented workers are especially popular with employers because they can violate minimum wage laws secure in the knowledge that illegal workers dare not report their employers to the police. Some members of the public react negatively to the presence of immigrants, whether legal or illegal, and such sentiments or fears are often exploited politically. When the authorities are overwhelmed in their efforts to stop immigration, they may issue periods of full amnesty, regularization, earned legalization or guest worker programs.

Amnesty acts

  1. Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986
  2. Amnesty of 1994
  3. Extension Amnesty of 1997
  4. NACARA Amnesty of 1997
  5. HRIFA Amnesty of 1998
  6. Late Amnesty of 2000
  7. LIFE Act Amnesty of 2000

The 14th Amendment and immigration law

The 14th Amendment was ratified in 1866 with the original intention of providing citizenship (with accompanying civil rights and civil liberties) to former slaves after the Civil War. The amendment has been interpreted to provide citizenship to all children born in the U.S. under a legal doctrine referred to as jus soli (sometimes this is also called "Birthright Citizenship"). The U.S. government cannot deport a minor that is a U.S. citizen, however, the government may choose to deport his or her family members who lack status as legal residents.

Children of families with mixed immigration status are sometimes referred to as anchor babies because once the illegal immigrant family gives birth to the baby inside the U.S., the baby is said to "anchor" them to the U.S. However, many immigrant advocates regard the term to be pejorative (rather than merely neutrally descriptive), and prefer the term "Permanently Residing Under Color Of Law," or "PRUCOL." PRUCOL is a broadly-defined status which covers a variety of situations, including, but not limited to, those persons who are appealing for an adjustment of status as refugee, or persons who are awaiting hearings to decide status and final legal disposition of their case.

President Bush's address on reforming immigration law

On May 15, 2006, in a nationally televised presidential address to the nation, President George W. Bush described his plan for reforming the nation's immigration laws. His plan consisted of five main points:

  • 1. Border Security - The President said that he favored an eventual increase of 6000 border security agents by 2008. Border security would also include more training and technology available to border agents. During the training of the agents, up to 6000 members of the U.S. National Guard will be deployed along the 2000 mile long border of Mexico and the U.S., not to arrest undocumented immigrants, but "to provide support."
  • 2. Temporary Guest Worker Program - The President said he supported a "temporary worker program that would create a legal path for foreign workers to enter our country in an orderly way, for a limited period of time" (See also: The H-1B Visa Program).
  • 3. Stronger enforcement against employers - The President said that he supported the "need to hold employers to account for the workers they hire," adding that U.S. employers "often cannot verify the legal status of their employees, because of the widespread problem of document fraud."
  • 4. Legal pathway for some illegal immigrants to stay - The President said that illegal immigrants "should not be given an automatic path to citizenship. This is amnesty, and I oppose it."

The President said that a general program of amnesty "would be unfair to those who are here lawfully and it would invite further waves of illegal immigration." On this point, President went on to describe his program:

I believe that illegal immigrants who have roots in our country and want to stay should have to pay a meaningful penalty for breaking the law to pay their taxes to learn English and to work in a job for a number of years. People who meet these conditions should be able to apply for citizenship but approval would not be automatic, and they will have to wait in line behind those who played by the rules and followed the law. What I have just described is not amnesty it is a way for those who have broken the law to pay their debt to society, and demonstrate the character that makes a good citizen.

  • 5. The American tradition of the melting pot - The President said that "the success of our country depends upon helping newcomers assimilate into our society, and embrace our common identity as Americans." The President also emphasized the need for all immigrants to read, write, and speak English proficiently.

[29]

Critical responses to Bush's speech and proposals

While some were pleased with President Bush's speech and proposed plan (U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert (Republican, Illinois), for example) others on the political left and the political right expressed strong disapproval. This is a sampling of responses (as reported by CNN):

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, Republican, California:

Bush is playing these word games about massive deportations again, which no one is advocating and does not do anything to further an honest debate . . . If they [illegal immigrants] are here illegally and you make them here legally, that is an amnesty.

Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, Democrat, Illinois:

We know where the House Republicans stand. They want to criminalize undocumented immigrants and the nurses, volunteers and people of faith who help them. The president told us tonight that he is for comprehensive reform: Now he must lead. The president has the power to call up the National Guard, but now he must summon the power to lead his own Republican forces in Congress to support a bipartisan, comprehensive immigration reform.

House Majority Leader John Boehner, Republican, Ohio:

House Republicans have responded to the concerns of the American people by passing a strong border-security bill that reflects our commitment to re-establishing basic respect for our immigration laws and sealing our border against illegal entry. If the Senate passes an immigration bill, I'm committed to working with [House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner] and House Republicans to ensure we make border security our first priority and meet our commitments to the American people.

Rep. Tom Tancredo, Republican, Colorado:

I hope to God that we do not, in fact, pass anything in the House that resembles anything that is coming out of the Senate or that they were even talking about. ... The card for employers -- great idea. All for it. Putting the troops on the border -- great idea. All for it. But what absolutely bugs me, when the president starts talking about this false dichotomy ... where it's either round up and deport 12 million people or give them amnesty -- no, no. There is another way to do it. And that is, in fact, to make sure that they can't get jobs and, through attrition, millions will go home.

Governor Bill Richardson, Democrat, New Mexico:

My big question as the New Mexico governor is, Of the 6,000, how many are coming to New Mexico? And they couldn't give me an answer on that. It seems this policy is being made on the fly, and that's what's discouraging.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Republican, California:

It remains unclear what impact only 6,000 National Guard troops will have on securing the Border . . . I am concerned asking National Guard troops to guard our nation's border is a Band-Aid Solution and not the permanent solution we need. One thing is clear -- we all agree we must secure our borders, and I commend the president for speaking so passionately about the need for comprehensive reform tonight.

Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union:

Our government and people have long recognized that federal law enforcement officers are the best equipped and trained to deal with these kinds of civilian law enforcement needs. Soldiers are trained to kill the enemy, and they lack the training to conduct proper law enforcement. Furthermore, they lack training to respect and protect border community residents' civil liberties and safety. History has shown the dangers of using the military to engage in domestic law enforcement activities.

John Sweeny, President of the AFL-CIO:

Deploying the National Guard to the border does nothing to end the economic exploitation that is driving illegal immigration. Our laws must include uniform enforcement of workplace standards to ensure a more just and level playing field. We must reject outdated guest-worker programs that relegate all future immigrant workers to an indentured, second-class status with substandard wages and rights, and undermine standards for all. [30]

Historical events

Chinese experience

In 1882 the Chinese Exclusion Act had cut off nearly all Chinese immigration. The first laws creating a quota for immigrants were passed in the 1920s, in response to a sense that the country could no longer absorb large numbers of unskilled workers, despite pleas by big business that it wanted the new workers. Ngai (2003) shows that the new laws were the beginning of mass illegal immigration, because they created a new class of persons- illegal aliens - whose inclusion in the nation was at once a social reality and a legal impossibility. This contradiction challenged received notions of sovereignty and democracy in several ways. First, the increase in the number of illegal entries created a new emphasis on control of the nation's borders--especially the long Canadian border. Second, the application of the deportation laws gave rise to an oppositional political and legal discourse, which imagined "deserving" and "undeserving" illegal immigrants and, therefore, just and unjust deportations. These categories were constructed out of modern ideas about crime, sexual morality, the family, and race. In the 1930s federal deportation policy became the object of legal reform to allow for administrative discretion in deportation cases. Just as restriction and deportation "made" illegal aliens, administrative discretion "unmade" illegal aliens. Administrative law reform became an unlikely site where problems of national belonging and inclusion played out.

Quotas

The quota system was installed with the Emergency Quota Act of 1921 which was used to reduce the influx of East and Southern European immigrants who were coming to the country in large numbers from the turn of the century. This immigration was further reduced by the Immigration Act of 1924 which was structed to maintain the culture and ethnic balance of the United States.

There was never a quota for Jews, only for people from specific countries, but the number of Jewish applicants exceeded the quota for Germany, and the waiting list for these immigration spots grew enormously in the 1930s. The U.S. had nearly shut down immigration during the Great Depression of 1929. In 1929 there were 279,678 immigrants recorded and in 1933 there were only 23,068[citation needed]. By 1939 recorded immigrants had crept back up to 82,998 but then the advent of World War II drove it down to 23,725 in 1943 increasing slowly to 38,119 by 1945[citation needed]. After 1945 large numbers of European refugees were admitted under special laws, and in the 1960s and 1970s large numbers of Cuban and Vietnamese refugees[citation needed]. Congress then passed the Immigration and Nationality Services Act of 1965 which removed all nation-specific quotas, while retaining an overall quota, and included immigrants from Mexico and the Western Hemisphere for the first time. This dramatically changed the composition of the new arrivals from mostly European, to predominantly Latino and Asian.

In the U.S. the first laws requiring passports for American citizens and creating a quota for immigrants were passed around the turn of the 20th century, in response to increased Irish, Italian and Jewish immigration. A few years earlier the Chinese Exclusion Act had restricted Chinese immigration. The quota for Jews was 5,000 a year in the 1930s and 1940s, and the waiting list for these immigration spots grew enormously when Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany.

See also:Immigration to the United States

References

United States

  • Barkan, Elliott R. "Return of the Nativists? California Public Opinion and Immigration in the 1980s and 1990s." Social Science History 2003 27(2): 229-283. in Project Muse
  • Borjas, G.J. "The economics of immigration," Journal of Economic Literature, v 32 (1994), pp. 1667-717
  • Cull, Nicholas J. and Carrasco, Davíd, ed. Alambrista and the US-Mexico Border: Film, Music, and Stories of Undocumented Immigrants U. of New Mexico Press, 2004. 225 pp.
  • Thomas J. Espenshade; "Unauthorized Immigration to the United States" Annual Review of Sociology. Volume: 21. 1995. pp 195+.
  • Flores, William V. "New Citizens, New Rights: Undocumented Immigrants and Latino Cultural Citizenship" Latin American Perspectives 2003 30(2): 87-100
  • Lisa Magaña, Straddling the Border: Immigration Policy and the INS (2003
  • Mohl, Raymond A. "Latinization in the Heart of Dixie: Hispanics in Late-twentieth-century Alabama" Alabama Review 2002 55(4): 243-274. Issn: 0002-4341
  • Ngai, Mae M. Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America (2004),
  • Ngai, Mae M. "The Strange Career of the Illegal Alien: Immigration Restriction and Deportation Policy in the United States, 1921-1965" Law and History Review 2003 21(1): 69-107. Issn: 0738-2480 Fulltext in History Cooperative

Headline text

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Illegal_immigration_to_the_United_States&oldid=56963535"