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U.S. Immigration Policy, 7/06
Key Lecture Points:
• Immigration policy regarding legal and illegal immigrants in the US is currently a hot topic in American politics. On January 3, 2006, Scott McClellan, White House spokesman, said, “The President believes we need to continue to build upon the steps we've taken to strengthen our borders and to improve interior enforcement of immigration laws, as well as move forward on a temporary worker program. That's the way that we will help fix our immigration system. It's a broken system, and the President has outlined a very clear set of principles for moving forward.” The Presidents proposals seek to reconcile a number of different concerns: 1. demand for low-cost labor; 2. difficulties in paying for public services for undocumented immigrants; and, 3. the threat potentially posed to national security by illegal immigration.
• The House of Representatives passed an immigration reform bill in December 2005 that includes most, if not all, of the tougher security and enforcement measures proposed by the President; it includes making it a felony to reside in the US illegally; it does not include a guest worker program. The Senate passed a different bill in May 2006, that, for some, seems too loose on security measures. The Senate bill also contains a guest worker program and suggestions for a ‘path to citizenship’ for guest workers and illegal immigrants already in the US; these two issues appear to be the most contentious in popular debates today.
• Historically, debates in the US about immigration policy have encountered many of the same arguments and concerns seen in today’s debate. Immigration policy in the US seeks to address national economic needs, national security concerns, and political and social norms about ethnicity, race, nationality and political affiliation. For example, large waves of Chinese immigration in the mid-19th century were seen as necessary for economic growth; however, in short time the Chinese immigrants were viewed as taking jobs away from Americans and racially-motivated anti-Chinese violence ensued. In California, these sentiments resulted in the Anti-Coolie Act.
• While the immigration debate rages generally in the US, in Colorado it seems to have become particularly vehement. Protests this spring highlighted the concerns of Colorado’s Hispanic community. The State Legislature convened a special session in July 2006 to discuss immigration legislation. And, an immigration ballot initiative might be voted upon by Coloradans this NovemberAmong the many immigration measures debated by Coloradans, the matters of illegal immigrants receiving public assistance and the potential for undocumented immigrants to become felons seem to be among the most contentious.
For More Information:
• US Immigration History: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_to_the_United_States
• General Immigration Information from the Center for Immigration Studies: www.cis.org
• On President Bush’s Plan: www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/immigration/
• On the House and Senate Bills: www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/07/AR2006070700198.html
• On the CO illegal immigration debate: www.denverpost.com/legislature/ci_4024484
Books For Further Reading:
• Tichenor, Daniel J. Dividing Lines: The Politics of Immigration Control in America. Princeton University Press, 2002. 392 pages.
Description: A study of US immigration policy and politics. Among other interesting questions, the author asks how it is that immigration policy has historically been so liberal despite deep popular anti-immigration sentiment.
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• Geoffrey, Dan. Up 2 Cents a Share Down 8 Million Jobs: How Immigration, Politics and Greed are Destroying the American Workforce. iUniverse Publishing, 2004. 123 pages.
Description: As the title suggests, this piece is far from objective. The author provides an evidenced viewpoint about the notions that immigration policy is taking jobs from Americans and jeopardizing national security. The format and writing style is pretty technical (the author is a computer analyst).
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• King, Desmond. Making Americans: Immigration, Race, and the Origins of the Diverse Democracy. Harvard University Press, 2002. 400 pages.
Description: Desmond, political science professor at Oxford University, sets out here to illustrate the racial components of US immigration policy in history. This is not an objective viewpoint, as the author argues that immigration policy has helped to foster a discriminatory, anglicized, white-European “American identity” to the exclusion or subjugation of other racial and ethinic groups. The Library Journal notes that the book ends optimistically, with the author’s conviction that the US can successfully integrate “autonomous worlds and cultures.”
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• Contreras, Raoul Lowery. A Hispanic View: American Politics and the Politics of Immigration. Writers Club Press, 2002. 304 pages.
Description: Contreras, a newpaper columnist that blew onto the scene in the late 1980s, has been called an agent provocateur, a racist, a hater of Blacks, a hater of Whites, a hater of Chicanos, a paid agent of the CIA, a Sandinista Communist, a criminal, a traitor, a sellout, and, unbelievably, a “coconut--Brown on the outside, White on the inside.” As a testament to controversial views on immigration policy and politics, a former Border Patrol Agent comments, “As a 13 year veteran of the U.S. Border Patrol and former Union president of the Border Patrol Agent's union in San Diego, let me just say this book is very slanted and the chapter about the Border Patrol is virtually useless.” Others note, “Contreras defines Hispanic for all to understand; further, he defines Hispanic political thought like few people can or have.” This book is a collection of his previously-published essays.
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