Immigration has become a very relevant topic in the past few years and has sparked various arguments between Americans. No agreement has been reached regarding immigration reform, possibly because many people view it as an immediate amnesty rather than a possibility of legalization for hard-working immigrants. Despite of the negative meaning associated with it, an immigration reform would be beneficial to the U.S. in social aspects, such as having undivided families, and by stimulating economic growth. A common misconception is that legalizing illegal immigrants would just result in “criminals” running around the streets causing disturbances. Who is ignored is the benefit of a very specific population of Americans, the sons and daughters of illegal immigrants. American children are harmed every time one or both of their parents is deported as a result of the lack of an immigration reform. In the article, “Children of Illegal Immigrants Struggle When Parents Are Deported” Valbrun states that “the government deported more than 46,000 parents of children with U.S. citizenship in the first half of 2011, according to the ARC report.” In these conditions, jailed parents cannot fight for their children’s custody and at times lose it to the government who then puts the children out for adoption or in foster care when they already have loving parents. Properly legalizing immigrants would improve the lives of many American children and improve the American social aspects with more
Out of those million immigrants there are about one out of five children under the age of eighteen are either an immigrant or a child of immigrants parents. (Orozco, 2001). The majority of immigrants are from Latino or Asian origin. The United States has been experiencing a large wave of people coming into this country to start a new life from what they had before. Every region in the country is experiencing the growth of immigration every year. With this new immigration the U.S is witnessing immigrant children take over public schools. Today immigrant students are becoming the fastest population to grow in the child population in the United States (Hamilton, 2010). Many parents send their children to the United States and separate themselves from them because they want them to have a better life and live the American dream. Many kids go to school at a young age and get through high school and college and even start their careers. But many of them have to live in fear of being found out. They can’t trust many people, even the closest one to them (Vargas,
The immigration reform, an important issue for the U.S. government has accelerated significantly in the past few years. It has been debated between the democratic and republican senators to reform a framework for the immigration. President Obama gave a speech to push for an immigration reform in favor of undocumented 11 million immigrants in the USA, as well as a road map for their legal citizenship. It has also been suggested that a sub citizenship could be an option instead of providing full citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants.
Immigration Reform At this time, the United States has allowed more immigrants to enter the country than at any time in its history. Over a million legal and illegal immigrants take up residence in the United States each year. Immigration at its current magnitude is not fulfilling the interests or demands of this country.
Studies show, within 3 months, 80,000 illegals were deported from just Texas and many more in five other states; 700,000 returned to Mexico voluntarily, 488,000 in two other states (Nagle). A child born in the country from foreign parents are citizens at birth and it should not be taken away from them. “Former representative Nathan Deal of Georgia had a better idea, and he introduced a bill proposing that being born in the U.S. only confers citizenship if one child’s parents is a U.S. citizen” (Nagle). When parents are deported their children don’t have a choice whether they go with their parent or stay, the government chooses it for them. Some parents don’t know they can request return upon deportation or their children could be replaced with their relatives or take them with them to their home (Valbrun). A mother sent a request to visit her child but got no response and her child was taken care by strangers and the mother did not accept this idea. Obama stated that they are focusing on deporting immigrants that have committed crimes. “It’s clearly un-American to take kids away from loving families” (Valbrun). Social workers say children are better off living with middle class Americans than their own “poor” parents who want to try to make a living in a new place. An immigrant parent’s worst fear is to be deported and abandon their child
In the United States, immigration has been high topic of debate. As of 2015, 13.5 percent of the United States population of 321.4 billion were immigrants (Jie). Immigration has been shaping the way America works for many years now. It has brought changes to the economy, workforce, culture, language and politics just to name a few changes. America is often referred to as the melting pot of cultures. Where the “American dream” can be reached as long as you are willing to work hard. However, citizens also demand strict boarders to prevent illegal workers but we still want the free movement of goods. A lot of legislative bills have been past in recent years that have brought change to immigration and the way it is done. The top five bills that have affected the country are as follows; The Immigration Reform and Control Act, IRCA, of 1986 penalized employees for hiring unauthorized workers. However, did nothing towards changing the immigration system or provide resources to implement the employer sanctions provisions. The Immigration Act of 1990 overhauled the immigration system by raising the number of permanent vistas form 290,000 to 675,000 and allotted 555,000 visas annually of underserved counties. The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibly Act, IIRAIRA, of 1996 dealt with government spending and a three or ten year bar on returning to the United States for people who were caught without proper documentations from applying for asylum status within one year
To be frank, families and children are getting ripped apart because of the deportation law stated in the New York Times that “part of the government’s efforts to meet an annual quota of about 400,000 deportations, has had devastating results” The harsh new economic reality that these children now have to fend for themselves creates not only an economic divide but a psychic divide that pushes these immigrants into areas that they can afford and are associated with crime. The parents of these children came to this country for the American Dream but Americans are not
Although the issue of immigration policy has been at the center of political debates, largely discussed in the media and newspapers, no one has yet found a solution to this ill-defined problem, that would comply with the America’s core values. While I think the immigration policy does need a reform, the solution to this problem certainly is not a deportation of all undocumented residents.
In the Unites States alone we have an estimate of 11 million unauthorized immigrants resided in the United States in 2014. According to the migration policy, there are more than 54 percent resided in four states: California (27 percent), Texas (13 percent), New York (8 percent) and Florida (6 percent). The number of illegal immigrants that migrant to this country is highly significant, as well as the number of children they have in out country. One of the legal ways for illegal immigrants to become residents of the country is to have children and wait to achieve there residence. However during the wait to achieve residence, they children take advantage many serves. Such as the schools and health care, simply because they have been born in America. The reality is that they come to this country to abuse out benefits. Taking up our resources and not improving their and our
Because of the United States’ policy of granting birthright citizenship to those who are born on the United States soil, mixed families can suffer from the effects of deportation. Most commonly, the parents (who also tend to be primary caretakers and breadwinners) are the ones who risk deportation, while the children are allowed to stay due to birthright citizenship. According to an Urban Institute report, 93% of Mexican national men who were deported lived in the United States for over a year (Enchautegui 2013). Of the 93%, 76% were head of households. Thus, the report concluded that deportations increased economic hardships (Enchautegui 2013). Furthermore, there is a concern that deportation, because the parent is undocumented, could result in children being placed in foster care – resulting in a change in family structure (Dreby 2012). This not only has negative financial implications but harmful emotional implications for those families who have to suffer through this experience. Therefore, the policy of disbanding sanctuary cities could not only have financial ramifications but emotionally traumatic ramifications for those children that remain
As an old saying goes: “Everything is a two-edged sword!” although the U.S. has been benefits a lot form the upcoming immigrant, there are a lot of social and political problem associate with it. As politician often put when they made the speech: “current immigration system in the United States is broken.” There are several reasons why the immigration system in the U.S. needed to be reformed: families are separated, immigrant workers are exploited, people died when they try to across the border, and the discrimination against immigrants.
Immigration is a controversial topic among many people in the United States today. A lot of people from different countries often settle in the United States in search of jobs, freedom or a better life in general. The United States has become a hot spot for immigrants because it has much to offer for people seeking a better life. The Immigration Reform Bill has been created in order to make illegal immigrant legal citizen of the United States. This Immigration Reform Bill provides a process for illegal immigrants to become citizens without any penalties. President Obama has come up with the bill that he believes will solve the immigration problem that been affecting the United Sates in the past years. Obama thinks that if illegal
The reforming of America?s immigration policy is something that can no longer be avoided and must be dealt with as soon as possible. Years of neglect by governmental agencies and policies makers have now made this issue one of the biggest in American politics. First of it must be understood that immigration does no only effect curtain areas of the country and curtain aspect of public life but rather all of American life. Both legal and illegal immigration affect major issues such as jobs availability for all citizens, wages, education in public schools system and in general, health care issues, and the homeland security.
The United States is known to have one of the most accepting immigration in the world. It has contributed to the country's population growth as well as social change. However, the policy remains to be a controversy because of the topic that is illegal immigration. According to the Department of Homeland security in 2010, there are 10.8 million illegal immigrants residing among the 300+ million Americans. Since then, the number has grown to 11+ million people. The U.S. Congress has always sought to find the solution for illegal immigration, with amnesty being an option. If enacted, an amnesty will give unauthorized immigrants a path to legalization and eventually citizenship. The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) is a prime
Immigration is a controversial topic that has impacted our society for decades perplexed by policies media coverage, perceptions based on one’s own lack of knowledge, personal experiences and a host of other factors that influence how our society views immigrants and immigration policies. The United States is a diverse population of people and filled with experiences that come from various walks of life that contribute to enhancing our social culture, economic development, and cultural acceptance.
The mold for an undocumented family typically consists of at least one if not both parents being undocumented and children who are natural born citizens. Families with mixed legal status have many hardships to face and overcome one of the most prominent and most fear inducing of all: deportation. The risk of one of their loved ones being deported and the chance of never seeing them again in the country is one that haunts millions of not only undocumented immigrants but their children as well. In a recent study conducted on multigenerational punishment Laura Enriquez stated the following, “In particular, scholars have shown how deportation policies impinge on the economic, social, and emotional well-being of family and community members in the United States and the country of origin” (Enriquez 941). Stating that immigration laws and illegal immigration status along with the risk of deportation tear families apart is an understatement; “…deportation threatens immigrant family stability. For fiscal years 2013 and 2014 (“ICE”) removed nearly 368,000 and 441,000 persons, respectively; making the total removed over the course of Obama’s presidency approximately two million” (Enriquez 940). A current web article by Derrick Rubenstein found most opponents argue that “…mass deportation would pay for itself in about four years. Plus, of course,