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Maureen SchakeCIPApril 18, 2013EDFS 322: Challenges of Multiculturalism, Spring 2013Illegal Immigration Reform in the USA: Challenges for Policymakers By rough estimates there are over 11 million people currently residing in the United States classified as illegal immigrants. The definition of an illegal immigrant is a person from another country, who comes to this country without the proper paperwork or authorization to be here; or in some cases they may have come on a temporary visa, which has expired and not been renewed but they stay regardless. Many times they may be seeking jobs, which is why many migrant farm workers are classified as such. Other times they may be seeking asylum from hostile regimes in their countries of origin. Regardless of the reasons why they come, the situation has come to the forefront of the United States Government as a problem that can no longer be ignored. Some facts:– The number of illegal immigrants in the United States was estimated at 11.5 million in 2011, according to the Pew Hispanic Center.– Fifty-eight percent of the illegal immigrant population is from Mexico. (Pew)– Twenty-four percent of illegal immigrants reside in California; 16% reside in Texas. (DHS)– 2008: The Department of Homeland Security apprehended 792,000 foreign nationals. Eighty-eight percent of those arrested were natives of Mexico. Immigration and Customs Enforcement apprehended 379,000 people. (DHS)– 2011: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement removed 396,906 illegal immigrants from the United States, the largest number in the agency's history. Of those, 216,698 (nearly 55%) had been convicted of felonies or misdemeanors. (ICE)– April 23, 2012: The Pew Hispanic Center announced that net migration from Mexico to the United States had?stopped and possibly even reversed. The center noted that from 2005 to 2010, about 1.4 million Mexicans immigrated to the United States, and about 1.4 million Mexican immigrants and their U.S.-born children moved from the United States to Mexico. (Source: )Source: are They?It is estimated that over 50% of illegal immigrants come here from Mexico. This is most likely due to the close physical location of Mexico, running along the border of the United States for 2000 miles. Out of all illegal immigrants, 47% are estimated to be families with children, who have come here to settle down. 63% of the adults have been in the USA for 10 years or more. Many illegal immigrants come to work on farms: “Of the roughly one million farm workers in the United States, most are immigrants, and an estimated one-quarter to one-half of them are illegal.” (source: )Currently only the US and Canada grant full citizenship to children born in either country even if both parents are illegal immigrants. However, in the US: “most illegal immigrants think that by having their children in America, that they will be able to stay here when caught. That is wrong. America will not deport the child, but the parent will be deported. If it is not a deportation because of an arrest, they will be able to take their children with them. However, if it is deportation because of a criminal arrest, the children will be placed in foster care of with a legal family member. The child's citizenship status has nothing to do with the parent's status.” (source: )What Kinds of Jobs do They Fill? Many work as seasonal migrant farm workers. Farmers claim they can’t find Americans who are willing to work in the harsh conditions of agricultural farm work, but the flip side of this is that the wages are low, and the access to illegal immigrant laborers, who are willing to accept lower wages, has not helped in raising wages. Due to this, and other issues surrounding illegal immigrants, the issue has finally risen to the attention of the US Government, where a bill is currently being crafted to address not only migrant farm workers, but also access to legalization for the other millions of immigrants currently living here illegally. Other occupations include maids, housekeepers, taxi drivers, janitors, and fast food workers. How Do Illegal Immigrants Effect the Economy?There are negative and positive financial implications for the US economy due to the influx of illegal immigrants. Additional burdens are placed on social services, schools, hospitals, and the prison system. But many illegal immigrants pay taxes, primarily because employers deduct taxes from their pay just like any other employee. This is possible because many illegals have fake social security numbers or use those of deceased persons—easily purchased for a few hundred dollars. Although illegal immigrants technically are not entitled to public school education or many of the services citizens have access to, they nevertheless must frequently come into contact with the dominant culture and draw upon its resources in whatever way they can, and depending on which state they settle in and/or if they have fake identify papers, this will determine the level of access they have to these services. In some states, such as California, illegal immigrants are allowed access to the public school system. In terms of jobs:Illegal immigration does have some undeniably negative economic effects. Similarly skilled native-born workers are faced with a choice of either accepting lower pay or not working in the field at all. Labor economists have concluded that undocumented workers have lowered the wages of U.S. adults without a high-school diploma — 25 million of them — by anywhere between 0.4 to 7.4 percent. (source: )The flip side of this is: “In states with more undocumented immigrants,” Peri said, “skilled workers made more money and worked more hours; the economy’s productivity grew. From 1990 to 2007, undocumented workers increased legal workers’ pay in complementary jobs by up to 10 percent.” In states with more undocumented immigrants, Peri said, skilled workers made more money and worked more hours; the economy’s productivity grew. From 1990 to 2007, undocumented workers increased legal workers’ pay in complementary jobs by up to 10 percent.And immigrants spend most of the money they make in this country, so it flows back into the economy. From an educational perspective, some claim having non-English speaking illegal immigrants’ children joining the existing population can hold back other children, since additional resources are needed to teach them English. Given all the variables, it is difficult to quantify economically the pros and cons of illegal immigrants’ effects on the economy.Immigration Reform:A committee composed of 8 Senators, 4 Republicans and 4 Democrats, (frequently referred to in the media as “The Gang of 8”), has been tasked with drafting an immigration reform bill in order to address the issues surrounding immigrant farm labor, and more generally, creating a pathway to citizenship for the millions of illegal immigrants in the US. The bill is in its early stages, and the primary emphasis has been on the illegal immigrants who work as farm labor. The majority of farmers in this country are in support of allowing illegal workers to have visas, and a pathway to citizenship, which would allow them to continue to work on the farms as much needed labor. Although there is an existing guest worker program for such workers, farmers have indicated it is a bureaucratic nightmare to follow and it’s expensive, complicated for both the farmers and the workers, and there’s no guarantee the workers will be hired in time for the harvest, therefore most do not even bother; it’s more efficient to just hire illegal immigrants. Here’s a summary of the guidelines released so far for the new legislation: What’s being sold to Congress and to the public?The “Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013,” crafted by the bipartisan commission, known colloquially as the “Gang of 8” This would be the largest overhaul of U.S. immigration policy in three decades. The Washington Post obtained a 17-page summary of the bill and beautifully broke it down to its key provisions.Among the many controversial provisions:- A path to citizenship for eligible immigrations (those who immigrated before the cut-off of December 31, 2011) after 13 years.- DREAM Act youth (children who were brought to the U.S. by “illegal” immigrants) would be eligible for a green card after five years, and citizenship immediately thereafter- $3 billion in funding to the Department of Homeland Security to improve border security; half of which would be for fencing- The implementation of a universal citizenship tracking system- Elimination of visas reserved for foreign brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens- The creation of an estimated 220,000 new green cards for immigrants with exceptional work skillsThe bill is 100-pages long and will become one of the focal points of discussion in Congress over the next few months.Read the full bill here. (source: )Other complicated issues of immigration reform have yet to be addressed. Such questions as what will happen to the many immigrants who are in the process of legally applying to become citizens—will they be given precedence over illegal immigrants if they are allowed to apply for citizen ship too? Will illegal immigrants trust the US Government enough to come forward and identify themselves as such? There are still many details to be worked out. This is the first time since 1986 that any type of extensive effort has been made to reform immigration guidelines. It is well past time for this important work to be done, not only for the country in order to get a handle on how best to proceed with immigration reform in general, but for the many people who live in the shadows of illegal immigrant status.How this Relates to our Course Themes and Readings: Privilege: Clearly US citizens are privileged to certain rights that illegal immigrants do not have access to. This creates an additional lower class in our country. In addition to the existing class system, which becomes more stratified with each passing year as the middle class continuously shrinks, the status of illegal immigrants and low-income workers becomes even more desperate. There is nothing wrong with citizens having access to certain privileges since that is the right and benefit to becoming a citizen of any country, but when hard-working people are left in a no man’s land like many of the working poor in this country, then there is a problem on a humanitarian scale. Which I believe is why it can no longer be ignored. The Obama Administration has done a good job of bringing this problem to the forefront of debate in Washington. Power: Power and privilege go hand in hand. Only with access to financial security and decent healthcare can people have a sense of control or choice in their lives. Generally power involves having financial security and choice. Prejudices and Perspectives: Certainly there is a fair amount of prejudice towards illegal immigrants. They are often accused of stealing jobs from low-income Americans, and although they do in some cases compete for the same jobs, in general they tend to take jobs many citizens would not want. Also, there are perspectives that the illegal immigrants fill the prison system, but there is no hard evidence of this, in fact, the majority appear to be hard-working people who want to raise their families here. Positionality, Participation, Partiality: As an illegal immigrant it is difficult to position oneself or participate in the dominant culture. There are too many risks of deportation. Pluralism: Illegal Immigrants cannot embrace their own culture openly as part of the larger multicultural population of the US, because they must remain in the shadows in order to stay in the country. Often these immigrants are welcomed to fill low-income and difficult jobs, but they cannot reap the rewards of living in this country because of their status. Principles: Many illegal immigrants appear to be hard-working people that are trying to survive in a difficult global economy. On principle, I agree that illegal immigration is wrong because it breaks the law. On the other hand, because in many cases they are welcomed by farmers to provide labor for seasonal farm work, it is the responsibility of the US Government to work out a solution so these laborers are not taking advantage of, and can procure visas that allow them to work out in the open and have access to licenses and other necessary services. The legislation should also allow for a set hourly wage that would be fair to both non-citizen and citizen workers, so that illegal immigrants will not be stigmatized for taking jobs and lowering wages. Our reading in the course “Multiculturalism vs. America” (Szoka), pointed out the importance of immigrants being able to assimilate into the mainsteam culture in order to participate and become part of the bigger culture, without losing their own cultural identity. It is not possible for illegal immigrants to do this currently because they cannot participate without the fear of deportation. Learning English is a big important step in this integration, but without clear pathways to such education, the assimilation cannot take place. And in the article “Beyond the Tip of the Iceberg”, which is about trying to understand and appreciate other cultures and their norms, it is not possible for this to begin to even happen if a portion of the culture must remain hidden, as is the case with illegal immigrants. In such cases abuse is the most likely outcome, either thru unfair labor practices, sex-trafficking, or other abominations which can only happen when a portion of a society is kept in secret without equal protection under the law.The Chapter in Rosenblum and Travis, “Influencing Public Policy”, is especially relevant to the current immigration reform movement because the US Government has not been willing to acknowledge, or deal with, the huge problem of migrant illegal farm workers, and all the associated problems in general with illegal immigration. The Obama administration finally was able to bring immigration reform to the forefront, quite possibly due to the fact that Obama won a second term in large part due to the Hispanic/minority vote in this country . That fact got the attention of the Republicans, and hence finally a discussion about immigration reform began in earnest. This is not a new issue, but it seems a critical mass of support for addressing it has finally been reached. It took many years and many voices for it to come this far.Conclusion:It will be important to see how the immigration reform bill plays out as a predictor of how illegal immigrant populations will be treated going forward. By giving illegal migrant farm workers access to work visas, which would allow then to work out in the open, the result should be increased wages for both illegals and citizens competing for similar jobs, but it should also help eliminate the abuse the illegal population suffers at the hands of local employers and others who take advantage of their non-citizenship status. One can hope then that the same would apply to other occupations which illegal immigrants currently are employed in. By bringing them out of the shadows and giving them work visas and acknowledged status and eventually access to citizenship, the US can truly claim to be a place with at least the chance for liberty and justice for all. References: Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of article. Title of Newspaper. Retrieved from Library. Facts of Immigration in the US. (2012, June 15). CNN. Retrieved from: (Reason for selection: I asked myself “How many illegal immigrants are there in the US?” and found this article which was very useful because it has a lot of statistical information.) Trumbull, M. (2013, April 13). Immigration reform: Farm-worker compromise brings bill a step closer to Senate floor. The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved from:(Reason for selection: I asked myself “How many farm workers are illegals?” This article summarizes this information in a digestable way and also raises the policy implications. Because it’s more about the policy reform, it didn’t include much on data/estimates, so I looked for other resources as well, ie., graphs, maps, statistical data in other sources to expand on the data.) Garcia, G. (2012, April 4). How many undocumented immigrants live in the United States? The Independent Florida Alligator. Retrieved from:Map: (Reason for selection: I was looking for a map summarizing where illegal immigrants come from, and this seemed like a good choice after looking at several.)Wikipedia. Retrieved from: (Reason for selection: I was looking for a simple definition to define illegal immigration, and since it is a complex subject, I choose Wikipedia because it’s a good resource for compiled/concise information like this.)Davidson, A. (2013, February 12). Do Illegal Immigrants Actually Hurt the U.S. Economy? The NY Times. Retrieved from:(Reason for selection: I was wondering what the cost is economically of all the illegal immigrants coming to the US. I looked at many sources, and this is one of those I choose because the NY Times has a good reputation, albeit with a liberal slant at times, which is why I looked at others as well so I would be sure to get an objective view. Overall, most of the articles I found agreed with the NY Times that the impact on the economy is generally a positive one.)Illegal Immigration Statistics. Retrieved from: (Reason for selection: I found this site questionable because of the lack of information about the organization managing the site, and the lack of dates or authors’ names on the various articles. I found it interesting however because it directly refutes the above NY Times article.)Davidson, A. (2006, March 30). Q&A: Illegal Immigrants and the U.S. Economy. NPR. Retrieved from: (Reason for selection: I choose this article because I liked the Q & A format which addresses the important issues and analyses the pros and cons of the impact on the economy of illegal immigrants in a fair and balanced way; many websites I came across were either very far right or left. I trust NPR as a resource, and found this article to be full of useful information, and concise.)Bank, J. (2009, April 6). Cost of Illegal Immigrants. The Annenburg Public Policy Center,University of PA. Retrieved from: (Reason for selection: I choose this article because it is also in a Q & A format, like the above article, but it directly attempts to address some of the blatant misinformation out on the web about the subject. I think it is important for this type of research to be done to help dispute misinformation.)Resnick, B. (2013, January 28). National Journal. Who are they? Retrieved from: (Reason for selection: I asked myself the question “Who are the illegal immigrants?” This article, although short, gives a good snapshot of who they are, where they come from and why they came.)Baragona, S. (2010, August 11). US Farmers Depend on Illegal Immigrants. Voice of America. Retrieved from:(Reason for selection: Many Mexican illegal immigrants come to work on farms, and I thought this article did a good job of summarizing how the farmers depend on the immigrants and vice-versa.)Germano, R., (2011, March 18). How many illegal immigrants live in the United States and where do they come from? Retrieved from: (Reason for selection: In looking for the answer to the question “where do they come from”, I found this article which has some good data and a decent pie chart. It’s helpful to include graphics on a subject this big.)Wiki Answers. What type of jobs do most illegal immigrants have?Retrieved from: (Reason for selection: Choose this source just to get a snapshot of the types of jobs illegal immigrants work in. I looked at several others below as well to get as much data as possible.)Camarota, S. Seigler, K. (2009, August). Jobs Americans Won’t Do? A Detailed Look at Immigrant Employment by Occupation. Center for Immigration Studies. Retrieved from: (Reason for selection: Good article on the issue of whether illegal immigrants actually do take jobs from Americans who don’t want to do them. This article shows this concept is over-simplified and in some cases not accurate. There’s a good table in this article also detailing occupations of immigrants vs. domestics.)Germano, R. (2011, February 28). Do Illegal Immigrants Pay Taxes? Retrieved from: (Reason for selection: I was intrigued when I read in several other sources that illegals pay taxes. It took me a while to find an article that answered this question concisely, and this one does.)Pavlich, K. (2013, April 11). Gang of 8 to Gang Up Against Amendments to Illegal Immigration Reform Bill. . Retrieved from:(Reason for selection: Good summary of the current issues surrounding bill reform.)Younglai, R., Cowan, R., Abbo, C. (2013, April 13.) Senate plan would deport illegal immigrants entering U.S. after 2011. Yahoo News. Reuters. (Reason for selection: Good general overview of current reform efforts and how they might affect illegal immigrants before and after proposed cut-off dates.)Ye, Robin. (2013, April 17). Immigration Reform 2013 Recap: What's Being Sold, Who's Selling It, and What's to Come. Policymic. Retrieved from:(Reason for selection: A good up-to-the-minute coverage piece on the policy reform debate.) ................
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