THE IMMIGRATION DEBATE



THE IMMIGRATION DEBATE

There are 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States and intense disagreement over whether they help or hurt the U.S. economy.

1) Number paragraphs before reading them.

2) Circle key words (words that are defined or repeated in text).

3) Underline arguments for and against immigration debate topics.

4) In left margin, summarize what author is saying in each paragraph using 10 words or less.

5) Write any questions in the right margin.

Immigration Reform and Control

In 1986 The Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) was designed to stop the flow of illegal immigration from Latin America by implanting penalties for businesses that employed illegal immigrants. At the same time it gave illegal aliens who had been living in the United States since 1982 the opportunity to become legal citizens over a one year period. 2.5 million received amnesty this way, but many immigrants could not provide the necessary documentation .

The Immigration Act of 1990 increased the number of immigrants allowed to enter the United States by nearly 40 percent. Between 92 and 94 the U.S. opened its doors to about 700,000 legal immigrants a year, and this number has climbed to over one million annually during the twenty-first century. The law also increased the number of visas for skilled immigrants, such as engineers and scientists.

The largest percentage of illegal immigrants (about 80%) in the United States come from Mexico and Latin America. However the number of people who illegally entered the U.S. from Mexico was down substantially to about 85,000 in 2011, down from closer to 600,000 five years earlier – mainly due to economic decline in the U.S. economy as well as expanding/improving economies and job opportunities within their native country. Mexican immigration is not expected to reach its peak again and the next large wave of immigration is likely to come from elsewhere-probably Asia.

S. 744, Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013

Recently, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013, or S. 744 was passed. While providing for tighter border security by employing more than thirty-eight thousand full-full time border agents and erecting 700 miles of fencing, the bill creates a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants that meet the requirements, although meeting all the requirements (providing legal documentation, paying fees and taxes, etc) may prove impossible for some.

Opponents of the bill believe this bill will only encourage more undocumented immigrants to come. Further, it includes no provisions for removing illegal aliens who do not meet the deadline date, requirements, or illegally enter the United States in the future. Proponents are encouraged by the bill and believe that more immigrants becoming citizens will have a positive impact on tax revenue and help improve the finances of the Social Security and Medicare systems.

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Immigration Today

In recent years, many Americans have criticized U.S immigration policy. This criticism is provoked by the high number of immigrants that enter the country. Overall, the Immigration and Naturalization Service estimates that about 11 million illegal immigrants currently reside in the United States. Consequently, the presence of both legal and illegal immigrants have contributed to dramatic changes in the racial, ethnic, and cultural composition of the United States.

Many Americans believe that the United States cannot absorb more immigrants. They contend that newcomers take away jobs from Americans-particularly minorities- because they enlarge the labor pool and are willing to work for lower wages. In addition, advocates of immigration restrictions point to the large cost in health and education benefits for illegal immigrants. According to the Federation for American Immigration Reform, illegal immigration costs U.S. tax payers $113 billion a year. The biggest expense, $52 billion a year, is educating the children of illegal immigrants, a cost borne mostly by state and local governments.

Critics of restrictions argue that immigrants are important because they are willing to accept jobs that many native-born Americans will not. Moreover, these critics say, immigrants come to the United States with diligent work ethic that increases the country’s productivity and helps the economy. Many economists argue that, in general, immigrants do help the economy far more than they harm it.

Immigrants and the U.S. Economy

As hundreds of thousands of legal immigrants live and work in the United States, many people are asking if legal immigration is good for the American economy. Some Americans want to further restrict legal immigration. Some even advocate a temporary moratorium, or stop on all legal immigration. They believe America needs to assimilate the immigrants already here and that the country needs to “catch its breath” before the next wave of immigrants.

Proponents of placing more restrictions on legal immigration question what economic necessity the United States has for admitting more than a million immigrants annually. Although supporters of tighter restrictions acknowledge that the United States depended upon immigrant labor during the Industrial Revolution, they say no labor shortage exists now. On the contrary, proponents argue that skilled immigrants are taking jobs away from qualified American citizens.

Those who oppose further restrictions believe that highly skilled legal immigrants help the economy. Many members of the business community say that they cannot find enough multilingual and scientifically trained American workers to help keep the United States competitive in the global economy. Therefore, American companies recruit immigrants to fill this void. Critics of tighter restrictions think that legal immigrants have provided American firms with specialized job skills and thereby helped these industries grow. So, legal immigrants have helped strengthen the economy, and improve the U.S. standard of living. Lastly, many experts point out that more immigrants mean more consumers of American goods and services, which further help the economy.

Denying Benefits to Illegal Immigrants

States are required by federal law to provide education and emergency medical care to all residents whether they are legal or illegal. California is home to more than 40 percent of the U.S. illegal immigrant population and has therefore spent a great deal of money providing services for illegal aliens. In November 1994, voters in California approved a ballot initiative called “Save Our State,” better known as Proposition 187. Proposition 187 denied nonemergency medical care and educational services to illegal immigrants and their children and required health workers and educators to report suspected illegal immigrants to the Immigration and Naturalization Service. However, in 1995, a federal judge ruled that employees at federally funded social program offices cannot ask people about their immigration status because those actions would be regulating immigration policy, which is a federal rather than state power.

Meanwhile the debate over the rights of immigrants to receive social benefits continues. Many taxpayers in states with large numbers of illegal immigrants express outrage at the spiraling cost of social programs. Many Americans believe that the government, by providing free services to undocumented immigrants, is unintentionally encouraging people to enter the United States illegally. People who want to deny social services to illegal immigrants argue that would- be illegal aliens would think twice before crossing the border once they realize that they would not get free medical care and education in the United States.

Although most Americans agree that illegal immigration is a problem, many oppose denying social services to undocumented aliens and their children. They argue that preventing immigrants from receiving medical care and education services will result in an unhealthy, uneducated underclass. Many Americans argue that this strategy would lead to a public health disaster. They believe that denying public school education to the children of illegal immigrants would leave them out on the street, where they would be more likely to commit crimes. Instead of adopting new measures, some Americans believe that the government should tighten its borders and strictly enforce the existing immigration laws.

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Outlook

As more and more people of different races and cultures enter the United States and the racial composition of the country changes, immigration becomes a more intensely debated issue. Some Americans favor tighter immigration restrictions and argue that immigrants take jobs away from Americans and drain social services. Others, however, point to America’s historical commitment to immigration and believe that immigrants keep the United States economically competitive, strong, and culturally rich. The question of whether America’s doors should be open or closed continues to be intensely debated in Congress, in the White House, and in states and communities where immigrants tend to settle.

1. List six keywords you found in the text and define each.

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2. List at least four reasons why some Americans believe immigrants benefit the United States.

3. List at least four reasons why some Americans want to restrict or stop immigration to the U.S.

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A young man walks next to the border fence between Mexico and the United States at the site where a 17-year old boy was shot while trying to illegally scale the border fence in Nogales. Alonso Castillo/REUTERS

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