Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Immigration Policy
Immigration policy has been a hot issue both historically as well as today. After reading "New Views" on page 324 of the text and Perspective 18.1 on page 326, please comment on what you would do today to deal with the challenges of both legal and illegal immigration. Also, what are we doing as a state or nation to confront these challenges? Be sure your comments cover all parts of this assignment.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I would streamline the path to citizenship, coordinating with immigrants' rights groups. I would also work with governments of the countries from which we receive the most undocumented workers to help create a better situation in the workers' home countries, to make the prospect of illegal immigration less enticing. I have no problem with them coming here; they work, pay taxes, and assimilate (I admit I don't know all the facts or philosophical arguments, but I know enough to know that saying they don't pull their weight stinks of racist Glenn Beckism); illegal immigration is simply dangerous, permitting evil people to take advantage of the workers' desperation. I would not, as we are trying to do now in Utah, impose fascist, draconian measures (copying Arizona's) allowing police to racially profile and demand papers of anyone they choose. Scary, scary stuff...
ReplyDeleteCurtis Russell
I think that we need to make immigration policies less strict, because that way we can chose who is entering our country, rather than a cartel, or human trafficker choosing. I also think that we should set up language programs, among other programs to help and encourage immigrates to assimilate into our society.
ReplyDelete-Jessica Gruendell
There obviously is not an easy answer as to how we should deal with the issue of illegal immigrants, do I think we should make it easier for them to become part of our society in order to contribute to it? Perhaps. But I don't think encouraging them to break the law and enter is fair to those that have gone through the legal process like myself or to the citizens for that matter. Although, I do think that having to wait 9 years for everything to go through with the right documentations and even with the presence of citizen relatives in the country that were vouching for us could be too much. With what the numbers of illegal immigrants indicate, unbearable for many.
ReplyDeleteI would make the illegal immigrants that came over here in the u.S. to go through the proper process of becoming a U.S. Citizen. The immigrants that went through the proper process should teach the illegal immigrants to do the same thing they had to go through. I would try to get our federal government to work with the states that have illegal immigrants by talking to them to find a plan to get these illegal immigrants that are already in the U.S. to go through the proper process of becoming a citizen of the U.S. I would also get the federal government to talk to the governments in the countries these illegal immigrants are from to set up programs that will keep the illegal immigrants in their own countries. I would not mind if these immigrants were not illegal and they did everything the citizens of the U.S. does. Most Americans really don't care about the low paying jobs that is why they let the illegal immigrants take them, but if these illegal immigrants are taking them then why are Americans complaining they don't have jobs when they allow theses illegal immigrants take the jobs that they originally they did not want to work in. I don't mind if the immigrant is legal and getting jobs that most Americans don't want to work in so the Americans should not complain why their jobs are being taken by the immigrants. I would recommend our state find a way to restrict illegal immigration, but the restriction can't be similar to what Arizona has in place for illegal immigrants. I want our state to pass a law that requires the illegal immigrants that are already here in this state that the government provides them with an education, but once they have the education the government provides for them that they have to take the citizenship test so they become a citizen of the U.S. Companies have to wait for the illegal immigrants to pass their citizenship test before the companies can hire them.
ReplyDeleteThe Challenges of legal and illegal immigration
ReplyDeleteFirst of all in my mind these two issues are very different. I have rarely complained about legal immigration issues. In fact people who are willing to come here legally and thus do it right are probably a better quality of people no matter what nation or region they come from. At least better in one way in that they are willing to work within our system who came from the elected choice of our people and not try to subvert it in some sneaky, illegal or deceptive way. When I lived in L.A. county, hit and run accidents were common and I had never heard of that happening before moving to LA. People's ID and Soc Sec. numbers are being stolen with fake cards being printed up. I happen to understand Spanish and around McArthur park in LA it is common to here fake ID transactions going on. It's advertized very openly if you understand Spanish. But ID theft hurts Americans. You see the sneaky deception does not stop at the border crossing. Hit and run accidents from those who could not afford insurance on their minimum wage immigrant salaries hurts American citizens also. Also unrestricted flows of immigrants hurts the wages of the working class American citizen and also hurts the wages of those who come here legally. USA government has done very little to stem the tide in the last 20 or 25 years to control the border. The leaders of both parties have their reasons, but the results are similar. Republicans and or conservatives will speak out against illegal immigration from time to time, if they think it will get them votes, but the post election actions speak louder that phony pre-election promises. Utah constitutionally is very limited on what they can do. It is mainly a national issue constitutionally. But to my understanding, there is a literacy test that all legal immigrants must pass and so the police and courts should be able to report suspected illegal aliens in the jails to the immigration when they are close to being set free. And also suspect with phony documents should be reported as well, no matter what region of the world they come from. Now some whining cry baby will call this racist, so be it. Get a life. If need be, start building a border fence. They same people who say we can not afford it spend billions of dollars on sending space craft outer space, many millions to all our anti democratic, anti human rights enemies at the UN and many other wasteful programs, like the train to nowhere in central California.
We don't have to build it all in one year.
Gary
I would definitely make it mandatory for all immigrants to have a U.S. level education and to speak english well. I believe that the immigrants that we are mostly dealing with today (mexico) has some benefits but it has its negatives as well. Therefor their has to be a better happy medium. I don't think we should be so strict on them coming other than clean track record and education, but once they are living here it needs to be a no tolerance basis. The issues they were dealing with in the late 20th century are ver similar to today. I think that our current government should step back and let the states be states.
ReplyDeleteThere Really isn't much more we could do in situations like we have today othere then fortifying the borders and increasing the punishments for such offenses, and as a nation we are doing aren't doing too much more besides the few states lik arizona with there profiling laws.
ReplyDeleteOur current immigration policy is based around constructing a great fence along the border and guarding the border and various high-tech solutions. Yet we still have a major problem with illegal immigration, especially in the states sharing a border with Mexico. What these policies fail to take into account is the huge advantages in the US that out weigh the changes of being caught. We cannot reasonably eliminate the source of this disparity, but we can cause the results of this disparity to if not help us, at least not hurt us in such a significant way. Currently, one of the big problems revolves around medical services. Already expensive, without any type of health insurance, be it from a job, or through the state from paid taxes, illegals do not go to the doctor until something has blossomed in a major problem and then they have to go to the ER. The ER cannot refuse to help even if they cannot pay for the services, and the cost of helping illegals not only increases the costs they have to charge to those that can pay, but also can make a difference between a small community that could otherwise support a local hospital, or having to drive a half hour to the major city for a medical emergency. I know this from experience and how may times the local hospital has been on the edge of having to close.
ReplyDeleteOne way that me can help to solve these problems is to make it easier for them to come to the US legally. Because most of them will come to the US either legally or illegally anyway, if the can be here legally, they are part of the system and pay taxes, and have the ability to move up in the world with less detriment the country and its people. A person who has come here legally, been working here for several years, speaks English, and has been trying get his citizenship for years has only received it after several years of fighting the state to not be a freeloader. Yet it still remains easy to just come here and freeload. The solution to this is two-fold. Part one concerns itself with the immigrants that are already here. They should be given a year to two years to learn enough english to be a part of society and handle government documents and forms and then pass the citizenship test. After that period, enforcement of the status of illegal immigrants should be handled where it can be the most effective, the workplace. That would achieve goal one, turning the illegals already here into productive citizens and most importantly, into taxpayers. Part two is to relax the restrictions on coming to the US to knowing enough to read and handle government documents, forms, etc. and pass a citizenship test. This would turn the vast majority of those who would come either way into those who can contribute to society. More taxpayers, less freeloaders.
Immigration is a very hot topic these days and finding a right or wrong stance is difficult. Although immigration labor provides most of the unskilled labor-force in our nation, their contribution to U. S. economy is unparalleled. They work the jobs most Americans refuse to work. I think with such an influx of immigration the U.S. should reconsider and assess our fields of labor. If we were to better the wage of the unskilled labor, (and jobs in general) we could reward those who abide by the Constitution. If we had a different attitude concerning: what is considered a job or even racial attitudes, (whether that is picking fruit or house cleaning) then assimilation and the sharing of cultures would improve.
ReplyDeleteAs I review "New Views" on Page 324, past issues that are current issues seem to collide. But what is the real answer? In 2006, James Smith of the Rand Corporation presents viable information from census data that displays comparable data between the immigrants of the 19th century and the immigrants of 1980 thru 1990. I found it interesting that the European immigrants came over better equipped educationally with a 9 year average of formal schooling, while the Latin immigrants initially came over with an average of 4.3 years of education. The analysis shows that each generation, sons and grandsons, fared 30 to 40 percent better. If I omit all emotion from this and look at it in a pure economic fashion, it seems that possibly the reason for this would be that many early 19th century Latin American countries did not have a system in place to support education. Perhaps, children were required to work at very young ages due to the lack of a stable economic system.
ReplyDeleteNow, that is not say American or any other country should be responsible to provide this for them. There should be a consistent incorporation of standards required at the time of application for transfer into the country of choice. It could operate similarly to our current placement testing required prior to application for admission into colleges, universities, trade schools, etc.
The only difference is our government has made everything political which makes everything complex.
We are no longer a country that wishes to see right and wrong. Our elected leaders want to leave room for negotiation with the various immigrant countries. This is the cause of so many problems in our country in regards to immigration. Where no standard exists, chaos ensues. Our immigration problem is not complicated because we don't obtain the ability to construct a viable immigration policy. The problem is present because our government is not willing to do what needs to be done as the political cost is too great.
Economic Insight 18.1 presents models to help us understand the issues the immigrants of the early 19th century faced. This insight makes it quite clear that first and foremost, immigration effects our economy. Secondly, this insight presents us with an analysis between skilled and unskilled workers and how if not balanced properly, wages can be driven down, and excessive unskilled workers can create a higher need for skilled workers which reflects a lack of economic efficiency. Just think of a modern day factory. If the foundation of that factory is built with a strong skilled set, then that same skilled set can now hand of the less skilled work to a numerically unskilled set.
But as the insight reflects, wages must properly meet the skills of each worker.
Hopefully the factories will not be greedy, but understand that their success lies heavily on the success and contentment of their employees.
~Sandra Maki
***I posted this Sunday and I noticed when I returned to read new postings it was not there???
This is a really hot topic to talk about, As far as today I would try to stop illegal immigration because it hurts the economy of the country and it has some social effects because we don't know what kind of people is entering the country. I also would try to make immigrations laws less strict with an emphasis to try to reduce illegal immigration so you can have a better control of people who are coming in. I'm Hispanic and I love Hispanic people but I have to say that a great percentage of immigrants (illegal) are not good citizens, delinquency has increased because of that.
ReplyDeleteNow I don't believe our immigration laws are necessarily strict. But if we did make it easier and a bit quicker to become a citizen there would most likely be more tax paying immigrants who contribute to the well being of our society and less of them coming in and taking advantage of our jobs or stealing our identities. I also strongly believe they should be fluent in English so that we may actually communicate with them.
ReplyDeleteWith immigratioin in the US, I believe that it should be a little bit more strict. I presonally dont want to have to up my taxes for the growing population when its rising and causing me problems. But yes if we can get those who want to become citizens and go through all the right procedures to become legal alot quicker instead of having them wait years, that could be beneficial to our country.
ReplyDeleteSteven Hanna
The challenges facing legal and illegal immigration today are very vast. In my opinion, legal immigration is very restrictive and hard to obtain. Illegal immigration is a very large problem facing the work place today. I believe that legal immigration should be easier to obtain and that immigrants if wanting to immigrate to America, need to somewhat assimilate into the society that they are placed in. If that requires learning a language then it should be done. Guest workers are a very stimulating tool that we need here in America. As a state, Governor Herbert has just signed a guest worker bill that will provide workers a job here in Utah. This could be beneficial but also dangerous to the state. As a nation illegal immigration is a very huge and expansive topic. The boarder patrol that is put into place is beneficial but it does not catch all of the immigrants that cross illegally. Another item that the nation has been pushing for is the wall or gates that separate the U.S. and surrounding countries. Immigration is a topic that all non-native American individuals face. Immigration makes the United States of America the “great melting pot” of the world. Legislation needs to be pushed to make immigration and legal U.S. citizenship possible.
ReplyDelete-Trevor Smith
legal and illegal immigration are a big deal in todays economy. Immigrants are taking jobs of others for a cheaper price and also after a few generations of being illegal families legal children come about and take the advantages of what the government offers to the already legal citizens. To fix these problems i wouldnt go as far as building a wall in Arizona but have a better border control and a better look out at the boarders. For legal immigrants i think as long as they obtain and go through the proper procedure then legal immigrants shouldnt have to deal with any problems, we as a nation will always be changing and adapting to the change is the real answer not trying to solve it by denying rights of the already legal. I believe as a state we do a good job deporting immigrants, if theyre not legal then they should become legal the legal way for all the benefits for a regular citizen. And as a nation, i think we are also doing a good job, theyre always going to be deviants in any society.
ReplyDeleteWe are never going to fix the problem of illegal immigration by building a fence. The way we deal with it is to look at the ways other countries deal with illegal immigration into their countries. We as a society have become to coddling to the illegal, we baby them treat them with kid gloves. Enough is enough, we need to kick them back out as soon was we find them. No more giving them 3 hots and a cot while waiting to see a judge, find em, print picture them and at the end of the day put them on a bus and or plane depending on where you find them, and ship back.
ReplyDeleteCan you begin to think what the economy would be if just half the number of illegals would have come here legally and paid taxes like everyone else? I dare say we might be in the mess we are in now, because they don't pay taxes and such, we as the American public are paying for them to be here putting a bigger burden on a already dreary future.