IMMIGRATION POLICY

JANIS HSINGLAUREN RISHER

History of policymaking

Naturalization Act of 1790 Amendment 14 (1868) Amendment 15 (1870) Chinese Exclusion Acts (1882) Immigration Act of 1917 Alien Land Laws (1913, 1920, 1923) Ozawa v. U.S. (1922) Immigration Act of 1924 Tydings- McDuffie Act (1934)

Magnuson Act (1943) Asian Exclusion Repeal Acts (1946) McCarran- Walter Act (1952) Immigrant Act (1965) Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance

(1975) Refugee Act (1980) Immigrant Reform and Control Act (1986) Amerasian Homecoming Act (1987) Immigration Act of 1990 California Proposition 187 (1994)

History of Policymaking (cont.)

Legislative, Judicial, and Executive Roles

Legislative and executive branch usually have sole powers to regulate immigration. (Plenary Powers)

Congress has the power of naturalization, or the power to choose which immigrants will receive citizenship

Historically, the Supreme Court has not been involved in Immigration policies, however, recently the Supreme Court has become more involved in immigration policies because of the recent problem with illegal immigration.

Policy Interrelation Between BranchesThe diagram below depicts federal agencies that are responsible for implementing, supporting, and enforcing the immigration and integration laws made by the legislative branch.

Role of Non-Governmental Groups

Generally, interest groups influence policymaking by:Lobbying the governmentEngaging in election activitiesEducating various publicsMobilizing various publics

Examples of NGOs on Immigration

American Immigration Control FoundationInform Americans on the need for a

reasonable immigration policy based on the nation’s interests and capacity to assimilate newcomers

Center for Immigration StudiesProvide immigration policy makers with

reliable information about the social, economic, and fiscal consequences of legal and illegal immigration into the U.S.

Impact on the American Public

Due to the growing number of illegal immigrants, many are questioning the legality of the 14th Amendment and the clause that gives citizenship to those born in the U.S. However, “Anchor Babies,” or children of illegal

immigrants in the U.S. are a myth, as every year the U.S. deports thousands of parents of U.S. citizens.

Although immigrants make up only 12% of the population, they make up nearly half of all scientists and engineers with doctorate degrees.

Current status of immigration policy

President Obama has a plan for a new immigration policy to allow illegal immigrants to gain legal status:illegal immigrants must admit they broke the

law, pay a fine and back taxes, and perform community service. They would also be required to pass background checks and be proficient in English.

Analysis of Current Policy

The plan is not very rational; The illegal immigrants broke a law and this policy seems to take that too lightly. This could open the doors for other laws to be broken and only require an apology and community service.

Overall, the current policy seems to be ineffective

Recommendations for Change

Illegal immigrants should be required to do more than apologize to become U.S. citizens. They should follow the standard procedure after a penalty of at least 5 years.

Source http://

www.umass.edu/complit/aclanet/USMigrat.html http://www.cis.org/plenarypower http://

www.migrationinformation.org/usfocus/display.cfm?ID=362

http://www.learner.org/courses/democracyinamerica/dia_14/dia_14_topic.html

http://www.aicfoundation.com/ http://cis.org/ http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/issues/state-local http://www.cnsnews.com/node/63050