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Immigration in the USA

Matthew Jung

SOC 400: Sociology of Class, Gender, Ethnicity and Race

Professor Dr. Terry Lunsford

Strayer University

May 1, 2023

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Immigration in the United States has been debated hotly for decades. Individuals,

government agencies, institutions, and researchers have brought forth different views on

addressing the immigrant influx from other regions. The number of immigrants over time has

increased. Though immigrants have significantly contributed to US society and economic

growth, several issues and challenges continue plaguing the immigration framework. This paper

will examine current and historical variables impacting American immigration. It will analyze

serious issues, problems, and problems and proper prospective solutions to improve the

condition. It is vital to determine how to balance the nation's immigration policies with the needs

of the immigrants and the broader American society.

The Immigration and nationality act of 1965 is a law that led to the abolishment of the

previous quota system. The system majorly favored immigrants from northern and western

Europe. It opened opportunities for immigrants from other parts of the globe. Despite being a

positive step towards inclusivity and diversity, it also contributed to the growth of immigration

and a more sophisticated and challenging immigration system. (Waslin, 1). The war on drugs and

crime started in the 1980s. The American government invested heavily in border security and

law enforcement to combat corruption and drug trafficking. As a result, there were increased

restrictions and deportation on immigrants, particularly for people with criminal records.

Globalization and economic policies in several industries like construction, hospitality, and

agriculture shifted.

The United States experienced a labor shortage during World War II, so the government

established the Bracero Program to bring temporary agricultural workers from Mexico. (Chavez,

2). Poor working conditions, low wages, and labor exploitation followed the program's early

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success. Undocumented immigration is a concern now because many Bracero employees stayed

in the United States after the program ended, and these difficulties persisted.

The McCarran-Walter Act of 1952 and the Cold War: With the passage of the McCarran-

Walter Act, immigration law was standardized, and the government was granted the authority to

deny entry to any foreign individual who represented a threat to national security. (Markowitz et

al., 3). The law punished those who were believed to be Communists or to have ties to

communist groups. Many refugees from communist regimes in Eastern Europe were turned away

because of this law. The law also contributed to the problem of prejudice and hostility towards

immigrants because of their assumed political convictions.

In the wake of the Great Depression in 1929, many Americans blamed immigrants for

their country's economic woes and high unemployment rates. A surge in anti-immigrant

sentiment and the current problems with illegal immigration, and the debate over border security

are both direct results of this trend.

These historical events heavily influence the immigration problems the United States

faces. For instance, the National Origins Act of 1924 significantly slowed immigration from

nations other than Western Europe and helped pave the way for the growth of the illegal

immigration problem. Unauthorized immigration is a problem because many Bracero Program

workers lingered in the United States after the program ended. The McCarran-Walter Act is to

blame for prejudice and discrimination against immigrants because of their assumed political

convictions.

Immigration from certain nations, notably those in Asia and Eastern Europe, was severely

curtailed by the National Origins Act of 1924. The statute preferred immigrants from Western

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Europe to keep the population stable. In addition to creating the undocumented immigration

problem, this rule drastically reduced immigration from nations other than Western Europe.

Historically, the American economy has been significantly dependent on immigrant

labor. Due to the economic changes, immigrants were prone to working for low wages with little

job security and benefits. It resulted in poor working conditions and exploitation for many

immigrants. The national security and 9/11 attacks led to the introduction of strict measures after

the September 11th attacks. (Ullah et al., 4). The effect of actions strongly affected the

immigrants, more so those from Muslim-majority countries. Moreover, immigration policies and

political polarization have impacted immigration. Recently, political polarization has led to

difficulties in passing detailed immigration reforms. Therefore, there is inconsistency and

inaccuracy in immigration policies. The Trump administration policies like the family separation

and travel ban worsened the condition for asylum seekers and immigrants.

The Trump administration brought the zero-tolerance policy, which saw the separation of

up to thousands of families at the American – Mexico border. Children were taken away from

their parents and detained. The policy has been broadly condemned as inhumane and resulted in

significant trauma for the families involved. (Pierce, 5). The deferred action for childhood

arrivals (DACA) program offers temporal protection from deportation for undocumented people

who came to the US as children. However, the program has been in a dilemma since the Trump

administration tried to end it in 2017. Therefore, there has been fear and uncertainty for over

800,000 DACA recipients.

Immigration and border security policies have recently had a significant debate,

particularly as regards asylum seekers and undocumented people. The Trump administration

policies like the travel ban and border wall have been critiqued. Biden's administration's efforts

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to reform the system have faced much resistance from political groups. Employment and

economic issues have also impacted immigrants, particularly those with temporary or

undocumented status. They face discrimination restrictions, lack of benefits, and low wages.

Thus, they have experienced economic challenges and increased poverty for their families and

themselves as economic and social issues to the broader community.

One of the groups affected by the immigration problem in the United States is

undocumented immigrants. The Pew Research Center found that at least 10.5 million

undocumented immigrants lived in the US in 2017. This group faces many challenges, including

the constant fear of deportation and limited access to essential services and rights. Karen

Hernandez and Sister Angela Velasquez applied for DACA after President Obama's Executive

order in 2012. Angela Says, "I took advantage of the opportunity as soon as it came out." DACA

enabled them to work, but President's Trump administration overturned the order. Karen says, "I

was freaking out," and "I started thinking, are we going to have to go back to Guatemala? It was

scary." (Monica, 6). Asylum seekers are another group affected by the immigration problem.

Most people flee their homes nations due to persecution, violence, and any other kind of danger

to seek safety in the US. However, due to the complex and lengthy process of seeking asylum,

many get held at detention centers for an extended period. An associate attorney for research

refugee protection says, "Jailing asylum seekers is fundamentally dehumanizing and cruel."

(Jihan, 7).

The immigration system in the United States can be improved in several ways. One, there

is a need to have detailed immigration reform. It is one of the most significant changes that could

be made. It will address most of the current issues facing immigrants in the United States. It

could include the creation of a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, improving

security measures, and reforming the visa system to reduce the visa backlogs. An example of

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such a reform is the 2013 bipartisan immigration reform bill. It was an attempt at a detailed

solution, but it failed. In 2006, 2007, and 2013, comprehensive immigration reform bills were

proposed, but none were passed into law. Besides, executive orders have been issued by

presidents to address immigration issues. For instance, President Obama 2012 issued the deferred

action for childhood arrivals (DACA) program that offered temporal relief from deportation for

undocumented immigrants who came to the country as children. (Kim et al., 8). However, these

executive orders have been overturned. President Trump overturned DACA in 2017.

Secondly, there is a need to increase funding for the immigration courts. The country has

seen a backlog of over 1.3 million immigration cases. This has led to lengthy waiting times for

hearing and increased time spent in detention centers. An increase in financing to the

immigration courts and hiring extra judges and support staff could assist in alleviating the

backlog and fostering efficiency in the system. (Wasem, 9). This technique has been utilized in

other nations like Canada, where financing of the immigration courts has been increased to

decrease the waiting period for hearings.

Moreover, there is a need to increase the funding for border security. An example is the

secure fence act of 2006, which offered funding for constructing a physical barrier along the

Mexican-US border. However, such measures' efficiency has been questioned, and this

construction has faced heavy opposition.

Additionally, there is a need to expand access to legal representation. Most immigrants

need more resources or financial constraints to accessing legal presentations. Expansion of legal

representation access could assist in making sure that the immigrants could navigate and

understand the sophisticated legal system. This will increase the likelihood of getting a fair

outcome. Programs like the New York immigrant family unity project have proven to work in

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providing legal representation to detained immigrants, resulting in higher rates of successful

cases. An instance of a legal application in solving the immigration issue is filing several

lawsuits to challenge Trump's administration's attempts to restrict immigration. (Schmidt, 10).

The lawsuits had a positive outcome with temporal relief for immigrants. However, overall, the

impact has uncertainty. Overall, these recommendations will need a combination of economic,

political, and social interventions but could result in a detailed, efficient, and just immigration

system in the United States.

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References:

1. Waslin, M. (2020). The use of executive orders and proclamations to create immigration policy:

Trump in historical perspective. Journal on Migration and Human Security, 8(1), 54-67.

2. Chavez, L. R. 2020. Covering immigration. In Covering Immigration. University of California Press.

Covering Immigration (degruyter.com)

3. Markowitz, D. M., & Slovic, P. (2020). Social, psychological, and demographic characteristics of

dehumanization toward immigrants. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(17),

9260-9269. Social, psychological, and demographic characteristics of dehumanization toward

immigrants | PNAS

4. Ullah, A. A., Hasan, N. H., Mohamad, S. M., & Chattoraj, D. (2020). Migration and security:

Implications for minority migrant groups. India Quarterly, 76(1), 136-153.

5. Pierce, S. (2019). Immigration-related policy changes in the first two years of the Trump

administration. Migration Policy Institute.

6. Monica, C.(2019). These sisters both had DACA. One took matters into her own hands.

https://theworld.org/stories/2019-11-11/these-sisters-both-had-daca-one-took-matters-her-

own-hands

7. Jihan, A. (2022). U.S. detention of asylum seekers “inhumane and wasteful.”: Report.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/4/21/us-detention-of-asylum-seekers-inhumane-and-

wasteful-report

8. Kim, C. Y., & Semet, A. (2019). Presidential Ideology and Immigrant Detention. Duke LJ, 69, 1855.

9. Wasem, R. E. (2020). More than a wall: The rise and fall of US asylum and refugee policy. Journal

on Migration and Human Security, 8(3), 246-265.

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10. Schmidt, P. W. (2019). An overview and critique of US immigration and asylum policies in the

Trump era. Journal on Migration and Human Security, 7(3), 92-102.