Essays on Legal and Illegal Immigration


Book Description

Papers presented in a seminar series conducted by the Department of Economics at Western Michigan University.




Citizens, Strangers, And In-betweens


Book Description

Immigration is one of the critical issues of our time. In Citizens, Strangers, and In-Betweens, an integrated series of fourteen essays, Yale professor Peter Schuck analyzes the complex social forces that have been unleashed by unprecedented legal and illegal migration to the United States, forces that are reshaping American society in countless ways. Schuck first presents the demographic, political, economic, legal, and cultural contexts in which these transformations are occurring. He then shows how the courts, Congress, and the states are responding to the tensions created by recent immigration. Next, he explores the nature of American citizenship, challenging traditional ways of defining the national community and analyzing the controversial topics of citizenship for illegal alien children, the devaluation and revaluation of American citizenship, and plural citizenship. In a concluding section, Schuck focuses on four vital and explosive policy issues: immigration's effects on the civil rights movement, the cultural differences among various American ethnic groups as revealed in their experiences as immigrants throughout the world, the protection of refugees fleeing persecution, and immigration's effects on American society in recent years.




Immigration


Book Description

This anthology is a compendium of opinion on the extent, law-enforcement, citizenship-possibilities, and potential reform of the U.S.'s immigration practices. The writings in this anthology have been selected to introduce your readers to a wide array of divergent viewpoints on topics relating to immigration. Written by foremost authorities, these essays express contrasting views on issues such as illegal immigration and immigration reform. Each chapter asks a relevant question about the topic, and the viewpoints that follow are grouped into “yes” and “no” categories. This format provides readers with a concise view of different opinions on each topic. Contains extensive book and periodical bibliographies.







Illegal Immigration


Book Description

Editor Margaret Haerens has compiled several essays that debate four main questions. Does illegal immigration harm America? Does the United States treat illegal immigrants fairly? How should America enforce its borders? How should U.S. immigration policy be reformed? Essays are in a pro versus con format so that readers can activate their critical thinking skills. Essay sources include George W. Bush, Phyllis Schlafly, William F. Jasper, Cinnamon Stillwell, and Border Action Network.




Immigration and the Law


Book Description

In the era of globalization, shifting political landscapes, and transnational criminal organizations, discourse around immigration is reaching unprecedented levels. Immigration and the Law is a timely and significant volume of essays that addresses the social, political, and economic contexts of migration in the United States. The contributors analyze the historical and contemporary landscapes of immigration laws, their enforcement, and the discourse surrounding these events, as well as the mechanisms, beliefs, and ideologies that govern them. In today’s highly charged atmosphere, Immigration and the Law gives readers a grounded and broad overview of U.S. immigration law in a single book. Encompassing issues such as shifting demographics, a changing criminal justice system, and volatile political climate, the book is critically significant for academic, political, legal, and social arenas. The contributors offer sound evidence to expose the historical legacy of violence, brutality, manipulation, oppression, marginalization, prejudice, discrimination, power, and control. Demystifying the ways that current ideas of ethnicity, race, gender, and class govern immigration and uphold the functioning and legitimacy of the criminal justice system, Immigration and the Law presents a variety of studies and perspectives that offer a pathway toward addressing long-neglected but vital topics in the discourse on immigration and the law. Contributors Sofía Espinoza Álvarez Steven W. Bender Leo R. Chávez Arnoldo De León Daniel Justino Delgado Roxanne Lynn Doty Brenda I. Gill Ruth Gomberg-Muñoz Peter Laufer Lupe S. Salinas Mary C. Sengstock Martin Guevara Urbina Claudio G. Vera Sánchez




Outside Justice


Book Description

Outside Justice: Undocumented Immigrants and the Criminal Justice System fills a clear gap in the scholarly literature on the increasing conceptual overlap between popular perceptions of immigration and criminality, and its reflection in the increasing practical overlap between criminal justice and immigration control systems. Drawing on data from the United States and other nations, scholars from a range of academic disciplines examine the impact of these trends on the institutions, communities, and individuals that are experiencing them. Individual entries address criminal victimization and labor exploitation of undocumented immigrant communities, the effects of parental detention and deportation on children remaining in destination countries, relations between immigrant communities and law enforcement agencies, and the responses of law enforcement agencies to drastic changes in immigration policy, among other topics. Taken as a whole, these essays chart the ongoing progression of social forces that will determine the well-being of Western democracies throughout the 21st century. In doing so, they set forth a research agenda for reexamining and challenging the goals of converging criminal justice and immigration control policy, and raise a number of carefully considered, ethical alternatives to the contemporary policy status quo.​​Contemporary immigration is the focus of highly charged rhetoric and policy innovation, both attempting to define the movement of people across national borders as fundamentally an issue of criminal justice. This realignment has had profound effects on criminal justice policy and practice and immigration control alike, and raises far-reaching implications for social inclusion, labor economies, community cohesion, and a host of other areas of immediate interest to social science researchers and practitioners.




The Undermining of the American Dream Through Illegal Immigration


Book Description

Essay from the year 2010 in the subject American Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 1,0, University of Leipzig (Institut für Amerikanistik), course: American Dream, language: English, abstract: The United States of America is often referred to as 'a nation of immigrants'. Over centuries, the prospect of achieving the American Dream has attracted immigrants from all over the world to the country. However, in recent decades many immigrants entered the USA illegally or stayed on after their visas had expired. Actually, the approximated number of undocumented immigrants currently living in the USA widely ranges from "11.5 million to 20 million" (Orchowski 2008, 69), the majority of them hailing from Latin American countries. This uncontrolled influx of immigrants causes various problems in the host nation. Illegal immigration from South and Central America to the USA undermines core elements of the American Dream such as the opportunity of climbing the social ladder, security of life and liberty, and America's social security for everyone living in the U.S.




Illegal Immigration


Book Description

Many scholars of religion sit by timidly waiting to hear what physicists and biologists say about the world of nature, then adjust their religious visions accordingly; but not systematic theologian Wolfhart Pannenberg. Based on a dialogue between theologians and scientists from more than three decades, Pannenberg poses theological questions to natural scientist that illuminate his personal position on issues dealing with theology and the natural sciences, especially physics. He says the scientific view of nature is incomplete and challenges scientist to incorporate the idea of God into their picture of nature. He reviews the relationship between natural law and contingency, the importance of the spirit in the phenomenon of life, field theory language, and the theological account for the nature of God and of God's creative activity. Pannenberg believes the world we live in is a creature of a creating God, and unless we understand this, we cannot fully understand the world.




The present debate about illegal immigration


Book Description

Seminar paper from the year 2008 in the subject American Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 1,0, University of Paderborn (Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik), course: From melting pot to quilt: The immigration issue in the american studies-classroom, language: English, abstract: As former U.S. President John F. Kennedy indicates in his posthumously published and recently re-edited essay A Nation of Immigrants, all citizens of the United States are immigrants or descendants of immigrants. Therefore, according to the author, immigration policy should suit their needs in order to ensure the well-being of a country which depends on “the contribution of immigrants [...] in every aspect of [its] national life.” However, with 37.4 million foreign-born residents in the United States in 2006 , of which 9.1 million have obtained legal permanent resident status since 1997 (1,266,264 in 2006 only) and an estimated 11.6 million are unauthorized migrants , immigration has become a highly controversial subject. Fuelled by the 9/11 attacks and a growing xenophobia in the United States, protest against legal and illegal immigration is increasing, forcing politicians to take action. Although the U.S. economy depends largely on immigrant labour, immigration policy is becoming tougher than ever. This paper deals with the latest legal efforts to control illegal immigration: the 2005 Border Protection, Anti-terrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act, House of Representatives Bill 4437 and the 2006 Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act, Senate Bill 2611 and the reactions they caused among Americans. In order to illustrate the momentousness of the current debate about unauthorized migration, I will start with an overview of the most important facts and figures including a definition of the notion ‘illegal/ unauthorized (im)migrant’, the countries of origin and distribution of illegal immigrants and their impact on the U.S. economy. This will be followed by a discussion of the H.R.4437 and S.2611 bills and the conclusion to this paper.