Florida Immigration - Research Paper Example

? Florida Immigration Dis and the Walls of Separation Introduction The immigration policy of the United s in general and the Florida immigration policy in particular are being at the focus of many debates for a long time. It has been observed that there is a rise of anti-immigrant policies in the West after the collapse of Soviet Union and the subsequent integration of previously isolated places into the world economy. For the United States, the growing threat of Hispanization of the country has led to increased fears of illegal immigration, especially from Mexico. Florida is one of the states in the United States along with Arizona has seen huge waves of illegal migration of Hispanics from Mexico. It is noticed that more than 8% of the workforce in Florida was constituted by the illegal immigrants in 2008. Natural calamities in Haiti too added much to the immigration burden of the state of Florida. The proposed Florida immigration bill attempts to curb illegal immigration by approaching it as a serious law and order problem than a socio-economic issue. The Fear Politics and the Fallibility of Cost-Benefit Analysis It is through a fear politics created by the right wing, illegal immigration issue comes to the forefront of policy making. There has never been more immigration to a country than it could afford. If more people come to Florida, even illegally, it means that there exist conditions for illegal immigrants to be here. It was independently testified by the business community in Florida, especially the sector of Agrarian businesses. And, importantly, the huge majority of the immigrants become successful in finding jobs and adapting the American way of life. In this context, it is quite astonishing to see even a theorist such as Huntington would argue that ‘in this new era, the single most immediate and most serious challenge to America's traditional identity comes from the immense and continuing immigration from Latin America, especially from Mexico, and the fertility rates of these immigrants compared to black and white American natives’ (Huntington, 2004, p.3). Therefore, at the heart of immigration debate, lies the hidden racism and xenophobia that our culture would be colonized from within by the alien culture of the illegal immigrant. This xenophobia, the fear politics generated from it is central in the discourse on immigration than supposed socio-economic issues and security matters. ‘Massive Hispanic immigration affects the United States in two significant ways: Important portions of the country become predominantly Hispanic in language and culture, and the nation as a whole becomes bilingual and bicultural’ thus warns Huntington (2004, p.7). This is nothing but eloquent and sophisticated articulation of fear of diversity and the negation of core values that constitute America. It is in this wider context, Arizona Immigration Bill and the replicated model of the Florida immigration bill came to existence. The Florida immigration bill has been hotly debated by both the civil society and policy makers in recent times. It is important to note that the current Florida Immigration Bill is stemmed from the more controversial Arizona Immigration Bill. Immigration, in the wider context, is an endemic problem in much of the western countries which are highly developed and industrialized. The United States of America has been at the receiving end of immigration issues from the end of Second World War itself. The rise of both legal and illegal immigration has sometimes developed into a national issue, especially the case of illegal immigration has much to do with other problems such as internal security and welfare distribution. Even the widespread recession in the United States has not resulted in any substantial decrease in the illegal immigration to the country. Arizona Immigration Bill was meant for countering the illegal immigration mainly through the Mexico border. Although the Florida peninsula is surrounded by water, it still experiences illegal immigration mainly through boats. It is important to note that the very constitutionality of the Florida Immigration bill has been challenged from quarters. It is the legislators of Florida who decided to come up with an immigration bill along the lines of their Arizona counterparts in the context of the growing illegal immigration to the state. To evaluate the merits and demerits of the Florida Immigration bill, it is necessary to look at issues such as enforcement issues, expected costs, the pros and cons of the bill, and the very intention of the bill itself. The Florida Immigration Bill, first of all, attempts to develop a whole new paradigm to deal with the issue of illegal immigration. Primarily, the bill intends to rigorously define the ways to tackle illegal immigration and lays out a new plan for local government’s handling of the costs of the bill. It also brings about radical changes to the present Florida state laws concerning illegal immigration which are supplemented by the federal laws on immigration. Obviously, the Florida Immigration Bill has proposed some key changes to the federal immigration law. It involves the prohibition of state and local law enforcement from curtailing the implementation of federal immigration laws. Also, stopping and checking of the immigration status of someone who appears to be suspicious is required by the new immigration bill. This provision, according to the opponents of the bill would lead to racial profiling by the police. The bill also binds the non-citizen immigrants to carry their concerned documents on immigration status or to be trialed for a misdemeanor charge Florida Attorney General and Republican, Bill McCollum led the framing up of the Florida immigration Bill. Even in the national stage, it is Republicans who actively pursue a strict immigration policy than democrats. It led Florida to the center stage of the national debate on illegal immigration. However, the response such a bill from within the Florida state was mixed. For instance, Florida Chamber of Commerce had mixed feelings about the passing of the bill thanks to the many business interests at stake if labor pool of illegal immigration is abruptly dried out. Also, there is a tension between the federal enforcement agencies and the law enforcement agencies at the state level. Traditionally, it was the federal enforcements that had directly dealt with the illegal immigrants, in stopping them, and arrest and detention or deportation. Still, according to the American Federalism, the state runs the police and the duties of law and order within lies with the law enforcement agencies of the state. However, if a state legislature pursues a more active role for itself in countering illegal migration, there is nothing in the law to stop it. Here, the problem is that the entire of issue of illegal immigration would be narrowed down to the question of law and order. Although, there are no legal grounds for racism in the bill, in practice, terms such as reasonable suspicion could lead to racial classification. It also makes it a crime to assisting illegal immigration to the United States or the unlawful transporting or concealing of an illegal immigrant. It is also a crime to encourage one to illegally enter or remain the United States illegally. There is also a widespread fear of illegal immigrants resorting to crime so that the bill intends to give harsher punishments for illegal immigrants who commit crimes. Such provisions undermine the very foundations of the common law system and goes against the human rights of the illegal immigrants. One has to be clear that an illegal immigrant does not become deprived of his/her inalienable rights simple based on the visa status. Also, there is problem in the fact that the bill exempts citizens of visa-waiver countries to showing valid visas if stopped. It means de facto Hispanics and Asians would only be punished if found not with documents.The E-verify system used to legally document the workers should be made compulsory, argues the Florida citizens advocacy groups as it would give jobs naturally to the legal workers, keeps the minimum wage intact and curtail the free flow of illegal immigration. According to Weaver, ‘the bottom line is Floridians, have paid over $20 Billion in the past decade to educate, medicate and incarcerate illegal immigrants. The State of Florida has 11.5% legal workers unemployed and 8.2% of illegal aliens working. The cost per month to Florida to pay the unemployed is $300 million borrowed dollars’ (Weaver, 2010, p.4). Therefore, the proposed amendments to the federal immigration laws are considered to be a strong measure bringing down the costs and deficits caused to the state budget by illegal immigration. It has not been proved beyond doubt that proactive measures to tackle the illegal immigrants become a deterrent for illegal immigration as a whole. On the other hand, it could push the illegal immigrants who have become very much part of the Florida society to the wall and make their destitution and exploitative conditions worse. And, there is a widespread apprehension by many commentators that the strict enforcement of the provision in the Florida immigration Bill would lead to the curtailment of citizen’s rights in general. Florida, the Sun Shine State, is home to more than three million immigrants who contribute a lot to the creativity, innovation and the enterprise of the state. The state also has a long tradition of seeing the fact of immigration as an opportunity than a problem. According to the Florida Immigration Coalition, ‘No matter what boat we came on, whether the Mayflower, a slave ship or a balsa, we are all in the same boat now. Together we can create economies that work for all of our families’ (FIC, 2010, p.1). It highlights the fact that America is a country founded by immigrants and all immigrants are here for the well-bring of their families and the society in general. It is not because of illegal immigration per se, but because of the collapse of the immigration system in many ways, the illegal immigrants have to leave in the shadows of the society. Another point to remember is that although heavily marginalized, the illegal immigrants mostly come to the mainstream society by fast integrating themselves with the American way of life. The illegal immigrants are hard workers and have the great determination to face the adversities. Historically, the first waves of migration to Florida begin with the exodus from Cuba after the Cuban Revolution to the South Florida. Then came thousands of immigrants from Puerto Rica and Haiti. For the last decade, the Hispanics tops the list of illegal immigrants to the Florida state. In 2006, ‘it is important to remember that Florida’s unemployment rate is just 3%, the lowest ever recorded since statistical reports began in 1976. Our unemployment rate in Orlando is also 3% which is essentially full employment. This means that there is no pool of workers available to fill all the jobs that undocumented immigrants are currently doing’ (FIC, 2010, p.2). Some industry, especially the Tomato industry would simply die off if the illegal immigration and thus created labor pool is destroyed. Curtailing illegal immigration could also taint the image of the Florida state and make the tourism industry vulnerable. And, one would never be able to predict how it would exactly affect the hundreds of businesses which cannot survive without the constant labor supply from outside. Therefore, it is clear that the issue if illegal immigration could simply be countered through legal means. And, on the one hand, if the state attempts to prevent the costs of illegal immigration, there could be more costs without the services of illegal immigrants. Conclusion The Florida Immigration Bill is framed to check both the legal and illegal immigration to the United States. Although, the policy has been successful in generating a new debate on the extent of illegal immigration, it does not have contributed much to the solving the immigration problems, especially the issues of the Hispanic community who are already in the Florida state and contributed to the growth of many fundamental economic sectors. A strict law and order approach to solving the illegal immigrant issue could well be counter-productive as it could shake the very foundations of the Florida economy as well. Works Cited FIC., (2010). Florida’s Immigrant agenda, Available at Huntington, S., (2004) The Hispanic Challenge, Foreign Policy, March/April, Available at: Weaver, S., (2010). The Florida Immigration Bill: The Controversial Bill That May Change Florida’s Outlook on Immigration. Seminar in Social Science, ISS 4935, Available at Read More