Immigration vs the NASW Code of Ethics - Essay Example

In essence, most of the professional fields have stipulated particular consequences in form of fines and penalties that should be imposed on anyone who does not adhere to the ethical conducts. The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) is the social worker’s professional organization in the United States. However, not all workers belong to the NASW. The organization has stipulated principles and values that all members adhere. The enshrined values aim to promoting the social aspects within society.

The NASW code of ethics advocates for equality and justice to all. However, the federal government’s current policy on immigration has remained the most controversial aspect that contravenes the tenets of the National Association of Social Workers. North America is known as the land of immigrants because unlike any other nation, it receives millions of immigrants annually, and this has labeled the United States as the melting Pot in the globe. The proposals such as Taxation Laws, Prosecuting Illegal Immigrants, H4 visa Program and the H-1B Visa Program, put forward in the much-awaited amendment of the immigration policy contravene the basic values of a social worker’s perspective.

However, proposals such as the Life Adjustment Program, Legalization of Undocumented Immigrants and W-visa Program promote the values of a social worker. . This paper seeks to examine the core values and principles of NASW’s code of ethics and compare them to the 1986 immigration legislation and its current policies and procedures of enforcement. This comparison will guide a detailed discussion of what changes in policy should be included as the Congress contemplates new immigration legislation in relation to the social worker’s perspective.

As point of departure, the illegal entry has taken place for a long time and indeed, during the 1986 amnesty, almost 12 million illegal immigrants were in the United States forming 5% of the entire work force (Washingtonpost.com, 2013). This statistics indicates severe situation, since the statistics are overwhelming. This might have contributed to the stringent immigration policy, which the social worker’s perspective does not support. The issue of immigration is a national problem to the US government and an international challenge across other countries.

A bill was passed in the U.S. known as Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986,and became a law, which made legal the hiring and recruitment of illegal immigrants” (Washingtonpost.com, 2013). According to Goodman, (2013), comparison of this law with the NASW, evidences that, the law enshrines tough regulations that turned out to be inhuman. The NASW has fine ethical code of conduct that is contrary to the regulations of the Act. Other reforms made in the immigration policy in the past have consistently contradicted this code of conduct.

Denial of certain rights to certain group of people is considered inhuman, since it violates the basic human rights. It will be a win situation for the members and proponents