Migration to the USA - Research Proposal Example

The US Illegal Immigrants Laws and the Business Community – Impact and Interests Problem ment: "Immigration is a tough issue for a lot of Americans. The agreement reached today is one that will help enforce our borders, but equally importantly, it will treat people with respect. This is a bill where people who live here in our country will be treated without amnesty, but without animosity." (President George W. Bush May 17, 2007) United States of America is the land of immigrants which is formed by the migration of people from Europe for political, religious or economic reasons. (Rodman D. Griffin 1994). Over the period of time, the same phenomenon (immigration) that populated the country has now become a major debatable issue in the political, economic and social circles of the US lobbies. There was a time when United States o f America used to be called as the land of opportunities for the people of the third world or developing countries. The land of United States of America has been proved as the machine which converts the dreams into reality. Those desires which were mere dream for the people of the developing world in their own countries, they came to United States of America and their those dreams got fulfilled. On the other hand, the America was also welcoming them openly. The major motive, according to various researchers, was not the desire to help fellow mankind, rather to attain the cheap labor for the country. This was the reason why the business community of the United States of America has always been in favor of allowing the illegal immigrants to get legalized or at least to be allowed to stay here. Though it seems quite obscure and strange, yet it is a reality that once immigration was taken for granted in the US policy but now, immigration policy occupies a significant space in the political agenda of both, the democrats and the republicans. Moreover, the business community is also trying their level best to influence the immigrations policies and shape them in such a manner that benefit their own motives such as the steady availability of the cheap labor. The illegal immigration reforms and the business community have potential to influence each other. Thus, the problem statement for this research is that there are the interests of the US Business Community in the relaxed illegal immigration reform. What those interests and impacts are will be analyzed in this research. Literature Review: In this literature review, we intend to explore and identify what has already been research and what needs to be research regarding the perspective of business community regarding the illegal immigration reforms. The scheme of the literature review would be as follows: First of all, we would try to define what we mean by the term immigration. Then we will look into the history of illegal immigration to the United States of America. Afterwards, we will also explore the United State of America’s policies of handling illegal immigrations over the period of time. Moving further, we will look into the interest of the business community of the United States of America in this issue. What is immigration? The term immigration has been defined by different researchers differently. The laws of different land define the term in different words, however, the letter may vary but the spirit remains the same. Let us look at what different constitutions state about their interpretation of immigration. The Council of Europe defines the immigration in following words. “The process of entering one country from another to take up permanent residence.” The Christ Church City Library defines this term as: “Immigration is when an individual arrives into a new country to live.” The laws of the New Zealand tell that the immigration is: “Permanent or Long-Term migration It includes migrant approvals under prevailing immigration policy, as well as former New Zealanders returning after a year or more away.” The United State embassy’s official site defines it as: “To enter and settle in a country or region to which one is not native.” From all the above definitions, we can very easily decode the definition of illegal immigration. Illegal immigration is the act of living in a country other than one’s native country without possessing the documents permitting to do so. How did the immigration in the United States of America Started? The United States of America is known as the land of immigrants. When the new world America was discovered by Colombo, a great of number of people got settled there. The shifting of people there can be attributed to more than one reasons, the super powers of that time did so to develop their colonies there. Moreover, as a punishment, people were also sent there. Anyhow, all this result in the new world getting populated. This shift of population converted into the rush of population to the America, when it was revealed to the people in Europe and other parts of the world that the gold mines have been discovered in United States around California. The trend continued after United States of America came into being. Specially, during the world wars and after that, when United States was economically progressing by leaps and bounds, the people of the developed nations saw the opportunity there and they immigrated to United States. Throughout the history, as the number of immigrants to United States rose, so did the proportion of illegal immigrants among them. What are the illegal immigrant reforms and how did they shape over the period of time? We have already explored the trend of immigration and the illegal immigration to the United States of America, let us look at the trends or chronology of the United States regulations to monitor or control the illegal immigration. In 1800s, the anti-immigrant hatred built after European immigrants were welcomed in the huge number. In 1882, the additional immigrants of China were particularly stopped by Chinese Exclusion Act. In 1920s, the concerns arose and reached the ears of congress regarding the change in the original ethnic make up and hard economic times in the nation. As a result, Congress limited immigration and set quotas intended to preserve the nations ethnic makeup. (Tomasi, 1992) In the decade of 1920’s, the Congress established a national-origins quota system, which effectively excluded Asians and Southern Europeans. Gradually the illegal immigration from the Mexican border became a serious threat; as a result, a US Border Patrol force was created in 1924. During the time of Second World War, the policy of the immigrants was relaxed as a result of the labor shortages and expansion of the US economy. (Sable, 1987) Consequently, US accepted war survivors, welcomed refugees from communist countries and overhauled immigration laws. Since, Mexico was the closed to US and thus most convenient option to get the cheap labor and over come the labor shortages, in 1942, U.S. created Bracero guest worker program which allowed immigrant Mexican farm workers to work temporarily on American farms. This was probably first time in the history when the immigration had openly declared economic motives. In 1948, extra 200,000 visas were authorized by the Congress for concentration camp survivors, later raised to more than 400,000. In 1952, Congress passed landmark Immigration and Nationality Act, codifying existing quota system favoring immigrants from northern Europe but exempting Mexican farm workers in Texas. As a result of cold war, the US exempted the flees from communist countries from the Quota System in 1953. In 1960s-1970s, amid growing Civil Rights Movement, U.S. scraped the biased quota system and admits more Asians and Latin Americans. (Fragoman and Bell, 1996; Daleat, 2000) In 1965, a quota system was introduced giving the preference to the relative of the immigrants. Another manifestation of the influence of politics on the immigration laws the orders of Congress in 1966 which allowed those fleeing Fidel Castros Cuba to be admitted automatically if they reach U.S. shores. The decades of 1980’s saw a drastic increase in the number of immigrants that prompted to think tanks to look over this matter. In 1986, for the first time the sanctions were imposed for the employers of the illegal immigrants, as a result of action over the fact that 1.7 million illegal immigrants were there at US-Mexican border at that time. Despite the immigration laws, the trend of illegal immigrants keep on growing, a major reason for that was the fact that the business community was supporting them through providing employment. It was so because, through those illegal immigrants, the business community was getting the cheap labor. (Batiz et. al, 1991) However, national-security concerns cloud immigration debate after two terrorist attacks on U.S. soil by Middle Eastern visitors. After the issue of 9/11, a heavy crack down started against the illegal immigrants and against those who supported them. To add fuel to fire, the 9/11 Commission points to “systemic weaknesses” in border-control and immigration systems. In Jan. 20, 2005, President Bush called for a “temporary worker” program that would not include “amnesty” for illegal immigrants. In May 2005, Sen. F. James Sensenbrenners Real ID bill, which would block states from issuing drivers licenses to illegal immigrants, appears close to passage. Finally in 2007, the comprehensive immigration reforms were introduced. What is the interest of business community in the issue? The employers have always been the keen advocates of the policies in the favor of the immigrants. It is so because; these immigrants ensure the constant supply of the cheap labor. (Katel 2005)They are usually willing to work at lower wages and perform those activities which the US residents don’t want to perform like working the farms, restaurants, gas stations etc. That’s why; especially the states like Texas and Arizona are strong advocates of the immigrant – favoring policy. (Arizona Secretary of State Proposition 200)Thus it is quite obvious, higher the influence of these employers on the government, the more immigrant favoring policies are expected. Their most strong argument is the fact that cheap labor supply ultimately reduces the cost and thus benefiting the society in general. Objectives: Illegal immigration is not considered the issue of one department in the United States of America. The issue is so crucial to the macroeconomic life of United States that the illegal immigrants reform has always find a significant place in the political agenda of the political campaigns of both, the democrats and the republicans. The significance to the business community is evident from the fact that the employers have even tried to influence the political and legislative circles, as the exit of those illegal worker would also influence their business. This is why; it is in the supreme interest of the business community to influence the US legislation so as to ensure the stay of the illegal immigrants that means the continuous availability of the cheap labor supply. The objectives of this research are: To investigate the impact of the business community on the illegal immigration reforms To explore the motives that drives them to favor the illegal immigrants. Research Procedure (Methods)-Population and Sample Research Design The research methodology will be based on both the primary and the secondary research. The population is the business community and the illegal immigrants dwelling in the United States of America. However, because of various limitations such as the time and space limitation, we would be investigating from the small sample size (200 each). Instrumentation and Data Collection The data collection methodology for this research will be comprised of two phases. The first phase would be secondary research to determine that what the existing research on this topic has explored. Having explored the secondary research in prior will help us in developing the better, comprehensive and to the point primary research instruments. The Secondary Research: The secondary research will be based on the exploration of the relevant books, journals, internet, newspapers etc. All of these research tools have their own purposes. The books will be telling us that how the theorists think about the perspective of the business community regarding the illegal immigration reforms. The marketing journals will be enabling us to look into up-to-date researches and explore their findings. The internet will be the best tool in order to determine how this issue is addressed globally. The global perspective can be explored through internet. For example, we can see the blogs at various sites to explore what people think about fashion products and what motivates them. The newspapers, especially the international one will be providing various new stories that would be reflecting a number of arguments by the business community for their favor. Primary Research The second method that we will use will be the primary research. The findings of the secondary research will help in developing the instruments for primary research. At present, we have planned to adopt two methods of primary research: 1. Questionnaires: The target audience for the questionnaires will be the illegal immigrants and the members of the business community, which may be male, may be female. Their ages may range from 15 years to 40 years or even more. However, the parameters of target audience may change after doing secondary research, based on its findings. 2. Interview: The second method in this regard is that of interview. We will be interviewing the major stakeholders of the business class who have some say in the house of legislatures. We will also interview from the manufacturers of fashion products. If approachable, we will also try to interview the law makers and look into their perspective. 3. Other methods: If the need arises, we may also shift to other methods too, such as focus group etc. Planned Method of Analysis The data thus collected will although be qualitative most of the time, however, we would be willing to convert as much into the quantitative form as possible. Since there is the small sample size, the use of t-test statistics for hypothesis will be utilized. In case, it is revealed in the initial analysis of the pilot data that the codification into the quantitative form is one way or other defying the essence of this research, we would go for qualitative methods of analysis. Research Outcome As an outcome to this effort, we wish to achieve a sound understanding of the factors that influence the regulations for illegal immigrants as well as the business community that lead them to influence those regulations. We would try to learn the perspective of both, the legislatures and the business society and above all, the immigrants. Time Schedule The time required to conduct this research can be analyzed by breaking down the work into various tasks: Approval of Proposal - This task will take approximately one week Secondary Research - This task will take approximately one week Questionnaire Designing - This task will take approximately one week Survey (Questionnaire) - This task will take approximately two week Survey (Interview) - This task will take approximately two to three weeks. This time duration is subject to the availability of interviewees. Data Compilation, Tabulation and Editing - This task will take approximately one week Data Analysis and conclusion - This task will take approximately one week Thus the entire task will take approximately 10 weeks or 2-3 months. However, even this timeline is tentative as it depends on a number of variables. Especially the availability of the interviewees has a great potential to delay the critical tasks. Resources Needed Personnel: The higher the number of people, the faster the research is. The above mentioned timeline is based on the assumption that there are five people available each doing all the tasks. However, the ideal personnel mix is the: 5 data collectors - Questionnaires 2 data collectors - Interviewers 1 secondary researcher 1 data analyst If this combination is available, the above mentioned timeline can be suppressed by almost 15 %. Budget The budget can divided into following heads: The personnel cost: 750$ The material/stationary cost: 100$ Transportation Cost: 300$ Miscellaneous: 100$ 1250$ Needed assurances/clearances The major assurances needed would be the consents of the participants to participate in the research, especially those associated with the legislations related to illegal immigrants and those having high stakes in the business community. References Delaet, D., (2000). U. S. Immigration Policy in an Age of Rights. New York: Praeger. Fragomen, A., & Bell, S. (1996). Immigration Fundamentals. New York: Practising Law Institute. Rivera-Batiz, F., Sechzer, S., & Gang, I. (1991). U. S. Immigration Policy Reform in the 1980s. New York: Praeger. Sable, M., (1987). Mexican and Mexican-American Agricultural Labor in the United States. New York: Haworth Press. Tomasi, L., (1992). Legal Immigration Reform in the United States, Immigration Policy in a Global Perspective, Bilateral and Multilateral Agreements and Implications of a Single European Market, Reforming Refugee Resettlement, U. S. Farmworker Access to Health Care. New York: Center for Migration Studies. Katel, P. (2005, May 6). Illegal immigration. CQ Researcher, 15, 393-420. Retrieved September 24, 2007, from CQ Researcher Online, http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre2005050600 Rodman D. Griffin (1992), “Illegal Immigration,” The CQ Researcher “Economic Development Statistics”, Government of New Zealand, Retrieved September 24, 2007 “Glossary”, Council of Europe, Retrieved September 24, 2007 “Glossary”, Council of Europe, Retrieved September 24, 2007 “Glossary”, Government of United State of America, US Embassy, Retrieved September 24, 2007 “Proposition 200,” Arizona Secretary of State, Retrieved September 24, 2007 Eisenhower, Dwight. ‘Press Briefing on Immigration Reform.’ May 17, 2007 Read More