Current Immigration Situation in the United States - Case Study Example

The current immigration situation in the United s Introduction Immigration is a significant issue for all governments within the international community. Traditionally, the role of immigration was to achieve a better standard of living and secure the future both of the immigrant and his family. However, today immigration has been differentiated. Many people become immigrants for political reasons, i.e. in order to escape from a political regime which do not recognize the rights of individuals and do not respect the value of human life. Regarding specifically the USA it should be noticed that this country has been chosen by immigrants through the years mostly because of the prospects available to immigrants in order to improve their life. In fact, in accordance with a recent research ‘immigrants come to the United States, legally and illegally, at the rate of around a million a year; there are now over 34 million foreign-born persons living here, the largest number in American history’ (Center for Immigration Studies, 2005). The above study refers to the current immigration flow to USA. However, immigration rates to USA were traditionally high. However, as already noticed above, the causes and the aims of immigration have been changed today in accordance with current social and financial conditions within the international community. Regarding this issue, it has been found that ‘unlike the past, many immigrants to the United States now arrive from countries with very different cultural, religious, psychological, and political traditions; a natural question therefore arises as to how well these millions of new immigrants are finding their place in American society and in the American national community’ (Center for Immigration Studies, 2005). It seems that USA has developed the appropriate framework for the incorporation of immigrants within the American Society. However, in many cases immigration does not have the expected results. More specifically, it is noticed that ‘in contrast to the success stories of a few immigrant entrepreneurs or reconstituted fragments of an uprooted capitalist class, the majority within these immigrant and refugee groups are forming part of a restructured working class found throughout the advanced industrial states’ (Bach, 1986, 139). In other words, the standard of living of immigrants in USA cannot be always expected to be improved. The final result should be regarded as influenced by a series of parameters, mostly by the existence of appropriate support in the communities that accept immigrants so that the latter to be gradually developed (both financially and socially). In case that there is no such a support it is very likely that the living conditions of immigrants in USA will remain similar with those of their country of origin. 2. Immigration in USA 2.1 Trends and statistics of immigration in USA As already explained above, immigration in USA presents a continuous increase while a high percentage of immigrants have already incorporated in the American Society. More specifically, in accordance with a report published in USA Today (Haya El Nasser, 2005) ‘more than 34 million people in the USA, or almost one in eight, were born in another country, according to the governments survey of 62,500 households in March 2004; about 6 million arrived since 2000, 59% of them from Latin America and 23% from Asia’. It should be noticed that the rate of increase of immigrants in USA is extremely high for more than a decade. This fact is proved in the data published in Figure 1. Also in accordance with a report published by the Cato Institute and the National Immigration Forum (1995) ‘though the volume of illegal immigration is inherently difficult to estimate, a solid body of research, using a variety of ingenious methods, has now arrived at a consensus: the number of illegals in the United States is perhaps 3.2 million, pushed downward by the amnesty of 1987-1988, not very different from a decade before. Many of these persons are transitory’ The current percentage of immigrants in USA (on the most recent available data) is presenting in Figure 1 (Appendices section). In accordance with the specific table, in the decade 1991-2001 approximately 9,095,417 immigrants entered the American territory. This is a significant increase if taking into consideration the relevant figures of the decade 1941-1950 during which immigration to USA reached the 1,035,039. On the other hand, it should be noticed that the decade of 1931-1940 (preparatory period of the Second World War) immigration in USA presented a radical decline to 528,431 immigrants compared to the 4,107,209 of the previous decade (1921-1930). It seems that political decisions and turbulences within the global community can have a significant impact on the development of immigration internationally. 2.2 Demographic characteristics of immigrants in USA A characteristic element of immigration in USA is the variety of cultures involved. On the other hand, because of the different data revealed on the particular issue, it is expected that relevant studies will be differentiated regarding the trends and the cultural characteristics of immigrants in USA. In accordance with the study published recently (2007) by the Constitutional Rights of Foundation ‘most of today’s immigrants do not come from Europe; they mainly come from Asia and Latin America, especially Mexico; most recent Asian immigrants have come from five countries: China, India, the Philippines, Korea, and Vietnam; Chinese immigration restarted in 1943 when Congress got rid of the Chinese Exclusion Act; most Korean immigrants have joined family members who immigrated around the time of the Korean War (1950–53)’ (Constitutional Rights of Foundation, 2007, pg. 16). It seems from the above data that demographic characteristics of immigrants in USA tend to change in accordance with the political and financial conditions around the world. In accordance with another study made by Wooldridge (2004) the following assumptions can be made regarding the immigration flow to the United States: ‘Mexico is moving its excess population, wholesale, into America with 9.2 million so far and millions more crossing at 2,000 per day; the Philippines at 1.5 million and China at 1.4 million follow them; these numbers grow with immigrants from India, Vietnam, Cuba, Korea, Canada, El Salvador and other Latin American countries; at current rates of immigration, both legal and illegal, will add 45 million foreign born into the USA’ (Wooldridge, 2004 ). In other words, the presence of Asian and Latin-American immigrants in USA is significant with a trend of continuous increase. The over-representation of the particular populations in USA could may lead the country to a demographic problem (as of the ‘balance’ between the natives and the foreigners) in the upper future; however, because the country has an effective mechanism of incorporating immigrants in the American Society (adoption by immigrants of local culture and ethics) such a case is not expected to appear even under current rates of increase related with immigration in the USA. As for the age and the education of immigrants, the following data have been revealed through a report published in USA Today: ‘of the 3.4 million immigrants age 25 or older who arrived from 2000 to 2004, 30.7% were high school dropouts; that compares with 33.2% of the 3.5 million who came from 1995 to 2000; and more recent arrivals are college-educated: 34.3% had a bachelors degree or higher, compared with 32.5% in the late 1990s’ (Haya El Nasser, 2005, USA TODAY). 2.3 Current legal framework regarding immigrants in USA USA has developed an extremely advanced legal framework related with immigration. In fact the particular issue has been handled appropriately by all the country’s authorities trying to ensure the protection of immigrants’ rights but also the protection of the rights of natives by potential violation. In accordance with current legal rules applied in USA for immigrants ‘states have limited legislative authority regarding immigration, and 28 U.S.C. (United States Constitution) § 1251 details the full extent of state jurisdiction; generally, 28 U.S.C. § 994 details the federal sentencing guidelines for illegal entry into the country; Congress has total and complete authority over immigration while the power of the President is limited to policies on refugees’ (Cornell university, 2007). It should be noticed that Courts in USA are not particularly involved in the resolution of problems related with immigrants. Only certain cases reach the country’s Courts; usually these cases refer to the violation of a specific Constitutional right. The most important legislative text applied currently for immigrants in USA is the Immigration Act of 1990 which also refers to the documents required by immigrants that enter the country. It is also noticed that ‘the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 made it illegal for employers to hire undocumented workers; but this provision of the law has had questionable effect as the immigration service permits employers to accept many different documents as proof of work eligibility’ (Constitutional Rights of Foundation, 2007, pg. 22). Apart from this weakness of the above legislative text, the development of appropriate mechanisms for the provision of necessary documentation to immigrants that enter USA has created an additional problem: many of the documents given to immigrants through this procedure lack of validity and credibility; as a result a major problem results for the immigrants involved in this procedure. An issue that should be mentioned here is the fact that immigrants in USA are likely to be involved in illegal activities especially if there will be no appropriate support during their establishment in the country (referring to their entrance and a first – transitory – period of living in a specific community within USA). More specifically in accordance with a series of statistics revealed by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (2007) ‘in 2007 the illegal alien population is above 13 million persons; government and academic estimates indicate that as of 2006 there were 11 to 12 million illegal aliens living in the United States; the Center for Immigration Studies estimated the illegal alien population at 10 million as of November 2004’. However, the above figures cannot lead to the assumption that immigrants that enter the USA have a negative ‘profile’ regarding their daily activities. Instead the above data would be used in order to urge the local authorities to monitor closely all steps of the immigration procedure ensuring that immigrants will be appropriately established in the country (in terms of their professional activity and their personal development - social interaction with locals, chances to participate in all initiatives taken place within each particular community). 2.4 Problems caused by immigration in USA Immigration has been traditionally related with many problems in countries around the world. In most case immigrants have been accused for causing severe social and financial turbulences mostly by changing the demographic characteristics of the host countries and by occupying jobs that should be occupied by natives. However, today these issues have no such a strong influence on public’s view regarding the immigration. On the other hand, it is noticed that ‘the arrival of unskilled immigrants in the past did not have the negative fiscal implications that it does today; moreover, the American economy has changed profoundly since the last great wave of immigration, with education now the key determinant of economic success; the costs that unskilled immigrants impose simply reflect the nature of the modern American economy and welfare state’ (Center for Immigration Studies, 2005).In other words, immigration should not be regarded as causing significant problems to modern American economy and society because the whole infrastructure of the country regarding the immigrants is different compared to the past. Referring especially to immigrants from Mexico, it is noticed in a report published by the USA Today (November 2, 2007) that ‘the view that Mexican nationals compete for American jobs and burden the health care system obscures the historical roots of Mexican migration and ignores larger governmental agreements that have played significant roles in contributing to the contemporary levels of immigration; since the early 1940s, the United States has sponsored contract labor programs essentially inviting Mexican laborers to the USA’. In accordance with the issues mentioned above, immigration has not been always an immigrants’ initiative; in many cases appropriate invitation by the host country has been made especially when the local labor forces are not adequate to respond to the relevant needs of the national industry. There is also another view regarding the impact of immigrants on the national economy of USA. More specifically, in accordance with a report published the Federation for American Immigration Reform (2007) ‘analysis based on an estimated 100,000 illegal alien population residing in Tennessee indicates that they cost the state’s taxpayers more than $285 million per year for education, medical care and incarceration’. Although the above study refers to the impact of immigration on a particular region of USA it could be estimated that similar consequences could be caused to other communities of USA where immigrants are established. 3. Conclusion and Recommendations Immigration in USA tends to be increased on a continuous basis. This increase is the result of many factors, the most important of which is the need of immigrants for better living conditions. On the other hand, immigrants have been proved to be valuable for the development of American economy (although the opposite opinion would be expected to be mostly accepted). In the case of Mexican immigrants that were invited to work in USA (as mentioned above) the entrance of these immigrants to the American territory was related with the enforcement of the national economy (through the support of industrial activities across the country). The relation of immigrants with national economy has been also proved through the work of Euzent et al. (2004, 573) who supported that ‘an understanding of the immigration-trade relationship can be improved upon by examining the specific pattern and destination of immigration into specific US states; using state level export data to 28 immigrant source countries in 1993, a strong immigration-trade link is found, reinforcing conclusions made by previous research using country level data’. The particular effects of immigrants on the American economy cannot be precisely estimated. However, it can be assumed that immigrants that entered USA have supported the improvement of national economy through their participation in the various industrial activities of this country. As for the influence of immigrants in the demographic characteristics of natives in USA, it could be stated that this influence was rather limited until today. In fact, local population (native Americans) tend to retain their identity (mixing of races has not been extensively observed in the country, marriages are made mostly between people of same race). Towards this direction it is suggested by Bach (1986, 139) that ‘the incorporation of immigrants into the advanced industrial states may be best understood in the context of recent theoretical debates over the changing character of racial and gender inequality’. In other words, the application of theories related with the interaction of people belonging in different gender and race could not help particularly in the case of immigration in USA. This assumption can be explained by the fact that the immigration flow to the country is extremely high and therefore no precise predictions can be made regarding the influence of immigrants on cultures and ethics of native Americans. Works Cited Bach, R. (1986) Immigration: Issues of Ethnicity, Class and Public Policy in the United States. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 485(1): 139-152 Cato Institute and National Immigration Forum (1995), [Online], available at http://www.cato.org/pubs/policy_report/pr-immig.html Center for Immigration Studies (2005) Reforming Dual Citizenship in the United States, [Online], available at http://www.cis.org/articles/2005/dualcitizenship.html Constitutional Rights of Foundation (2007) Current issues on Immigration, [Online], available at http://www.crf-usa.org/immigration/issues_of_immigration_2007.htm Cornell University (2007) Immigration , [Online], available at "http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/index.php/Immigration" Federation for American Immigration Reform (2007), [Online], available at http://www.fairus.org/site/PageServer Euzent, P., Martin, T. (2004) The export effect of immigration into the USA. Applied Economics, 36 (6): 573-583 Haya El Nasser, 2005, Nation, Recent arrivals better educated, USA TODAY, [Online], available at http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-02-21-immigrants_x.htm Usa Today (Noveber 2, 2007) [Online], available at http://www.mywire.com/pubs/USATODAY/2007/11/02/4862697 Wooldridge, 2004, When is enough immigration? [Online], available at http://www.frostywooldridge.com/articles/art_2004jan19.html Appendices Figure 1 – Immigrants to United States (1821-2001), (source: Constitutional Rights of Foundation, 2007, pg. 14) Figure 2 – Immigration to the United States (source: Constitutional Rights of Foundation, 2007, pg. 16) Read More