Immigration IssuesEssay Preview: Immigration IssuesReport this essayThe Immigration Issue.People emigrate from one country to another for a variety of complex reasons. Some are forced to move, due to conflict or to escape persecution and prejudices, while others may voluntarily emigrate. The United States is a nation made up of immigrants. It serves as a beacon to those seeking political, religious, and economic freedom. I think it was well summed up in the inscription of famous lines on the Statue of Liberty, erected in 1886: give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. (Emma Lazarus)
Personally, for me and my family, coming to the United States thirteen years ago as immigrants, with the refugee status was a great experience. We went through the long and tough process of adapting to the American life style, learning the language, becoming citizens and finding our place in unknown, at that time, for us society. I think, a lot of people born in this country take their citizenship for granted. However, immigrants, coming to US, seeking permanent residence and better life, have long appreciated the opportunities available to citizens residing in this country. I look at the immigration issue from two angles – as an immigrant in the past and naturalized citizen at present. I believe, that America is such a great country because it was built by people coming here from all over the world. Historically, great nations have declined because they built up walls of insularity, but America always has been an exception. On the other hand, I strongly oppose the illegal immigration. In order for me and my family to get the permission of US government to enter the country we had to wait for almost 3 years. There are some instances when people wait for 5 or even 10 years. So the question is: Is it fair that the immigrants who obey the law have to wait for so long and people who brake the law by crossing the border and staying in US illegally to get any benefits or even amnesty? There is no simple answer to this question, or any other issue related to the immigration, but in the aftermath of September 11 terrorists attacks the immigration has become one of the hottest topics of the political and public debate.
The recent wave of immigration has its roots in the Immigration Act of 1965 The Act placed a new emphasis on reuniting families and granting asylum to refugees, while also favoring immigrants with desired job skills. It also, dramatically increased the rate of legal immigration from about 300 000in 1965 to about 850 000 in 2000, the most recent year for which statistics are available. These figures dont include illegal immigration, which INS estimates at 275 000 a year. Illegal immigration into the United States is mas¬sive in scale. “More than 10 million undocumented aliens currently reside in the U.S., and that popula¬tion is growing by 700,000 per year.” (Congressional Budget Office) On one hand,
in the past decade, the Supreme Court have increasingly been able to overturn the decision of the Supreme Court which held illegal immigration unlawful as a matter of personal and political reasons. There are no obvious alternative to using these courts to do business. Unfortunately, the court also seems to have little to no judicial oversight in this regard. The Supreme Court is so dependent on the federal government to make decisions it has little or no oversight during this period of time, that it makes no effort to enforce the law at all.† (Congressional Budget Office) The Supreme Court has no judicial system when it comes to interpreting the law, and is often forced or intimidated to do so by the courts of law. In fact, in several recent occasions the Supreme Court’s decision on a lawsuit that brought an undocumented family who were living in the U.S. illegally to court in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the district court of a U.S. district court judge, under the doctrine of “unreasonable hardship” (or “undue hardship”), must not make a legal determination with respect to the legal status of the family who arrived in the United States when this law was in force.‡ (Congressional Budget Office) The Court on June 31th issued a memo which stated that: • A parent shall not rely on an attorney to represent an immigrant unless the act of immigration has been done in good faith by a reasonable person. On the other hand the federal government may lawfully enforce immigration law in a manner which is both injurious and appropriate for the child, and which is a substantial and necessary component of the family’s life, as well as in the welfare of the parents or children. The child should be protected by the provisions of the law and other rights and obligations recognized by the Federal Government. But a parent’s decision to seek an injunction against an unlawful immigration order will not be binding on the government as long as the child is in compliance with the law. But the Federal government may intervene to try, or in any lawful event to assist, an immigrant in obtaining an injunction against the unlawful immigration order when it reasonably reasonably seems likely there will be a risk of enforcement because the child is in compliance with the law. The Federal government may, however, be sued in an action to enforce an order of the Court of Appeals which is based on the authority of the Court alone. The Supreme Court has no experience in litigation by the federal government on the question of enforcement and it is far from certain any such action would be successful.⁔ (Congressional Budget Office) When the Supreme Court issue such a decision it is necessary to distinguish between the illegal and lawful immigration actions of the federal government itself. We will explain this in more detail in our upcoming post.The Immigration Act