San Jose State University SJSU ScholarWorks Current Controversies Political Science Spring 2007 CURRENT CONTROVERSIES, Vol. I, Spring 2007 San Jose State University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/controversies Recommended Citation San Jose State University, "CURRENT CONTROVERSIES, Vol. I, Spring 2007" (2007). Current Controversies. Paper 2. https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/controversies/2 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Political Science at SJSU ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Current Controversies by an authorized administrator of SJSU ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. CURRENT CONTROVERSIES: Volume One, Spring 2007 IN THE SHADOWS OF IMMIGRATION Mohammad Huweih , Editor-in-Chief The first in a Series of journals written by students in Political Science 100W 1 ShadoIS Current Controversies: Immigration A Foreword The issue of immigration is very controversial, and with that controversy there are many opinions. Clicking through television, you can find shows that discuss immigration almost every day. On CNN, Lou Dobbs, on CNN Headline News, Glenn Beck, among others, drill the issue to their viewers constantly. Going to the radio, many others have brought up the issue. Rush Limbaugh, one of the most popular radio hosts, among many others, has discussed the issue on the radio. According to the Associated Press, immigration in the month of June, 2007 has exceeded the War in Iraq as the most talked about issue. The talk radio and television talk shows have affected the public’s perspective on immigration. In fact, the politicians are also slowly changing their minds, and even taking suggestions made by the talk radio hosts. In the Current Controversies series, the issue at hand is immigration. With so much talk about the issue, it is very difficult to know what is fact and what is fiction regarding immigration. We are in The Shadows of Immigration, and in the shadows of a debate about an issue that will shape the coming decades of the United States. The United States is at a crossroads. With illegal immigration, border problems, the threat of terrorism, drug trafficking, the United States will shape its future based on the resolution on the table or other upcoming resolutions. This journal is here to inform the reader what is fact and what is not regarding immigration. The goal, after reading the journal, is to be an informed and educated Current Controversies: Immigration B resident of the United States. When a person brings up immigration, the reader would be able to know whether the person knows what he or she is talking about. The journal is broken up into different sections that touch on different aspects of immigration. Section one, edited by Mohammad Huweih, deals with the history and policy of immigration, opening up the subject to the reader. It covers the reason for regulations, the history of it, and closes off with an article discussing the United States approach to ethnicity in immigration. Section two is split into six sub sections. Section two covers illegal immigration. The sub sections are -sources of illegal immigration, edited by Eric Breitenfield -economic issues, edited by Steven Neese -state costs, edited by Eric Breitenfield -exploitation, edited by Gabriela Hill -social issues, edited by Gabriela Hill -security, edited by Steven Neese. The last article closes off sub section six, with security and the issue of terrorism. Section three covers proposed legislation in the year 2007, written by Vanessa De Los Reyes-Lopez. Section four concludes the journal, written by Steven Neese. Mohammad Huweih Editor in chief Current Controversies: Immigration C Current Controversies: In the Shadows of Immigration Volume One 2007 Mohammad Huweih, Editor in Chief Eric Breitenfield, Copy Editor Gabriela Hill, Copy Editor Steven Neese, Copy Editor Vanessa De Los Reyes-Lopez, Graphics Editor Karina Diaz, Circulation Manager Amanda Baker, Circulation Staff Maria Contreras, Circulation Staff Natasha Lewis, Circulation Staff Miriam Mohammadi, Circulation Staff Anngeli Salvacion, Circulation Staff Professor Frances L. Edwards, Publisher and Production San Jose State University College of Social Sciences Department of Political Science TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Current Controversies: Immigration D Foreword B I. History and policy of immigration Reasons for immigration regulation 2 History of U.S. immigration policy 18 Examining the significance of ethnicity in America’s approach to 32 immigration Immigration and family reunification 50 Amnesty 66 II. Illegal Immigration A. Sources of illegal immigration China 82 Russia 100 Africa 115 Illegal immigration into Mexico 135 B. Economic issues Exportation of capital in the form of remittances 148 C. State costs Health care and schools 173 Immigration policy and public health 189 Social security and border patrol 203 Illegal immigrants and law enforcement 213 Illegal immigration and local programs 228 D. Exploitation Exploitation of immigrant children and their labor 248 Illegal immigration and the sex trade 263 E. Social Issues Focus on New Orleans 284 Illegal immigration and housing impacts 302 E. Security The Wall along the border: costs and benefits 317 Military build-up at the United States-Mexico border 332 Immigration and terrorism: is there a link? 348 III. 2007 Proposed Legislation 372 IV. Conclusion 376 Current Controversies: Immigration E History and Policy of Immigration Current Controversies: Immigration 1 Reasons for Immigration Regulation By Mohammad Huweih I. Abstract Immigration can best be described in waves. War and Depression ends those waves. The three waves were from 1820 to 1860, 1880 to 1914, and 1965 to the present. During these three waves, legislation in 1921, 1924, 1965, and 1986 have shaped the trend of immigration. Since the immigration reforms of 1965, immigration has increased greatly and caused new debates to the immigration issue. The Act of 1986 opened the issue to illegal immigration, predominantly Mexico. The debate and reasons for immigration today is because of tradition, population control, and social strains. II. Thesis Employment and the chances that unskilled immigrants would take unskilled native work, overpopulation and the environmental degradation that occurs, social strife because of lack of assimilation, and how the actors (media and state) deal with the issue of immigration has affected US immigration history since 1820. III. Background A. Introduction Before the issue of immigration can be discussed, the term has to be defined. The act of immigration is when a person goes from one territory of one government, and enters another territory of another government (Brown, 1999, p. xi). Settlers that moved from Europe to the Americas were not immigrants because the American territory was under European control. Another definition of immigrants, as defined by the United States of America (USA), is of those that plan to reside in the US permanently that come Current Controversies: Immigration 2 from another country that is not under US control. People that come here as tourists, temporary workers, or students are not considered immigrants; rather they would be nonimmigrant and are not part of the statistics of immigration. Immigration can best be described in waves. There are three waves of immigration in US history. Each wave is characterized by a high number of immigrants generally from a handful of countries. Between the waves there are usually wars, depression, and a change in public perception that requires Congress to limit or at times stop immigration (Brown, 1999, p. xvii). The rationale for regulating or not regulating immigration changes depending on the events at that time. Wars and depression mark the end of a wave, and the end of the wars and depression sometimes mark the beginning of a new wave. The first wave of immigrants was from 1820 to 1860. It ended right before the Civil War and the depression that followed it. The second wave was from 1880 to 1914. It ended right before the First World War. The Great Depression, the Second World War, and the beginning of the Cold War all were factors for the reason the third wave took very long to start. The third wave began after new legislation was passed in 1965. No large-scale war or depression has occurred since then. B. The First and Second Wave The first wave started when immigration began to be measured in 1820 (Brown, 1999, p. xvii). Some speculate that before 1820, immigration was limited because of the War of 1812. The end of the war might have been a factor in the surge in immigration in the 1820s. Current Controversies: Immigration 3 This first wave was characterized by an ever expanding frontier, a fairly stable nation politically, and the need for labor. The annual immigration rate continued to increase, until it dropped and stabilized after the wave ended (Edmonston & Smith, 1997, p. 32). The end of the wave occurred in 1860, and was the result of the political unrest that brought about the Civil War in 1861. The war was followed by a depression in the economy. Depressions are characterized by a high supply of labor and a low demand for that labor. When immigrants come into the US during a depression, they could not find a job and would not benefit from the move. The second wave began in 1880. The frontier was still expanding, and the depression had ended, while conditions in Europe were politically unstable. Mostly Italians, Russians, and Eastern Europeans came into the country at this period (Brown, 1999, p. xviii). This period showed record numbers of immigrants. The level of immigration per 1000 residents reached over 10 in the 1910s. (Edmonston & Smith, 1997, p. 33). These rates of immigration numbers are far higher than recent years. B. Restriction By Race Even during the second wave there was a movement to limit immigration from some countries. The first exclusionary legislation was past against the Chinese after an increase in population in the West because of the need for labor.