The document discusses various perspectives on immigration in the United States. It outlines the author's view that immigration builds culture and the economy. Research uncovered differing viewpoints, from open immigration to deporting all illegal immigrants. Early immigration was unregulated, but increased regulation followed WWI as immigrants were screened. Current debates center around border security, citizenship paths, and impacts on jobs and the environment. The document presents arguments from both anti-immigration and pro-immigration groups and proposes potential policy solutions and reforms.

1. Immigration
By Preston Koontz

2. How I have viewed the issue
 All Americans are immigrants
 Diversity has created rich culture and history
 Immigration builds the economy by increasing the work force
 Immigrants should have easier time obtaining citizenship
 Reform is needed on the issue
 People deserve to live the American-Dream

3. What I found in my research
 During research I found many differing viewpoints about the issue.
 Claims ranged from outlandish to practical plans such as:
 Immigration should be open in the United states
 All illegal immigrants should be deported due to breaking of American laws.
 We should assist in Central American Immigrants border crossing to avoid death cased by
dehydration and lack of supplies
 We should assist with those persons who go through the proper channels and allow more
individuals to apply for citizenship

4. Early Immigration
FIRST IMMIGRANTS REGULATION
 Immigration began in the early 16th  After WWI immigrants were
century with European settlers. screened for things like literacy
before they were aloud to enter
 Immigration was mostly
the country
unregulated until after WWI
 The civil rights era brought new
 WWI brought a new sense of
awareness to the rights of
distrust to other nations
minorities and their rights
 New waves of central American and
Asian immigrants begin to arrive
soon after

5. Emergence a Social Problem
 Immigration was first considered a  Current Immigration problems
social problem soon after WWI arouse post 9/11
 Classic reasons why outsiders are  Suspicion of outsiders, especially
considered different were middle eastern immigrants, greatly
accentuated after this period increased in the early 2000’s
 Both early and later social  New areas of unrest have steamed
pathologies can attribute to this from a weakening economy and
social problem. In early social many immigrants are blamed for
pathology, the idea to fear taking American jobs.
outsiders, or immigrants, has been
present in the human mindset
forever

6. Views on Immigration
ANTI IMMIGRATION GROUP PRO IMMIGRATION GROUP
 F.A.I.R. wants to make immigration  Border angels look to better the
affordable by limiting the type of quality of life for Central American
people that enter our country immigrants
 Manage the borders by increasing  They want to aid immigrants in
security on all sides their transition decreasing the
number of deaths in the Arizona
 Decrease environmental impact by
desert
limiting population numbers
 Support immigrants as they enter
 Manage effects of immigration on
the United States with a focus on
healthcare, jobs, and education
illegal migrant workers

7. Pro Immigration Claims
 The Century Foundation published this set of statistics that states that
 “For service-related and professional workers, immigration has had little impact on wages.
If anything, increases in the number of newly arriving immigrants actually have slightly
positive effects.”
 “For manual laborers, increases in the share of newly arrived immigrants have no
statistically significant negative impact on wages; but increases in the share of immigrants
who adjust their immigration status after they have been in the United States—for
example, from student or tourist visas (which do not permit employment) to green cards—
have a small negative effect.”
 “The annual wages of low-skilled native workers are about 2.4 percent below where they
would be otherwise as a result of the presence of immigrant workers.”

8. Anti Immigration Claims
 Immigration limits jobs for natural-born Americans
 Undocumented workers do not have rights to work in the US.
 Unemployment rates continue to rise and will continue to rise as more workers enter the
country.
 Immigrants act as a “pollutant”
 Genetic differences and stereotypes increase this mentality
 Improper passing of information from generation to generation contributes
 High influx of immigrants increases crime rate
 Immigrants are unaware of social “rules” that are present including cultural norms

9. Proposed Solutions
 Worksite Enforcements:
 Issuance of the “No Match” Regulation
 All workers must hold legal status in the United States
 The Social Security Administration will send letters to employers explaining the potential liability
of hiring illegal employees
 Reduce the amount of documents accept to verify identity and work eligibility
 Increase fines for hiring illegal workers
 Increase investigation of employers who hire illegal workers
 Federal contractors must use the Federal Electronic Employment Verification System to verify
each employee
 Increase the use of E-Verify to other industries
 Make E-verify integrated with DMV’s around the country to avoid illegal workers from obtaining
job by showing a fake driver’s license

10. Proposed Solutions Cont.
 Guest Worker Programs:
 Reform the H-2A Agricultural Seasonal Worker Program
 Reform the H-2B Program for non-agricultural seasonal workers
 Extend the TN work visa eligibility to 3 years
 Improve the current immigration system:
 Streamline the background checks conducted by the FBI when required by the USCIS
 Make sure that illegal aliens do not earn credits toward social security
 The Naturalization Process:
 A revised naturalization test (citizenship test) with focus on the American democracy, U.S. history
and what is expected of a U.S. citizen
 Increased training of immigration coaches that help applicants through the immigration process
 The development of a web-based learning tool meant to increase the English language skills

11. Possible shortcomings of reform
 The issue with all of these proposed solutions is the
cost to benefit ratio. Is the cost of adding additional
border security warranted with the “threat” proposed
form undocumented workers and immigrants? Is the
cost of e-verifying identifications implemented
throughout our DMV’s congruent with the problem,
and so on? However, the proposed legislature for this
particular social problem seems to fit the desires of
the policy makers, and the people that they influence.

12. Where I see the issue going
 Like other social problems, the issue is rarely actually solved. There is always
a compromise that is beneficial for one group and detrimental to another.
Immigration reform may solve the problem for a short while, but there will
be new arising issues that need to be dealt with.
 However, I do see the current legislation contributing to a more reasonable
way of operating. Security will be increased, immigration will be slightly
harder to achieve, but the overall affects will be beneficial.