Immigration Reform in the US - Research Paper Example

Immigration Reform The US system of governance is based on the rule of law. That simply means that law is supreme and no one, regardless of how powerful or important he or she is, above the law. This also means that the law is applicable to its citizens and to the people in government including the President, army chiefs, and the members of Senate and Congress all alike. The paper discusses the recent immigration reform initiative of the President under which the Department of Homeland Security has deferred action against illegal immigrants providing employment authorizations to them; how this initiative will impact the US born workers in the short and long run? On June 15, 2012, with immediate effect, the Obama administration declared that the administration would not deport young illegal immigrants arrived in the US as children. To speak precisely, the illegal immigrants will get work permit if they have arrived in the US before age 16 and the current age of the applicant is less than 30. They may also be granted work permit if they have been living in this country for 5 years uninterruptedly, have graduated from a US high school, or have served in the military. Above all, it is necessary that they do not have any criminal history during the stay in the US. Janet Napolitano, the Homeland Security further clarified, "It is not immunity; it is not amnesty. It is an exercise of discretion," (Peralta and Memmott, 2012). This implies that the State is using its discretion powers and allowing people to apply for job permits. In this policy measure, the government decides to bypass Congress because of their inability to enforce the Dream Act that has provision of granting citizenship to illegal immigrants provided they serve in the military or go to college. It is estimated that almost 18 million immigrants in the US may take advantage of this scheme. They can be separated in three distinct groups as per the following (American Immigration Council, 2012) 1. Those who are in the age group between 15 and 30 and have earned a high school diploma or in high school; they are eligible for applying under the scheme. 2. Those who fall in the age group between 15 and 30 and have not completed high school diploma; they may be eligible only when they acquire a GED. 3. For those falling in the age group between 5 and 14, they will be eligible in the future date if the initiative remains in place. Positive Implications For many undocumented children, English is their first language and the US is their home. Many of these illegal immigrants are in the process of completing schooling with the top grades. They do have the potential of becoming future teachers, nurses, doctors and scientists but their illegal status comes in their way. The Presidents initiative will give them an opportunity to exploit their full potential. The initiative is aimed at achieving the following objectives (American Immigration Council, 2012). a. Initiative provides opportunity not only to enhance their living standards but contribute to the US economy by increasing its GDP and tax contributions. It has been found that those with higher degrees earn two to three times more than a person with only high-school degree would earn in the US. b. Higher education helps reduce unemployment rate. It has been found that unemployment rate among people with bachelors degree is only 2.3 percent, much lesser compared to those with high-school diploma at 6.8 percent. Similarly, the unemployment rate with doctoral degree is still lesser at 1.4 percent. c. Higher education also creates better health prepositions leading to reduced expense for states toward public health. A study reveals that a 30-year old Mexican female will pay $5300 more in taxes but avails less from government each year when compared with a high-school dropout from the same ethnic group (American Immigration Council, 2012). How the Initiative Likely to Impact the US-born Workers? In a study done by Rob Paral & Associates, it has been found that there is no correlation between the African American unemployment rate in U.S. metropolitan areas and the size of the migrants. They have also found that there is no relationship between unemployment rates at the state, regional or county level and recent immigration. In fact, the region with higher share of the immigrant population is found with the lowest unemployment rates. Dr. Raul Hinojosa-Ojeda of the University of California and other researchers argue that granting legal status to illegal immigrants will help them earn not only higher wages but also boost national economy by buying new homes, starting new businesses or investing in their education. Some of the states such as California, Texas, New York, Washington, Illinois, New Mexico, Kansas, Oklahoma, Utah and Nebraska constitute almost one-half of the nations illegal immigrants and they have passed laws that allow students for in-state tuition increasing school revenues. In this perspective, the initiative will help universities of several states to survive financially (American Immigration Council, 2012). Peri (2010) argues that immigrants tend to stimulate investment, promote specialization and expand the US economy. The researcher states that there is no evidence of immigrants impacting jobs of workers born in the US. They have observed some insignificant effect in the short run but in the long run, it turns into a significant positive impact. As per the report from the Kauffman Foundation, the possibilities of immigrants starting their own businesses have been much higher than those who were born in the US. Thus, immigrants help create more jobs through spillover effect (Fairlie, 2011). States like California faces acute labor shortages in some of the important growth areas. The Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) opines that a significant mismatch exists between the availability of skills in the state and the skills required in coming years to meet the needs of businesses because there are not enough college graduates available. The Obama immigration initiative will help talented school-going students to opt for higher studies in college to meet the needs of the state and the nation. It is always better that these students are allowed to go for higher studies through legal route and serve the country for skilled jobs rather than invite overseas workers to meet the needs of the nation (Gonzales, 2007). Negative Implications It is essential to note that there is a great political divide between the government and the republicans on the reform process pertaining to immigration laws. Republican’s view point is straight forward and they oppose any form of amnesty to illegal immigrants as the party views that amnesty encourages people to break laws. The party aims at reforming the immigration system that is not legal and safe but also humane. Immigration system should be structured such that it addresses national security concerns. The Republican Party asserts that a booming and growing economy always needs increasing number of workers but opposes any amnesty scheme that encourages illegal immigration (Republican Party on Immigration, 2013). In past, several states have passed laws curbing illegal immigration. For example, Arizona passed a law that enforced criminal punishments on undocumented immigrants. Some other states such as Florida, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee have adopted similar legislation. When Federal Government challenged the Arizona state law, the Supreme Court cancelled three of the four major provisions of the law that were passed by Arizona; however, the court upheld the authority of the state to ask for proof of citizenship from the person (Lee, 2013). The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act (The DREAM Act) got introduced first in 2001 but could not pass. Again, introduced in 2011 but failed to muster enough support. The act aimed at protecting undocumented youth who themselves never tried to immigrate to the US. Similarly, the use of E-Verify, a measure to verify employees immigration status, is not enforced by all states equally because even the federal government has not made it mandatory for all states. California has barred its local bodies to make use of E-Verify and it remains optional in many states. State laws provide relief to undocumented youth so they get access to in-state college tuition and financial aid from private and public sources (Lee, 2013). President’s Initiative and the Rule of Law Thus, across the US, the rule of law for immigrants is not uniform and varies widely. In the wake of political polarization, experts say that there is a least chance of comprehensive reform on immigration laws in the near future and in view of this, the President has used his discretion powers by not enforcing existing immigration laws to allow undocumented children to settle in American life. The political debate on this issue emphasizes partial truths from both the sides and thereby subverts the full understanding of the rule of law. Proponents of the rule of law oppose any solution that brings an amnesty to the illegal immigrants because that would make a mockery of law by rewarding to the law breakers. That is true but at the same time constitution also provides power to the chief of the government to withhold a punishment given to the criminal. In 1973, even President Nixon was given pardon in Watergate scandal by President Ford defying the rule of law and was not put on trial. President Obamas initiative to thwart deportation of illegal immigrants should be seen in the larger national perspective because most young immigrants did not arrive in this country on their own but they were brought by their parents or some other legal guardians at the time when they were not even matured enough to realize its future implications. Works-Cited American Immigration Council (2012). “Economic Benefits of Granting Deferred Action to Unauthorized Immigrants Brought to U.S. as Youth”. http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/just-facts/economic-benefits-granting-deferred-action- unauthorized-immigrants-brought-us-youth Fairlie, Robert (2011). “Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity”. http://www.kauffman.org/uploadedFiles/KIEA_2011_report.pdf#page=4 Gonzales, Roberto (2007). “Wasted Talent and Broken Dreams: The Lost Potential of Undocumented Students”. http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/sites/default/files/docs/Wasted%20Talent%20and%20Broken%20Dreams.pdf#page=9 Lee, Brianna (2013). “The U.S. Immigration Debate”. http://www.cfr.org/immigration/us-immigration-debate/p11149 Peralta, Eyder; Mark Memmott (2012). “Deportations of Law-Abiding, Younger Illegal Immigrants to Stop”. http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/06/15/155091639/report-deportations-of-law- abiding-younger-illegal-immigrants-to-stop Peri, Giovanni (2010). “The Effect of Immigrants on U.S. Employment and Productivity”. FRBSF Economic Letter. http://www.frbsf.org/publications/economics/letter/2010/el2010-26.pdf#page=4 Republican Party on Immigration (2013). Ontheissues.org http://www.ontheissues.org/celeb/republican_party_immigration.htm Read More