Immigration Reform: Where Does Change Come From?

When we think of Immigrant rights, we tend to only focus on one group of immigrants. Latinos are the face of immigration policies in the United States. Where does change come from? Does change come from above or below? Change comes from above because they are the ones that implement new laws that either target or help immigrant rights. Once these laws take effect, immigrant right groups then look at these laws from all angles and challenge anything they deem violating. Prior to the civil rights movement in which Immigration reform was enacted. Mexican immigrants were allowed to migrate into the U.S through the Bracero Program in 1942. The Bracero program was a pact between the U.S and Mexico where a controlled number of Mexican migrants were

The Hart-Cellar Act of 1965 terminated the Bracero program, many Mexican migrants relied on. The creator of the Hart-Cellar Act was Senator Philip Hart of Michigan, he wanted to include a long time immigrant activist, Emmanuel Cellar of New York City in his bill. He wrote this bill as immigration reform in 1963 during the Kennedy administration. Due to various reasons it was not signed into law until 1965 by President Lyndon B. Johnson. Once the law took effect, the Bracero program was terminated and subsequently put a quota on all immigrants regardless of their geographical location. The purpose of this bill was to create a fair and equal immigration policy in the U.S, for all immigrants seeking to come into the U.S legally. Prior to this bill being passed, Western Hemisphere immigrants were not considered immigrants but

Brewer signed it into law. This was considered the toughest illegal immigrant law to date. This bill gave local law enforcement officers the power to stop anyone, with “reasonable suspicion” of their immigration status. What does this really mean? It means that local law enforcement are legally allowed to racially profile against the Hispanic population. In a state where they make up 25% of its population. This was not the only anti-immigration bill to be passed in the State of Arizona. According to Kristina M. Campbell of HeinOnline “by the time S.B.1070 arrived on Governor Brewer's desk for her signature in April 2010, over half a dozen laws restricting the rights of undocumented persons, either by statute or amendments to the Arizona Constitution, were already in place in the State of Arizona”. Some of the laws enacted in 2006 through the state ballots were, Proposition 200 – where illegal immigrants are barred from receive any state benefits. It also made a Voter ID rule where a person must show proof of legal status before being able to vote. Proposition 100 – put restriction on bonds for illegal immigrants that are charged with certain felonies. Proposition 102 – denied illegal immigrants from bringing any legal citizen into a civil lawsuit. Proposition 300 – prohibits illegal immigrants from receiving state tuition