Pros And Cons Of Migration To The United States

Throughout the history of the United States there has been a flow of immigrants who migrate to the United States for a better opportunity. Although they were initially welcomed, immigration became a problem, and policies were placed as a means to place limitations on immigrants who enter the U.S. In this Critical Issues course, students covered and analyzed three articles relating to immigration in the United States. The articles are “The New Politics of Immigration: “Balanced-Budget Conservatism” and the Symbolism of Proposition 187” by Calavita (1996), “The War on the Border” by Kil and Menjivar (1996), and “Racial Profiling and Immigration Law Enforcement by Romero (2006). All three of these articles touch base on the immigration situation

In the article, “The New Politics of Immigration: “Balanced-Budget Conservatism” and the Symbolism of Proposition 187” the policy discussed is Proposition 187, which was passed in California (Calavita, 1996). Proposition 187 was a policy that barred undocumented immigrants from receiving social services, going to public schools, and made it mandatory that school and health personnel report individuals that were suspected to be undocumented (Calavita, 1996). Although proposition 187 was never implemented due to constitutional challenges, the fact that it was supported and passed by voters was a form of symbolism, and the purpose was to send a message to policy makers, and immigrants of the discontent Americans felt towards immigrants (Calavita, 1996). In the article “The War on the Border”, the policy this article discuss is the militarization of the border. Militarization of the border is a concept of increased military patrol at the border, which is a method to control drug smuggling into the U.S., while others say it is a way to show the public that something was being done about the undocumented immigration problem (Kil & Menjívar, (2006). In the article, “Racial Profiling and Immigration Law Enforcement” a specific policy is not introduced, but the policy of racial profiling was used as a form of policing. This article discusses an event that took place on July 27th, 1997, the Chandler Roundup. The

In “The New Politics of Immigration: “Balanced-Budget Conservatism” and the Symbolism of Proposition 187,” the article shows how Proposition 187 was a proposal to address discontent from natives towards immigrants in America. When the “Crisis of Fordism” occurred and corporations began outsourcing for profit, immigrants were to blame for the U.S. debt (Calavita, 1996). Immigrants were blamed for using up resources and not contributing to make up for it the economy and the concept of “Balanced-budget conservatism” was introduced (Calavita, 1996). This was a solution to cut back on spending because the U.S. was in debt, and immigrants were viewed as a fiscal burden contributing as the main factor for the debt. Immigrants were to blamed for the economic transformation the U.S. was experiencing, and Proposition 187 was passed as a symbol to express how natives felt about immigrants (Calavita, 1996). The article “War on the Border” focuses on the militarization of the border and this has caused unfair treatment to undocumented immigrants. Due to increased border patrol immigrants are forced to take dangerous paths in the mountains and desert to cross over the U.S. Mexican border, causing many deaths due to this policy change (Kil & Mejívar, 2006). Families of undocumented immigrants are forced to hire coyotes to help smuggle them in, which is not guaranteed, involves extortion and is