Land of Immigrants

A Land of Immigrants

Immigration is the voluntary movement of people from one country to another, usually with the aim of permanently settling in the adopted country. This act is a human form of migration and is as old as the first human groups of recorded civilization such as tribes or clans. These groups would move wherever they had too to survive, whether it was in search of food, shelter or a better life. This cycle continues today and will have no end as long as one country offers opportunity and hope.

In the past weeks there has been aggressive debate over a proposed bill initiated by the Senate Judiciary Committee. The bill is aimed at illegal aliens living in the country and if passed would make their residence here a felony offence. In addition the bill would also make it a crime for employers to hire immigrants and other agencies to dispense aid to the nation's 11 million illegals. The proposed bill sparked nation wide demonstrations in heavily Hispanic populated communities like Los Angeles where an estimated 500,000 people gathered in the streets to appose the bill. Before the weeks end, demonstrations spread throughout the border-states and pushed as far north as Detroit, Chicago and even Canada.

Immigration reform is nothing new in America. In the 1980s concern of the surge of illegal aliens into the U.S. (mainly from Mexico) led Congress to pass legislation aimed at curtailing illegal immigration. The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 allowed most illegal aliens who had resided in the U.S. since January 1, 1982, to apply for legal status. Many in congress agree that this was a failure and directly attribute current immigration problems to the controversial act of amnesty.

Illegal immigration has become one of the key political issues of the 21st century, especially in Border States such as California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. The Bureau of the Census estimates that there are now over 11 million illegal aliens living in the United States and since September 11, 2001, the issue of illegal immigration has been catapulted by the media and anti-immigrant lobbyists. They claim that Americans are threatened by what they perceive as waves of foreigners invading the U.S. shores and taking jobs away from hardworking Americans. Pro-immigration supporters argue that the accusations stem from people looking for something or someone to blame for a sluggish economy and lost jobs.

Giovanni Peri, Professor at the University of California, concluded in an Executive Summery that despite the influx of immigration, "Foreign-born workers do not substitute perfectly for, and therefore do not compete with most native-born workers". He goes on to explain that the skills and abilities that foreign workers bring to the U.S. actually increases productivity of the native worker while stimulating investments and enhancing consumer choices. He also documents that less-educated foreigners tend to occupy agricultural