Public Agenda Issue Guide: Immigration

Citizens

are confronted with serious issues every minute of the day. Grasping the underlying issues from the headlines is a difficult task. Give us ten minutes a day and we will help bring clarity to the chaos of the news, policy and issues.

ON THE AGENDA

Below The Radar

Maya Dusenbery
Nov 19, 2008

Between the long shadow cast by the economy and the excitement of the historic election of Barack Obama as the new president of the United States, there's one subject which has barely made it into the headlines. Among the ballot initiatives that were decided in the fifty states were three referenda which would have banned or restricted abortion. These measures, in South Dakota, Colorado, and California, were all defeated.

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Could an Economic Downturn Be the Ticket to Health Care Reform?

Jenny Choi
Nov 18, 2008

An analysis in the Los Angeles Times today posits what could prove to be a tipping point for the health care crisis: the current economic slump.

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ISSUE GUIDE: Immigration

OVERVIEW

Immigration

Americans have always been ambivalent about immigration, with realistic concerns bumping into altruistic, even romantic notions. The romance is summed up in the inscription on the Statue of Liberty, erected in 1886, proclaiming the famous lines ''give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.'' The ambivalence was expressed a mere four years earlier, when Congress enacted the first immigration restrictions, specifically excluding "paupers, ex-convicts, mental defectives and Chinese." That was at the beginning of the greatest wave of immigration in American history, which brought in 18 million new citizens, diversified U.S. society and gave us the enduring analogy of the ''melting pot.''

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CONSIDER THE CHOICES

Honoring our commitment to newcomers

Cutting back to preserve our security and culture

Cutting back in response to economic realities

The United States is a nation ofimmigrants, and weve never hadcause to regret that. Its part ofwhat makes us different from somany more narrow, authoritariansocieties, and its what makes usstrong. So we have a specialobligation to welcome newcomers.U. S. immigration policy mustreflect our ideals, our humanitarianconcern and our commitment tothe plight of refugees worldwide.Besides, the United States benefitsfrom immigration. Hard-workingimmigrants start businesses, createjobs, and help the economy grow.Culturally, immigrants enrichAmerica with their arts, traditions,and languages. The U.S. has alwaysgained more by immigration thanweve lost and theres no reason tothink that will change.
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We need to control immigration tosecure our borders and protect ourunity. Sept. 11 showed how ourimmigration policies have failed tokeep criminals and terrorists out ofthe country. Millions of peoplehave evaded our immigration lawsand the government has no ideawhether any of them pose a threatto us. In addition, the recent waveof immigration has brought increasingpressure to accommodateimmigrants by acceptingbilingualism. We should honordiversity, but not at the cost ofbreaking the bonds of cohesion common ideals, a commonlanguage, and common politicalinstitutions that hold the nationtogether.
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The first concern should be theeconomic cost imposed by thehuge influx of immigrants and theireffects on wages and jobs. Thefact is that we need to educateand employ the people alreadyhere before we can worry aboutpaying for the education, welfare,and health care of hundreds ofthousands of newcomers eachyear. Plus, the burden isnt spreadevenly most immigrants settle inbig cities and Sun Belt states. Weshould restrict the number ofnewcomers, and look more closelyat how their arrival affects us. Theimmigrants we do accept shouldeither have jobs waiting here orhave the skills to support themselves.The nations first obligation isto protect the welfare and wellbeing of those who are alreadyAmerican citizens.
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