Immigration Law and Policy: From Quota Era to Present - Essay Sample

Introduction

The feelings of the voters on immigration consider the current position of the quantitative restrictions era that began in 1921. Currently, immigration law and policy seeks numerical limitations as well as qualitative restrictions. The quantitative era began with the passage of the Emergency Quota Act in 1921 that ended open immigration. The Act placed a specific limit of 150,000 people (including wives and children) who could come in annually from one country of origin. This was followed up by other statutes that barred immigration from some specific nations while at the same time putting limits on the number of people who can emigrate from specific nations.

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For instance, the Johnson-Reed Act of 1924 provided that the immigration visas by two per cent of the total number of people of each nationality in the United States per the 1890 national census. A few days before 9/11, President George W. Bush and President Vincente Fox of Mexico had been engaging in high-level meetings to discuss immigration. It was expected that they would announce a new immigration framework for the southern border that had an immigration reform plan, increase border security, a temporary worker program, and the legalization to illegal immigrants from Mexico. However, after the 911 attacks, security became the primary concern of the quantitative immigration for American lawmakers. Consequently, apart from more security at America's borders, the government acquired expanded powers to detain and deport immigrants

Importance of the Issue

The Issue of immigration is vital because the United States of America has benefited a lot from opening its doors to immigrants. The immigrants, who have been coming to the United States of America over time, include the students, employees, and many others who often come and stay for a short period before going back to their countries. However, since there are no strong laws to guard and protect the interests of the immigrants, America may not benefit from the immigrants. Numerous proposals have been made over the years to shift the immigration system from employment and family reunification based migration to allowing immigrants with certain levels of education as well as employment qualifications.

Trump's Position on the Issue of Immigration

Immigration policy has changed a great deal during the reign of President Trump. The administration of Trump has made some proposals over time that will allow immigrants who meet qualifications only to be given green cards (Carter et al., 2019). The requirements are the ability to speak English, Level of Education as well as age. Previously the administration had also made some proposals that were to prevent immigrants from entering the United States of America through means like Medicaid or other means of public assistance.

President Trump issued travel bans that prevented the issuance of visas of seven Muslim countries, and the number has increased to 13. He also imposed a sanction of arresting anyone who was to be caught crossing the border illegally. He also attempted to end the deferred action of childhood arrival in the US. It is maiden speech in the State of the Union. Trump outlined the four pillars of his admiration in matters of immigration. The first pillar was on the path to citizenship for Dreamers, increased funds on border security, eradicating the diversity visa lottery, and finally imposing restrictions on family-based immigration.

Options that Biden would have

There are other options that Biden has to make things right about immigration. In as much as the new policies don't want undocumented workers, they provide essential services to sectors that employ large numbers of workers to do different types of jobs, for instance, accountants, managers, and many more others (Orrenius et al., 2020). Domestic production of several things, especially agricultural products, will either reduce or even disappear. As a result, the imports will go up, and their prices will go up as well. On the other hand, the services that are offered in the hospitality and management sector at a low price will also be expensive. Most of the states in the US attribute their growth to the jobs that are done by the less skilled immigrant workers. Therefore, if the unskilled immigrants will be deported, then the economic growth of the states will go down drastically. Another fact is that very few Americans will take manual and low skilled jobs, which therefore means that the immigrants are the only option who can take the jobs and do them at an affordable price.

Although President Trump feels like the foreigner has taken the glory of Americans, the fact is that they have also taken part in making the glory. The policies may look good in the eyes of a few Americans. Still, the outcomes of reducing the number of immigrants or having them deported will have devastating consequences on the economy of the US. Most of the manual and unskilled jobs that are done by the immigrants contribute significantly to the economy of the states and the country at large. Since the Native Americans cannot do these manual jobs, then it means there will be a shortage of labour, and the economy will be affected. Going forward, to maintain the economy of America in its stable condition, the immigration policies imposed by Trump should be abolished.

Feelings of Biden voters on the position of the Issue

The immigration policies set by the administration of Trump have economic consequences. The policies will make it difficult for universities in the United States of America, companies, and even laboratories to employ foreigners or also hire them (Mayda et al. 2017). In as much as the administration is focused on having qualified immigrants, it generally means that the number of visas, both temporary and permanent, will reduce. Evidence from research done by experts in the US has shown that foreigners who are scientists and engineers contribute a great deal to the innovation of the US. The research further showed that foreigners, who are educated, are likely to innovate; therefore, local productivity depends on their presence a great deal. Foreigners generally contribute to the productivity growth of the US. The research has further shown that the number of skilled immigrants is going to reduce, and this will affect the productivity of the country.

Conclusion

Enforcing immigration law by deporting TPS beneficiaries and their children does not meet the threshold of being an arbitrary or capricious exercise of executive power. Recently a circuit court acknowledged that the Constitution expressly describes how a foreigner can legitimately bring themselves under the jurisdiction of American law. Hence, the daughter of a Yemeni diplomat born in Connecticut before later leaving to give material and emotional support to ISIS did not have a right of return because they were never an American citizen. Similarly, TPS beneficiaries were only allowed to stay in the US on humanitarian grounds temporarily. Hence they can be deported when their naturalization petitions are rejected. However, an argument can be made that married couples, comprised of one or two TPS beneficiaries, with no criminal record and young children born in the US should be exempted from deportation to protect the best interests of their American born children.

References

Carter, N. M., & King-Meadows, T. D. (2019). Perceptual Knots and Black Identity Politics: Linked Fate, American Heritage, and Support for Trump Era Immigration Policy. Societies, 9(1), 11. https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/9/1/11

Mayda, A. M., & Peri, G. (2017). The economic impact of US immigration policies in the Age of Trump. Economics and Policy in the Age of Trump, 69. http://giovanniperi.ucdavis.edu/uploads/5/6/8/2/56826033/ageoftrump_june2017.pdf#page=70

Orrenius, P. M., Zavodny, M., & Gullo, S. (2020). How does immigration fit into the future of the US labour market?. https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/216325/1/dp13013.pdf