Immigration

Immigrants and the labor market

Finding and Link (Enrico Marcelli (2005). Immigrants and the U.S. Labor Market. NACLA Report on the Americas, 38(5), 47. Retrieved November 13, 2007, from Research Library database. (Document ID: 803084851).

http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=803084851&Fmt=3&clientId=10553&RQT=309&VName=PQD

Summary/Reconstruction

Targeting immigrants' behavior in the form of labor market competition in the US certainly is not new. But the legislative developments during the 1990s represented the first time in US history that immigrant use of welfare caused a major immigration policy change. Here, Marcelli discusses the economic effects of unauthorized immigration.

Your Name (Dustin Lehman)

Effect of Immigration on Wages

Finding and Link

Tamar Jacoby (2006). Immigration Nation. Foreign Affairs, 85(6), 50. Retrieved November 13, 2007, from Research Library database. (Document ID: 1175304091).

http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1175304091&Fmt=3&clientId=10553&RQT=309&VName=PQD

Summary/Reconmstruction Today, immigration is at or near the top of most voters' lists of problems facing the nation--one that, in many people's minds, outweighs every other threat save international terrorism. This shift has been driven in large part by politicians and the media. The U.S. immigration system has been broken for a long time, and little has changed dramatically in recent years. There is little doubt that the system needs fixing. But just how big a problem is immigration? Is it in fact a crisis that threatens the United States' security and identity as a nation? And does it, as today's bitter debate suggests, raise so many fundamental questions as to be all but unsolvable? As of this writing, Congress appears to be at an impasse, after nine months of intense debate and the passage of two major bills (one in each chamber) still unable to agree on a piece of legislation. Of all the economic consequences of immigration, the easiest to calculate is the fiscal effect--whether immigrants consume more in government benefits than they contribute in taxes.

Your Name (Dustin Lehman)

Immigration Policy in the United States

Link

CBO. February 2006. http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/70xx/doc7051/02-28-Immigration.pdf

Summary

This was a purely factual government summary of the history of the U.S. Immigration policy. It's good background information to skim and sets the stage for the issues we have now.

TJ

Why Illegal Immigration Doesn't Matter

Link

Malanga, Steven. Washington Post. "Why Illegal Immigration Doesn't Matter". 11/15/07. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/14/AR2007111402047.html

Summary

Malanga's argument is that we shouldn't be worried about illegals coming when we allow well over a million legal immigrants every year, and they are every bit as uneducated and unskilled as illegals. Other countries that attract immigrants have a much bigger emphasis on bringing in people with skills.

TJ

What Part of 'Illegal' Don't You Understand?

Link Downes, Lawrence. New York Times. "What Part of 'Illegal' Don't You Understand?". 10/28/07. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/28/opinion/28sun4.html

Summary

Downes believes that our term "illegal" exists only for the purpose of building anti-foreigner attitudes. He says that saying "illegal immigrant" proposes that the person itself is illegal, which we don't do with anything else. Illegal immigration is presented as something that is not a big problem, but U.S. xenophobia is presented as a bigger one.

TJ

Raise Wages, Not Walls

Finding and Link Chuck Baldwin. "Illegal immigration is actually foreign invasion. " Westside Gazette [Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.] 13 Apr. 2006,8A. Ethnic NewsWatch (ENW). ProQuest. 14 Nov. 2007 <http://www.proquest.com/>

index=1&did=1095653051&SrchMode=5&Fmt=3&retrieveGroup=0&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1194824344&clientId=10553&cfc=1

Abstract (Summary) First, let's talk about numbers. Even though the Census Bureau (CB) estimates 11 million illegal aliens live in America, the real numbers are much higher. Even CB officials admit that many illegal aliens purposely avoid the census count. Bear Stern provides a more reliable count. It puts the number of illegal aliens at around 20 million. Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.), chairman of the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus, puts the number at over 18 million.

Beyond that, let's not discount the individual motivations of the two major parties. Rhetoric to the contrary notwithstanding, both the Democratic and Republican parties in Washington, D.C., desire that illegal immigration continue unabated. When it comes to illegal immigration, President [Bush] and [Hillary Clinton] are allies, not adversaries. (That's true about many issues, by the way.) There are only a handful of congressmen who truly desire to restrict illegal immigration.

So, when all is said and done, there will be nothing done to restrict illegal immigration into this country. Furthermore, don't be surprised if the final law that Congress passes and Bush signs will actually further facilitate the influx of illegal aliens and will also further facilitate a speedy process by which illegal aliens already here can become U.S. citizens.

Evan Farris CTResearcher 20:54, 14 November 2007 (PST)