Ilen Elias PUP 3314 Minorities in American Politics 2 December 2011 Professor Robert Bass Illegal Immigration

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Summary Illegal Immigration is a very prevalent issue today in America. There are many voices for and against illegal immigration reform. These voices all have an idea on how to make the current situation better but unfortunately, there are no simple solutions to complex problems. The article from our book, Judge Rejects Hazleton Law on Immigrants; A City Cannot Take Such a National Issue into Its Own Hands, He Says by David G. Savage and Nicole Gaouette deals with one judges decision to strike down a city ordinance, that wanted to punish landlords who rented to illegal immigrants and employers who hired them. In this article Judge James M. Munley says, immigration is a national issue (pg 34). In his decision to rule against the city ordinance Judge Munley concludes that the local official lacked authority to go beyond federal law and impose penalties on businesses for hiring illegal immigrants (pg 35). Judge Munley continues to say that, Allowing states or local governments to legislate with regard to the employment of unauthorized aliens would interfere with congressional objective, (pg 35). Towards the end of the article the U.S. chamber of Commerces National Chamber Litigation center stated that, State and local governments have no business setting national immigrant policy, (pg 35). This is just one article that shows its opposition for states creating their own laws on illegal immigration. The next article will be an overview of the Arizona law most famously known as SB 1070. In this article its author Randal Archibold criticizes the law as well as gives insight to what President Obama has to say and what maybe done in the future.

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Arizona Enacts Stringent Law on Immigration by Randal C. Archibold is an article describing the situation at the time in Arizona, when the Arizona law SB 1070 was signed. During this time Archibold tells us that President Obama, a strong critic of the law, said that the law threatened to undermine basic notions of fairness that we cherish as Americans, as well as the trust between police and our communities that is so crucial to keeping us safe. Archibold writes that The law, which proponents and critics alike said was the broadest and strictest immigration measure in generations, would make the failure to carry immigration documents a crime and give the police broad power to detain anyone suspected of being in the country illegally. Opponents have called it an open invitation for harassment and discrimination against Hispanics regardless of their citizenship status. During this time there was a lot of opposition towards the bill but it did not stop its passage to law. The third article comes from a blog in the New York Times; here David Firestone recaps on Newt Gingrichs plan on illegal immigration. Firestone writes that, On his campaign web site, Mr. Gingrich proposes that every community set up citizens review committees, apparently similar to the old draft boards (or perhaps more sinister bodies from the history of less democratic countries). These boards would assess the fitness of immigrants to stay in the United States. To pass the test, immigrants would have to pass a criminal background check and demonstrate that they could support themselves through employment, without relying on entitlement programs like Social Security or Medicare. This plan of Gingrich will be implemented throughout all states and it will be up to the states own review board if an illegal immigrant is fit to stay in the country. As I said before there are a lot of people who think they know what is best for our current illegal immigration situation, but again I say there is no simple solution to a complex problem.

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Opinion

Immigration has been and always will be a topic of much discussion for our government. Immigrants were the ones that built this nation and it has been through their hard work, determination and traditions; that America has evolved to the amazing country it is today. Immigrants have enhanced America through their contribution through the arts, education, and cultural diversity. Of course with all this good comes some bad. Now more than ever do we see how much of a good thing can turn bad quickly.

Illegal immigration is such a prevalent and emotional issue that there cannot be and is no simple solution to such a complex problem. States like Arizona have the right intention but are going about it the wrong way. Arizonas law, known as SB 1070, requires officials and agencies of the state and political subdivisions to fully comply with and assist in the enforcement of federal immigration laws and gives county attorneys subpoena power in certain investigations of employers. Establishes crimes involving trespassing by illegal aliens, stopping to hire or soliciting work under specified circumstances, and transporting, harboring or concealing unlawful aliens, and their respective penalties (SB1070 - 492R - Senate Fact Sheet). This law makes the failure to carry immigration documents a crime and gives the police broad power to detain anyone suspected of being in the country illegally (Archibold).

What this law actually does is instill more fear into the hearts of illegal immigrants living there in Arizona and elsewhere because they fear that their state may enact a law similar to this. Laws like this are promoting racial profiling because they are giving police the power to identify

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immigrants by the way they look, act or speak. I find it silly that you have to carry around your immigration papers all the time, it makes me feel as if I were abroad in a foreign country and needed to carry my passport with me at all times. I cannot help but feel that history is repeating itself and instead of discrimination against Blacks, the government and others are discriminating against Hispanics. Instead of having your papers stating you were a free slave you are now having to carry your immigration documents to let everyone know you are legal, hopefully we do not go back so far in history that we will now have to ride in separate train cars, sit in the back of the bus, drink water from different water fountains and go to separate schools. In our book there is an article, Judge Rejects Hazleton Law on Immigrants; A City Cannot Take Such a National Issue into Its Own Hands, He Says by David G. Savage and Nicole Gaouette, it deals with one judges decision to strike down a city ordinance, that wanted to punish landlords who rented to illegal immigrants and employers who hired them. I agree with Judge James M. Munley when says that, immigration is a national issue (pg 34). Laws like the one in Arizona are forgetting one thing that, State and local governments have no business setting national immigrant policy, and that, Allowing states or local governments to legislate with regard to the employment of unauthorized aliens would interfere with congressional objective, (pg 35).

I completely and fully understand that illegal immigration is wrong and that people are breaking the law, but I feel that illegal immigration has to be studied and dealt with case by case, not an overall one size fits all strategy. Most immigrants whether legal or illegal come to this country to try and make themselves better people, to provide their families and themselves with better opportunities and to escape the oppression and horrors of their own native land. What

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many of us forget to factor in is how difficult it is to move to a land where you know no one, where you do not know the native language, and where you are already looked down upon for being different. We also forget that many die trying to come here and those that do make it are true survivors.

Many illegal immigrants were once legal and have had their visas expired, instead of going back to their native land and waiting for months or maybe even years to renew it, they risk it all to continue to work jobs only they do. Many people favor illegal immigration reforms for the simple fact that they are under the impression that illegal immigrants are hogging all of the available jobs. Unfortunately, it may be somewhat racist and I do apologize now if I offend anyone but I have yet to see a non minority individual cutting grass off the 417 expressway, collecting your trash, cleaning houses, offices, schools, and picking vegetables and fruits on farms. I am well aware that there are many legal immigrants and citizens here in the US that would be more than willing to go and work at these respectable jobs, but let us be real for a moment; they arent applying any time soon.

Many believe that illegal immigration is a one size fits all and most recently Newt Gingrich is guilty of this. Firestone writes that, On his campaign web site, Mr. Gingrich proposes that every community set up citizens review committees, apparently similar to the old draft boards (or perhaps more sinister bodies from the history of less democratic countries). These boards would assess the fitness of immigrants to stay in the United States. To pass the test, immigrants would have to pass a criminal background check and demonstrate that they could support themselves through employment, without relying on entitlement programs like Social Security or Medicare. This plan is somewhat reasonable but it still relies on the states and

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though these review boards will be following Congress guidelines, one cannot be nave in thinking that certain states will not abuse their power.

As I said before I think each case should be reviewed individually, I believe that in our current economic situation it is in our best interest to make some revenue and how easy would it be to give illegal immigrants the opportunity to apply for residency status while collecting the money from immigration fees. I do believe that we should work with all governments to try and run background checks on all illegal immigrants; if they do have a criminal history then they no longer qualify to be in the states.

Illegal immigrations is going to be an issue for many years to come and there is no one solution, but we can state by creating a federal bipartisan law that helps illegal immigrants become legal. There is no simple solution to this complex problem and one can only hope that things get better before they get worse.

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Works Cited Archibold, Randal C. "Arizona Enacts Stringent Law on Immigration - NYTimes.com." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. 23 Apr. 2010. Web. 02 Dec. 2011. <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/24/us/politics/24immig.html>. Firestone, David. "Newt Gingrich's Immigration Policy - NYTimes.com." Editorial Page Editor - Andrew Rosenthal's Blog - NYTimes.com. 28 Nov. 2011. Web. 02 Dec. 2011. <http://loyalopposition.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/28/the-immigrant-fitnesstest/?ref=illegalimmigrants>. Gaouette, Nicole, and David G. Savage. "Judge Rejects Hazleton Law on Immigrants; A City Cannot Take Such a National Issue into Its Own Hands, He Says." Diversity in Contemporary American Politics and Government. By David A. Dulio, Erin E. O'Brien, and John S. Klemanski. New York: Pearson Longman, 2009. 34-36. Print "SB1070 - 492R - Senate Fact Sheet." Arizona State Legislature. Senate Research, 15 Jan. 2010. Web. 02 Dec. 2011. <http://www.azleg.gov/legtext/49leg/2r/summary/s.1070pshs.doc.htm>.