Immigration Policies

Abstract

With our current economic issues, strained international relations, and the threat of terrorism have played a role in shaping our countries immigration policy. With these issues at the forefront of national security, has played a part in the passing of legislation regarding the opening and closing our countries borders. These concern, have contributed to the constant struggle that has pretentiously contributed to the dynamic forces of our Great Nation. This has caused states like Arizona's to pass tougher immigration laws aimed towards identifying and deporting individuals with illegal immigrant status. Furthermore, it has brought to the surfaced the many questions about the constitutionality debate of State v. Federal power.

Immigration Policies

The relationship of "immigration" and "constitutionality" has been interconnected in such a way that many believe it lies within the constitutions foundation. In the Constitution there isn't one mention regarding the power that relates to immigration is retrieved from Article I, Section 8, Clause 4 which states:

Congress shall have the power to... [establish a uniform rule of naturalization. Additionally, the 14th amendment states] All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside (The United States Constitution, 2004).

By regulating these processes in which the immigrants are able to become US citizens, the federal government has extensive power in terms of immigration rules and regulations. These extensive powers have on a number of instances have been put to the tested by local and state governments questioning the validity to the Federal Supreme Court, which has characteristically ruled on the favor of the federal government. This was demonstrated in Hines vs. Davidowitz, where the Supreme Court overturned the decision of the state courts in regards to Pennsylvania State Law that required all non US residence to carry some form of state issued identification card. The Supreme Court concluded that the Pennsylvania State Law created obstacles in implementation of the federal law. Another example is in the case of Plyler vs. Doe "...in which the Supreme Court struck down a Texas law denying education to undocumented alien children, based on Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause" (Supreme Court Cases, 2011). Though the Courts have continually ruled in the federal governments favor the states do still hold significant power in regards to immigration, particularly in how they enforce federal law.

Congress first made an attempt at tackling the immigration issue with the Naturalization Act of 1790. This act granted citizenship to free white persons, of good character, who had lived within the United States for a period of no less than two years. Due to the massive influx of immigrants, Congress would amend the act in 1795 requiring an individual to reside in the United States for a minimum period of five years before they could start the process of citizenship. Over the next hundred years the United States would receive an influx of immigrants that could not have been imagined on any level. Soon steps would be taken to limit the number of immigrants and more importantly the ethnicity of those immigrants, especially after attacked by foreigner's were taking place on American soil.

Tensions between the United States and Muslim nations were at a fevered pitch in the early 1990's. The Gulf War coupled with the 1993 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center had made American's suspicious of individual from Muslim decent. This suspicion would turn to fear after the September 11, 2001 attack. Slightly more than a month after September 11th, the USA PATRIOT Act was proposed and written then passed by Congress, then received the signature from President George W. Bush. A majority of the act dealt with expanding the government's abilities and rights in regards to tracking and monitoring suspected terrorists and their cash flow. However, Title IV, Border Security, had a drastic effect on America's immigration policy. Government agencies such as the United States Customs Service and Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS),saw their budgets sky-rocket in order to meet new security demands required within the USA PATRIOT Act. This money was utilized to increase the technological front as well as to pay for the hiring of thousands of new INS and Customs agents. These agents from both agencies would need to perform more thorough back ground check on all visa applicants and provide more law enforcement agents our borders to the north and south. The affect these new security measures would have would ultimately change United States immigration policies forever.

Immigrants wanting to gain access to the United States would experience road blocks like they had never experienced. Immigrants were now being run through FBI databases in order to determine identity, criminal history, and possible terrorist ties. Having some or any suspected terrorist affiliation would lead to immigrants being denied entry into the country. Students studying in the United States were now tracked and entered into a data base and mandated that they receive Attorney General approval to take flight schools, vocational classes, and language training schools. Bottom line is that it made immigrating to the United States a much tougher feet and the effect on immigration numbers was significant, especially immigrants from Muslim nations such as Pakistan, Morocco, and Iran. "It is estimated that between 2001 and 2003 the number of Muslims arriving from the different 22 Muslim countries had declined by more than a third" (Elliot, 2006). Skeptics have been quick to point out that these measures would not have prevented the attacks on September 11, 2001. An article in the Michigan University Press found that "Although the attacks of September 11 revealed serious management and resource deficiencies in the bureaucracies that administer our borders, U.S. immigration laws in and of themselves did not increase our vulnerability to attack" (Hing, 2006). Our countries immigration laws prior to the attacks were some of the most stringent in the world and it is widely believed that communication flaws in our government agencies, not border security, allowed the attacks on September 11, 2001 to occur. Since 2005, the number of Muslim immigrants to the United States has rebounded as the American people have become educated on the War on Terror and the Muslim faith. Our economy would soon be a driving force in United States immigration policy and the state of Arizona would put immigration back