Illegal Immigration - USA

IM http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2009/mar/17/us-immigration-mexico

the fence http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7i3vQh6Q2ZA

Legal U.S. Immigration History

• Northern Europe - Ireland, Sweden, Germany, Norway --> late 18oo’s to early 1900’s

Legal U.S. Immigration History

• Eastern Europe - Russia, Poland --> late 18oo’s to early 1900’s

Legal U.S. Immigration History

• Southern Europe - Italy, Greece, Turkey --> 1930s - 1940s

Legal U.S. Immigration History

• Holocaust Victims - > 1940s

Legal U.S. Immigration History

• Vietnam War Refugees - > 1960s - 1970

Legal U.S. Immigration History

• Today - Mexico, Central/Middle America, Somalia --> 1980s - Present

Immigration to USA -2007 Source Countries

Illegal Immigration to USA

Trend Started in 1960s

Primarily From: - Mexico - Central America (Cuba, Haiti) - China

Why These Groups??

Pull factors - land of opportunity, freedom, social equality,

escape famine, to escape revolution or war, jobs, reunite with family,

cannot pass the citizenship

How are they getting in?Along borders (especially at south)

Where Illegal Immigrants Live - 2009

Issue

• Tougher border control is not a deterrent --> Illegal Immigrants will attempt to cross the border until they are successful

• Tougher border control traps prospective immigrants on the Mexico side, whom are suffering from the in local wages

• Legal route is not an option for some because it is to hard to get in --> get a green card, take the citizenship test (The test) http://uscitizennow.com/q26to50.htm

Issue• 1519-1821 Mexico under Spanish Rule• 1521-1848 Struggle for independence from Spain --> colonization from British and French

• 1821 - official independence form Spain

• 1820’s exposed to US influence

Issue

• 1846 -1848 Mexican-American War of Independence resulted in the sale of northern territories of Mexico for $15 million (Feb. 2nd 1848) - Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo boundary established rio Bravo del Norte

• Mexico required to give up New Mexico and Upper California --> present day California, Nevada, Utah and parts of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming and to accept Texas’s incorporation into US

Issue

• US agreed to pay $15 million and assume more than $3 million in claims from private citizens of these areas agains Mexican gov’t

• Mexico lost more than 1/2 of its territory

How Illegal Immigration Started• 1929-1939 Mexican Repatriation forced migration as

many as 1 million people of Mexican descent were forced/pressured to leave the US. (60% of those driven out were U.S. citizens)MR http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKBgIpvIE4s

• The Bracero (arm) Program was initially prompted by a demand for manual labor during WWII bracero http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVrsDAzvRfw

• Began with the U.S. government bringing in a few hundred experienced Mexican Labourers to harvest sugar beets in California

• The program spread to cover most of the U.S. and provided workers for the agriculture Labour Market

• Railroad bracero program - supplied U.S. railroads initially with unskilled workers for track maintenance but eventually to cover other unskilled and skilled labor

• By 1945, the quota for the agricultural program was more than 75,000 braceros working in the U.S. railroad system and 50,000 braceros working in U.S. agriculture at any one time.

How Illegal Immigration Started

• The railroad program ended in 1945(end of war)

• U.S. growers claimed ongoing labor shortages, the program was extended under a number of acts of congress until 1948

• Between 1948 and 1951, the importation of Mexican agricultural laborers continued under negotiated administrative agreements between growers and the Mexican Government

How Illegal Immigration Started

• On July 13, 1951, President Truman signed Public Law 78, a two-year program which embodied formalized protections for Mexican laborers

• This program was renewed every two years until 1964. However, due to heavy criticism the program was not renewed.

• After the formal end of the agricultural program (1964) there were a few contracts / aggreements that lasted until 1967, after which no more braceros were granted

• Abrupt end--> in illegal immigration

• 1986 Ronal Regan - through immigration reform there was tighter board security but anyone who entered the country before 1982 was eligible for amnesty (3 million granted Amnesty)

How Do People Become Illegal

56% of illegal immigrants are from Mexico, 22% from other Latin American Countries (El Salvador, Honduras & Guatemala), 13% Asia (Philippines & India), 6% Europe and Canada, 3% Africa and the rest of the world

Why come illegally http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIsbvIElFEk&feature=related

1. Enter without permission (Evaded the Immigration Inspectors and Border Patrol - 6-7 million)

2. Staying beyond the authorized period after legal entry (Non-Immigrants Visa Overstayer 4-5.5 million) - majority come this way

3. Violating terms of legal entry (Border Crossing Card Violator - 250,000-500,000

4. Anchor baby AB http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6x1t8ej-Tk

Who Are these Illegal Immigrants

More Reasons For Illegal Immigration

1. Economic - practice of hiring illegal works (Magnet for illegal immigration)

- 2003 Mexican President Vicente Fox stated Remittances are our biggest source of foreign income (more than oil, tourism and foreign investment)

- 2005 - $18.1 billion dollar a year (Ranked 3rd after India and China)

2. Chain Immigration - “Network Effect” as families move to join relatives already in the U.S.

3. US Government Inefficiencies - costs, delays and inefficiencies in processing visa applications and work permits contribute to Illegal Immigration (as of 2007 backlog of 1.1 million green card application and waiting time ~3 years)

4. Trade agreements & government failures - Trade agreements (NAFTA, CAFRA, WTO, IMF, WB were suppose to SOL (standard of Living) and incentives for illegal immigration

- Mexican gov’t failed to make promised investments in roads, schooling, sanitation, housing

- China surpassed Mexico in producing products for US markets and manufacturing jobs from 4.1million to 3.5 million from 2000 to 2004

- 1994 economic crisis devalued the Peso wages of Mexican workers compared to counterparts in the US

- More efficient farming practices in US and elimination of tariffs under NAFTA caused price of corn to 70% in Mexco between 1994-2001 --> # of farm jobs 8.1 million to 6.8 million in 2002

- Gov’t corruption (72nd most corrupt state out of 179)

Controversy• 2005 gov’t of Mexico produced handbook

risks & implications of crossing US border

• Guide told immigrants where to find health care, how to get kids into school, how to send $$$ homeGov't http://www.diggersrealm.com/mt/archives/000613.html

Controversy

• Gov’t said it was to save lives (over 300 Mexican die each year crossing the border illegally) - US felt it was encouraging illegal immigration

benfits• Do jobs Americans won’t do

• Allow industry to be competitive as decreases labour costs

• Spends $ in the economy

Problems • Don’t pay Taxes

• Take jobs away from americans

• Have access to programs (education, health care)

• Send $$$ back to Mexico(remittance)

• Identity theft- use social security numbers of others in order to obtain fake work documentations

• Drug trafficking Drugs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opzxNvMsQB0

• Gang violence MS-13 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6YBQ-w1UQ8 Part1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MN0Nkt3gfhE&NR=1 Part 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ra73WfdLsXI&NR=1 Part 3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0YfG16_u3M&NR=1 Part 4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7IdYy1vrXo&feature=related Part 5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NudzVA8bbak Toronto

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhnAK3MaGIE&NR=1 Toronto

• Environment - desert-walking immigrant leave behind 8lbs of trash during a journey of 1-3 days, wildfires

Solutions

• Fence http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=ag7uAmDvejQ

Solutions

• More border patrols - operation gatekeeper -$800million - double # of border patrols, double amount of fencing and barrier,triple # of underground sensors

• Tougher immigration laws (Arizona, Virginia, Minnesota)

• Go after employers of illegal immigrants - Walmart (paid $11 million to settle federal investigation illegals employed in cleaning contracts)

• Swift & Co. arrested1,300 illegal immigrants in 6 states

• Find the illegal immigrants and send them all back to Mexico

Solutions • Illegal immigration

• Protests

• Protests

• History

• border crossing

• cost of illegal immigration