THE BORLooking through the

Tijuana, Mexico, andSan Diego, California

The Debate OverAmid a presidential campaign and a Supreme Court case, iliegai

Anthony's parents risked theirlives to immigrate to Americaillegally from Mexico about

16 years ago. They hoped to findmore opportunities for their chil-dren and to pursue, in short, "theAmerican Dream."

"My mom wanted a better lifefor herself," Anthony says. "Mydad wanted to find a job."

^ Words to Know

• migrant (n): one who movesfrom place to place in searchof work

• profiling (n): the act of unfairlysuspecting a certain race orgroup of people of crime

Anthony, 11, belongs to a kindof "mixed" family unique to immi-grants. Because he was born in theUnited States, he is a citizen, but hisparents are still illegal. The sixth-grader from Brooklyn, New York,didn't want his full name used forthis story because he worries thatimmigration officials might force hisparents to leave the country.

There are about 11 millionillegal immigrants living in the U.S.today. They lack the documentsthat would make them legal resi-dents or citizens.

Illegal immigration is a subjectof intense debate in the U.S. At atime of high unemployment, manypeople think that these immigrantstake jobs away from Americans.

That has helped make illegal immi-gration a major issue in this year'spresidential election.

Yet a recent study by the PewHispanic Center found that thenumber of illegal immigrants isdown 8 percent from its peak in2007. The decline is even more dra-matic for immigrants from Mexico,the top country of origin for illegalimmigrants (see graph, p. 10). In2000, approximately 750,000 Mexi-cans came to the U.S., the majorityof them illegally. Last year, onlyabout 150,000 crossed the border.

"We are in a very different kindof immigration situation [today],"Jeffrey Passel of the Pew HispanicCenter told The New York Times.

There are several reasons for the

8 JUNIOR SCHOLASTIC • JANUARY 30/FEBRUARY 13, 2012

OUTOFTHESHAOOWSYoung people protestingAlabama's immigrationlaw last November. TheSupreme Court will decideif the law is constitutional.

Immigrationimmigration is back in the headlines

decline, including stricter patrolsalong the U.S.-Mexican border andcrackdowns in some states. Ameri-ca's struggling economy also meansfewer jobs to attract immigrants.

"Most people come here forwork," Susan Yanun, a director ofan immigrants' aid group in Chi-cago, Illinois, tells JS. "And therejust aren't as many jobs, so peoplearen't coming." At the same time,the economies of Mexico and othercountries in Latin America havebeen doing better, so there aremore jobs at home.

What Franklin ThoughtThe U.S. is often called "a nation

of immigrants." Yet since the coun-try's beginnings, there have been

outcries against newcomers. Backin 1753, Benjamin Franklin worriedthat a large influx of German immi-grants "will soon so outnumber us,that [we won't] be able to preserveour language, and even our govern-ment will become [endangered]."

In addition to the presidentialcampaign, new laws in a numberof states have once again made ille-gal immigration a divisive issue.

In May 2010, the Arizona leg-islature passed a law that requiresthe pohce to check the immigrationstatus of anyone they pull over. Itwas the first of similar measuresadopted in Utah, Georgia, Indiana,South Carolina, and Alabama thatseek to aggressively identify illegalimmigrants and get them deported.

Although the new laws werepopular in those states, they alsomet with a storm of protest. Criticscharged that the measures wouldlead to racial profiling of Hispanicsand devastate communities.

"[The Alabama law] hasdestroyed lives and ripped apartfamilies," said Mary Bauer of theSouthern Poverty Law Center, acivil rights organization, during aprotest in Montgomery, the statecapital. "It has set Alabama back atleast 20 years."

U.S. Attorney General EricHolder flled suit to block theArizona law, saying that underthe Constitution only the federalgovernment can make immigration

continued on p. 10-*

JANUARY 30/FEBRUARY 13, 2012 • JUNIOR SCHOLASTIC 9

NATIONAL

ANP WíTNT

ImmigrantOriginsRegion or country

of origin for illegal

immigrants in the

U.S., 2010

SOURCE: Pew HispanicCenter estimates based onU.S. Census Bureau data

gWLPíNe A WALL RCAU^E TOO WANY OP 1/5 ENTÖ? l"Ilfâf? UANGüAGe öK f 6 6 ^ \ i m INTO THEIf? OlLTUKe.

All Other 3%

Middle East 1%

Europe andCanada 4%

SouthAmerica

6%

Caribbean5%

policy. In December, the U.S.Supreme Court agreed to hear thecase, U.S. v. Arizona, later this year.

Officials in Arizona and theother states with similar laws saythat they were forced to act on theirown when the federal governmentfailed to do so. Especially withan ailing economy, they say, it'swrong for illegal immigrants to takejobs from citizens. And, they argue,illegal immigrants commit crimesand drain social services.

Immigrants counter that theytake jobs Americans don't want,especially part-time or seasonalfarm and construction work. InOctober, tomato farmer Brian Cashtold a reporter that the Alabama lawhad caused his 64-man Hispanicmigrant crew, many of whom he'dhired during picking season foryears, to vanish overnight. Only twoU.S. citizens came to apply for thejobs, leaving most of Cash's cropsto rot in the ground.

Path to CitizenshipMost of the Republican candi-

dates for President say that illegalimmigrants should be deported.But one candidate. Newt Gingrich,proposes that anyone who hasbeen in the U.S. for 25 years ormore should be able to stay legally.

"I do not believe that the peopleof the United States are going totake people who have been herea quarter century . . . separatethem from their families, and expelthem," Gingrich said in November.

Both President Barack Obama,a Democrat, and his Republicanpredecessor, George W. Bush, putforth proposals to grant legal statusand eventual citizenship to illegalimmigrants who meet certain stan-dards. But opposition in Congresshas prevented either of these plansfrom going into effect.

Many Americans support a mea-sure called the DREAM Act. It wouldallow children of illegal immigrantswho were brought here by their par-ents before age 16—and grew up inthe U.S.—to become legal residentsafter they graduate from high schooland spend two years in college orthe military. That has also failed tomake it through Congress.

Still, immigrant advocates con-tinue to insist that some path tocitizenship is only right and fair."We have this whole generation ofpeople here who contribute to theeconomy, who have family here,"says Susan Yanun. "But we shutthem out because they don't havethe right documents. That's notwhat this country is about."

In Brooklyn, Anthony hopesthat Americans will be able tosee through the arguing to onesimple truth. "At some point," hesays, "we were all immigrants tothis country. " —Joe Bubar

1 0 JUNIOR SCHOLASTIC • JANUARY 30/FEBRUARY 13, 2012

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