Harvard University Immigration issue in America Question

Putting politics aside, how should the United States best address immigration now? What about in the next five years? What about the next ten years? (Note: there should be NO discussion of political parties).

Required Readings:

Civil rights/Civil Liberties Impact Assessment: Border Searches of Electronic Devices: https://www.dhs.gov/publication/border-searches-el…

Pub. L. 107-173 – Enhanced Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2002: https://www.uscis.gov/ilink/docView/PUBLAW/HTML/PU…

The Alien and Sedition Acts (1798): http://avalon.law.yale.edu/subject_menus/alsedact….

Instructions: Fully utilize the materials that have been provided to you in order to support your response. Please respond to at least two other students and provide substantive comments that contribute something new and important to the discussion. You may challenge, support or supplement another student’s answer using the terms, concepts and theories from the required readings. Also, do not be afraid to respectfully disagree where you feel appropriate; as this should be part of your analysis process at this academic level.

200-250 for disccusion and 100-150 words for student responses

Student Responses

Student #1 Joshua

Putting politics aside, how should the United States best address immigration now? What about in the next five years? What about the next ten years? (Note: there should be NO discussion of political parties).

Good Afternoon Class & Prof.

The topic of immigration in the United States has long been very decisive and compiled with disagreements, pros, and cons. After the terrorist attacks against our nation on 9/11, the immigration policies of the United States underwent a massive overhaul. Prior to 9/11, legislation such as the Immigration Act of 1990 and the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 were at the forefront of this issue. To best address immigration now, the U.S. must continue to use its tools and available resources to ensure the viability and legalities associated with documented, legal immigration into the country. An example of this would be the REAL ID Act which requires that states require of all its residents, evidence of lawful status (REAL ID Act).

In the next five years, the U.S. must adopt an immigration system the best suits the interest of the nation. This ensures a commitment between Federal, State, Local, Territorial, & Tribunal (FSLTT) agencies is made to remove unlawful entrants. Immigration is a matter of homeland security and international competitiveness. For example, illegal immigration provides a tremendous amount of funding to transnational crime organizations, allowing for other illegal actions such as fraud and corruption of pharmaceutical companies, as well as local, state, and federal elections. It influences a healthy economy by reducing sate tax collection amounts, withdrawals of investments, and increased joblessness (Mamazizi & Rostami,2016).

In the next ten years, the U.S. must continue down this course of altering and molding its immigration policies to best suit the nation. America’s openness to foreign students, investors, businesspeople, and visitors is a diplomatic asset we cannot afford to lose. The more unauthorized inhabitants that accumulate in the U.S., the more the law becomes diminished, security risks are more prevalent, and labor rights are weakened. The U.S. policy on immigration at this time must not be reactive per say, but proactive in the ways that the emergence of new indicators such as economic upturns and downfalls are examined.

V/R,

JM

Mamazizi, S., & Rostami, Y. (2016). On the examination of reasons why border dwellers tend to goods smuggling and its impacts on the non-accomplishment of economic development. World Scientific News, 52, 93-105.105.

REAL ID Act. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/real-id-act-text.pdf

Student #2 Alston

Hello All,

To address the issue of proper immigration reform and policy implementation, there are several factors that need to be considered as well as changes to how, when, why, what, and where data points are collected. According to Roberts, a true definition of border security needs to be created. Should it be defensive, proactive, reactive, and so on. Further, there is a lack of data that needs to be considered. For example, metrics and trend analysis need to be better recorded and disseminated in efforts to reflect the policies of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Border Patrol, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Having such data could potentially impact immigration to the U.S. without ever changing the posture, manning, and equipment of security at or near the borders. For example, recording and disseminating the number of attempts (both legal, such as asylum seekers, and illegal entries) may in itself serve as a deterrence. If the numbers reflect that a high percentage of illegal crossings are interdicted and offenders are returned to their origin, it may impact future attempts at crossing illegally. However, the same could work in reverse if the success rate increases. Also included should be the number of asylum seekers that were granted access to the U.S. and those who were denied. Statistics and metrics can contribute to border security without adding a single additional agent to the border. These statistics also could be overplayed on a map to show where the critical points or hot spots are. Most of the illegal entries occur between the ports of entry, therefore efforts to close the gaps is necessary (Roberts, 2017).

While security and a physical presence, either manned or unmanned, including a wall at the border is a visible deterrent, other factors also help forecast the number of immigrants seeking entry into the U.S. With regards to the U.S. southern border, the U.S. economy plays a role in migration efforts. For example, during the recession around 2008, migration to the U.S. was significantly lower than in previous years. The economy and geopolitical circumstances of the countries of origin also play a role in determining the flow of migrants and forecast potential increases and decreases (Roberts, 2017). Similarly, according to the Migration Data Portal, early warning signs are important to determine policy. Qualitative and quantitative data can help forecast short to long term migration trends. This allows for both policy makers and security personnel to develop and prepare for most, if not all, conceivable trends and scenarios. Further, there needs to be an ability to change policy and measures based on inaccurate data and unknown factors, as it is impossible to predict the future. Concrete definitions on what exactly border security entails, as mentioned earlier, is also important to defining roles, regulations, and policies (2020).

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) has created a Global Trends report every five years since 2010. Over its evolution, it has provided an outlook on trends as well as the role of the U.S. within the international system. It also makes assessments of international dynamics such as nonstate actors and their roles in migration. One example is ISIS in Syria, which led to migration out of Syria to Europe and asylum seekers to the U.S. The report also includes a global power index and economic index. This is essentially an outlook of the international economy, security, and where there may be a rise in population, economic and technological advances, and so on which would make it a country of interest for migrants. These reports also serve as a repository of information to determine accuracy and relevance, and how the metrics can be improved (DNI, 2008, and DNI 2012).

In my opinion, the data collection needs to be improved and made publicly available. Focus should remain on both regional (such as Central America and Canada) and global trends to determine how this may relate to migration, with emphasis on the U.S. Previous and current data should be used to help determine future patterns and trends, while creating scenarios which include unknown or unpredictable variables, such as COVID-19. There are many other atmospherics that can be included as well. These include relationships with other countries, our own economic forecast, the terrorist threat, and technological innovations. With past data, current collection of all applicable information, and the inclusion of variables, a future forecast can be assessed and policies, manning, training, and equipment can be implemented to favorably control migration into the U.S., while monitoring global migration.

R/ Tony

Sources:

Roberts, B. W. (2017). ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION OUTCOMES ON THE U.S. SOUTHERN BORDER. Cato Journal, 37(3), 555-572. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy1.apus.edu/docview/1944209057?accountid=8289

Migration Data Portal. (2020). Future Migration Trends. Migration Data Portal. Retrieved from https://migrationdataportal.org/themes/future-migration-trends

Director of National Intelligence. (2008). Global Trends 2025: A Transformed World. National Intelligence Council. ISBN 978-0-16-081834-9. Retrieved from https://www.dni.gov/files/documents/Newsroom/Reports%20and%20Pubs/2025_Global_Trends_Final_Report.pdf

Director of National Intelligence. (2012). Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds. National Intelligence Council. ISBN 978-1-929667-21-5. Retrieved from https://www.dni.gov/files/documents/GlobalTrends_2030.pdf