How Do I Get to be an American? Legal Immigration.

How Do I Get to be an American?

Legal Immigration

What Is a Citizen? A legal member of a nation who pledges

loyalty to that nation.

Citizen by birth

Citizen by naturalization.

Fourteenth Amendment

Ratified in 1868

Defined citizenship in the U.S.

All persons born or naturalized in the U.S. …..are citizens of the U.S. and of the state wherein they reside.

Criteria for Naturalization

At least 18 years old (children under 18 automatically become naturalized citizens when their parents do.

Have good moral character.

Live in the U.S. for at least five years as a permanent resident prior to application

Criteria for Naturalization

Read, write, and speak English

Show knowledge of American history and government

$675 in fees

U.S. Foreign Born Population

1900 Europe 86%

Latin America 1%

Asia 1%

Other regions 11%

2008 Latin America 53%

Asia 27%

Europe 13%

Africa 4%

Other regions 3%

Top Three Reasons for Immigrating:

Freedom from religious persecution

Freedom from political oppression

Freedom from economic hardships

Examination for Naturalization New version introduced in October, 2009

New exam focuses less on historic facts and more on the meaning of democracy

To pass the exam, must answer 60% of the questions correctly

Sample Questions Old: Who was the president during the Civil

War?

New: What was one important thing that A. Lincoln did?

Old: How many branches are in the U.S. government?

New: Name one branch of the gov’t.

History of U.S. Immigration

Easy to come to U.S. (pass physical exam, able to work, at least $25.00, no criminal record)

Two chief immigration stations in U.S. Ellis Island in N.Y. harbor and Angel Island in San Francisco Bay.

Angel Island facility was filthy; immigrants treated like prisoners.

ELLIS

ISLAND

Anti-Immigrant Movement

Economic fears: cheap immigrant labor

Political corruption: easily manipulated by big-city politicians

World War One: Nationalism

Led to passage of literacy test and strict quota laws.

Immigration Act of 1965

1960’s Economic growth

Ended quota system

Cleared the way for greater immigration from Asia

Emphasis on attracting highly skilled professionals

Family reunification policy instituted

Immigration Policies 1970’s: 290,000 annual limit

Rise of illegal aliens

Hundreds of thousands of backlogged applicants led to rise in illegals

Immigration Act of 1990: raised annual limit to 675,000

21% of visas reserved for well-trained workers

Immigration Today 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform

Act: improved procedures for deporting illegals.

Sept. 11, 2001: national security concerns. Fear of terrorists led to increased border control and strict enforcement of immigration laws.

Economic security concerns

Economic Arguments against Immigration

Labor union leaders claim immigrants take jobs away from Americans

Hold down wages (cheap supply of unskilled labor)

Drains poor countries of their most educated professionals

Economic Arguments in favor of Immigration

Unskilled workers needed in hotels, restaurants, agriculture to help keep down costs for owners.

Many high tech industries rely on immigrants. Tend to specialize in engineering, computer science, chemistry

Arguments in Favor Many large U.S. cities have seen immigrants

open small businesses, create new jobs, strengthen the local tax base

Arguments Against Place a burden on social services like

education, health care, and welfare.

Example: bilingual classes in public schools

National Security Issues

Open borders with Mexico and Canada make us vulnerable

Provoked many changes like obtaining a passport to cross the Canadian border.

Building a 700 mile high tech fence along the Mexican border; cost 1.2 Billion

Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill 2007

Failed to pass Congress

Controversy over what to do with illegal immigrants: If you want to remain, have to admit they broke

the law Pay back taxes owed Pass a criminal background check to be put on

path for citizenship Increase penalties for hiring illegal immigrants Strengthen border enforcement Create a temporary worker program to allow

migrants to work in U.S. up to five years

Arizona’s New Immigration Law

Arizona took matters into their own hands and passed their own immigration law

Requires local police to question the legal status of anyone they “reasonably suspect” of being an illegal

Unclear on what constitutes a reasonable suspicion

Police required to check a person’s citizenship or immigration status if there is reasonable suspicion

S.C., R.I., Pa., and Minnesota are considering similar laws

Proposal to change the 14th Amendment

Some Republicans are pushing for congressional hearings to consider changing the 14th Amendment to deny children born in the U.S. if one or more parent is an illegal immigrant

Senator Lindsey Graham from S.C. is a vocal advocate for changing the Constitution