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 Europe86% Latin America1% Asia1% Other regions11% 2008 Latin America53% Asia27% Europe13% Africa4% Other regions3%

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 ’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 14 th Amendment Some Republicans are pushing for congressional hearings to consider changing the 14 th 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