Illegal Immigration Reform

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Pages: 7

The controversial debate on immigration and the United States policies have been frequently discussed in the political view. As the numbers of people who come to this country continue to increase, the situation has become complex for government figures to handle. Ideas of strengthening the borders and increasing security have been put into consideration. A compromise should be made in order to allow for a civilized and fair citizenship process that prioritizes the security of American citizens. Background Immigration policies have been a hot political topic for several years. “1986 immigration reform and Control Act (IRCA) emphasized border control in an attempt to decrease unauthorized migration” (Houston et al., 2022, p.1). The early years …show more content…
Restriction of resources was and is a method put in place to prevent large amounts of people from going to the U.S. Despite these restrictions, “Immigration numbers have swelled past their early 2000s highs by official accounting; border officials recorded 1.6 million encounters in 2000 then known as ‘arrests’” (Folley and Bernal, 2024, p.1). Recently, a controversial take on the conflict was announced by former President Donald Trump. “...the Trump administration issued a sweeping executive order to prevent citizens from certain countries from entering the USA and also to reduce the number of legal immigrants” (Dzordzormenyoh et al., 2023, p.1295). Statistics show that a surge will last until the year 2026 (Folley and Bernal, 2024, p. 2). Challenges Over recent years, the immigration rate has notably surged. “In fiscal year 2021, Border Patrol reported about 1.7 million apprehensions of noncitizens - a 300 percent increase over 2020” (Gambler, 2022, p. …show more content…
Job opportunities will begin to decrease with the growing population. “The majority leaned on IRCA’s goal to make the labor market less attractive to undocumented immigrants by strengthening border enforcement and penalizing employers for knowingly employing unauthorized workers''(Kuehne, 2022, p. ). Hiring uncertified personnel puts the risk of limiting jobs to citizens. Not only are American citizens facing conflict, but international students are as well. “In addition to embassy closures and visa processing delays, some international students and faculty living in the US experienced hostility based on their national origin” (Feeney et al., 2023, p.). As a result of the fear from Americans, foreign students encounter hostility and discrimination from their peers. Additionally, “Prior studies suggest that rural folks in the USA tend to support restrictive immigration policies more than their city folks, because they are likely to hold negative views about multiculturalism” (Dzordzormenyoh et al., 2023, p. ). Proving ironic to the idea of America being a melting pot of cultures. Impact The rising immigration rate has placed both negative and positive impacts on the