Immigraton in the U.S. Essay - 1261 Words

Immigration in the U.S. While immigration has played an important role in the building and formation of America, new federal laws have resulted in mass immigration. â€Å"America was primarily founded on immigrants, however, immigration must be controlled legally, and immigrants should be treated equally despite what country they come from. America has the most liberal laws towards immigrants than any other country.† Luis Barker, Chief Patrol Agent In-Charge, US Border Patrol, El Paso, TX. Throughout history, Congress has enacted laws and has had to amend them to control the flow of both legal and illegal migration to the United States. In 1948, legislation was first enacted in an effort to†¦show more content†¦Under IRCA 2.7 illegal aliens mostly from Mexico were given legal immigrant status. These new laws opened the door to the longest and largest wave of immigration ever-27 million since 1965, including illegal entries. The visa waiver pilot program (VWPP) is designed to extend reciprocity to the countries that permit US citizens to visit their countries without the need of a tourist visa. To date a total of twenty-nine countries are signatory to the treaty. In order to qualify, countries must have a low rate of non-immigrant overstays to the US, and must have state of the art machine readable passports. 2 Prior to the enactment of IRCA, marriage fraud between non-citizens and US citizens was rampant and out of control. Measures were put in place to reduce this by requiring couples to submit proof to INS. This proof must show that the couple has been living together and submitted ninety days prior to the second anniversary. If the couple fails to establish that the marriage is valid, the non-citizen will not become a lawful permanent resident and will be faced with and order of deportation. The only exception, is that the non-citizen cannot be the subject of spousal abuse and be expected to remain in the marriage forShow MoreRelated Immigraton Laws Essay1572 Words   |  7 Pages Immigraton Laws The first immigrants to the territory now the United States were from Western Europe. The first great migration began early in the 19th century when large numbers of Europeans left their homelands to escape the economic hardships resulting from the transformation of industry by the factory system and the simultaneous shift from small-scale to large-scale farming. At the same time, conflict, political oppression, and religious persecution caused a great many Europeans to seek freedomRead MoreThe New York Times By Steven Greenhouse Spreads Light On Discrimination1179 Words   |  5 Pagesfact that their parents, grandparents, and past generations alike are foreign to the land they live in and were immigrants to America themselves. When in fact according to a MIP study â€Å"approximately 80 million people, or one quarter of the overall U.S. population, is first or second generation immigrants†. The discrimination is vast and touches every surface of society. One article in the New York Times by Steven Greenhouse spreads light on discrimination in the workplace, showing statistics that