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The US Immigration Policies
One of the thorny issues currently across the United States is matters to do with the country’s immigration laws policies and the recent developments with President Trump’s presidency has brought much focus to immigration issues. Historically, the United States is known to be a country of immigrants and this over the years has made the immigration policies contagious. The first law that was enacted in the United States to address the challenges of immigration includes the Immigration and Nation Act in 1952. The country later sought to address illegal migration through the enactment of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. The act ensures that the welfare that was initially available to illegal immigrants was squashed away and more sanctions were slashed on employers of illegal immigrants. The American constitution has vested all the powers of the formulation of all the immigration related regulations on the Congress while the president and the executive plays the role of enforcement of the immigration laws.
The constitution has ensured that the conflicts between state and federal laws concerning immigration laws are addressed by allowing federal laws to overrule state laws. The supremacy of federal laws has in many occasions been affirmed by rulings by the American Supreme Court on issues that related to conflicts between state and federal immigration laws. According to rulings by the the Supreme Court, the mandate of the federal government is broader and exclusive in the regulation of immigration issues in the country compared to state and local laws. The state immigration laws are often supposed to stem from the existing federal laws to avoid the conflicts that might arise.
The Texas State immigration laws have been seen by many as conservative and retrogressive. Over the years, many state governments have complained that the federal government was reluctant in enforcing the country’s immigration laws and this has led to a strain on state budgets that have to bear the costs of illegal immigration. Historically, states such as California, Texas and Florida has sued the federal government for lack of commitment in enforcing existing immigration laws leading to numerous undocumented immigrants within their areas of jurisdiction. The latest of the state’s immigration laws was the attempt to target sanctuary cities. The immigration law although its application was suspended by a court of law. Many critics of the Texas immigration law SB 4 have condemned it and termed it as a blow towards achieving good governance. The law that was signed by the Texas governor requires the police chiefs, state sheriffs the powers to inquire into immigration status of the people living within the state’s sanctuary cities and even ensures that if such officials do not implement it they face hefty fines, imprisonment or removal from office.
Currently, research has shown that the state government of Texas has often employed punitive actions as a way of deterring illegal immigration into Texas. Many people have challenged the success of this policy as a majority of the critics have argued that it has not succeeded in meeting its intended purpose. The immigration rate into the state continues to soar and there is need for change of tactic if the issue of undocumented persons in Texas has to be addressed. According to the official federal and state figures, about 17 percent of the state’s population comprises of fore-born immigration persons with a majority of them being from Mexico. By 2016, research showed that 15 percent of the people who lived in Texas and were legal citizens had one parent being an immigrant.
In initiating the changes required in the state’s immigration policies, there is need for the state to move from punitive measures to generous and all inclusive measures. The state should focus on coming up with measures that allow undocumented immigrants to come up and acquire legal residence without any fear of victimization. This is important as it will ensure that the state has proper documentation on immigrants and put measures that can restrict future immigrations into Texas.
There are various policy options that the state of Texas should use in addressing the immigration challenges that it faces in a lawful and morally acceptable manner. First, there is need for advocating for increased border security especially across the border with Mexico where many immigrants are using to access the state. The state should work with the federal government to increase the use of advanced technology to ensure the American southern border is not porous and it is not used by immigrants who want to move into the country illegally.
There is also need for policy intervention on interior enforcement of immigration laws to ensure that undocumented persons can be identified and be undertaken through the justice system. The American laws makes illegal immigration a crime against the country and any person who is in within Texas illegally should face the wrath of the law. The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 gives state and federal organs the powers to investigate, arrest and prosecute aliens. There is need for empowerment of state departments concerned with immigration and homeland security to legally deal with immigrants. The state should also ensure it implements the e-verify properly and make changes to the legal immigration systems to ensure immigrants who qualify to attain legal residence are able to do so.
Although these policy interventions are necessary, there are various challenges that are likely to come with their implementation. For instance, when it comes to strengthening border security, many measures that have taken in the past have received global criticism and did not attract public support. For instance, the attempts by the President Trump’s administration to construct a wall across the Mexican border with the United States forced public uproar. Many people seemed not to buy the idea as it seemed not to foster proper working relationships with neighboring countries. The state government has made attempts to strengthen interior immigration law enforcement but resistance from the public and slow decision making form the judiciary has ensured that the process drugs along. A policy intervention that ensures that illegal immigration can legalize their status could act as a motivation for more people to move into the country as legalizing their status might seem easy and simple.
It is important for the government of the state of Texas and the federal government to realize that immigration is a sensitive issue that requires continuous cooperation with various stakeholders. The federal government and the state government cannot succeed in dealing with illegal immigration issues without involving the local communities with immigrants live. Since the immigrants exist within the communities, public sensitization is important in ensuring the public understands why immigration is not working for the benefit of them or the government itself. If the public understands this, they will be able to cooperate with state and federal departments in dealing with the issue. The state and federal government should come up with policy interventions that work towards improving the lives of the neighboring countries by promoting good governance that will lead to improved living standards for Mexicans and other neighboring people. This will ensure that more people will not need to move into America in search for better economic and educational opportunities.
I believe that promoting public participation in dealing with immigration will help state and federal enforcement officials succeed enormously. Empowering our neighbors by promoting democracy and good governance will improve the living standards of people in such countries and create more economic opportunities for them. Once our neighbors have jobs and employment opportunities, they will not need to immigrate into the USA in search for better economic opportunities and this will reduce immigration significantly.
ReferencesDoty, Roxanne Lynn. The law into their own hands: Immigration and the politics of exceptionalism. University of Arizona Press, 2016.
Hoekstra, Mark, and Sandra Orozco-Aleman. “Illegal immigration, state law, and deterrence.” American Economic Journal: Economic Policy 9.2 (2017): 228-52.
Johnson, Kevin R. “Immigration in the Supreme Court, 2009-13: A New Era of Immigration Law Unexceptionalism.” Okla. L. Rev. 68 (2015): 57.
Motomura, Hiroshi. “The President’s Dilemma: Executive Authority, Enforcement, and the Rule of Law in Immigration Law.” Washburn LJ 55 (2015): 1.
