Immigration Law
The law of immigration has been developed since the 1790s when the rules for naturalized citizenship but placed no restrictions on immigration. Citizenship was only aloud to white people, with no other restriction on nonwhites. Immigration law explains the rules established by the federal government for determining who can enter the country, and for how long they can stay. It also administrates the naturalization process for those who wish to become U.S. citizens. According to Legal Resource, when foreign nationals enter without permission, overstay their visit, or otherwise lose their legal status, immigration law controls how the detention and removal proceedings are carried out. The U.S. Constitution grants Congress right to legislate in the area of immigration. Most laws, including the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), are found in Title 8 of the United States Code. State governments are prohibited from enacting immigration laws. Despite this, a handful of states recently passed laws requiring local police to investigate
the immigration status of suspected illegal aliens, creating some controversy.
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President Trump was elected on pledges to take actions to control illegal immigration and prevent terrorism, including controversial plans to build out the border wall with Mexico, deport millions of undocumented immigrants, and temporarily ban Muslims. He has scaled back his plans in some areas but pushed ahead with full force in others, often drawing legal challenges and public protest. Immigrants contain about 14% of the U.S. population and more than 43 million out of a total of about 323 million people, according to Census Bureau data. Immigrants and their U.S. born children make up about 27% of U.S. inhabitants.
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When it comes to immigration reform, a “Dreamer” mentions to a young person who qualifies for the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act. While most Dreamers are Latino, they are an assorted group and come from a bunch of countries and cultures. Seven of the top 24 countries for Dreamers are in Asia, South Korea, or the Caribbean. Tens of thousands of young Dreamers come from, the Philippines, Europe, India, Jamaica, Tobago, Poland, Nigeria, Pakistan, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, and Guyana.
Immigration is the most projecting block issue in America. Senate Republicans and Democrats shut down the federal government because of the treatment of immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children, also known as Dreamers. President Trump referred to U.S. immigration law as a “broken” system. This divided reaction reflects a widening divide among voters, as Democrats are now twice as likely as Republicans to say immigrants strengthen the country.
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According to American Voice, DACA permitted almost 800,000 young undocumented people to come out and live without fear of deportation. It helped drive economic growth, kept families together, promoted education and community integration, and strengthened civic ties. However, Dreamers were still not provided a pathway to citizenship under the DACA program. Since it was created through an executive order, presidents after Barack Obama had the authority to withdraw the DACA program at any time.
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On September 5, 2017, President Trump announced that DACA was coming to an end. The collapse of DACA happened despite polls finding 2:1 that most voters nationwide opposed the repeal of DACA, while just 28% supported its end.
Every Dreamer whose DACA expires on or after March 6, 2018 will only continue to have DACA status and work permits until their next DACA expiration date, unless their status is terminated or revoked. Because DACA only lasts two years, this rescission means all DACA recipients will eventually lose protected status and potentially face deportation by early 2020.
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This law is relevant to everyone and this is a situation that has personal issues with a lot of Americans. This affects more than non-US citizens. Lipscomb University student, Katherine Climaco would be considered as a “Dreamer” because her parents is from El Salvador and they did not fulfil the option to get their citizenship. Since the DACA law will be expired soon, they are under fire with the government. I did an interview with Climaco seeing her point of view with the deportation law and how is this affecting her life.
immigration laws that are outdated. And that do not actually deal with the immigration problem we have now.”