Essay Sample on Exploring the Impact of US Federal Immigration Policies on Local Governments

Introduction

Public policies in the United States are the policies that comprise of all the legal actions taken by the federal government (Bach and Robert, 139-152). The policies are derived from the collection of laws, legal precedents, and executive decisions. Among the policies, the federal immigration policies have directly and indirectly affected the local and state governments in terms of their budget, citizenry general social, political, and economy. Although the federal government has the ultimatum power over immigration policy, the local governments are responsible for the policy to help immigrants to integrate into the population economically and socially and enjoy the civil rights (Bach and Robert, 139-152). The immigration policies in the United States have caused majors problems in its population like fear, mistrust, discrimination, vulnerability, limited access to public services, parent-child separation, and a negative relationship with other nations.

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Immigration cases in the U.S. has aroused strong passion among the citizens. The country is long known in history as a nation of immigrants. Each group's arrival and, once established, fight other immigrants from coming in, claiming that the country full of its capacity. The effect is persistent today. The United States policymakers believe the causes of immigration is that the evasion of poverty, overpopulation, economic stagnation in their home country (Wasem and Ruth et al., 811-832). It is also thought immigration is a result of unfavorable social-economic conditions in other countries.

The U.S. policy on immigration has been deemed powerless, and the door for more incoming is not shut completely. The debates on current legislation on how to control is not a new thing. It stretches back to colonial times. Since the election of Donald Trump as the U.S. president, he has been in the forefront in eradicating immigration with his administration (Wasem and Ruth et al., 811-832). The government has imposed strict policies and employing brutal tactics in dealing with immigrants. The administration means business when dealing with interior law enforcement. President Trump invoked the insurrection Act 1807 to involve the military in hunting down and ejecting the illegal immigrant (Corcoran and Erin, 541-550). The government administration has targeted to deport the legal green card holders with past criminal offenses, one way of trimming immigrants in the country. This move will not only cause chaos but also will jeopardize the workforce in the U.S. economy.

Unlike the past, where the U.S. visa application was more accessible, the administration has foisted extreme vetting on immigrant's visa application and renewal. The application requires a history of travel, giving usernames of social media accounts, history of residence and employment, and in-person interviews. The goal of this has been to create a hostile environment for immigrants in the United States soil, blocking their entry (Wasem and Ruth et al., 811-832). The government wants to make these requirements mandatory for all visa holders to regulate the number of immigrants in the country. The result of this policy caused a drop of more than 4000 immigrants in 2018 from the previous year (Torres, Stephanie A., et al., 843-854).

Immigrants represent a diversity of professional skills in the U.S population and have a significant contribution to the country's wealth (Bach and Robert, 139-152). Nevertheless, the social-political environment in the country assumes that the immigrants are a threat to national security, and hurts the country's economy. However, the empirical evidence points out that the immigrants are the backbone of economic growth, and their rate of criminal offenses are low (Wasem and Ruth et al., 811-832). This has sparked hot debates about the issues splitting opinions in the country. Some support the border immigration reforms so that the unauthorized people should be given opportunities and their status be legalized while others claim that access to the U.S. border should be limited (Bach and Robert, 139-152). Whichever the case, many children and adults have been profoundly affected by the immigration policies and practices in the country. This includes the risks of deportation and restricted eligibility to public services like health care.

President Donald Trump and his administration on 'immigration war' is the destruction of nationalism in the U.S. (Corcoran and Erin, 541-550). His promise to build a wall on the southern border of the U.S. is sparking disagreements between the U.S. and Mexico (Corcoran and Erin, 541-550). He also promised to round up and deport people unauthorized citizenship in the country. Trump refers to the Mexican immigrants as terrorists who came to harm the U.S. The issuing of the executive order entitled 'Protecting the Nation from Foreign terrorist Entry into the United States' seems disrespectful to human rights. It destroys the country's affairs to the neighbouring countries (Torres, Stephanie A., et al, 843-854).

In the earlier reign of Donald Trump presidency, he signed several policies that authorize deportation of any illegal immigrant in the country. The policies enforce activities like investigation, arrest, detention, and deportation of any suspected immigrant (Torres, Stephanie A., et al., 843-854). The administration banned the entrance of the refugees from 7 Muslims countries, including Syria, completely, in fear of terrorism. Children suffer most from this saga an end up being raped or dead in the process.

Conclusion

The current practices and legislation has a significant role in creating a hostile and discriminating platform for immigrants (Torres, Stephanie A., et al., 843-854). These laws need to be amended to give immigrants fair opportunities in the country. They are of great importance to the development of the economy. Deportation of the immigrant might not be the solution to high crime rates. Treating immigrants and refugees well is one way of conserving humanity and cultivates international cohesion.

Work Cited

Sassen, Saskia. "America's Immigration" Problem"." World Policy Journal 6.4 (1989): 811-832.

Wasem, Ruth Ellen, and Karma Ester. "Temporary protected status: Current immigration policy and issues." (2008).

Gulasekaram, Pratheepan. "Immigration federalism." Controversies in American Federalism and Public Policy. Routledge, 2018. 151-170.

Espenshade, Thomas J. "Unauthorized immigration to the United States." Annual Review of Sociology 21.1 (1995): 195-216.

Johnson, Kevin R. "Immigration and Civil Rights: State and Local Efforts to Regulate Immigration." Ga. L. Rev. 46 (2011): 609.

Bach, Robert L. "Immigration: Issues of ethnicity, class, and public policy in the United States." The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 485.1 (1986): 139-152.

Torres, Stephanie A., et al. "Immigration Policy, Practices, and Procedures: The Impact on the Mental Health of Mexican and Central American Youth and Families." American Psychologist, vol. 73, no. 7, Oct. 2018, pp. 843-854. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1037/amp0000184.

Corcoran, Erin. "The Construction of the Ultimatum Other: Nationalism and Manifestations of Misogyny and Patriarchy in U.S. IMMIGRATION LAW AND POLICY." Georgetown Journal of Gender and the Law, vol. 20, no. 3, 2019, p. 541+. Gale General OneFile, https://link-gale-com.libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/apps/doc/A587656460/ITOF?u=oran95108&sid=ITOF&xid=50086e64. Accessed 8 Oct. 2019.