Analyzing Immigration

America has a very long history in Immigration, beginning with the Pilgrims. Currently Native Americans represent approximately 1% of the nation's population. Immigration is at its all time high in the United States. Efforts to limit status or increase punishment for lack of are met with resistance. The resistance comes from "powerful industry groups" that appreciate the high supply of low-wage workers. (Dye, 2005). Currently there are two methods of admissions; permanent (immigrant) and temporary (nonimmigrant). The latter of the two usually are here on work visas and can not gain citizenship through naturalization. The goal of current policies is to 1. Reunite families, 2.admit workers in strong demand for labor, 3. Provide refuge for those facing political, racial, or religious prosecution in their home countries, and 4. Provide admission from a diverse range of countries (CBO, 2006). The effectiveness of this policy can be determined through a program evaluation.

Dye (2005) outlines five forms in which a policy may be reviewed. The most common form is by way of hearings and reports. President Bush has held multiple hearings and his office has reviewed many reports regarding immigration policy. On June 26, 2007, in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, the President discussed the comprehensive immigration reform. He states that the current system is not working (The White House, 2007). He further discusses the attempt for reform in 1986 and explains that its failures. One of those failures is the inability to enforce the borders "like we want". Even greater is that fact that the system "fostered illegal operations that prey upon the human being The White House, 2007)." Holding hearings and reports allows the government administrators to give testimony based on the success or shortcomings of their policies. The challenge of this form of review is that most would rather share the success than the cost of the policy. (Dye, 2005, p.336).

The second form of policy review is through site visits. In this case site visits may include observations of border control, employment offices, private businesses, schools, legislative offices in charge of enforcement, and immigration offices. Border control and enforcement offices can help determine what is lacking as well as what is working in regards to the current policies. Employment offices and private businesses can supply numbers regarding immigrant workers applying or hired. This is also an opportunity to see if there are any illegal employment issues. Checking schools can determine how immigration is affecting education and if the standards of education meet the rise in second language individuals. In all of these site visits the pros and cons to current policies can be viewed first hand. The investigative team "can pick up impressionistic data about how programs are being run, whether they are following specific guidelines, whether they have competent staffs. And sometimes whether or not the clients (target groups) are pleased (Dye, 2005, p.336)."

Program measures are a third form of review utilized. Program measurements determined by the government represent the "policy output measures'" (Dye, 2005). Such measures may include the number of employees at border control and the cost to train them. In May 2006 the president called to add 6,000 additional employees to border control by 2008. The cost, in 2006, to train a new border control agent was approximately $14,700. (GAO, 2007). Dye explains that these program measures often fail to indicate what impact such numbers have on society (p.336). It can be determined that in 2004 "the State Department issued about 5 million visas authorizing temporary admission to the United States, according to preliminary data (CBO, 2006)." What may not be accounted for in this case is the increase in school enrollment, hospital admissions, and individuals seeking other services.

Another form of evaluation is by comparison with professional standards. Under this particular policy the government might compare to other countries. Alternatively professional institutions may conduct their own studies and call for research pertaining to immigration policies and reforms. The Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute on Race, Ethnicity and Diversity has designated immigration reform as a priority for research and policy development. They are calling for proposals and offering compensation. Among the various topics for consideration is competition with domestic workers, employer's verification systems, and Immigrant integration. (law.berkeley, n.d.). For immigration policy, findings from research by professional institutes can be used for comparison evaluation as well. The challenges of using this form of review is that the ideal standards determined by professional establishments are often merely guesses at an appropriate ideal (Dye, 2005, p336).

Dye's final form of review is evaluation of citizens' complaints. This is most easily applied to immigration policies. Citizen's complaints come from many directions when it comes to immigration policies. According to Dye (2005, pp. 208-214), one group of citizens is the nations business and corporate leaders. This group has interest in access to low-wage workers. They complain by lobbying against stricter policies. Some complaints include the impact that multi-cultures have on their communities; that immigrants now days are not like those that are arriving today. A large majority of Americans will complain that there should be better integration policies. Additionally there are groups that complain about the treatment of immigrants. The citizens also complain about the effectiveness of current, past, and proposed policies. Considering these factors offer some suggestion for direction of the government. However it can also lead to empty appeasing statements made to "please" these conflicting groups of individuals.

Considering all of these areas it would appear that current immigration policies do not please everyone. There are many considerations when handling such policies. The government is funding additional border control and stricter enforcement laws. This is, however, more a reaction to homeland security measures. The government has issued amenity in the past. This is in response to interest groups fighting for the rights of immigrants as well as the rallying business owners that claim the immigrants are needed to do the jobs that Americans will not.

Many policy areas are affected by immigration policies. Discussed above, is labor laws and employment policies. In June, 2007 the number of employed persons was still 6.9 million (bls.gov, 2007). These Americans may resist competition for employment. Alternatively employers will lose a group of low-waged workers which subsequently puts more money in their pockets. Human rights activists will argue that this leads to the mistreatment and illegal employment standards of immigrants. Housing areas are affected as low-wages generally do not support the higher cost of living that exists in most areas of the country now. Healthcare is affected in multiple ways. One is the rise in hospital admission. Another is the number of uninsured patients. The extreme case is that some may go untreated to avoid medical costs or immigration status. Yet another area affected is educational institutions. The system must consider the impact this area has on enrollment rates, learning scales, and the teacher's readiness to address issues that relate to such diversity and language barriers.

It seems that the policies goals as of current appear to be more the result of a need for a sense of safety in the nation. Citizen's feelings of fear and anxiety are their driving force behind supporting strict immigration policies. The other interest areas mentioned above do not necessarily receive the same consideration under such condensed emotion. Unfortunately whether they receive attention or not they are affected. As the voices behind these other policy needs increase in strength the need to reform immigration policies will arise. The need to reverse adverse affects of the current policy will lead to a new wave of affects.

References

BLS (2007). Employment Situation Summary. Retrieved on July 27, 2007 from http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm

CBO (2006). A Series on Immigration. Retrieved on July 27, 2007 from http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/70xx/doc7051/02-28-Immigration.pdf

Dye, Thomas R. (2005). Understanding Public Policy eleventh edition. New Jersey 07458

GAO (2007). Border Patrol: Costs and Challenges Related to Training New Agents. Retrieved on July 27, 2007 from http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d07997thigh.pdf

Law.berkely (n.d.). Immigration Policy Reform: A call for paper proposal. Retrieved on July 27, 2007 from http://www.law.berkeley.edu/centers/ewi/research/Immigration%20Policy%20Call%20for%20Papers.pdf

The White House (2007). President Bush Discusses Immigration Reform. Retrieved on July 27, 2007 from http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/06/20070626.html