...As a former congressional staff member for the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees, and Border Security, I have become all too familiar with the challenges in successfully enacting reforms that address the comprehensive immigration issues of our time. Our organization recently decided to promote Congressional interest in a modified version of the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, including addenda that provide a path to citizenship for immigrants younger than 12 years of age and augment enforcement and deportation efforts for adult immigrant criminals. In consideration of the goals and prospects of our proposed legislation and its implications for future immigration politics, there are several obstacles that appear relevant to its passage. Obstacles to Previous Reform Attempts One of the greatest challenges for our group to confront is the elevated level of partisanship currently present in Congress and the federal government as a whole. Research demonstrates that over the last several decades, increasing division along party lines-- particularly in Congress’ voting patterns—has ignited simultaneous division over immigration policy and reform. A 2011 study released by the Immigration Reform Caucus of the House of Representatives revealed that agreement on immigration-related legislation in both the House had dropped on average 4 - 5% with each successive session of Congress. These numbers correlated closely with similar...
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...2013 America’s immigration dilemma Illegal immigration has always been at the forefront when it comes to the domestic policy issues that this country faces and it has divided the nation from deep patriotic Americans to those that have emigrated to the U.S and call it home; all the way to the halls of Capitol Hill along the political lines. The question that is on everyone’s mind is what to do with the millions of undocumented immigrants already settled here for years, mass deportation that would result in breaking up families or do we grant them amnesty and a path to legalization? Many presidents have come along and were not able to bring the lawmakers to the table and draft up a comprehensive immigration reform bill, a bill that would fix the broken immigration system, secure the borders to keep criminals and drugs out of the country and to help all the undocumented immigrants come out of the shadows towards legalization and be able to pay taxes and work and contribute to the economy. Many in Capitol Hill say they do not support any bill that does not address securing the borders first as a priority before any path to legalization that some equate to amnesty. The U.S is a country of immigrants many people say yet its current immigration system is broken and it is nowhere near to being fixed, the state of Arizona has taken it upon itself and moved ahead of the federal government and passed what is called an extremely strict and very controversial immigration law that has some...
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...1) With reference to two or three factors of initiation, explain why both the Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment 2014 (Cth) Act and the Australian Citizenship Amendment (Allegiance to Australia) Bill was introduced to Parliament. The Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment (Foreign Fighters) Bill 2014 (Cth) and Australian Citizenship Amendment Bill was initiated by The Liberal Party to combat the ongoing issue of Australian citizens leaving Australia with the intent to participate in terrorist acts. As about 70 Australians are believed to be fighting alongside Islamic State terrorists in Iraq and Syria this is a pressing needs to be address. The Counter Terrorism Legislation Amendment Bill 2014 (Cth) passed through the Senate with the support...
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...Immigration How many people are deported each year? The Obama administration deported a record 438,421 unauthorized immigrants in fiscal year 2013, continuing a streak of stepped up enforcement that has resulted in more than 2 million deportations since Obama took office, newly released Department of Homeland Security data show (pew research center). Immigration is the action of coming to live permanently in a foreign country. On this essay im going to be talking about the immigration issues in the united states, was the presidents actions constitutional, how much does the government make a year from the immigration, immigration expensives, the places that the immigration is happening at. Executive actions are often controversial, with members...
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...The United States has experienced a sharp spike in immigration flows over the past decade. The Pew Hispanic Research Center has reported non-partisan statistical analyses and public opinion data chronicling the rapid growth of the Latino population and its implication for the nation as a whole to government stakeholders and officials that mandate new policies both foreign and domestic. The center uses the tools of social science research to improve understanding of the diverse Hispanic experience in the United States and to chronicle the Latino growing impact on the country. The latest figures compiled by the Pew Hispanic Center indicate that there are more than 11 million undocumented immigrants, a number that includes more than one million children under the age of 18. Overall, the undocumented represent approximately 4% of the nation's population, 5% of its labor force, and 28% of its foreign-born population (Suro, 2005). However, these statistics could be challenged simply based on Scheuren’s (2004) account that bias could be an issue as the “findings are extrapolated from a sample of the Mexican population”. A stratified sample from varies regions of Hispanics would likely have yielded different results. Survey results tend to be mixed depending on if one is native born or migrant. Congress attempts to pass immigration reform laws in order to control or at least temper the illegal migrations. Research is gathered and used in order to make informed decisions that will be...
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...17 December 2013 The DREAM Act When considering social movements, we think about a social or political development aimed at advancing a group of people or organization whose significance lies in their uniqueness. This advancement is not a literal, physical progression, but rather a symbolic movement with the intent to foster support and progress past some deeply imbedded issues. Today in the United States, we are at the center of attention for a social movement that is quite literally, a physical movement. Illegal immigration from Mexico and South American countries continues to be one of the most controversial and debated matters of public policy. The United States allows for an annual limit of roughly 675,0001 immigrants to legally enter our borders, which is extremely conservative relative to other countries. This very limited number forces the majority of immigrants from south of the border to either enter completely illegally, or overstay a temporary work visa issued by our government. While dealing with these illegal aliens serves to be a contentious problem by itself, an even more pressing issue rises to the surface when debating the rights of their children. Thomas Humphrey Marshall described the evolution of citizenship from civil, to political, and finally to social. This idea of social citizenship explained the governmental rights that citizens were guaranteed, “to live the life of a civilized being.”2 The two institutions “most closely connected with it are...
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...system is a system where two major parties dominate politics within government and in our circumstances it would be seen as labour and conservatives. One of the two parties typically holds a majority and is referred to as the majority party while the other is the minority party. Also other parties do exist but are seen to have very little political importance. Over the last 60 years, in the general elections, there has been 8 wins labour and 8 wins for conservatives up until 2010 where there was a coalition formed with the liberal democrats. Therefore it could be argued that the UK was a two party system because of labour and conservatives winning endeavors. Traditionally some people may argue that the UK is still a two party system due to partisan alignment, the citizens of the UK tend to vote in order with their social class for example the middle class, upper class and older generation (the grey vote) incline to vote conservatives due to their moralistic viewpoints as they get older. However the working class have the tendency to vote for labour as they would have traditionally appealed to the working class. As a result the two main parties have dominated British politics over the last 60 years., for example rational choice voters would vote for parties that best benefit and represent their(and their families) needs and interests therefore a civilian employed in the public sector might vote labour due to a “rational” interest. Furthermore, the first past the post system will be...
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...A social issue (also called a social problem, social conflict, or social illness) is a problem that influences a considerable number of the individuals within a society. It is often the consequence of factors extending beyond an individual's social issue is the source of a conflicting opinion on the grounds of what is perceived as a morally just personal life or societal order. Social issues are distinguished from economic issues; however, some issues (such as immigration) have both social and economic aspects. There are also issues that don't fall into either category, such as warfare. There can be disagreements about what social issues are worth solving, or which should take precedence. Different individuals and different societies have different perceptions. In Rights of Man and Common Sense, Thomas Paine addresses man's duty to "allow the same rights to others as we allow ourselves". The failure to do so causes the birth of a social issue. There are a variety of methods people use to combat social issues. Some people vote for leaders in a democracy to advance their ideals. Outside the political process, people donate or share their time, money, energy, or other resources. This often takes the form of volunteering. Nonprofit organizations are often formed for the sole purpose of solving a particular social issue. Community organizing involves gathering people together for a common purpose. A distinct but related meaning of the term "social issue" (used particularly...
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...tries to calm him down and pleads: “Please don’t hurt me, I’ll give you whatever you want…” Then they hear piercing screams. The front door slams. The children, ages 8 and 6, come rushing out of the closet, only to see their mother lying in a pool of blood – stabbed multiple times. Their father murdered her (what is known as femicide). The Violence Against Women Act works to reduce and prevent domestic violence. Every six minutes in the United States a woman is raped, and most often it is not by a stranger (Biden, 1993). In fact, domestic violence is more common than diseases (e.g. cancer, heart attacks), vehicle accidents, and other types of assaults combined. For a long time, domestic violence carried the stigma that it is a private issue, not a public one. While this is still true to a certain extent today, a landmark legislation passed in 1993, became effective in 1994, and...
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... Final Project: Persuasive Research Paper 2 Illegal immigration is one of the most controversial issues in today’s society. It is a major topic in many political debates, and one cannot read a newspaper or watch the evening news without eventually coming across a story about it. With all of the commotion surrounding illegal immigration, it is no surprise that many American citizens are concerned about how much it will affect their lives. The exact impact of illegal immigration is impossible to measure due to the fact that the majority of illegal immigrants are undocumented. However, it is clear that it has both negative and positive impacts on the American workforce. Whether or not one past outweighs the other is a personal opinion, but the only way to make an informed decision is to know the facts from both sides of the argument. This research report will discuss both the negative and positive impacts that illegal immigration has on the American economy, but will begin by giving a brief background on illegal immigration. [pic] Final Project: Persuasive Research Paper 3 Background Everyday more citizens from other countries enter the United States illegally. According to Steven Camarota of the Center for Immigration Studies, “the illegal immigration population grows by 400,000 to 500,000 each year.” The majority of those illegal immigrants entering...
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...support our economy? It is a huge issue in America today, illegal immigration and what it means for our economy. The problem is divisive and a political hot potato. It has been discussed for the last thirty plus years and no solutions are in sight. We have some eleven million illegal, undocumented workers in America today and some argue we should round them up and send them home, regardless of the human suffering and others argue that our economy would collapse or at least be seriously harmed if we send them home. According to Colin Powell, we need them because they are the lifeblood that is keeping this country going forward. Without immigrants we would be like Japan or Europe with an aging population and no young people coming in. According to the secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, the price of food in the United States would cost three, four or five times more than it does now without the labor of illegal immigrants. Former Presidential candidate Ron Paul advocated physically securing our borders, enforcing visa rules, offer no amnesty for illegal aliens currently in this country, and end birthright citizenship. So which is it? Do we really need these workers or should we send them home? I looked at a number of sources and have chosen to start with an article taken from Business Time.com published on 1/30/2013. I liked this article because it covered several big questions concerning the economics of immigration. 1. Does Immigration reduce wages for native-born Americans...
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...Stability rather than volatility, now characterises voting behaviour at UK general elections. Discuss There are many reasons why people choose to vote. Whether they have a strong view that agrees with the party they are voting for, or they are tactically voting so a certain party that they really don’t like doesn't get into parliament. Most of the time voting is devided into short term and long term decisions, which means that a certain member of the family will vote differently than usual because of a certain law that a party wants to pass. Recently, and leading up to the 2015 General election, there have been declining levels of class alignment. This means that a member of the public that usually votes conservative, might decide to vote labour, or vice versa. This shows the volatile side of voting as these statistics change depending on what the parties promise, however, it is becoming more common for people to vote the opposite to what they usually vote for because of party policies. This makes it very hard for people to predict the way other people are going to vote. Another point of volatile short term voting, is the declining levels of party id. This means there has been an increase in floating voters. The 2010 general election resulted in a coalition with the Liberal Democrats, and the Conservatives. In some respects, this was a surprising coalition and many of the parties laws they promised to change, never happened. Again this has had a knock on effect for the...
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...class people who work in factories and mines for example and labour has many more policies put in place to help people who are of a lower class. An example of these policies is lower taxes which means working class people will have more money than they would otherwise have should the Tories be in power. In post war 2/3 of the working class population in Britain voted labour, and 4/5 of middle class voting Torie. ‘Class is the basis of British politics, all else is embellishment.’ -Pelzer (1967). This would suggest that 50 years ago many people believed that partisan alignment was purely based on class. This would suggest that purely based on partisan alignment, long term factors are more important in shaping voting behaviour. Ethnicity is also a factor in shaping voting behaviour. 80% of people from black and Asian origins living in the UK have voted labour since 1974. This is probably because Labour are much more pro-immigration than all of the other main three parties in the UK. Furthermore, ethnicity also has a link to social class. A large majority of people from a different ethnic background tend to live in much poorer areas in the UK, therefore would much more likely to vote for labour based on their policies to help the working class. However in...
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...captured governorships in solidly Democratic states like Maryland and Massachusetts. Mr Obama cannot escape the humiliating verdict on his presidency. He campaigned in his home state of Illinois, for a Democratic governor running against a Republican who belongs to a wine club that costs over $100,000 to join. The oenophile won by five points. Yet as Republicans toast their triumph, they should be careful not to over-interpret it. Their campaign did not offer voters much of a positive agenda; rather, it consisted largely of urging them to blame Mr Obama for all the trouble in the world. That was enough to secure victory, but does not give them a mandate to pursue a wishlist of conservative policies. Although more Americans than ever hold partisan views, a larger number are weary of gridlock and would prefer their representatives to compromise to get things done. For the voters to be satisfied, America will need to find new ways to run its politics. A mandate for moderation Many outsiders will be baffled by the election results. Compared with other rich nations, America is in good shape, with a growing economy, booming stockmarket, falling unemployment and robust public finances, at least by European standards. Why, they wonder, is Mr Obama so disliked that Democrats in swing states asked...
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...Americans can agree that our immigration system is definitely broken. The problem is that we cannot agree on how this system should be fixed. On April 23, 2010, the Governor of Arizona, Jan Brewer, decided that she would attempt a solution to the problem. She signed into law one of the nation’s toughest bills focused on illegal immigration in her state. This law re-ignited the immigration debate all across the United States and brought out many protestors from both sides. Some of the issues at hand are amnesty, healthcare costs, and the increasing crime that illegal immigrants bring into our country. To begin with, does amnesty encourage illegal immigration? Secondly, what does it do to our already fragile health care system? Thirdly, what kinds of crimes are being committed by some illegal immigrants? In my opinion we need to do whatever we can to secure our borders and only allow those who come in legally into our country. Amnesty, in the case of illegal immigrants, is to grant legal status to those who have entered our country illegally. It forgives the fact that they have entered the country illegally, and forgives other illegal acts such as driving and working using false documents. In 1986 under President Ronald Reagan, our country granted what was supposed to be a “one time only” amnesty for approximately 2.7 million illegal aliens. At that time, Congress also enacted a new set of laws that were aimed at eradicating illegal immigration. What were the results of...
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