Running Head: Immigration in the U.S.

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Immigration in the U.S.
Ingrid Flores
University of Texas at El Paso









Immigration in the U.S. 2
Abstract
Immigration is a topic that many people have an opinion on but not many understand the
pros and cons to. This literature review will provide the points of views from individual states
and will talk about the many ways immigration affects the United States. The information
provided is backed by statistics and data found through research by the author.













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Immigration is ever present in our world, our society, and our generation. Scholars around
the world have expressed their different perspectives on the subject through articles, blogs, and
published work. Most recently, debates spread around the United States dealing with the legality
of the SB 1070 and HB 2161 laws passed in Arizona. These two laws sparked controversy and
many questions on the positive and negative effects about immigration across the country. In
order to comprehend immigrants and immigration as a whole, four questions must be addressed.
1. How have individual states reacted to increasing immigrants within their boundaries?
2. Compared to the U.S. in the 1920s, how has the U.S. helped immigrants?
3. Are immigrants and/or, illegal immigrants, favored in U.S. labor?
4. Does the increase of immigration affect the U.S. economy?
This literature review will analyze both sides of the arguments that pester the citizens of the
United States.
How have individual states reacted to increasing immigrants within their boundaries?
Every one of the U.S. states have an opinion on immigration, some more drastic than
others. In recent years, the state of Arizona passed to laws that limit immigrants within its land
area. Program director for the National Conference of State Legislatures, Ann Morse, compiled
information showing that many states tried follow in Arizonas footsteps. Among those were
South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Michigan, and Illinois. (Morse, n.p.
2011) These states tried to enforce similar bills as those in Arizona, the SB 1070 and HB 2162.
In summary the two laws state that citizens residing in Arizona may be searched and, or,
imprisoned if it cannot be proven to an official that he or she is a legal citizen. The enforcement
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of such actions made scholars and law enforcements question the basis on which the laws were
structured. Such controversy led states to create a resolution with their people and Arizona. In
particular, California SCR 113 urges various state and private entities to withhold financial
support of Arizona businesses in response to recent Arizona state laws relating to illegal
immigration. (Morse, n.p., 2011) In a similar manner the state of Michigan passed a bill, HR
291, that urges repeal of SB 1070 and asks Michigan businesses and public and private
organizations to refrain from doing business with or in the state of Arizona. (Morse, n.p., 2011)
Compared to the U.S. in the 1920s, how has the U.S. helped immigrants?
Societys views continually change as society itself progresses. Speaking specifically of
immigration, American opinions have come a long way. Paul Lomardo, student at the University
of Arizona, compiled a scholarly article that points out restrictions against immigrant that start
from the 1920s, including the Chinese Exclusion Act. One underlying theme throughout the
article is the fact that the U.S. not only targets immigrants because of their race, but because of
their social ability to survive on their own. During the time frame Lombardo speaks of, the 1920s
to the late 1930s, drastic measures were taken to keep immigration at an all-time low. Lombardo
addresses U.S. belief that the "American" gene pool was being polluted (Lomardo, n.p.,
n.d.) and the resulting law, the Immigration Restriction Act of 1924, was designed
consciously to halt the immigration of supposedly "dysgenic" Italians and eastern European
Jews (Lombardo n.p., n.d.) In todays time, many Americans have an open mind towards
immigrants. The U.S. government now provides Visas for immigrants to study within the U.S.
A 2013 National Foundation for American Policy study found that as many as 70 percent of
students in some key STEM university graduate programs in the United States are foreign-born.
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(Shapiro, n.p., 2014) The United States helps these foreign born students by investing a
significant amount of taxpayer money into foreign-born students and their research (Shapiro,
n.p., 2014)
Are immigrants and/or, illegal immigrants, favored in U.S. labor?
Are immigrants favored in the U.S.? This question gives birth to growing confusion
within the population. Many citizens argue that their job security is threatened by immigrants
who can communicate in multiple languages and compete for the same jobs opportunities as
those who are born within the states. Adriana Kugler and Patrick Oakford wrote an article for the
Center for Progress, in which they address the different problems within the United States
immigration system. Adriana and Patrick bring up the benefits of hiring undocumented
immigrants and how employers get away with it. A 2010 National Employment Law Project, or
NELP, study of low-wage industries in major U.S. cities found that undocumented immigrants
were nearly twice as likely to experience minimum-wage violations than legal immigrant
workers. Specifically, NELP found in its study that 29 percent of undocumented male workers
and 47 percent of undocumented female workers experienced minimum-wage violations,
compared to 17 percent and 18 percent of native-born male and female workers, respectively.
(Kugler & Oakford, n.p., 2013) With increasing laws that protect the rights of immigrants,
situations like the one touched upon, are avoided and every American worker has fair
opportunities in U.S. labor.



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Does the increase of immigration affect the U.S. economy?
Many factors affect the U.S. economy, including the increase of immigration. The
increase of immigration directly affects the economy within the United States because this means
an increase in the population and the workforce. As said in an article by Patrick Oackford and
Robert Lynch, immigrants pay taxes on their higher wages and they spend their increased
earnings on the purchase of goods and services including food, clothing, and homes (Lynch
& Oakford, n.p., 2013) The constant use of money in the system creates a flow that stimulates
the economy. Immigrants both help the U.S. economy and can also stop the system when many
immigrants send money back to their families in their place of origin. Once money leaves the
U.S., it can be hard to see it come back. Even with many aspects affecting the economy, U.S.
born citizens believe immigrants help the U.S. rather than hurt it. In a survey conducted by the
author, a majority of people believe immigrants have a positive effect on the U.S. and its
economy. In the figure below, the authors results to the question Do immigrants have a positive
effect on the U.S. and its economy? are displayed:
*Yellow bar depicts those who answered yes, blue depicts no.
(Surveymonkey, n.p. 2014)
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Conclusion
Because immigration is a topic that many people have an opinion on, but it is ever
changing, it is important for the population to understand the many ways that it can affect the
U.S. This literature review touched on the points of views of individual states, the ways
immigrants are favored in the U.S., and the effects immigration has on the economy within the
U.S. With constant changes in society, the status of immigrants within the U.S. is likely to
change.











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Reference Page
Kugler, A. Oakford, P. 2013 Comprehensive Immigration Reform Will Benefit American
Workers Retrieved March 19, 2014.
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/immigration/report/2013/09/12/74014/comprehe
nsive-immigration-reform-will-benefit-american-workers/
Lombardo, P. n.d. Eugenics Laws Restricting Immigration Retrieved March 19, 2014.
http://www.eugenicsarchive.org/html/eugenics/essay9text.html
Oakford, P. Lynch, R. 2013 National and State-by-State Economic Benefits of Immigration
Reform Retrieved March 19, 2014.
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/immigration/report/2013/05/17/63295/national-
and-state-by-state-economic-benefits-of-immigration-reform/
Shapiro, G. 2014 How Immigration Reform Could Boost Our National Security Retrieved
March 21, 2014. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/innovations/wp/2014/03/21/how-
immigration-reform-could-boost-our-national-defense/