Research Paper: Immigration Border/Entry Policies Impacting

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Immigration Border/Entry Policies Impacting These Consumers and Providers of Service

Immigration border/entry policies influencing consumers and providers of service

Immigrants are a vital part in the development of the national heritage of the United States of America. They are co-workers, friend's neighbors, and contribute to the culture of the country. Immigration is, therefore, the story of the American system. The American dream that promise freedom and opportunity has forced people to migrate to the United States. This has seen immigration of people over hundreds of years to America making the current community in the nation. Immigration has both challenges and advantages to the American community. Challenges relate to crime, drug trade and other forms of crime while advantages relate to sharing of skills and technology. The interest of the American people has been advancing with immigration over years. It is very essential for the government to develop immigration policies to maximize on the benefits, as well as minimizing the negative effects of immigration (Cornelius, 2001).

The state of Arizona needs new policies on immigration for the 21st century, and for future generations. The county has experienced peak immigration periods that have had an effect on the economy. With the current changes to the knowledge base economy, there have been millions of immigrants entering the United States of America. These immigrants are either illegal or legal. The entrance of immigrants in the country both destroys and enriches the community. The country is facing many challenges in integrating this growth of population. However, immigration helps the country understand shifting economic realities as well as benefiting from skills of diverse immigrants (Eagly, 2011). The United States is facing the challenge of unprecedented illegal immigrants. This demands the country to have stiffer border controls and flexible policies to curb the menace. Populations in America have divergent views on immigration. Some of them view immigration as helpful while other say that the practice hurts the economy.

History of Immigration

At the beginning of the 21st century, America opened its gates to the rest of the world. The forces of globalization and other aspects of the globe led to people moving to the United States of America. The expansion of global trade has made national and regional borders lose importance. In this era, people feel that they should live in any region of the world. Compared to other countries like Japan and China, the United States of America promotes tolerance and openness. First individuals moved to America to seek for education and improve their lives. There are individuals who access the country as asylum seekers. The United States of America also provide visas to members of other countries, and it is a land of opportunity for workers. Immigrants have contributed to the economy of the country and more are still entering the country. They enter the countries border through legal or illegal means.

Today's generation of Immigrants in the country contains the brightest and the best from a variety of cultures. Most of these immigrants come to the county with the belief that it is a land of opportunity. They understand that the country rewards for hard work, unlike other countries. Arizona has about 460000 immigrants, a large chunk of these immigrants are undocumented. The United States Homeland Security Department states that these immigrants acts in violation of the federal law. There have been efforts in Arizona to combat illegal immigration. These strings of legislations intend to drive away illegal immigrants in Arizona. This law has been there for the last half decade and the process of attrition enforces it. One of measures to this law is a requirement for any public-service employee to report persons to federal authorities. In the year 2008, a law coded employer-sanctions law widely required employers to profile employees and a requirement for voters to prove their citizenship (Eagly, 2011).

These laws on immigration had support and opposition voices from citizens of Arizona as well as other places. State legislators were in support of the measures; their reasons for support were that they were protecting the state from foreign invasion. Opponents of the laws argued that the bill would support discrimination while hurt the economy. These individuals further argue that passing these bills will affect perceptions of Arizona State nationally (Cornelius, 2001). They state that Arizona as a state will have people visiting on a temporary basis and these laws make Arizona a backward state. The chief of police opposes the laws arguing that the police department had not received funds and training to handle immigration issues. He further argues that it will not be reasonable for the police department to handle Immigration problems while ignoring other crimes.

Immigration in Arizona

Aliens of 14 years and above, according to the United States federal law, need to register with the government if they stay in the country for more than 30 days. The law further requires a person to be in possession of licenses and identification documents at all times. In the state of Arizona, the police have right to ask a person to produce identification documents on suspicion. A person arrested remains in detention until they prove their nationality. On 30 April 2010, Governor Brewer and the legislature passed House bill 2162. This bill was a modification of an earlier Act, which necessitate the prosecutor not to investigate claims on cases based on race, national origin and color (Gans, 2007). The new provisions to the Act provide that police officers may only investigate citizenship status in cases of arrest, detention and lawful arrest. The bill further reduced fines and incarceration time for the first time offenders.

Background to the law in Arizona HB 2162

Prior to 2010, Arizona states like other states in the country did not mandate police and laws enforcers to ask persons of their immigration status. Law enforcement officers wish not to ask of persons' immigration status on grounds that they may not cooperate in reporting crimes. The number of immigrants in Arizona has increased on a steady rate from 1990. The geographical location of the state makes it popular for immigrants from Mexico to United States. Traffic from Central America and Mexico forced the United States Border patrol arrest immigrants at the border. Drug wars in Mexico were another fear that shaped laws concerning immigration in the state (Melone, Pitrof & Schmidt, 2011). Law enforcement officers and legislatures fear that this war might spill over to the state. Further, in the last decade there had been at least one kidnapping per day as an observation of Phoenix.

This made Arizona get the tag of being the most dangerous state to stay.

Arizona, on the other hand, had restrictions on employers for hiring illegal immigrants. There were also prepositions that restrict immigrants from using social services. March 27, 2010 Robert Krentz was shot and killed while fencing in a ranch. This incident led to the realization of immigration related crimes. Law enforcement was not able to name the killer, but only got a trace of footsteps to the southern side of the border (Cornelius, 2001). This incident led to the suspicion that the killer was an illegal alien.

Immigration Enforcement Laws in Arizona

The state of Arizona enacted two sources of laws the HB 2162 and SB 1070. These laws provided another angle relating to penalties and crimes to the enforcement of immigration laws. Before these laws passed the department of justice put forward injunction, arguing that the laws were unconstitutional. These laws enjoined that aliens must carry registration documents; the laws concerning arrest and provisions for applying for work were unauthorized. Brewer the Senator of Arizona posted an injunction, but the Supreme Court upheld the injunction. The state requires law enforcement agencies to attempt to determine the immigration status of individual reasonable. Enforcement officers may lawfully stop arrest and detain individual where there is reasonable suspicion. It is a requirement for the federal government officials to verify immigration status of those arrested (Kobach, 2007).

The law further stipulates that law enforcement official will not consider color, race, and nationality of individuals when implementing the provisions. However, exceptions to this may be permitted by the state of Arizona or the United States. Driving licenses, federal IDs and state issued identification documents are points of reference for identification of aliens (Wishnie, 2004). Failure to carry alien documents creates jail cost and penalties amounting to $100 for first offenders.

Long and Short-Term Goals

The short-term goals of the policies are to secure the border as well as the well-being of citizens. Securing the border means that crime rates related with illegal immigrants will drop. By securing the border, using this policy drug peddling and related crimes will reduce. This strategy will be effective if the National troops are part of the team securing the border. Border fences need to be complete, maintained, and reinforced. States in the country should prepare to prosecute and convict violators of the law, and Aviation support is essential in supporting ground troops around the border.… [END OF PREVIEW]

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