Background on Immigration

Immigration

The US admits about 660,000 legal immigrants per year (1998 figures).

The Immigration Act of 1990 allows for 480,000 immigrants with family in the US; 140,000 immigrants in needed employment fields; and the rest under per-country limits and diversity limits.

Foreign-born people accounted for 8% of the US population in the 1990 census; in the decades prior to 1930, the figure was 13%.

About 5 million illegal aliens reside in the US (1996 figures).

55% of all illegal aliens come from Mexico. (Other Latin American countries account for another 20%).

40% of all illegal aliens live in California. (TX, NY, FL, and IL account for the next 40%).

The illegal alien population is growing by about 275,000 each year.

The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) runs the Border Patrol as well as interior enforcement. Immigrationn Advocacy

Pro-immigration advocates sometimes accuse anti-immigration advocates of racism, because of the large Hispanic component of current immigration. In that view, immigration restrictions are seen as limiting growth of the Hispanic population.

Anti-immigration advocates often seek Official English status (the US has no official language), which would enforce assimilation of non-English speaking immigrants. Similarly, anti-immigration advocates seek to terminate Bilingual Education, which is currently funded in school systems with large non-English-speaking populations. Immigration Buzzwords

The biggest components of the immigration debate is how many legal immigrants to allow, and how to prevent illegal immigration.

Liberals and libertarians generally oppose restricting immigration. Look for buzzwords like "promote diversity" to define the liberal attitude, or "we're a nation of immigrants" to define the libertarian attitude. Any reference to providing illegal immigrants with services beyond emergency medical treatment, or any reference to "clemency" for illegal immigration, implies a strong pro-immigrant stance.

Moderate liberals and libertarians will oppose restricting immigration while paying lip-service to restrictions on illegal immigration. Look for buzz-phrases like "promote immigration, block illegal immigration" and "separate the functions of the INS and the Border Patrol," which mean the same thing.

Conservatives and populists generally favor restricting immigration. Look for buzzwords like "protect our borders" or "strengthen the INS". A call for "Official English" is a strongly anti-immigration stance, because most immigrants are from non-English speaking countries. That's the same attitude as "End bilingual education," which focuses primarily on Spanish-speaking immigrants.

Moderate conservatives and populists will favor restricting illegal immigration while paying lip-service to allowing legal immigration. The result is the same as moderates in favor of immigration: calls for separating out legal immigration from illegal, but with a focus on enforcement against illegals instead of a focus on respecting immigrant rights.

Related issues:

China
Foreign Policy
Free Trade

Background documents:

INS, web site.
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