U.S. Immigration Policy in an Unsettled World · 2014. 4. 29. · ACKNOWLEDGMENTS U.S. Immigration Policy in an Unsettled World was developed by the Choices for the 21st Century Education

U.S. Immigration Policyin an Unsettled World

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

U.S. Immigration Policy in an Unsettled World was developed by the Choicesfor the 21st Century Education Program with the assistance of the researchstaff of the Thomas J. Watson Jr. Institute for International Studies, scholarsat Brown University, and several other experts in the field. We wish to thankthe following researchers for their invaluable input into this or previouseditions.

Peter Andreas, Assistant Professor of Political Science and International StudiesWatson Institute for International Studies, Brown University

Elsie Begler, DirectorInternational Studies Education Project, San Diego

C. Scipio GarlingFederation for American Immigration Reform

Amy T. LaPlanteAmerican Immigration Lawyers Association

Robert Lee, Associate Professor of American CivilizationBrown University

Stephen Shenfield, Former Assistant Professor (Research)Watson Institute for International Studies, Brown University

Jessica Vaughan, Assistant DirectorCenter for Immigration Studies

Michael White, Professor of SociologyBrown University

To Michael Barton of Kingsboro, Massachusetts, Patricia Clancy of Vernon,New Jersey, and Ron Levitsky of Northfield, Illinois, we extend ourappreciation for helping us to revise the format of Choices units to makethem responsive to a wider variety of student learning styles.

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iU.S. Immigration Policy in an Unsettled WorldChoices for the 21st Century Education Program

Watson Institute for International Studies, Brown University

CONTENTS

Supplementary Resources ii

Introduction: U.S. Immigration Policy 1

Part I: Immigration and the American Experience 1

Part II: Immigration Today 8

Options in Brief 17

Options 18-25

Option 1: Open Ourselves to the World 18

Option 2: Make Emigration Unnecessary 20

Option 3: Admit the Talent We Need 22

Option 4: Restrict Immigration 24

Supplementary Documents 26

THE CHOICES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY EDUCATION PROGRAM is a program of theWatson Institute for International Studies at Brown University. CHOICES wasestablished to help citizens think constructively about foreign policy issues, toimprove participatory citizenship skills, and to encourage public judgment onpolicy priorities.

THE WATSON INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES was established at Brown University in 1986 to serve asa forum for students, faculty, visiting scholars, and policy practitioners who are committed to analyzingcontemporary global problems and developing initiatives to address them.

© Copyright March 2003. Tenth edition. Choices for the 21st Century Education Program. All rights reserved. Teacher sets(consisting of a student text and a teacher resource book) are available for $15 each. Permission is granted to duplicate anddistribute the student text and handouts for classroom use with appropriate credit given. Duplicates may not be resold.Classroom sets (15 or more student texts) may be ordered at $7 per copy. A teacher resource book is included free with eachclassroom set. Orders should be addressed to: Choices Education Program, Watson Institute for International Studies, Box1948, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912. Please see the order form in the back of this unit or visit our website at<www.choices.edu>. ISBN 1-891306-57-x

U.S. Immigration Policy in an Unsettled World Choices for the 21st Century Education ProgramWatson Institute for International Studies, Brown University

ii

BOOKS

Beck, Roy. The Case against Immigration: The Moral, Economic, Social, and Environmental Reasons for ReducingU.S. Immigration Back to Traditional Levels (New York: W.W. Norton, 1996). 287 pages.

Borjas, George. Friends or Strangers: The Impact of Immigrants on the U.S. Economy (New York: Basic Books,1990). 274 pages.

Millman, Joel. The Other Americans: How Immigrants Renew Our Country, Our Economy and Our Values(New York: Penguin, 1998). 369 pages.

Mills, Nicolaus, ed. Arguing Immigration: The Debate over the Changing Face of America (New York: Simonand Schuster, 1994). 223 pages.

Portes, Alejandro and Rumbaut, Ruben G.. Immigrant America: A Portrait (Berkeley, California: Universityof California Press, 1996). 369 pages.

Suro, Roberto. Strangers Among Us: How Latino Immigration is Transforming America (New York: Alfred A.Knopf, 1998). 349 pages.

Ungar, Sanford J. Fresh Blood: The New American Immigrants (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1995). 399pages.

WORLD WIDE WEB

The Immigration and Naturalization Service (http://www.ins.usdoj.gov/graphics/index.htm)a U.S. Government website which offers statistics and information about government policy.

The Federation for American Immigration Reform (http://www.fairus.org/)numerous statistics and position papers by a group that hopes to reduce U.S. immigration levels.

The U.S. Committee for Refugees (http://www.refugees.org/)reports and statistics from a refugee advocacy organization.

The National Immigration Law Center (http://www.nilc.org/)information and reports from an organization devoted to helping low-income immigrants.

SUPPLEMENTARY RESRORCES

Choices for the 21st Century Education ProgramWatson Institute for International Studies, Brown University

U.S. Immigration Policy in an Unsettled World 1

INTRODUCTION: U.S IMMIGRATION POLICY

The generation that authored the Declaration of In-dependence and the U.S. Constitution traced its

roots primarily to the British Isles and other areas ofnorthwestern Europe. They welcomed the prospect ofcontinued immigration, but also sought to protect thedemocratic institutions of the young republic fromoutside influences.

The Constitution said little about immigrationand citizenship other than to make these issues the re-

million newcomers who arrived in the 1980s sur-passed the previous peak decade of 1901-1910. In2001, more than one million immigrants (legal andillegal) came to the United States.

As in 1886, these latest newcomers are arrivingat a time when U.S. immigration policy is again thesubject of debate. With the U.S. population approach-ing 290 million, many Americans contend that theUnited States does not have the room for more immi-grants. Others argue that we cannot afford to close ourdoor to the skills and energy brought by newcomers.

Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001,national security concerns have become a prominentissue in the debate over immigration policy. The fearof terrorists has led to increased border control,stricter enforcement of immigration laws, and morefrequent deportations. Nevertheless, the United Statescontinues to accept more immigrants, by far, than anyother country.

In the following pages, you will have the oppor-tunity to explore the issues surrounding immigrationpolicy and consider the course the United Statesshould take. In Part I of the background reading, youwill examine the history of immigration and its evo-lution over the years. Part II explores the nature ofimmigration today and the issues faced by the UnitedStates. Ultimately, you will be confronted with thesame questions facing U.S. policymakers: How doesimmigration affect our economy? How much immi-gration does the United States need? How should webalance security and our historical tradition of im-migration?

...Give me your tired, your poor,Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,Send these, the homeless, the tempest-tost to me,I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

-Emma Larzarus

When these words were inscribed in 1886 on theStatue of Liberty overlooking New York Har-

bor, the United States was a country of fewer thansixty million people. Vast tracts of land in the Westand the Great Plains were still largely unsettled, andthe nation’s growing cities were in the middle of theIndustrial Revolution. That year, 334,000 immigrantsentered the United States. The country was in the earlystages of a forty-year upsurge in immigration thatwould transform American society and spark debateabout U.S. immigration policy. Even though manyAmericans viewed the immigrants streaming into thecountry with apprehension, few could deny the needfor more farmers and factory workers.

To say that we are a nation of immigrants ismore than an acknowledgment of history. It also re-flects how many Americans perceive our country’splace in the world— shining a beacon of freedom andopportunity to all. Since records were first kept in1820, more than sixty-five million immigrants haveentered the United States. Nearly 40 percent of that to-tal was admitted between 1881 and 1920.

After a lull of almost half a century, immigrationrates turned upward again in the late 1970s. The 9.5

PART I: IMMIGRATION AND THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE

sponsibility of Congress. Before 1820, the UnitedStates did not even bother to count how many new-comers reached its shores by ship. Not until theratification of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868 wascitizenship clearly granted to anyone born in theUnited States, including African-Americans. (NativeAmericans, however, were not admitted to full citi-zenship until 1924.)



“The bosom of America is open to receive notonly the opulent and respectable stranger but theoppressed and persecuted of all nations and reli-gions; whom we shall welcome to a participa-tion of all our rights and privileges, if by decencyand propriety of conduct they appear to meritthe enjoyment.”

—George Washington

What motivated U.S. immigration in the 1800s?

Even without an official policy, the United Statesproved to be a magnet for immigrants in the 1800s. For

most of the century, a nearly ideal balance existed be-tween the problems of Europe and the needs of theUnited States. In much of Europe, the forces of theIndustrial Revolution, shifts in agriculture, and a soar-ing population left millions of people unable to makea living. In addition, a blight wiped out the potatocrop in much of northwestern Europe in the late 1840s.Ireland was hit particularly hard by the blight, losinghalf a million people to disease and starvation.

Meanwhile, the United States expanded in bothsize and wealth throughout the 1800s. By 1848, thecountry stretched across the continent. Booming fac-tories and abundant farmland seemed capable ofabsorbing an endless stream of immigrants. American

railroad companies actively recruited workersin Europe, while steamship lines depicted acountry of boundless opportunity to spurticket sales for the voyage across the Atlantic.

Why did some Americans fearimmigrants?

Immigrants found not only opportunityin the United States, but often hardship anddiscrimination as well. While immigrantspoured into the United States, many Ameri-cans remained ambivalent about the Statue ofLiberty’s inscription. From the earliest days ofthe republic, there had been anxiety about thesocial and political implications of immigra-tion. Thomas Jefferson argued againstwelcoming the “servile masses of Europe,”fearing that they would transform the Ameri-can people into a “heterogeneous, incoherent,distracted mass.”

Between 1820 and 1880, 70 percent of im-migrants to the United States came from GreatBritain, Germany, and Ireland. The Irish werethe first Roman Catholics to arrive in largenumbers in what was largely a Protestant na-tion.

The mayor of New York in the 1820slooked upon the Irish and the Germans as“filthy, intemperate, unused to the comforts oflife and regardless of its proprieties.” Half acentury later, the editor of the Atlantic Monthly

IMMIGRANTS ADMITTED FROM THE TOP FIVE

COUNTRIES OF LAST RESIDENCE: 1821-200118

16

14

12

10

8

6

4

2

01821-1840

1841-1860

1861-1880

1881-1900

1901-1920

1921-1940

1941-1960

1961-1980

1981-2001

Mexico

Philip-ines

China

India

Dom.Repub.

Germany

United

Kingdom

Ireland

Canada

source: INS



feared that a new generation of immigrants broughtwith them “unknown gods and rites....Accents ofmenace alien to our air.”

During the period from 1881 to 1920, the major-ity of newcomers came from southern and easternEurope, especially from Italy, Austria-Hungary, andRussia. These immigrants had different languages,different cultures, and different religions from immi-grants from Great Britain. Anti-immigration forces inCongress sought to make literacy a requirement forentry to the United States. Since free public educationwas slow to advance in much of southern and easternEurope, opponents of immigration expected that a lit-eracy test would stem the flow of newcomers fromthose regions.

The turn of the nineteenth century also markeda major change in how immigrants fit into theiradopted country. The new wave of immigrantsformed close-knit communities in major cities. Dis-tinct enclaves of Italians, Poles, Jews, Greeks, andother ethnic groups peppered America’s urban cen-ters. By 1900, four out of five New Yorkers either wereborn abroad or were the children of immigrants.

The 1890 census revealed that the unbrokenfrontier of the American West had been filled in. Themost fertile land of the Great Plains and western val-leys had been claimed by newcomers. At the sametime, though, the industrial cities of the Northeast andthe Great Lakes region still needed cheap, unskilledlabor.

How were Asian immigrants received?

While the eastern and central parts of the coun-try were dealing with an influx of Europeans,Californians saw Asians arriving in their state. Notonly were these immigrants culturally different, their

physical appearance set them apart as well.Between 1861 and 1880, almost two hundred

thousand Chinese came to the United States, recruitedfor construction crews for the transcontinental rail-road. They soon found their way into other parts ofthe economy and by the 1870s they comprised 20 to30 percent of the labor force in California. Their prac-tice of working for low wages caused other workersto lobby for laws to restrict them. State law barredthem from marrying whites or testifying in courtagainst whites. Riots in a number of Western townsresulted in the deaths of dozens of Chinese new-comers.

Anti-Chinese sentiment went national in 1882when Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act.This law prohibited Chinese workers from enteringthe United States. Further laws led to a complete sus-pension of Chinese immigration and prohibited thosealready here from sending for their wives. The Chi-nese Exclusion Act set the stage for later efforts toestablish immigration restrictions on the basis of na-tional origin.

The Japanese began arriving during this sameera because, for the first time in three hundred years,their government allowed them to emigrate. Like theChinese, they were known as hard workers whowould work for low wages. It was not long beforethey too became the victims of prejudice. Americanstalked about a “yellow peril” and the city of San Fran-cisco created segregated schools, separating Asiansfrom other children. The Japanese government pro-tested to President Theodore Roosevelt. In whatbecame known as the Gentlemen’s Agreement,Roosevelt persuaded Japan to return to restrictions onemigration. Nevertheless, discrimination in this coun-try continued.

The “Know-Nothing Party”The first organized opposition to open immigration emerged in the 1840s with the creation of the Ameri-

can Party, better known as the Know-Nothing Party for the secretiveness of its members. The Know-Nothingsclaimed that Irish and German immigrants, most of whom were Roman Catholic, threatened to corrupt thecountry’s heritage. They were also behind violence designed to terrorize the newcomers. Although the Know-Nothings faded from the political arena before the Civil War, anti-immigrant feelings remained strong.



What were some of the motivations of theanti-immigration movement?

The anti-immigration movement thatemerged around the end of the nineteenth cen-tury based its appeal on the ideas advocated bythe Know-Nothings half a century earlier anddrew support from other groups. Labor unionorganizers, for example, feared that theirstruggle to raise wages and improve workingconditions was being undercut by the availabil-ity of cheap immigrant labor. In addition,political reformers believed that immigrantvoters could be easily manipulated to supportcorrupt big-city politicians.

The campaign to restrict immigration,however, faced opposition from business lead-ers. Congressional legislation to require aliterary test for immigrants was repeatedly ve-toed by presidents from Grover Cleveland in1895 to Woodrow Wilson in 1915. Not until1917, with Americans caught up in the nation-alistic spirit of World War I, did Congressoverride President Wilson’s veto, and make lit-eracy an entrance requirement. In 1921,another restrictive law was passed, creating

immigration quotas on the basis of national origin.That concept served as the foundation of the Immigra-tion Act of 1924, more commonly known as theNational Origins Act.

What was the 1924 National Origins Act?

The National Origins Act grew out of recom-mendations presented to Congress in 1911 by theDillingham Commission. Reflecting the mood of Con-gress, the commission called for new regulations toreduce immigration. More important, it proposed lim-iting the number of immigrants to be accepted fromeach country. Many of the Dillingham Commission’ssuggestions found their way into the legislation thatfollowed. The 1924 act limited the annual immigrationquota of each European nationality to 2 percent of itsproportion in the U.S. population in 1890. This had theeffect of reducing immigration by Italians, Hungar-

IMMIGRANTS ADMITTED FROM

SELECTED COUNTRIES BY DECADE

1921-1950

Turn-of-the-century immigrants approach New York.

Courtesy of the Ellis Island Immigration Museum

source: INS



ians, Poles, and other groups that hadbegun coming to the United States inlarge numbers only after 1890 The 1924act also affirmed earlier laws that closedthe door to immigration from Asia.

The 1924 Nation Origins Act gov-erned U.S. immigration policy until 1952.During this period, immigration fell to itslowest level since the mid-1800s. The ef-fects of the quota system, the Depressionof the 1930s, and World War II combinedto greatly reduce immigration. In the1930s, the number of people emigratingfrom the United States actually exceededthe number of immigrants coming intothe country.

How did the Cold War shape immigration policy?

During this lull in immigration, the UnitedStates underwent a dramatic transformation. WorldWar II not only lifted the U.S. economy out of the De-pression, but also sparked a new era of technologicalinnovation. The United States emerged from the waras the most powerful nation on earth. By the late1940s, U.S. leaders had taken on a new range of inter-national commitments to thwart the growing threat ofthe Soviet Union. The deepening Cold War redefinedthe U.S. role in the world and touched almost everyaspect of government policy, including regulations onimmigration.

The new international position of the UnitedStates was made evident in the Displaced Persons Actof 1948. The act allowed for the admission of morethan 400,000 refugees left homeless by World War IIand the imposition of Soviet communism in EasternEurope. The Displaced Persons Act was followed inthe 1950s and 1960s by a number of special bills de-signed to accommodate “escapees” from communistdomination. The biggest wave of refugees — approxi-mately seven hundred thousand — came from Cubaafter a revolution brought Fidel Castro to power in1959.

How was 1965 a turning point in immigration?

Although the 1952 Immigration and Nationality

Act slightly relaxed restrictions against immigrationfrom Asia, the system created in 1924 remained inplace until the civil rights movement forced lawmak-ers to re-examine the national origins quotas. TheImmigration and Nationality Act of 1965, enacted dur-ing a period of robust economic growth, replaced theold quotas with a set of seven preference categories.Under the new system, priority was placed on reunit-ing families and attracting highly skilledprofessionals.

The 1965 act immediately boosted immigrationby nationalities most severely restricted by the previ-ous quota system. As late as the 1950s, 68 percent ofthe immigrants entering the United States had comefrom Europe and Canada. The new law cleared theway for greater immigration from Asia. The empha-sis on admitting professionals triggered anunprecedented wave of immigration by Asian doc-tors, nurses, engineers, scientists, and otheruniversity-trained specialists. The 1965 act also set inmotion a chain reaction that would affect future im-migration patterns. Under the preference system,newcomers with citizenship status could sponsor theimmigration of their spouses, children, and siblings.These new arrivals, in turn, could arrange for otherfamily members to join them.

In the 1970s, immigrants had begun to enter theUnited States in the largest numbers in half a century.

Rob Rogers reprinted by permission of UFS, Inc.



Officially, legal controls on immigration were tighterthan in the early 1900s. No more than twenty thou-sand immigrants from any single country could enterthe United States annually. At the same time, the lawlimited the total number of immigrants to be admit-ted annually to 290,000. (The immediate relatives ofU.S. citizens — spouses, children under age eighteen,and parents — were exempt from the ceiling of twohundred ninety thousand.)

Immigration law in the 1970s, however, facednew challenges. Despite the strict regulations, more

A GENERATION OF NEWCOMERSThe individual profiles below go beyond the numbers and statistics of immigration. Although the char-acters are not real, they typify the new immigrants coming to the United States in recent years.

Daniel Alvarez first entered the United States illegally as a teenager in the 1980s, crossing the U.S.-Mexi-can border to join his older brother. Alvarez settled in a small farming town outside of Fresno, California. Despitehis illegal status, he graduated from high school and obtained a driver’s license. Alvarez worked with his brotherfor one of the area’s largest grape growers. He soon proved himself a quick learner, rising in a few years fromfarm hand to trusted foreman. At the same time, Alvarez returned frequently to his native village in Mexico toattend weddings, funerals, and other family functions. On one such trip, Alvarez married a woman from hisvillage and returned with her to the United States to set down roots. Alvarez rented a two-bedroom house fromhis employer. He and his wife had three children, two of whom were born at a local public hospital that did notcharge the Alvarezes for their medical expenses. In 1989, Alvarez and his family were granted U.S. citizenshipunder a special law passed in 1986.

Zhang Zi-qiang was a medical student in China before coming to the United States. He left his homelandin 1990 after the Chinese government cracked down on China’s growing student democracy movement. Likethousands of other young Chinese involved in the movement, Zhang was granted political asylum in the UnitedStates. He was later able to resume his medical education in Nebraska. In developing his skills as a surgeon,Zhang has been exposed to technologies and techniques that were not available in China. At the same time,Zhang’s American colleagues have benefited from his knowledge of traditional Chinese medicine.

Although their stories are unique, Alvarez and Zhang share much in common with many of their fellownewcomers. Alvarez, as an illegal alien, and Zhang, as a political asylee, both entered the United States outsidethe channels of the 1965 immigration act. In the last two decades, the ranks of immigrants have been swelled byrefugees and asylum seekers, who are granted special status within the law, and by illegal aliens, who stay inthe United States without legal documentation. Of the more than one million immigrants who settled in theUnited States in 2001, the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) estimates that roughly three hun-dred twenty-five thousand were illegal aliens and one hundred thousand were refugees or asylum seekers.

Zhang’s level of education fits the profile of many new immigrants. The new arrivals of recent decadesare the most highly educated group of immigrants in U.S. history. In the 1980s alone, 1.5 million college-edu-cated immigrants joined the work force. As the case of Alvarez points out, though, society spends more thanever on new immigrants for schooling, health care, and other social services. Finally, the countries of origin ofZhang and Alvarez place them in step with immigration trends. From 1971 to 1991, more than 35 percent of legalimmigrants came from Asia, while almost half arrived from Latin America, including 24 percent from Mexico.

immigrants entered the country outside of normalroutes, either as refugees or illegal aliens. Meanwhile,hundreds of thousands of backlogged applicantsclogged the conventional channels of the immigration.Mexicans, for example, faced a wait of more than sixyears to have their applications processed.

How have immigration laws changed in recentyears?

The high numbers of newcomers set off a debateabout immigration not seen since the late nineteenth



Recent Immigration Laws• The Refugee Act of 1980 was prompted in large part by the arrival of more than four hundred thousandrefugees from Southeast Asia between 1975 and 1980. The legislation sought to give refugee policy greater con-sistency by allowing for both a regular flow of refugees and emergency admissions.• In 1986, the Immigration Reform and Control Act tackled the issue of illegal immigration. In hopes of stem-ming the entry of illegal aliens, the 1986 act imposed penalties on employers who knowingly hired workerswithout proper documentation. It also allowed illegal aliens who had lived in the United States since 1981, aswell as undocumented agricultural workers, to become citizens. Under the amnesty program, about 3.2 mil-lion illegal immigrants gained legal status.• The Immigration Act of 1990 raised the limit on annual admissions from 290,000 to 675,000 immigrants.(The 1965 act had set the ceiling at 290,000.) The 1990 law also nearly tripled the number of immigration slotsreserved for newcomers with prized job skills and their families. Like the 1965 act, the Immigration Act of 1990emphasized family reunification as the guiding principle of U.S. immigration policy. Under the law, over 71percent of immigration visas go to family members of U.S. citizens and permanent legal residents. (There areno limits on the immigration of the parents, spouses, and children of U.S. citizens.) In addition, about 21 per-cent of visas are set aside for well-trained workers and their families, and about 8 percent are available forimmigrants from countries that have received relatively few visas in previous years.• The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 grew out of the economictroubles of the early 1990s. In its original form, it would have reduced overall annual immigration to fivehundred thirty-five thousand (including refugees and asylum seekers) and strengthened border control ef-forts. By the time the bill became law, however, the economic outlook had brightened and Congress hadnarrowed the focus of the act to curbing illegal immigration. The 1996 act streamlined procedures for deport-ing illegal aliens and rejecting asylum claims . The number of deportations doubled as a result. Critics warnedthat the law placed too much power in the hands of the INS and denied legitimate refugees a fair hearing.

century. Pressure for immigration reform gatheredmomentum and resulted in a series of laws from Con-gress designed to deal with concerns surroundingrefugees, illegal aliens, and reunifying families.

Although the new laws were intended tostreamline the immigration process, the system re-mains slow and overburdened. Today, the backlog of

visa applications from family members of U.S. citizensand legal residents totals about 3.6 million. The sheernumber of applicants and the individual attention thatmust be given each that overwhelm the system. InSeptember of 2001, the picture became more complexas another level of scrutiny came into play.



PART II: IMMIGRATION TODAY

Today, immigrants are drawn to a life in theUnited States in record numbers. The United

States continues to lure many with the promise of abetter future. More than 11 percent of the U.S. popu-lation was born in another country. And yet, as thenumber of immigrants coming into the United Stateshas increased, so has the scope of the immigration de-bate. Concerns about the economic security ofAmerican workers fuels the debate, just as it hasthroughout our history. The terrorist attacks of Sep-tember 11, 2001 have also added another dimensionto the questions surrounding immigration.

As the new century begins, immigration policyhas come head to head with health care, welfare re-form, crime, and other importantdomestic issues. Inthe foreign policy arena, immigration has left a markon human rights, international trade, the worldwiderefugee crisis, and U.S. relations with LatinAmerica.The question to answer at the end of thisreading is: What should U.S. immigration policy be?

Before you consider the future of U.S. immigra-tion law, you will explore the chief issues that framethe current policy debate. This reading reviews theeconomic impact of immigration, the role of illegal im-migration, refugee policy, and concerns aboutnational security.

IMMIGRATION AND THE ECONOMY

Economic concerns have long dominated discus-sions about immigration. For most of the past century,business leaders and big farmers have generally fa-vored open immigration to ensure an adequatesupply of workers. In the early 1900s, the steady flowof unskilled immigrants into the labor force helpedfuel the boom in manufacturing. Although opportu-nities for unskilled factory workers have declinedsince World War II, other businesses, such as hotels,restaurants, and agriculture continue to depend onlow-wage labor to hold down costs.

What are the economic arguments in favor ofimmigration?

Supporters of open immigration policies notethat many high-tech industries have come to rely onnewcomers. About 12 percent of immigrants earngraduate degrees, compared to 8 percent of native-born Americans. Immigrants also tend to specialize inengineering, computer science, chemistry, and otherfields that are in high demand. One in four people liv-ing in America with a university degree in the scienceswas born abroad. In 1998, America’s high-tech indus-tries persuaded Congress to grant an additionalfifty-thousand immigration visas each year to skilledforeign workers until 2001.

Many economists attribute the success of theU.S. economy to the openness of our society and theinflux of skills and labor from overseas. For example,recent immigrants from China and India started 30percent of the high technology startups in Silicon Val-ley during the 1990s. Preserving the vitality thatimmigrants bring to the country is seen by many as ex-tremely important.

In the biggest U.S. cities, immigrants havehelped revive downtown business districts in the pasttwo decades. Many have opened up small businesses,created new jobs, and strengthened the local tax base.Without the influx of immigrants, the nation’s largestcities would have experienced a drop in populationsince 1980. Between 1990 and 1995, for example, New

Immigration to the U.S. in 2001

Relatives of U.S. citizensand permanent residents.................... 443,035

Skilled workers and their families......... 85,058

Refugees.............................................. 97,305

Asylees.................................................. 11,200

Miscellaneous.......................................102,170

Illegal aliens (estimate)........................ 325,550

Total................................................. 1,064,318

Immigration and Naturalization Service



York and Los Angeles each lost more than one millionnative-born residents.

What is the economic argument againstimmigration?

Historically, opposition on economic grounds toopen immigration laws has come from labor unionleaders. They claim that high levels of immigrationhave taken away jobs from native-born Americans.Immigration critics note that one-third of immigrantslack a high school diploma, double the rate for native-born Americans. They maintain that the entry ofunskilled immigrant workers into the economy holdsdown wages at the bottom of the employment ladder.

Others critics argue that U.S. immigration policydrains poor countries of their most-educated profes-sionals. Experts estimate that about half of the foreignstudents who study in American universities do notreturn to their home countries after graduation. Offi-cials in some poor countries have even made the casethat they should be compensated by the United Statesfor highly skilled emigrants who leave their nations.

What burden do immigrants place on socialservices?

Measuring the cost of newcomers in terms ofeducation, health care, welfare, and other social ser-vices has also become part of the immigration debate.For immigrants coming to the United States at the turnof the nineteenth century, the government offered

little help, other than to provide free education fortheir children. Since the 1960s, however, the UnitedStates has initiated a wide range of programs to assistthe poor.

Although the vast majority of immigrants cometo the United States eager to work, studies indicatethat they are about one-third more likely to receivepublic assistance than native-born citizens. Many ofthem, especially the growing number of elderly immi-grants, often need special help during the first fewyears after their arrival. This has placed a substantialburden on a few areas. In 2001, for example, six states— California, New York, Texas, Florida, New Jersey,and Illinois — received two thirds of all immigrants.

California alone was the destination of 35 per-cent of immigrants during the 1980s. According tocritics of high immigration, the latest wave of immi-grants is taking more resources out of the state thanit is putting in. They note that foreign-born Califor-nians make up one-quarter of the state’s populationand receive about 40 percent of the state’s public as-sistance budget.

Similar expenses have strained other areas ofheavy immigration. In New York, 145 languages arespoken among the city’s public school students.Nearly one-quarter of the students do not speak En-glish well, and most of them require bilingual classes.In the state of Washington, roughly one in ten stu-dents comes from a home in which English is not thefamily’s native language.

Immigration and Population TrendsThe concentration of immigrants in a handful of states has raised questions about the relationship be-

tween immigration policy and population trends. In California, for example, immigrants account for abouttwo-thirds of the state’s population growth. As the number of Californians surpasses thirty-three million,the state’s pollution problems have put new strains on the environment. Population pressures have also in-tensified competition between farmers and city dwellers for scarce water. Population growth threatens toaggravate environmental problems in other parts of the country as well.

Like other developed nations, the United States has experienced a drop in birth rates for most of thiscentury. If immigration were closed off entirely, the U.S. population would actually begin falling around theyear 2020. At current levels of immigration, however, the population is expected to reach 335 million by theyear 2025 — an increase of 60 million people. Although U.S. population growth rates are far below those ofMexico and other developing countries, they remain among the highest in the developed world.



How did welfare reform affect benefits andcitizenship?

When Congress passed a major welfare reformbill in 1996, special attention was paid to benefits forimmigrants. Since the law’s enactment, legal immi-grants have been barred from enrolling in the mostcommon welfare programs until they gain citizenship.Even immigrants granted citizenship must live in theUnited States for five years before they become eli-gible for most benefits.

Congress hoped that the new law would dis-courage would-be immigrants from coming to theUnited States to take advantage of the welfare system.However, the legislation has largely shifted the bur-den of supporting poor immigrants from Washingtonto state and local governments. California officials, forexample, estimate that the state will have to provideat least $500 million annually to make up for cuts infederal funding.

As governments at all levels spend more on so-cial services for immigrants, the constitutionalprinciples determining citizenship have come up forre-examination. Several bills introduced in Congressin recent years would modify the Fourteenth Amend-ment by denying automatic citizenship to theU.S.-born children of illegal aliens.

Meanwhile, a recent change in Mexican law hasadded another dimension to the question of citizen-ship. In 1998, Mexico began permitting Americansborn in Mexico and their children to claim Mexicancitizenship. (Previously, Mexicans who accepted citi-zenship in another country lost their rights asMexicans.) With dual nationality, Mexican-Americanswould be entitled to own property in Mexico or attendpublic universities there while continuing to enjoy therights of American citizenship.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

According to INS estimates, about 350,000 ille-gal aliens settle permanently in the United States eachyear. More than seven million illegal aliens currentlyreside in the United States. The INS calculates that 41percent of them arrive as tourists, students, or busi-nessmen, and then stay beyond the limitations of theirvisas. Some use false documents to slip past immigra-tion officials at our country’s airports.

How has immigration from south of the borderchanged?

Although illegal aliens enter the United Statesfrom all parts of the globe, there is a particularly heavy

National Security and Visitors to the United StatesA difficult task facing the government is keeping track of visitors to the United States. All of the nine-

teen hijackers who commandeered the planes that crashed on September 11 were foreign nationals. Sixteenentered the United States on legal visas. All but two kept a low profile and avoided suspicion. The FBI re-ceived information two weeks before September 11 connecting those two to the bombing of the U.S.S. Cole.

A search for the men began. The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) was alerted, but the twomen could not be found. Because the FBI was not aware of a specific threat, the Federal Aviation Administra-tion (FAA) and other authorities were not notified. Government officials agree that improved communicationand coordination between agencies is important in the struggle to prevent terrorism.

In addition, the INS believes that ten of the hijackers were in the United States legally on September 11.The INS concedes the need to improve its methods of keeping track of those who visit the United States andtracking down those who overstay or misuse the visa required for entry.

Many argue that there is a strong need to reassess America’s immigration system. They call on the gov-ernment to devote more resources to ensuring that the United States scrutinizes more closely those whom itadmits to the country, that people abide by the terms of their admission, and that the United States establishesbetter mechanisms for monitoring those who have been admitted. Much of this involves increasing coordi-nation, resources, and personnel. It will also require investing in technology that enables the FBI, the INS, andthe Department of State to share information more easily.



flow across the southern border with Mexico.Until 1968, there were no official limits on im-migration from countries in the WesternHemisphere. Before 1924, there was not evenan attempt to monitor the borders. The subjectsof border control and illegal aliens were sel-dom mentioned. In recent decades all of thishas changed as the public spotlight and theINS’s resources have zeroed in mainly on ille-gal immigrants who enter the country bycrossing the U.S.-Mexican border.

Workers from Mexico, in particular, havebeen a critical part of the labor force in theSouthwest for many years. Until recently, theygenerally worked in agriculture during thegrowing season and then returned to theirhomes in Mexico. Today, there is much less seasonalmigration between the United States and Mexico.Nevertheless, large farms and, increasingly, low-wageindustries in the U.S. continue to rely on Mexicanworkers. Meanwhile, Mexico’s high rate of unemploy-ment and low wages continue to push laborers acrossthe border in search of employment.

Has NAFTA affected illegal immigration?

When the North American Free Trade Agree-ment (NAFTA) was finalized in 1994, Mexico wasalready the United States’ third leading trading part-

ner. The agreement created a trading bloc of nearly400 million people by lowering trade barriers amongthe United States, Mexico, and Canada. Both Mexicanand U.S. officials looked forward to the day whenpoverty would no longer drive Mexicans northward.They believed that increased trade between their twonations could help solve the problem.

Supporters of NAFTA contended that the agree-ment would produce better-paying jobs in Mexico andreduce the flow of undocumented immigrants. Someexperts on illegal immigration went further. They ar-gued that by increasing foreign aid and trade benefits

to Mexico and other Latin American countries,and by encouraging low-wage American indus-tries to invest in the region, the United Statescould help generate new local jobs that wouldkeep potential illegal aliens at home.

While the passage of NAFTA representeda bold attempt to bridge the economic gulf be-tween the developed nations of the UnitedStates and Canada and the developing economyof Mexico, it has not stemmed the flow of ille-gal immigrants from Mexico.

How has the profile of the illegal immigrantchanged?

The composition of the illegal alien popu-lation has changed in the last two decades.Although the typical undocumented immigrant

ILLEGAL ALIENS APPREHENDED

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is still a single young man, more women and childrenare entering the country illegally as well. Fewer thanone-fifth of today’s illegal aliens work in agriculture.The majority live and work in large cities.

In addition, Mexicans make up a smaller propor-tion of illegal aliens than in the past. Increasingly,illegal aliens are arriving from Central America, theCaribbean, and Asia. International smuggling rings,for example, funnel an estimated hundred thousandillegal immigrants from South Asia and China acrossthe U.S.-Mexican border annually.

What impact do illegal aliens have on state andlocal economies?

Illegal aliens are concentrated in a few states,primarily California (which is home to about 40percent of all undocumented immigrants),Texas, New York, Florida, and Illinois.

In 1982, the Supreme Court ruled thatstates must provide illegal aliens with schooling.That decision, along with the growing proportion ofwomen and children among the illegal alienpopulation, has added to the education andhealth care budgets of several states. Califor-nia alone spends roughly $2 billion a year oneducating illegal immigrant children. Withfinancial pressure mounting, state officialshave demanded that the federal government

either tighten border control or pay for social servicesoffered to illegal aliens.

The same states that are burdened by the socialservice needs of illegal aliens are also home to busi-nesses that employ them. Whether stitching pants ina clothing factory, washing dishes in a restaurant, orharvesting fruits and vegetables, illegal aliens have be-come a crucial element of the work force in manyareas. Most are willing to accept difficult, demandingjobs for low wages. Los Angeles has emerged as thecenter of America’s garment industry in large part due

Border Control and National SecurityThe challenge of border control is daunting yet critical. For more than half its nearly two thousand miles,

the U.S.-Mexican border is marked by the shallow Rio Grande. In the empty deserts to the west, it consists ofthree strands of barbed wire. Only near a few metro areas is there a well-constructed fence or wall dividing thetwo countries. To the north, the United States shares 5,525 miles of border with Canada—much of it less clearlymarked than the Mexican border. In addition to thousands of miles of coastline, there are over 350 official in-ternational points of entry (e.g., ports, airports) into the the United States. There is sharp concern that our vastborders and numerous points of entry make us vulnerable to illegal economic immigration, drug smuggling,and to efforts by international terrorists to sneak across the borders with Mexico and Canada.

In 2003, the new Department of Homeland Security assumed control of protecting U.S. borders. Whileworking to safeguard the United States, the Department also hopes to ensure the smooth flow of legitimate traffic.More than 500 million people ( 330 million of these are non-citizens) cross the borders of the United States eachyear. The Department of Homeland Security now coordinates and manages the work of the INS, the CustomsService, and Border Patrol, and several other agenices associated with border control.

Jeff Parker. Reprinted with permission.



to the labor of undocumented workers.Critics of the practice maintain that some em-

ployers prefer hiring undocumented workers becausethey are unlikely to complain about low pay and poorworking conditions. In fact, law enforcement officialsreport that clothing factories operating outside thelaw, known as “sweatshops,” have made a comebackin Los Angeles and New York thanks to the availabil-ity of illegal alien labor.

Penalizing employers in the U.S. of illegal alienshas proven difficult. Job applicants can prove their eli-gibility to work by producing any one of twenty-ninedocuments, and employers are not required to verifytheir authenticity. Illegal aliens in most areas havelittle problem obtaining false documents to qualify forjobs.

REFUGEES

The issue of refugee policy has acquired increas-ing prominence in recent years. The 1980 Refugee Actopened the United States to more refugees andchanged the definition of refugee to conform withUnited Nations (UN) standards. Although the Refu-gee Act called for the admission of roughly fiftythousand refugees and asylum seekers a year, the an-nual total has averaged over one hundred and tenthousand since the law was enacted.

U.S. refugee laws during the Cold War wereprimarily an instrument of foreign policy. Preferencewas given to refugees escaping from communist coun-tries. In the past two decades, however, a worldwide

refugee crisis has challenged old assumptions. Today,the internationally recognized refugee population isfifteen million, largely due to war and famine in poor,developing countries. Refugee applications to theUnited States have shot up more than twenty times.

A refugee is a person “unable or unwilling toreturn to [his or her home country]...because ofpersecution or a well-founded fear of persecu-tion on account of race, religion, nationality,membership in a particular social group, or po-litical opinion.”

Refugee Act of 1980

Despite recent changes in the nature of the refu-gee population, U.S. policy has been slow to change.Of the more than two million refugees admitted from1980 to 2001, 85 percent have come from communistor former communist nations. Even with the end ofthe Cold War, old foreign policy priorities have con-tinued to define refugee admissions. Of the eightythousand immigration visas set aside for refugees in2001, thirty-seven thousand were earmarked for Eu-rope. In contrast, the ceiling for refugee admissionsfrom Africa was set at twenty-one thousand, and atthirty-five hundred for Latin America.

Critics of U.S. refugee policy are sharply dividedamong themselves. Some charge that the UnitedStates has lost sight of humanitarian considerations inawarding immigration visas. They want refugee andasylum applicants to be evaluated in strict accordancewith UN standards, regardless of the political signifi-

Refugees and National SecurityFollowing the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the United States suspended admitting refugees

to the United States for two months. The attacks have had a clear impact on U.S. refugee admissions. Increasedsecurity checks have delayed the arrival of refugees. Although the United States planned to admit seventythousand refugees in 2001, only twenty-seven thousand actually arrived. In many cases, refugees approvedfor admission to the United States remained in camps in Africa where conditions are poor and even danger-ous, while the FBI and CIA compared their names against list sof known or suspected terrorists. AfterSeptember 11, several European countries, including the United Kingdom and Denmark (traditionally veryhospitable to refugees seeking asylum), tightened their laws making the plight of many refugees more dire.The United States continues to seek the balance between its traditional committment to those fleeing perse-cution and its own security needs.



cance of their countries of origin. Others assert thatmany of the people admitted as refugees and asylumseekers are not fleeing persecution but simply look-ing for a better life. They favor lowering the overallceiling for refugees.

How are other developed nations dealing withimmigrants and refugees?

The United States is not alone among wealthy,developed countries in wrestling with refugee prob-lems. In the early 1990s, Western Europe was thedestination of at least four million people seeking ref-uge. Most were fleeing from war in the Balkans.Thousands of others sought to escape the poverty ofthe former Soviet bloc and Africa. From 1990 to 1995,Germany took in 2.4 million foreigners, many of themasylum seekers. In 1993, however, Germany narrowedits definition of political asylum and began deportingforeigners who did not meet the new standards.

Other European countries have followedGermany’s lead, tightening their policies on both asy-lum and general immigration. Nonetheless, the peaceand prosperity of Western Europe continues to attractmillions of would-be immigrants. As many as fourmillion of them are thought to be living illegally in theregion. Moreover, efforts to eliminate borders withinWestern Europe have compounded the problem. Ille-gal immigrants entering Italy or Spain encounter fewbarriers to travelling throughout the region.

In Canada too, recent adjustments in immigra-tion standards reflect a change in priorities. In 2001,

Canada admitted 250,000 immigrants — a muchhigher percentage of its population than immigrantadmissions to the United States. Unlike America’s im-migration laws, however, Canadian standards aregeared toward admitting young, college-educatednewcomers who speak fluent English or French. Em-phasis on reunifying families has been downgraded.

NATIONAL SECURITY: A NEW CLIMATE

The debate surrounding immigration is not lim-ited to economic issues. Maintaining national securityhas long been an important consideration in immigra-tion and refugee policy. For example, in 1992,thousands of Haitians set sail for American shoresafter the Haitian army overthrew the island nation’snewly elected president. The refugee crisis was a keyfactor in the U.S. decision to send twenty thousandAmerican troops to Haiti in September 1994 to restorea democratic government on the island.

For a long time, drug smuggling was seen as thebiggest issue surrounding immigration’s potentialthreats to national security. The INS and Customsdevoted huge resources to stopping drugs from enter-ing the country, especially across the U.S.-Mexicanborder.

How did September 11 change America’s senseof vulnerability?

The September 11th terrorist attacks on NewYork and Washington changed how many Americanslook at the world. Americans became acutely awareof our country’s vulnerability. The attacks awakenedthe belief in many that our open borders and open so-ciety had made us vulnerable to this terrible event.The nineteen hijackers were Islamic extremists fromthe Middle East. Sixteen had entered the United Stateson legal student visas — not as immigrants or refu-gees.

The terrorist attacks provoked debate about im-migration and the place of those from other countriesin the United States. While some experts warned ofsleeper cells of terrorists in the United States, legal im-migrants from the Middle East and other Islamicpeople worried that suspicions would be directed at

Steve Kelly. Reprinted by permission of Copley News Service.



them simply because of who they were. While somewondered whether the United States had learned thelessons of interning 600,000 Japanese-Americans afterPearl Harbor, others called for a moratorium on im-migration and visitors from Islamic countries.Balancing our need for security and our tradition ofreceiving people from all over the world remains achallenge for all citizens to address.

How have new laws affected the legal rights ofimmigrants?

After September 11, Congress passed sweepinglegislation known at the Patriot Act to combat terror-ism. Prior to the Patriot Act, non-citizens had many ofthe same legal protections as citizens. Today, non-U.S.citizens may be held by immigration officials for sevendays without charges or detained indefinitely if theyare seen as a threat to national security. Deportationshave skyrocketed and detainment is much more com-mon. The government will not release the names orlocation of those they have detained. Since Novemberof 2001, the government has refused to say how manyhave been detained in the post-September 11th

sweeps. Evidence can be used against suspects thatneither they nor their lawyers can see.

Additionally, new legislation in 2003 requiresall males sixteen and older from nineteen Middle East-ern and North African countries or from North Koreawho are here on temporary visas to register with theINS. Anyone who does not register is subject to depor-tation. The law exempts refugees, permanentresidents, and naturalized citizens.

Supporters of these laws say that these measureswill help defend America against the threats posed byforeign terrorists. Critics worry these laws violate theConstitution and may lead to a loss of civil liberties forthose law-abiding immigrants who make positivecontributions to America’s economy and society.

“If, in response to the events of September 11,we engage in excess and shut out what has madeAmerica great, then we will have given terror-ists a far greater victory than they could havehoped to achieve.”

—James Ziglar, INS Commissioner



As it did a century ago, immigration is slowly recasting the face of the United States. In the process, it is prompt-ing Americans to take a fresh look at our nation’s culture, identity, and role in the world.In many respects, the transformation of the city of Miami brings home the debate over the impact of immi-

gration on the United States. Before 1959, Miami was a quiet town best known for its nearby beaches and popularityamong retirees. Then, a communist revolution in Cuba brought in an influx of Cubans. In the 1970s, the Cubanswere joined by newcomers from Haiti. The 1980s witnessed a surge of Nicaraguans, Peruvians, and other immi-grants from Central and South America. By 1992, 60 percent of Miami residents had been born outside the UnitedStates and nearly three-quarters spoke a language other than English at home.

In Miami’s Calle Ocho district, fruit and vegetable stalls sell black beans, guayabas, plantains, and papayas.Sidewalk vendors serve up empanadas and quesadillas with a Caribbean flavor. Dominoes is the game of choiceat the city park. Signs in Spanish advertise everything from hair styling to political candidates.

As a result of immigration, Miami has emerged as an important crossroads in trade between the United Statesand Latin America. It has also become a hotbed of ethnic tension. Riots have erupted in Miami three times since1980. The American-born population of the city actually fell by ninety thousand in the 1980s.

What Miami represents to Americans is crucial to the future of U.S. immigration policy. For some, the cityembodies what is best in America. In a few short decades, newcomers have made it an international business cen-ter—a gateway to the world poised to compete in the global economy of the twenty-first century. For others, Miamiis a symbol of unbridled change, where differences in language and culture point to a future of economic conflictand social division.

In the coming days, you will have an opportunity to consider a range of alternatives for U.S. immigration policy.Each of the four viewpoints, or options, that you will explore is based on a distinct set of values and beliefs. Eachtakes a different perspective on our country’s role in the world and our prospects for the future. You should thinkof the options as a tool designed to help you better understand the contrasting strategies from which Americansmust craft future policy.

At the end of this unit, you will be asked to make your own choices about where U.S. immigration policy shouldbe heading. You may borrow heavily from one option, or you may combine ideas from several options. Or youmay take a new approach altogether. You will need to weigh the risks and trade-offs of whatever you decide. Thereare, of course, no perfect solutions.

IMMIGRATION: CONSIDERING U.S.OPTIONS

U.S. Immigration Policy in an Unsettled World 17 Choices for the 21st Century Education ProgramWatson Institute for International Studies, Brown University

OPTIONS IN BRIEF

OPTION 1 — OPEN OURSELVES TO THE WORLD

As we enter the twenty-first century, the forces of globalization are rapidly creating a newworld. International trade is steadily expanding, while national borders are losing theirsignificance. People, ideas, and goods traverse the globe at an ever-accelerating pace.Americans can take pride in a heritage that promotes openness, tolerance, and diversity.Immigration puts our country in touch with the tastes and preferences of consumersworldwide, and gives U.S. companies an edge in opening export markets. Keeping ourdoors open lets the world know that the United States remains a country that looks forwardto tomorrow.

OPTION 2 — MAKE EMIGRATION UNNECESSARY

As the new century unfolds, the world is on the move. The population explosion in poorcountries, the spread of war and terror, and the age-old curses of hunger and disease aredriving increasing numbers to our shores. Opening our doors to large-scale immigrationresolves no one’s problems. It only overburdens our schools and health care system anddrains poor countries of many of their most educated, highly skilled workers. We cannotcontinue to absorb new immigrants into this country at this breakneck pace and withoutcompromising our own economy and social structure. Nonetheless, both for practical andfor humanitarian reasons we should join with the international community to provide thedevelopment assistance necessary to stabilize the migration of the world’s poor.

OPTION 3 — ADMIT THE TALENT WE NEED

Economic competition among nations in the twenty-first century is set to reach new levelsof intensity. In today’s world, the United States must be prepared to compete in anincreasingly demanding global marketplace. Immigration policy should be designed firstto serve our country’s economic needs, not to solve the world’s problems. To spur Americanhigh-tech industries forward, our doors should be open to scientists and engineers fromabroad. To help American factories, farms, and service industries hold down costs, weshould allow a limited number of foreigners to work temporarily in low-wage jobs.

OPTION 4 — RESTRICT IMMIGRATION

The world is changing at a breakneck pace. The population explosion, war, terror, hunger,and disease plague an ever-growing portion of humanity. We must recognize thatAmericans can do little to end the misery that haunts much of the world. Simply maintainingour way of life amounts to a major challenge. Although the United States is a nation ofimmigrants, the arguments supporting massive immigration have long since passed intohistory. Now it is time to say enough. We should drastically reduce the number ofimmigrants we accept and commit the resources necessary to take control of our borders.


OPEN OURSELVES TO THE WORLD

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, the forces of globalization are rapidlycreating a new world. International trade is steadily expanding, while national bordersare losing their significance. People, ideas, and goods traverse the globe at an ever-accelerating pace. In the world of the future, the United States will stand out as a shiningexample. While rigid nationalism continues to hold back many countries, Americans cantake pride in a heritage that promotes openness, tolerance, and diversity. Compared toour chief economic rivals in Japan and Western Europe, the United States is poised tocompete in the international marketplace. American movies, music, fashion, and brandnames are attractive to people throughout the world because they symbolize a culturethat embraces and celebrates many cultures. Immigration puts our country in touch withthe tastes and preferences of consumers worldwide, and gives U.S. companies an edge inopening export markets.

From its earliest days, the United States has been a land of opportunity for people outsideour borders. Each wave of immigrants has contributed to the United States’ greatness andenriched our society. Today, immigrants are still coming. This latest generation ofimmigrants contains the best and brightest from a rich variety of cultures and regions.Even those lacking a formal education are driven by a strong sense of initiative and anunshakable work ethic. They have come because they believe the United States is the landof opportunity. They recognize that the United States rewards hard work and ability likeno other country in the world. In the end, the talents, ambitions, and dreams they bringwill benefit all Americans. Keeping our doors open lets the world know that the UnitedStates remains a country that looks forward to tomorrow.

Option1

What policies should we pursue?

•Remove bureaucratic obstacles in the immi-gration process that keep family membersapart.

•Allow people worldwide with a legitimatefear of persecution the full protection of U.S.refugee and asylum laws.

•Adjust immigration laws to permit greaterimmigration from countries, such as Chinaand Mexico, that have been the victims ofunfair restrictions in the past.

•Provide immigrants with more opportuni-ties, job training, and English-languageinstruction to speed their adjustment toAmerican life.

•Ensure that everyone in the United States,including illegal immigrants, has access toeducation, basic health care, and other essen-tial services.

Lessons from history

The United States has succeeded in integrat-ing wave after wave of immigrants intoAmerican society. Fear-mongers in the mid-1800s warned that Irish and Germanimmigrants would bring down the UnitedStates. In the early 1900s, similar attacks weredirected against newcomers from southernand eastern Europe. In fact, each group of im-migrants has made a vital contribution to theoverall strength of the United States.Tomorrow’s immigrants will do the same.


SUPPORTING ARGUMENTS

1. Welcoming new immigrants into our country will inject valuable skills into the U.S.economy and enable American culture to maintain the rich diversity that appeals toconsumers the world over.

2. Renewing the United States’ long tradition of offering opportunity and refuge forimmigrants will earn the United States respect and admiration from people throughoutthe world.

3. Immigrants will take advantage of their ties to their native countries to open up newexport markets for American products.

OPPOSING ARGUMENTS

1. If immigration continues at its current pace, more than fifty million newcomers willflood into the United States in the next half century, overloading our schools, hospitals,and other social services.

2. An open immigration policy will inevitably make it easier for would-be terrorists toenter the country undetected.

3. High levels of immigration will deprive American workers of jobs while forcinggovernment to spend more on the needs of immigrants.

4. Encouraging highly skilled workers to immigrate to the United States robs poorcountries of their most valuable human resources.

5. Opening our doors to unskilled immigrants at a time when the U.S. economy offersthem few opportunities will only add to our society’s problems.

6. High levels of immigration will push our country’s population past tolerable limitsand inflict still more harm on our country’s environment.

7. The continual arrival of large numbers of immigrants, both legal and illegal, willeventually overwhelm American culture and contribute to the fragmentation of oursociety.

PROS

&

CONS

Option 1 is based on the following beliefs

• America is still a young, vigorous country with room to grow.

• America’s strength lies in its diversity, particularly in the fresh ideas and culturesprovided by new immigrants.

• Immigration does not unduly threaten our national security.


MAKE EMIGRATION UNNECESSARY

As the new century unfolds, the world is on the move. The population explosion inpoor countries, the spread of war and terror, and the age-old curses of hunger and diseaseare driving increasing numbers to our shores. Emigration from the developing world is atan all time high, and the United States is the destination for the largest percentage of theseemigrants. Opening our doors to large-scale immigration resolves no one’s problems.Admitting huge numbers of newcomers into the United States every year not onlyoverburdens our schools and health care system, it drains poor countries of many of theirmost educated, highly skilled workers. This “brain drain” only adds to the challenge inpoor countries of meeting the needs of their own populations.

We are a strong country, but we cannot continue to absorb new immigrants into thiscountry at this breakneck pace and without compromising our own economy and socialstructure. Nonetheless, both for practical and for humanitarian reasons we cannot fenceourselves off from poverty and suffering outside of our borders. As the strongest economicpower on earth and the most sought destination of the world’s poor, the burden ofinternational leadership on this issue rests with the United States. We should join with theinternational community to provide the development assistance necessary to stabilize themigration of the world’s poor. We should also explore ways to create incentives for thebest and brightest in the developing world to stay where they are and contribute theirskills to improve conditions in their own countries. By improving life among the world’spoor and disadvantaged, we can get a grip on the forces that drive desperate immigrantsto our country’s shores. Ultimately, we will all be better off.


•Expand foreign aid and trade benefits tohelp governments in the developing worldto strengthen their economies and reduce theflow of immigration to the United States.

•Join other developed countries to coordi-nate the resettlement of existing refugees andprevent future refugee crises.

•Apply consistent, humane standards ingranting political asylum to refugees, ratherthan mold refugee policy to suit politicalpurposes.

•Reduce the number of immigration visasawarded annually to 600,000, includingrefugees.


The extraordinary changes of the twentiethcentury do not allow us to considerAmerica’s problems in isolation from the restof the world. Since 1900, world populationhas more than tripled. Technological revolu-tions in transportation and communicationshave brought nations into contact like neverbefore. A new category of global problems— environmental pollution, overpopulation,international drug trafficking, AIDS, and in-ternational terrorism — now affects peoplethroughout the planet. The fast-moving paceof history forces us to address immigrationas an issue that involves both the UnitedStates and the world as a whole.

Option2


PROS SUPPORTING ARGUMENTS

1. Expanding foreign aid programs and trade benefits for the developing world willreduce the drain of highly skilled workers from poor countries and also reduce theanger that fuels terrorism.

2. Developing refugee policies that are consistent and humane will bolster the U.S. imagethroughout the world.

3. Reducing the level of immigration to the United States will reduce the drain on oursocial service resources and allow us to better monitor those who come.

OPPOSING ARGUMENTS

1. Dumping money into new foreign aid programs will come at the expense of addressingother, more pressing needs.

2. Closing our doors to immigrants will increase resentment of the United States.

3. Awarding immigration visas on the basis of humanitarian concerns, rather thaneconomic priorities, will not significantly lower U.S. spending on social services fornewcomers.

4. As past failures show, U.S. assistance can not overcome the crippling poverty andsocial chaos plaguing much of the developing world.

5. Without high levels of immigration, the United States will lack the talent and energyto strengthen our country and address future problems.

6. No matter what we do, people will always want to come to the United States.

CONS

&


• In today’s interconnected world, we must accept that the problems affecting othercountries are America’s problems as well.

• By developing well-crafted programs of foreign aid and trade benefits, the United Statescan help people in poor countries improve their lives.

• While we have an obligation to reduce suffering wherever possible, we have a primaryresponsibility to the well-being of those here at home.


Option3

ADMIT THE TALENT WE NEED

Economic competition among nations in the twenty-first century is set to reach newlevels of intensity. In today’s world, the United States must be prepared to compete in anincreasingly demanding global marketplace and adapt to the relentless pace of technologicalchange. In the last few years, our country’s economy has been going through a wrenchingreadjustment. Businesses are cutting jobs. Government programs are being trimmed.Workers are being forced to do more with less. While our economy has emerged from thetrials of downsizing leaner and stronger, the economic recession that has hit in the firstyears of the new century is taking a toll. We must make sure that our country’s immigrationpolicy is in line with our economic priorities. After calling on working Americans to tightentheir belts, we owe them nothing less.

Every country has the right to promote its national interests. The United States shouldbe no different. We cannot afford to admit into our country every year hundreds ofthousands of newcomers who will be a burden on our society. Immigration policy shouldbe designed first to serve our country’s economic needs, not to solve the world’s problems.A two-pronged approach makes the most sense. To spur American high-tech industriesforward, our doors should be open to scientists and engineers from abroad. To helpAmerican factories, farms, and service industries hold down costs, we should allow alimited number of foreigners to work temporarily in low-wage jobs. By forging aheadwith a realistic, far-sighted strategy, we can make immigration policy work for the UnitedStates.


•Award two hundred thousand immigrationvisas annually for skilled workers and theirfamilies, making the advancement of scienceand technology the top priority in guidingimmigration policy.

•Reduce total annual immigration to fivehundred thousand, including refugees, mak-ing adjustments to reflect economicconditions. (During an economic downturn,the number of immigration visas should bedecreased, while during an economic expan-sion the number should be increased.)

•Allow a limited number of foreigners towork temporarily in the United States inagriculture and other industries facing laborshortages.

•Offer scholarships to foreign graduate stu-dents in science, engineering, and otherhigh-tech fields, provided they will work inthe United States for at least five years.

•Deny education, health care, and other so-cial services to illegal aliens, except in casesof emergency.


Open immigration policies made sense forthe United States as long as there was anabundance of jobs for unskilled workers. TheAmerican economy, however, has experi-enced tremendous change since World WarII. New technologies and the movement oflow-wage industries outside of the UnitedStates have left fewer opportunities for un-skilled workers. At the same time, the growthof new high-tech industries in recent decadeshas left many American companies strug-gling to find scientists, engineers, and otherskilled workers in these emerging fields.


PROS

&

CONS


1. Admitting highly skilled immigrants who are well-suited to the demands of the U.S.economy will help hold down government costs for welfare, health care, and othersocial services.

2. Tailoring U.S. immigration policy to the needs of our economy will attract immigrantswho have the most to offer to American industry, especially in high-tech fields.

3. Permitting the entry of temporary foreign workers into the labor force will help low-wage industries remain in the United States while competing in the global market.

OPPOSING ARGUMENTS

1. Limiting immigration to the well-educated discriminates against worthy applicantswho have been deprived of an opportunity to educate themselves.

2. Pursuing an immigration policy that overlooks the concerns of other countries willdamage U.S. foreign relations, especially with our neighbors to the south.

3. Drawing the best and brightest skilled workers from poor countries will undercuteconomic development in much of the world and harm international stability.

4. Admitting foreigners as temporary workers and denying social services to illegal alienswill create a group of second-class citizens with few rights and little stake in Americansociety.

5. Reducing the number of immigration visas available for family reunification will leavemany close relatives apart.

6. Assisting foreign graduate students in science and engineering will deprive Americansof jobs and educational opportunities, and leave many of our most important high-tech industries dominated by foreign-born workers.


• Maintaining our economy’s competitive edge is essential to the well-being of Americans.

• Promoting America’s economic strength should be the guiding principle underlying ourcountry’s immigration policy.

• Skilled, well-educated immigrants are most capable of contributing to the bettermentof the United States.


RESTRICT IMMIGRATION

The world is changing at a breakneck pace. The population explosion, war, terror, hunger,and disease plague an ever-growing portion of humanity. The United States is a strongcountry, but it cannot solve the world’s problems. As the planet’s population soars fromsix billion today to an estimated ten billion by the year 2050, we must recognize thatAmericans can do little to end the misery that haunts much of the world. On the contrary,the forces of economic change have left millions of Americans struggling to keep up. Manyof us are working longer hours than ever just to make ends meet. Schools are overcrowdedand underfunded, while health care costs have skyrocketed. Simply maintaining our wayof life amounts to a major challenge.

The arguments supporting massive immigration in the United States have long sincepassed into history. At a time when our country is trimming back social services for ourown citizens, we can hardly afford to keep the door open every year to roughly one millionnewcomers from poor nations. The world’s disadvantaged people cannot be blamed forwanting to enter the United States. Many of them lead lives of desperation and hopelessness.But the United States has already given enough. For decades, we have accepted moreimmigrants than all the other countries of the world combined. Now it is time to say stop.We have the right to preserve the uniquely American culture that has been created overthe past two centuries. We have a duty to stop the senseless influx of unskilled immigrantsthat holds down wages for struggling American workers. We should drastically reducethe number of immigrants we accept and commit the resources necessary to take controlof our borders. The threat of runaway change must be brought under control.


•Reduce the number of immigration visasawarded annually to the level set in 1965 —two hundred ninety thousand — includingrefugees.

•Strengthen border control by tripling thenumber of Border Patrol agents, construct-ing impassable barriers at major crossingpoints along the U.S.-Mexican border, andswiftly deporting foreigners who overstaytheir visas.

•Introduce a national identity card that allworkers would be required to present whenapplying for employment and social services.

•Pressure the governments of the Caribbeanto take steps to prevent mass movements ofrefugees to the United States.

•Insist that those seeking political asylumapply at U.S. embassies in foreign countries.

•End the policy of granting automatic citi-zenship to the children of foreigners born inthe United States.


The surge in immigration around the turn ofthe century created dangerous social divi-sions in the United States, especially duringtough economic times. During the depressionof the 1890s and the economic downturn fol-lowing World War I, American-born andforeign-born workers often found themselvescompeting for scarce jobs. Employers fre-quently hired foreign-born workers toundercut the efforts of labor unions to gainfair wages and better working conditions.African-Americans, in particular, were de-nied an opportunity to climb the economicladder because of competition from immi-grant labor.

Option4


PROS

&

CONS


1. Reducing immigration will allow the United States to hold down spending foreducation, health care, and other social services.

2. Restoring firm control over our borders will help us reduce the flow of drugs into theUnited States and strengthen our defenses against international terrorism.

3. Lowering the number of newcomers entering the U.S. labor market will make morejobs available for American workers, especially those with few skills.

OPPOSING ARGUMENTS

1. Fencing off our neighbors to the south and restricting immigration from abroad willfuel anti-American sentiment throughout the world, and harm relations with manyof our leading trading partners.

2. Closing the door on new immigrants will deprive the American work force of skills,talent, and ambition.

3. Introducing a national identity card will make foreign-born Americans a target forsuspicion and discrimination.

4. Drastically reducing immigration will create a society that lacks a solid understandingof the world beyond our borders.

5. Without young immigrants entering the country, American workers will face a heavyburden in supporting the steadily increasing elderly population.

6. Severely cutting back immigration will leave many recently arrived Americansseparated from close family members in their native lands.


• The United States is one of the few islands of stability and prosperity in a world markedlargely by poverty and desperation.

• Continued high levels of immigration would overwhelm America’s unique culture.

• High levels of immigration deprive America’s poor of opportunities for economicadvancement.

26 Choices for the 21st Century Education ProgramWatson Institute for International Studies, Brown University

U.S. Immigration Policy in an Unsettled World

Conclusions

While it has been no part of the work of the Com-mission to enforce the provisions of the immigrationlaws, it has been thought best to furnish from time totime to the proper authorities such information ac-quired in the course of the investigation as couldfurther good administration and the enforcement ofthe law. City, state, and federal officials have officiallyrecognized such assistance in their attempts to controlthe so-called “white slave trade,” in the proper regu-lation of the immigrant societies and homes, insecuring evidence and penal certificates to accomplishthe deportation of criminals, and in the administrationof the Chinese-exclusion act. In some instances, suchinformation has led to local reorganization of the im-migrant service. While mention is made of this matterthe real work of the Commission has consisted in thecollection and preparation of new material, largelystatistical in nature, which might form a basis on whichto frame legislation. A very condensed summary of theresults on some of the principal questions investigatedfollows.

Sources of Immigration andCharacter of Immigrants

From 1820 to June 30, 1910, 27,918,992 immi-grants were admitted to the United States. Of thisnumber 92.3 per cent came from European countries,which countries are the source of about 93.7 per centof the present immigration movement. From 1820 to1883 more than 95 per cent of the total immigrationfrom Europe originated in the United Kingdom, Ger-many, Scandinavia, the Netherlands, Belgium, France,and Switzerland. In what follows the movement fromthese countries will be referred to as the “old immi-gration.” Following 1883 there was a rapid change inthe ethnical character of European immigration, andin recent years more than 70 per cent of the movementhas originated in southern and eastern Europe. Thechange geographically, however, has been somewhat

greater than the change in the racial character of theimmigration, this being due very largely to the numberof Germans who have come from Austria-Hungaryand Russia. The movement from southern and easternEurope will be referred to as the “new immigration.”In a single generation Austria-Hungary, Italy, andRussia have succeeded the United Kingdom and Ger-many as the chief sources of immigration. In fact, eachof the three countries first named furnished more im-migrants to the United States in 1907 than came in thesame year from the United Kingdom, Germany, Scan-dinavia, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, andSwitzerland combined.

The old immigration movement in recent yearshas rapidly declined, both numerically and relatively,and under present conditions there are no indicationsthat it will materially increase. The new immigrationmovement is very large, and there are few, if any, in-dications of its natural abatement. The newimmigration, coming in such large numbers, has pro-voked a widespread feeling of apprehension as to itseffect on the economic and social welfare of the coun-try. Because of this the Commission’s investigationshave been mainly directed toward a study of its gen-eral status as part of the population of the country.

The old immigration movement was essentiallyone of permanent settlers. The new immigration is verylargely one of individuals a considerable proportionof whom apparently have no intention of permanentlychanging their residence, their only purpose in com-ing to America being to temporarily take advantageof the greater wages paid for industrial labor in thiscountry. This, of course, is not true of all the new im-migrants, but the practice is sufficiently common towarrant referring to it as a characteristic of them as aclass. From all data that are available it appears thatnearly 40 per cent of the new immigration movementreturns to Europe and that about two-thirds of thosewho go remain there. This does not mean that all ofthese immigrants have acquired a competence and re-turned to live on it. Among the immigrants who return

Supplementary Documents

Excerpts from the Brief Statement of the Investigations of the ImmigrationCommission, with Conclusions and Recommendations and Views of the

Minority, chaired by Sen. William P. Dillingham of Vermont (1911)



permanently are those who have failed, as well as thosewho have succeeded. Thousands of those returninghave, under unusual conditions of climate, work, andfood, contracted tuberculosis and other diseases; oth-ers are injured in our industries; still others are thewidows and children of aliens dying here. These, withthe aged and the temperamentally unfit, make up alarge part of the aliens who return to their formerhomes to remain.

The old immigration came to the United Statesduring a period of general development and was animportant factor in that development, while the newimmigration has come during a period of great indus-trial expansion and has furnished a practicallyunlimited supply of labor to that expansion.

As a class the new immigrants are largely un-skilled laborers coming from countries where theirhighest wage is small compared with the lowest wagein the United States. Nearly 75 per cent of them aremales. About 83 per cent are between the ages of 14and 45 years, and consequently are producers ratherthan dependents. They bring little money into thecountry and send or take a considerable part of theirearnings out. More than 35 per cent are illiterate, ascompared with less than 3 per cent of the old immi-grant class. Immigration prior to 1882 was practicallyunregulated, and consequently many were not self-supporting, so that the care of alien paupers in severalStates was a serious problem. The new immigrationhas for the most part been carefully regulated so far ashealth and likelihood of pauperism are concerned, and,although drawn from classes low in the economicscale, the new immigrants as a rule are the strongest,the most enterprising, and the best of their class....

Immigration and CrimeIt is impossible from existing data to determine

whether the immigrant population in this country isrelatively more or less criminal than the native-bornpopulation. Statistics show that the proportion of con-victions for crimes according to the population isgreater among the foreign-born than among the native-born. It must be remembered, however, that theproportion of persons of what may be termed thecriminal age is greater among the foreign-born thanamong the natives, and when due allowance is madefor this fact it appears that criminality, judged by con-victions, is about equally prevalent in each class. It is

obviously impossible to determine whether the pro-portion of unpunished criminals is relatively greateramong the foreign or among the native born. It is some-times stated that the detection and conviction ofcriminals, especially for higher crimes, is more diffi-cult in the case of the foreign-born. Probably this is trueof certain localities and perhaps generally true in thecase of certain nationalities, but there is no proof thatthis condition applies to the foreign-born element as awhole in the country at large. It is possible that in somelocalities prejudice against or sympathy for foreignersinfluences convictions or acquittals. In large cities apart of the apparent criminality of the foreign-bornconsists merely of violations of ordinances, which areoffenses only because the persons who commit themare not naturalized. Prominent in this class of offensesis street peddling without a license in cities where suchlicenses are granted only to citizens.

The proportion of the more serious crimes of ho-micide, blackmail, and robbery, as well as the leastserious offenses, is greater among the foreign-born.The disproportion in this regard is due principally tothe prevalence of homicides and other crimes of per-sonal violence among Italians and to the violation ofcity ordinances previously mentioned.

The United States immigration law provides forthe exclusion of persons who have been convicted ofor who admit having committed a crime involvingmoral turpitude, but notwithstanding this a con-siderable number of aliens of the following classessucceed in entering the United States:

1. Those who have been convicted of crimeabroad and have served out their sentence.

2. Those who have been convicted of crime by for-eign courts during their absence from the place of trial,having escaped arrest and fled the country.

Besides these our law does not exclude those whoare regarded at home as dangerous or suspicious per-sons or probable criminals.

There are two fundamental defects in the lawrelative to the immigration of criminal aliens. In thefirst place no adequate provision is made for securinga knowledge of the criminal record of aliens in othercountries, and the inspection at United States ports thatis largely depended upon for the detection of arrivingaliens of the criminal class is in the nature of the caseentirely inadequate to control the movement. As pre-viously explained, in the case of Italy, advantage is not



It is doubtless true that some cases of contagiousor infectious disease are introduced, and to a limitedextent spread, in this country because of immigration,but there is no cause for serious alarm in this regard.From investigations of the Commission in industriallocalities and from other investigations that have beenmade it seems probable that a considerable numberof persons afflicted with venereal diseases are admit-ted to this country and that such diseases have beenspread in many communities as a result of immigra-tion. It is difficult always to detect the existence of suchdiseases by means of a medical inspection as it is nowconducted at United States ports, and it would seemimpracticable to make the medical examination morethorough in this regard than it is at the present time.

The Commission included within the scope ofthe investigation the study of cases admitted to Bel-levue and Allied Hospitals in New York City. Thesehospitals are public charitable institutions, and a suf-ficient number of persons are treated there to warrantsome conclusions relative to the existence of diseaseamong the poorer classes of the foreign-born. Whileit appears that a considerable number of immigrantsare treated at these hospitals for various causes withina comparatively short time after their admission to theUnited States, it does not appear that the number issufficiently serious to warrant the conclusion that dis-eased persons are being admitted in any considerablenumbers. A study of these cases, however, permits aninteresting and significant comparison between immi-grants of the old and the new class with regard toalcoholism. Of the 23,758 cases treated at Bellevue andAllied Hospitals during the period covered by theCommission’s inquiry, 25.5 per cent of the native-bornand 18.2 per cent of the foreign-born persons involvedwere treated for alcoholism. Among the foreign-bornthis treatment was confined almost entirely to theraces of the old immigration, such as the Irish, Scotch,English, and Germans, while relatively very fewsouthern and eastern Europeans were treated for thatcause. A striking difference between the old and newimmigration in this regard was also apparent to agreater or less degree in many industrial communi-ties included in the Commission’s generalinvestigation. Some complaint was made that drunk-enness interfered with the industrial efficiency ofsome southern and eastern Europeans, but these caseswere comparatively rare....

taken of the only instance in which arriving immi-grants bring with them any written evidence as to theirmoral character at home.

The other serious, and in the opinion of the Com-mission inexcusable, defect is the fact that aliensadmitted to this country, unless it appears that suchadmission was in violation of law, may pursue a crimi-nal career without danger of deportation. To deportan alien of any class is entirely within the rights of anyGovernment, and provision should be made for rid-ding the United States of aliens who, within arelatively short time after arrival, become criminals.It seems entirely reasonable and just that this countryshould not harbor dangerous criminals of anothercountry, especially when their residence in the UnitedStates has been so brief that their tendency to crimecan not be attributed to conditions arising subsequentto their entry into this country. Under the Canadianimmigration law aliens who become a charge upon thepublic, by reason of crime or any other cause, withinthree years after their arrival may be, and in consid-erable numbers are, deported to the countries whencethey came. Under the British aliens act the right todeport criminals is exercised, and the Commissionemphatically believes that the same principle shouldbe applied in the United States. It is not believed thatthe practice of deportation should be sufficiently ex-tended to include minor offenses, nor that the periodof time within which deportation could be madeshould be longer than the period required for natu-ralization.

Immigration and the Public HealthThe effective administration of the present im-

migration law insures the admission to the UnitedStates of physically healthy immigrants, so that thereis no adequate cause for concern in this regard. Whileit is true that a large part of the present-day immigra-tion is drawn from countries where certain dangerousand loathsome contagious diseases are prevalentamong the immigration classes, the medical inspec-tion conducted by the steamship companies at foreignports of embarkation and elsewhere in Europe pre-vents the coming to this country of great numbers ofdiseased aliens, and the inspection here by officers ofthe United States Public Health and Marine-HospitalService effectively supplements the examinationabroad.



Immigrants in Manufacturing and MiningA large proportion of the southern and eastern

European immigrants of the past twenty-five yearshave entered the manufacturing and mining industriesof the eastern and middle western States, mostly in thecapacity of unskilled laborers. There is no basic indus-try in which they are not largely represented and inmany cases they compose more than 50 per cent of thetotal number of persons employed in such industries.Coincident with the advent of these millions of un-skilled laborers there has been an unprecedentedexpansion of the industries in which they have beenemployed. Whether this great immigration movementwas caused by the industrial development or whetherthe fact that a practically unlimited and available sup-ply of cheap labor existed in Europe was takenadvantage of for the purpose of expanding the indus-tries, can not well be demonstrated. Whatever may bethe truth in this regard it is certain that southern andeastern European immigrants have almost completelymonopolized unskilled labor activities in many of themore important industries. This phase of the industrialsituation was made the most important and exhaus-tive feature of the Commission’s investigation, and theresults show that while the competition of these im-migrants has had little, if any, effect on the highlyskilled trades, nevertheless, through lack of industrialprogress and by reason of large and constant reinforce-ment from abroad, it has kept conditions in thesemiskilled and unskilled occupations from advancing.

Several elements peculiar to the new immigrantscontributed to this result. The aliens came from coun-tries where low economic conditions prevailed andwhere conditions of labor were bad. They were con-tent to accept wages and conditions which the nativeAmerican and immigrants of the older class had cometo regard as unsatisfactory. They were not, as a rule,engaged at lower wages than had been paid to olderworkmen for the same class of labor, but their pres-ence in constantly increasing numbers preventedprogress among the older wage-earning class, and asa result that class of employees was gradually dis-placed. An instance of this displacement is shown inthe experience of the bituminous coal mines of west-ern Pennsylvania. This section of the bituminous fieldwas the one first entered by the new immigrants, andthe displacement of the old workers was soon underway. Some of them entered other occupations and

many of them migrated to the coal fields of the MiddleWest. Later these fields also were invaded by the newimmigrants, and large numbers of the old workersagain migrated to the mines of the Southwest, wherethey still predominate. The effect of the new immigra-tion is clearly shown in the western Pennsylvaniafields, where the average wage of the bituminous coalworker is 42 cents a day below the average wage inthe Middle West and Southwest. Incidentally, hoursof labor are longer and general working conditionspoorer in the Pennsylvania mines than elsewhere.Another characteristic of the new immigrants contrib-uted to the situation in Pennsylvania. This was theimpossibility of successfully organizing them into la-bor unions. Several attempts at organization weremade, but the constant influx of immigrants to whomprevailing conditions seemed unusually favorable con-tributed to the failure to organize. A similar situationhas prevailed in other great industries.

Like most of the immigration from southern andeastern Europe, those who entered the leading in-dustries were largely single men or married menunaccompanied by their families. There is, of course,in practically all industrial communities a large num-ber of families of the various races, but the majority ofthe employees are men without families here andwhose standard of living is so far below that of thenative American or older immigrant workman that itis impossible for the latter to successfully compete withthem. They usually live in cooperative groups andcrowd together. Consequently, they are able to save agreat part of their earnings, much of which is sent orcarried abroad. Moreover, there is a strong tendencyon the part of these unaccompanied men to return totheir native countries after a few years of labor here.These groups have little contact with American life,learn little of American institutions, and aside from thewages earned profit little by their stay in this country.During their early years in the United States they usu-ally rely for assistance and advice on some member oftheir race, frequently a saloon keeper or grocer, andalmost always a steamship ticket agent and “immi-grant banker,” who, because of superior intelligenceand better knowledge of American ways, commandstheir confidence. Usually after a longer residence theybecome more self-reliant, but their progress towardassimilation is generally slow. Immigrant families inthe industrial centers are more permanent and usually



exhibit a stronger tendency toward advancement,although, in most cases, it is a long time before theyeven approach the ordinary standard of the Americanor the older immigrant families in the same grade ofoccupation. This description, of course, is not univer-sally true, but it represents a great part of the recentimmigrant population in the United States. Their num-bers are so great and the influx is so continuous thateven with the remarkable expansion of industry dur-ing the past few years there has been created an oversupply of unskilled labor, and in some of the indus-tries this is reflected in a curtailed number of workingdays and a consequent yearly income among the un-skilled workers which is very much less than isindicated by the daily wage rates paid; and while itmay not have lowered in a marked degree the Ameri-can standard of living, it has introduced a lowerstandard which has become prevalent in the unskilledindustry at large....

Recommendations

The Commission agrees that:1. To protect the United States more effectively

against the immigration of criminal and certain otherdebarred classes—

(a) Aliens convicted of serious crimes within a periodof five years after admission should be deported in accor-dance with the provisions of House bill 20980, Sixty-firstCongress, second session.

(b) Under the provisions of section 39 of the im-migration act of February 20, 1907, the Presidentshould appoint commissioners to make arrangementswith such countries as have adequate police recordsto supply emigrants with copies of such records, andthat thereafter immigrants from such countries shouldbe admitted to the United States only upon the pro-duction of proper certificates showing an absence ofconvictions for excludable crimes.

(c) So far as practicable, the immigration lawsshould be so amended as to be made applicable to alienseamen.

(d) Any alien who becomes a public chargewithin three years after his arrival in this country shouldbe subject to deportation in the discretion of the Secre-tary of Commerce and Labor.

2. Sufficient appropriation should be regularlymade to enforce vigorously the provisions of the laws

previously recommended by the Commission and en-acted by Congress regarding the importation ofwomen for immoral purposes.

3. As the new statute relative to steerage condi-tions took effect so recently as January 1, 1909, and asthe most modern steerage fully complies with all thatis demanded under law, the Commission’s onlyrecommendation in this connection is that a statute beimmediately enacted providing for the placing of Gov-ernment officials, both men and women, on vesselscarrying third-class or steerage passengers for the en-forcement of the law and the protection of theimmigrant. The system inaugurated by the Commis-sion of sending investigators in the steerage in theguise of immigrants should be continued at intervalsby the Bureau of Immigration.

4. To strengthen the certainty of just and humanedecisions of doubtful cases at ports of entry it isrecommended—

That section 25 of the immigration act of 1907 beamended to provide that boards of special inquiryshould be appointed by the Secretary of Commerceand Labor, and that they should be composed of menwhose ability and training qualify them for the perfor-mance of judicial functions; that the provisionscompelling their hearings to be separate and apart fromthe public should be repealed, and that the office of anadditional Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Laborto assist in reviewing such appeals be created.

5. To protect the immigrant against exploitation;to discourage sending savings abroad; to encourage per-manent residence and naturalization; and to securebetter distribution of alien immigrants throughout thecountry—

(a) The States should enact laws strictly regulat-ing immigrant banks.

(b) Proper State legislation should be enacted forthe regulation of employment agencies.

(c) Since numerous aliens make it their businessto keep immigrants from influences that may tend to-ward their assimilation and naturalization asAmerican citizens with the purpose of using theirfunds, and of encouraging investment of their savingsabroad and their return to their home land, aliens whoattempt to persuade immigrants not to become Ameri-can citizens should be made subject to deportation.

(d) Since the distribution of the thrifty immigrantto sections of the country where he may secure a



permanent residence to the best advantage, and espe-cially where he may invest his savings in farms or engagein agricultural pursuits, is most desirable, the Divisionof Information, in the Bureau of Immigration and Natu-ralization, should be so conducted as to cooperate withStates desiring immigrant settlers; and information con-cerning the opportunities for settlement should bebrought to the attention of immigrants in industrial cen-ters who have been here for some time and who mightbe thus induced to invest their savings in this countryand become permanent agricultural settlers. The divi-sion might also secure and furnish to all laborers alikeinformation showing opportunities for permanent em-ployment in various sections of the country, togetherwith the economic conditions in such places.

6. One of the provisions of section 2 of the act of1907 reads as follows:

And provided further, That skilled labor may beimported if labor of like kind unemployed can not befound in this country.

Instances occasionally arise, especially in the es-tablishment of new industries in the United States,where labor of the kind desired, unemployed, can notbe found in this country and it becomes necessary toimport such labor. Under the law the Secretary ofCommerce and Labor has no authority to determinethe question of the necessity for importing such laborin advance of the importation, and it is recommendedthat an amendment to the law be adopted by addingto the clause cited above a provision to the effect thatthe question of the necessity of importing such skilledlabor in any particular instance may be determined bythe Secretary of Commerce and Labor upon the appli-cation of any person interested prior to any action in thatdirection by such person; such determination by theSecretary of Commerce and Labor to be reached after afull hearing and an investigation into the facts of the case.

7. The general policy adopted by Congress in 1882of excluding Chinese laborers should be continued.

The question of Japanese and Korean immigra-tion should be permitted to stand without furtherlegislation so long as the present method of restrictionproves to be effective.

An understanding should be reached with theBritish Government whereby East Indian laborerswould be effectively prevented from coming to theUnited States.

8. The investigations of the Commission show an

oversupply of unskilled labor in basic industries to anextent which indicates an oversupply of unskilled la-bor in the industries of the country as a whole, acondition which demands legislation restricting thefurther admission of such unskilled labor.

It is desirable in making the restriction that—(a) A sufficient number be debarred to produce

a marked effect upon the present supply of unskilledlabor.

(b) As far as possible, the aliens excluded shouldbe those who come to this country with no intention tobecome American citizens or even to maintain a perma-nent residence here, but merely to save enough, by theadoption, if necessary, of low standards of living, to re-turn permanently to their home country. Such personsare usually men unaccompanied by wives and children.

(c) As far as possible the aliens excluded shouldalso be those who, by reason of their personal quali-ties or habits, would least readily be assimilated orwould make the least desirable citizens.

The following methods of restricting immigra-tion have been suggested:

(a) The exclusion of those unable to read or writein some language.

(b) The limitation of the number of each race ar-riving each year to a certain percentage of the averageof that race arriving during a given period of years.

(c) The exclusion of unskilled laborers unaccom-panied by wives or families.

(d) The limitation of the number of immigrantsarriving annually at any port.

(e) The material increase in the amount of moneyrequired to be in the possession of the immigrant atthe port of arrival.

(f) The material increase of the head tax.(g) The levy of the head tax so as to make a marked

discrimination in favor of men with families.All these methods would be effective in one way

or another in securing restrictions in a greater or lessdegree. A majority of the Commission favor the read-ing and writing test as the most feasible single methodof restricting undesirable immigration.

The Commission as a whole recommends restric-tion as demanded by economic, moral, and socialconsideration, furnishes in its report reasons for suchrestriction, and points out methods by which Congresscan attain the desired result if its judgment coincideswith that of the Commission.



Excerpts from the Executive Summary of the Report toCongress of the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform:

“Becoming an American: Immigration and Immigrant Policy” (1997)

Introduction

Immigration and immigrant policy is aboutimmigrants, their families and the rest of us. It is aboutthe meaning of American nationality and thefoundation of national unity. It is about unitingpersons from all over the world in a common civicculture.

The process of becoming an American is mostsimply called “Americanization,” which must alwaysbe a two-way street. All Americans, not justimmigrants, should understand the importance of ourshared civic culture to our national community. Thisfinal report of the U.S. Commission on ImmigrationReform makes recommendations to further the goalsof Americanization by setting out immigrant policiesto help orient immigrants and their new communities,to improve educational programs that helpimmigrants and their children learn English and civics,and to reinforce the integrity of the naturalizationprocess through which immigrants become U.S.citizens.

This report also makes recommendationsregarding immigration policy. It reiterates theconclusions we reached in three interim reports — onunlawful migration, legal immigration, and refugeeand asylum policy — and makes additionalrecommendations for reforming immigration policies.Further, in this report, the Commission recommendsways to improve the structure and management of thefederal agencies responsible for achieving the goals ofimmigration policy. It is our hope that this final reportBecoming An American: Immigration and ImmigrantPolicy, along with our three interim reports,constitutes a full response to the work assigned theCommission by Congress: to assess the nationalinterest in immigration and report how it can best beachieved.

Mandate and MethodsPublic Law 101-649, the Immigration Act of 1990,

established this Commission to review and evaluatethe impact of immigration policy. More specifically,the Commission must report on the impact of

immigration on: the need for labor and skills;employment and other economic conditions; social,demographic, and environmental impact ofimmigration; and impact of immigrants on the foreignpolicy and national security interests of the UnitedStates. The Commission engaged in a wide variety offact-finding activities to fulfill this mandate. Site visitswere conducted throughout the United States.Commission members visited immigrant and refugeecommunities in California, Texas, Florida, New York,Massachusetts, Illinois, Arizona, Washington, Kansas,Virginia, Washington, DC, Puerto Rico and theCommonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Wealso visited such major source countries as Mexico, theDominican Republic, Cuba, Haiti, and the Philippines.To increase our understanding of international refugeepolicy issues, we visited Bosnia, Croatia, Germany,and Kenya, and we consulted with Geneva-basedofficials from the U.N. High Commission for Refugeesand the International Organization for Migration. Weheld more than forty public hearings, consultationswith government and private sector officials, andexpert roundtable discussions.

Immigration TodayThe effects of immigration are numerous,

complex, and varied. Immigrants contribute in manyways to the United States: to its vibrant and diversecommunities; to its lively and participatorydemocracy; to its vital intellectual and cultural life, toits renowned job-creating entrepreneurship andmarketplaces; and to its family values and hard-workethic. However, there are costs as well as benefits fromtoday’s immigration. Those workers most at risk in ourrestructuring economy low-skilled workers inproduction and service jobs are those who directlycompete with today’s low-skilled immigrants. Further,immigration presents special challenges to certainstates and local communities that disproportionatelybear the fiscal and other costs of incorporatingnewcomers.

Properly-regulated immigration and immigrantpolicy serves the national interest by ensuring theentry of those who will contribute most to our society



and helping lawful newcomers adjust to life in theUnited States. It must give due consideration toshifting economic realities. A well-regulated systemsets priorities for admission; facilitates nuclear familyreunification; gives U.S. employers access to a globallabor market while ensuring that U.S. workers are notdisplaced or otherwise adversely affected; and fulfillsour commitment to resettle refugees as one of severalelements of humanitarian protection of the persecuted.

Americanization and Integrationof Immigrants

A Declaration of Principles and ValuesImmigration to the United States has created one

of the world’s most successful multiethnic nations. Webelieve these truths constitute the distinctivecharacteristics of American nationality:

•American unity depends upon a widely-heldbelief in the principles and values embodied in theAmerican Constitution and their fulfillment inpractice: equal protection and justice under thelaw; freedom of speech and religion; andrepresentative government;

•Lawfully admitted newcomers of any ancestralnationality — without regard to race, ethnicity, orreligion — truly become Americans when theygive allegiance to these principles and values;

•Ethnic and religious diversity based on personalfreedom is compatible with national unity; and

•The nation is strengthened when those who livein it communicate effectively with each other inEnglish, even as many persons retain or acquirethe ability to communicate in other languages.

As long as we live by these principles and helpnewcomers to learn and practice them, we willcontinue to be a nation that benefits from substantialbut well-regulated immigration. We must payattention to our core values, as we have tried to do inour recommendations throughout this report. Then, wewill continue to realize the lofty goal of E Pluribus Unum....

Framework for Immigration Policy

In our previous reports, the Commission defineda credible immigration policy “by a simple yardstick:

people who should get in do get in, people who shouldnot get in are kept out; and people who are judgeddeportable are required to leave.” By these measures,we have made substantial, but incomplete, progress.What follows are the Commission’s recommendationsfor comprehensive reform to achieve more fully acredible framework for immigration policy.

Legal Permanent AdmissionsThe Commission reiterates its support for a

properly-regulated system for admitting lawfulpermanent residents. Research and analysesconducted since the issuance of the Commission’sreport on legal immigration support our view that aproperly-regulated system of legal permanentadmissions serves the national interest. TheCommission urges reforms in our legal immigrationsystem to enhance the benefits accruing from the entryof newcomers while guarding against harms,particularly to the most vulnerable of U.S. residents —those who are themselves unskilled and living inpoverty. More specifically, the Commission reiteratesits support for:

•A significant redefinition of priorities andreallocation of existing admission numbers tofulfill more effectively the objectives of ourimmigration policy. The current framework forlegal immigration — family, skills, andhumanitarian admissions — makes sense.However, the statutory and regulatory prioritiesand procedures for admissions do not adequatelysupport the stated intentions of legal immigration— to reunify families, to provide employers anopportunity to recruit foreign workers to meetlabor needs, and to respond to humanitarian crisesaround the world. During the two years since ourreport on legal immigration, the problems in thelegal admission system have not been solved.Indeed, some of them have worsened. Currentimmigration levels should be sustained for thenext several years while the U.S. revamps its legalimmigration system and shifts the priorities foradmission away from the extended family andtoward the nuclear family and away from theunskilled and toward the higher-skilledimmigrant. Thereafter, modest reductions in levelsof immigration — to about 550,000 per year,comparable to those of the 1980s — will result



from the changed priority system. TheCommission continues to believe that legaladmission numbers should be authorized byCongress for a specified time (e.g., three to fiveyears) to ensure regular, periodic review and, ifneeded, change by Congress. This review shouldconsider the adequacy of admission numbers foraccomplishing priorities.

•Family-based admissions that give priority tonuclear family members — spouses and minorchildren of U.S. citizens, parents of U.S. citizens,and spouses and minor children of lawfulpermanent residents — and include a backlogclearance program to permit the most expeditiousentry of the spouses and minor children of LPRs.The Commission recommends allocation of550,000 family-based admission numbers eachyear until the large backlog of spouses and minorchildren is cleared. Numbers going to lowerpriority categories (e.g., adult children, siblings,and diversity immigrants), should be transferredto the nuclear family categories. ThereafterCongress should set sufficient admission numbersto permit all spouses and minor children to enterexpeditiously. Since the Commission first reportedits findings on legal admission, the problemsassociated with family-based admissions havegrown. In 1995, the wait between application andadmission of the spouses and minor children ofLPRs was approximately three years. It is nowmore than four and one-half years and stillgrowing. Moreover, various statutory changesmade in 1996 make it all the more important thatCongress take specific action to clear the backlogquickly to regularize the status of the spouses andminor children of legal permanent residents in theUnited States. In an effort to deter illegalmigration, Congress expanded the bases andnumber of grounds upon which persons may bedenied legal status because of a previous illegalentry or overstay of a visa. An unknown, butbelieved to be large, number of spouses and minorchildren of LPRs awaiting legal status areunlawfully present in the United States. While theCommission does not condone their illegalpresence, we are cognizant of the great difficultiesposed by the long waiting period for a familysecond preference visa.

•Skill-based admissions policies that enhanceopportunities for the entry of highly-skilledimmigrants, particularly those with advanceddegrees, and eliminate the category for admissionof unskilled workers. The Commission continuesto recommend that immigrants be chosen on thebasis of the skills they contribute to the U.S.economy. Only if there is a compelling nationalinterest — such as nuclear family reunification orhumanitarian admissions — should immigrantsbe admitted without regard to the economiccontributions they can make. Research shows thateducation plays a major role in determining theimpacts of immigration. Immigration of unskilledimmigrants comes at a cost to unskilled U.S.workers, particularly established immigrants forwhom new immigrants are economic substitutes.Further, the difference in estimated lifetime fiscaleffects of immigrants by education is striking:using the same methodology to estimate net costsand benefits, immigrants with a high schooleducation or more are found to be net contributorswhile those without a high school degree continueto be net costs to taxpayers throughout theirlifetime. The Commission also continues torecommend changes in the procedures used intesting the labor market impact of employment-based admissions. Rather than use the lengthy,costly, and bureaucratic labor certification system,the Commission recommends using market forcesas a labor market test. To ensure a level playingfield for U.S. workers, employers would attest tohaving taken appropriate steps to recruit U.S.workers, paying the prevailing wage, andcomplying with other labor standards. Businessesrecruiting foreign workers also would be requiredto make significant financial investments incertified private sector initiatives dedicated toimproving the competitiveness of U.S. workers.These payments should be set at a per workeramount sufficient to ensure there is no financialincentive to hire a foreign worker over a qualifiedU.S. worker.

•Refugee admissions based on human rights andhumanitarian considerations, as one of severalelements of U.S. leadership in assisting andprotecting the world’s persecuted. Since its verybeginnings, the United States has been a place of



refuge. The Commission believes continuedadmission of refugees sustains our humanitariancommitment to provide safety to the persecuted,enables the U.S. to pursue foreign policy interestsin promoting human rights, and encouragesinternational efforts to resettle persons requiringrescue or durable solutions. The Commission alsourges the federal government to continue tosupport international assistance and protection forthe majority of the world’s refugees for whomresettlement is neither appropriate nor practical.

The Commission continues to recommend againstdenying benefits to legal immigrants solely becausethey are noncitizens. The Commission believes that thedenial of safety net programs to immigrants solelybecause they are noncitizens is not in the nationalinterest. In our 1994 and 1995 reports, the Commissionargued that Congress should address the mostsignificant uses of public benefit programs —particularly, elderly immigrants using SupplementarySecurity Income — by requiring sponsors to assumefull financial responsibility for newly-arrivingimmigrants who otherwise would be excluded onpublic charge grounds. In particular, the Commissionargued that sponsors of parents who would likelybecome public charges assume the responsibility forthe lifetimes of the immigrants (or until they becameeligible for Social Security on the basis of workquarters). We also argued that sponsors of spouses andchildren should assume responsibility for the durationof the familial relationship or a time-specified period.We continue to believe that this targeted approachmakes greater sense than a blanket denial of eligibilityfor public services based solely on a person’s alienage....

Curbing Unlawful MigrationIn its first interim report to Congress, the

Commission recommended a comprehensive strategyto curb unlawful migration into the United Statesthrough prevention and removal. Despite theadditional resources, new policies, and ofteninnovative strategies adopted during the past fewyears, illegal migration continues to be a problem. TheCommission continues to believe that unlawfulimmigration can be curtailed consistent with ourtraditions, civil rights, and civil liberties. As a nationcommitted to the rule of law, our immigration policies

must conform to the highest standards of integrity andefficiency in the enforcement of the law. We must alsorespect due process.

Deterrence StrategiesThe Commission reiterates its 1994

recommendations supporting a comprehensivestrategy to deter illegal migration. More specifically,the Commission continues to support implementationof the following deterrence strategies:

•An effective border management policy thataccomplishes the twin goals of preventing illegalentries and facilitating legal ones. New resourcesfor additional Border Patrol officers, inspectors,and operational support, combined with such newstrategies as operations “Hold the Line,”“Gatekeeper,” and “Safeguard,” have improvedsignificantly the management of the border wherethey are deployed. The very success of these newefforts demonstrates that to gain full control, thesame level of resources and prevention strategiesmust be deployed at all points on the border wheresignificant violations of U.S. immigration law arelikely to occur.

•Reducing the employment magnet is the linchpinof a comprehensive strategy to deter unlawfulmigration. Economic opportunity and theprospect of employment remain the mostimportant draw for illegal migration to thiscountry. Strategies to deter unlawful entries andvisa overstays require both a reliable process forverifying authorization to work and anenforcement capacity to ensure that employersadhere to all immigration-related labor standards.The Commission supports implementation of pilotprograms to test what we believe is the mostpromising option for verifying workauthorization: a computerized registry based onthe social security number.

•Restricting eligibility of illegal aliens for publicly-funded services or assistance, except those madeavailable on an emergency basis or for similarcompelling reasons to protect public health andsafety or to conform to constitutionalrequirements. Although public benefit programsdo not appear to be a major magnet for illegalmigrants, it is important that U.S. benefit eligibility



policies send the same message as immigrationpolicy: Illegal aliens should not be here and,therefore, should not receive assistance, except inunusual circumstances. The Commissionrecommended drawing a line between illegalaliens and lawfully resident legal immigrants withregard to benefits eligibility, in part to reinforcethis message. We continue to believe that thisdemarcation between legal and illegal aliensmakes sense. The Commission urges the Congressto reconsider the changes in welfare policy enactedin 1996 that blur the distinctions between legal andillegal aliens by treating them similarly for thepurposes of many public benefit programs.

•Strategies for addressing the causes of unlawfulmigration in source countries. An effectivestrategy to curb unauthorized movementsincludes cooperative efforts with source countriesto address the push factors that cause people toseek new lives in the United States. TheCommission continues to urge the United Statesgovernment to give priority in its foreign policyand international economic policy to long-termreduction in the causes of unauthorized migration.

•Mechanisms to respond in a timely, effective, andhumane manner to migration emergencies. Acredible immigration policy requires the ability torespond effectively and humanely to migrationemergencies in which large numbers of peopleseek entry into the United States. Theseemergencies generally include bona fide refugees,other individuals with need for protection, andpersons seeking a better economic life in the U.S.Failure to act appropriately and in a timelymanner to determine who should be admitted andwho should be returned can have profoundhumanitarian consequences. Further, anuncontrolled emergency can overwhelm resourcesand create serious problems that far outlast theemergency.

RemovalsA credible immigration system requires the

effective and timely removal of aliens who can bedetermined through constitutionally-soundprocedures to have no right to remain in the UnitedStates. If unlawful aliens believe that they can remainindefinitely once they are within our national borders,there will be increased incentives to try to enter orremain illegally.

Our current removal system does not work.Hundreds of thousands of aliens with final removalorders remain in the U.S. The system’s ineffectivenessresults from a fragmented, uncoordinated approach,rather than flawed legal procedures. The ExecutiveBranch does not have the capacity, resources, orstrategy to detain aliens likely to abscond, to monitorthe whereabouts of released aliens, or to remove them.

The Commission urges immediate reforms toimprove management of the removal system andensure that aliens with final orders of deportation,exclusion, or removal are indeed removed from theUnited States. Establishing a more effective removalsystem requires changes in the management of theremoval process....

Conclusion

This report concludes the work of the U.S.Commission on Immigration Reform. Together withour three interim reports, this final set ofrecommendations provides a framework forimmigration and immigrant policy to serve ournational interests today and in the years to come. Thereport outlines reforms that will enhance the benefitsof legal immigration while mitigating potential harms,curb unlawful migration to this country, and structureand manage our immigration system to achieve allthese goals. Most importantly, this report renews ourcall for a strong commitment to Americanization, theprocess by which immigrants become part of ourcommunity and we learn and adapt to their presence.Becoming an American is the theme of this report.Living up to American values and ideals is thechallenge for us all.





iU.S. Immigration Policy in an Unsettled World Choices for the 21st Century Education ProgramWatson Institute for International Studies, Brown University

SUGGESTED FIVE-DAY LESSON PLAN

About the Choices Approach ii

Note to Teachers 1

Integrating This Unit into Your Classroom 2

DAY ONE — Immigration Policy in U.S. History 3Homework (before Day One): Introduction & Part I of the background reading and “Study Guide — Part I”Homework: Part II of the background reading and “Study Guide — Part II”

DAY TWO — Role Playing the Four Options: Organization and Preparation 8Homework: “Expressing Key Values”

DAY THREE — Role Playing the Four Options: Debate and Discussion 15

Homework: “Three Immigrants’ Stories”

DAY FOUR — Weighing Immigration Reform 17

Homework: “Focusing Your Thoughts” and “Your Option Five”

DAY FIVE — Looking into the Future 20

Key Terms 25

Making Choices Work in Your Classroom 27

Alternative Three Day Lesson Plan 30

© Copyright March 2003. Tenth edition. Choices for the 21st Century Education Program. All rights reserved. Teacher sets(consisting of a student text and a teacher resource book) are available for $15 each. Permission is granted to duplicate anddistribute the student text and handouts for classroom use with appropriate credit given. Duplicates may not be resold.Classroom sets (15 or more student texts) may be ordered at $7 per copy. A teacher resource book is included free with eachclassroom set. Orders should be addressed to: Choices Education Program, Watson Institute for International Studies, Box1948, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912. Please see the order form in the back of this unit or visit our website at<www.choices.edu>. ISBN 1-891306-57-X-TRB

The Choices for the 21st Century Education Project is a program of theThomas J. Watson Jr. Institute for International Studies at BrownUniversity. Choices was established to help citizens think constructivelyabout foreign policy issues, to improve participatory citizenship skills,and to encourage public judgment on policy priorities.

The Thomas J. Watson Jr. Institute for International Studies wasestablished at Brown University in 1986 to serve as a forum for students, faculty, visiting scholars,and policy practitioners, who are committed to studying global problems and developinginternational initiatives to benefit society.

U.S. Immigration Policy in an Unsettled World Choices for the 21st Century Education ProgramWatson Institute for International Studies, Brown University

ii

About the Choices Approach

Choices for the 21st Century curricula are designed to make complex international issues understandableand meaningful for students. Using an innovative approach to student-centered instruction, Choices unitsdevelop critical thinking and civic judgment — essential ingredients of responsible citizenship.

Understanding the Significance of History: Each Choices unit provides students with a thoroughintroduction to the topic under consideration. Students gain an understanding of the historical backgroundand the status of current issues. In this way, they see how history has shaped our world. With thisfoundation, students are prepared to thoughtfully consider a variety of perspectives on public policy.

Exploring Policy Alternatives: Each Choices unit is built around a framework of alternative policy optionsthat challenges students to consider multiple perspectives and to think critically about the issue at hand.Students are best able to understand and analyze the options through a cooperative learning/role-playactivity. In groups, students explore their assigned options and plan short presentations. The setting ofthe role-play may be a Congressional hearing, meeting of the National Security Council, or an electioncampaign forum. Student groups defend their policy options and, in turn, are challenged with questionsfrom their classmates. The ensuing debate demands analysis and evaluation of the many conflicting values,interests, and priorities reflected in the options.

Exercising Civic Judgment: Armed with fresh insights from the role-play and debate, students arechallenged to articulate original, coherent policy options that reflect their own values, priorities, and goalsas individuals and citizens. Students’ views can be expressed in letters to Congress or the White House,editorials for the school or community newspaper, persuasive speeches, or visual presentations.

Why Use the Choices Approach? Choices curricula are informed by current educational research abouthow students learn best. Studies have consistently demonstrated that students of all abilities learn bestwhen they are actively engaged with the material rather than listening passively to a lecture. Student-centered instructional activities motivate students and develop higher-order thinking skills. However,some high school educators find the transition from lecture format to student-centered instruction difficult.Lecture is often viewed as the most efficient way to cover the required material. Choices curricula offerteachers a flexible resource for covering course material while actively engaging students and developingskills in critical thinking, persuasive writing, and informed citizenship. The instructional activities thatare central to Choices units can be valuable components in any teacher’s repertoire of effective teachingstrategies. Each Choices unit includes student readings, a framework of policy options, suggested lessonplans, and resources for structuring cooperative learning, role-plays, and simulations. Students arechallenged to:

•recognize relationships between history and current issues•analyze and evaluate multiple perspectives on an issue•understand the internal logic of a viewpoint•engage in informed debate•identify and weigh the conflicting values represented by different points of view•reflect upon personal values and priorities surrounding an issue•develop and articulate original viewpoints on an issue•communicate in written and oral presentations•collaborate with peers

Teachers who use Choices units say the collaboration and interaction that take place are highly motivatingfor students. Opportunities abound for students to contribute their individual talents to the grouppresentations in the form of political cartoons, slogans, posters, or characterizations. These cooperativelearning lessons invite students to take pride in their own contributions and the group product, enhancingstudents’ self-esteem and confidence as learners. Choices units offer students with diverse abilities andlearning styles the opportunity to contribute, collaborate, and achieve.


U.S. Immigration Policy in an Unsettled World TRB-1

Note to Teachers

Since the first European settlers set foot in North America, immigration has suffused the American expe-rience. Indeed, many of the values that unite Americans as a nation are tied to immigration. Immigrationhas not only framed our vision of the U.S. role in the world, but has seeped into our view of human na-ture. Ralph Waldo Emerson, for example, saw in immigration a phenomenon that “will construct a newrace, a new religion, a new state, a new literature” in the United States.

The idealism surrounding immigration explains in large part the deep feelings it evokes in the public policyarena. In recent years, these sentiments have jostled with concerns about the economy, ethnic relations,social services, the environment, and other issues to recast the discourse on U.S. immigration policy. From1980 to 1990, immigration law underwent a period of change comparable in importance to the reforms of1965 and the early 1920s. At the same time, the debate over immigration has expanded to incorporate abroad range of foreign policy issues. The discussion now features arguments on U.S. relations with LatinAmerica, human rights, international trade, the worldwide refugee crisis, and our national security.

U.S. Immigration Policy in an Unsettled World seeks to engage students in the leading issues driving thecurrent immigration debate. At the core of the unit is a framework of four distinct options for U.S. immi-gration policy. By exploring a wide-ranging spectrum of alternatives, students gain a deeper understandingof the values underlying specific policy recommendations. The background reading is intended to pre-pare students to thoughtfully consider this complex topic. Part I reviews how the course of economicdevelopment, immigration trends, and foreign policy concerns has left an impact on the history of immi-gration law. Part II examines the most pressing immigration-related issues to prepare students to formulatetheir own ideas on the future direction of U.S. immigration policy.

Suggested Five-Day Lesson Plan: The Teacher’s Resource Book accompanying U.S. Immigration Policyin an Unsettled World contains a day-by-day lesson plan and student activities. The lesson plan opens witha document activity that recalls the values, attitudes, and concerns associated with immigration policyin the early 1900s. The second and third days of the lesson plan feature a simulation in which studentsassume the role of advocates for the four options. On the fourth day students examine the profiles of threerecent immigrants. Finally, on the fifth day, students consider the long-range consequences of their ownoptions. You may also find the “Alternative Three-Day Lesson Plan” useful.

• Alternative Study Guides: Each section of background reading is accompanied by two distinctstudy guides. The standard study guide is designed to help students harvest the information pro-vided in the background readings in preparation for tackling analysis and synthesis within class-room activities. The advanced study guide requires the student to tackle analysis and synthesis priorto class activities.

• Vocabulary and Concepts: The background reading in U.S. Immigration Policy in an Unsettled Worldaddresses subjects that are complex and challenging. To help your students get the most out of thetext, you may want to review with them “Key Terms” found in the Teacher’s Resource Book (TRB)on page TRB-25 before they begin their assignment. An “Immigration Issues Toolbox” is also in-cluded on page TRB-26. This provides additional information on key concepts of particular impor-tance to understanding the unit.

The lesson plan offered in U.S. Immigration Policy in an Unsettled World is a guide. Many teachers chooseto devote additional time to certain activities. We hope that these suggestions help you in tailoring theunit to fit the needs of your classroom.



Integrating This Unit into Your Curriculum

Units produced by the Choices for the 21st Century Education Program are designed to be integratedinto a variety of social studies courses. Below are a few ideas about where U.S. Immigration Policy in anUnsettled World might fit into your curriculum.

The Immigrant Experience: The experience ofimmigrants who have come to the United Statesin the last two decades contrasts sharply withconditions facing turn-of-the-century newcom-ers. Today’s immigrants have available to thema broad array of social services. In many cities, forexample, school officials have set up bilingualeducation programs for students who are notproficient in English. At the same time, newcom-ers today can no longer count on finding work inthe increasingly automated manufacturing sector.Comparing the two main waves of Americanimmigrants allows students to draw on history toexamine questions involving the acculturation ofnewcomers in American society.

Salad Bowl vs. Melting Pot: The debate over im-migration policy forces us to confront basicquestions about the nature of American society.Until the 1960s, the great majority of Americansaccepted the notion that the United States was a“melting pot” — a term first popularized by asympathetic French diplomat at the time of theWar for Independence. Since the civil rightsmovement, however, many racial and ethnicgroups have drawn greater attention to their cul-tural uniqueness. In contrast to the assimilationenvisioned by the “melting pot,” they prefer toview the United States as a “salad bowl,” inwhich each ingredient contributes to the flavor ofthe whole while retaining its distinctiveness.How valid are these two metaphors in describingAmerican society, both today and in the past?

Immigration and Race: U.S. efforts to stem theflow of Haitians seeking refuge in our country inthe early 1990s prompted critics to label U.S. im-migration policy as racist. Indeed, the history ofimmigration — from the 1882 Chinese ExclusionAct to the Immigration and NaturalizationService’s “Operation Wetback” in 1954 — is tar-nished by explicit racism. The report of the 1911Dillingham Commission was driven largely by a

desire to maintain the dominance of Americanswho traced their origins to northwestern Europe.What factors contributed to the fears of the com-mission members? Should Americans today beconcerned that the great majority of immigrantsentering the United States come from LatinAmerica and Asia? How would students feel ifthey were Native Americans facing European im-migration in the 1600s?

Minority Group Rights: Throughout much of theworld, an individual’s role in society is definedunder law by his or her ethnicity, religion, orcaste. In contrast, the rights of the individual inthe United States have overshadowed grouprights. Recent decades, however, have witnessedthe development of affirmative action programsaimed specifically at minority groups. Critics ofaffirmative action have argued that such pro-grams contribute to the fragmentation of society,while proponents contend that affirmative actionhelps make up for past discrimination. AsAmerica becomes more racially and ethnicallydiverse, particularly in states receiving largenumbers of immigrants, issues involving groupidentity are bound to grow more complex. In theclassroom, the controversy over affirmative ac-tion raises questions of how public resources andpolitical influence are allocated in our society.

Birthright Citizenship: The 14th Amendment,ratified in 1868, clearly granted citizenship toanyone born in the United States. At the time, theamendment was intended to clarify the status ofAfrican-Americans. The principle of birthrightcitizenship, however, has been subject to reassess-ment lately, particularly in Congress. The growthof the welfare state has made U.S. citizenshipmore valuable than ever, while the boom in inter-national travel and the rise in illegal immigrationhave brought greater numbers of foreigners, in-cluding pregnant women, into the United States.



Immigration Policy in U.S. History

Objectives: Students will:•Weigh the role of immigration in shaping American identity.•Examine the historical forces and values that influenced U.S. immigration policy

in the early 1900s.•Analyze the political attitudes expressed in historical documents.•Compare the turn-of-the-century immigration policy debate with that of today.

Required Reading: Before beginning the unit, students should have read the Introduction and PartI of the background reading in the student text (pages 1-7) and completed “StudyGuide — Part I” in the Teacher’s Resource Book (TRB 4-5) or “Advanced StudyGuide — Part I” in the Teacher’s Resource Book (TRB-6).

Handouts: “Brief Statement of the Investigations of the Immigration (Dillingham) Commis-sion” (TRB-7). (More detailed excerpts from the commission’s report are availableon pages 26-31 of the student text.)

In the Classroom: 1. Probing American Identity — Ask students to imagine that they are prepar-ing brief reports on the distinguishing features of various nations. For example,call on students to brainstorm responses to the question, “What is an Italian, orJapanese, or Saudi Arabian?” Note that these nations are defined largely in termsof ethnicity, language, religion, and geography. How are the responses differentfrom answers to the question, “What is an American?” How has immigration in-fluenced American national identity? Why have immigration patterns set theUnited States apart even from many of our neighbors in the Western Hemi-sphere?

2. Turn-of-the-Century Attitudes — Distribute “Brief Statement of the Investi-gations of the Immigration (Dillingham) Commission” and instruct students toquickly read it. Remind them that the commission presented its report to Con-gress in 1911, following a decade in which immigration was at record levels. Askstudents to recall the historical antecedents of the Dillingham Commission re-port by reviewing Part I of the background reading. What prompted Congressto form the commission in 1907? What values are reflected in the report’s rec-ommendations? (Note the significance of the underlined phrases.) Why is thereport considered a turning point in U.S. immigration policy?

3. Applying Today’s Perspective — Call on students to compare the historicalbackdrop of the Dillingham Commission against current immigration trends. Forexample, what common features are shared by both the early twentieth centuryand the 1990s (e.g., high rates of immigration, debate over the impact of immi-grants on American society)? What are the leading differences (e.g., maturationof the U.S. economy, majority of immigrants now coming from Latin Americaand Asia, threats from terrorism)? How do the changes in the United States andthe world since 1911 shape our perceptions of the commission’s recommenda-tions? How have the intervening decades altered our response to the question,“What is an American?”

Homework: Students should read Part II of the background reading in the student text (pages8-16) and complete “Study Guide — Part II” (TRB 9-10) or “Advanced StudyGuide — Part II” (TRB-11) .

Day One



Study Guide — Part I

1. How many immigrants have entered the United States since 1820?

2. List three reasons why the United States was able to attract a constant stream of immigrants in the 1800s.

a.

b.

c.

3. Give three reasons why some Americans feared European immigrants throughout much of thenineteenth century.

a.

b.

c.

4. Why were the Chinese and Japanese targets of discrimination?

6. a. What groups supported the anti-immigration movement at the end of the nineteenth century?

b. Why did they support them?

Day 1 Name:



7. Fill in the chart below based on the background reading.

Act Year Purpose of the Act Significance of the Act

Chinese Exclusion Act

National Origins Act of 1924

Displaced Persons Act

Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965

8. Write one statement that describes the current immigration situation.

Day 1



Advanced Study Guide — Part I

1. Why was the United States a magnet for immigrants in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries?

2. Why did U.S. lawmakers not feel the need to begin restricting immigration until 1875?

3. What factors prompted Congress to pass laws restricting immigration in 1917, 1921, and 1924?

4. How were changes in U.S. foreign policy after World War II reflected in U.S. immigration policy?

5. Why is the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 considered a major turning point in U.S.immigration law?

6. How would you summarize the current state of immigration policy?

Day 1Name:



Brief Statement of the Investigations of the Immigration(Dillingham) Commission, 1911*

As a result of the investigation the Commission is unanimously of the opinion that in framing legislation emphasisshould be laid upon the following principles:

1. While the American people, as in the past, welcome the oppressed of other lands, care should be taken thatimmigration be such both in quality and quantity as not to make too difficult the process of assimilation.

2. Since the existing law and further special legislation recommended in this report deal with the physically andmorally unfit, further general legislation concerning the admission of aliens should be based primarily uponeconomic or business considerations touching the prosperity and economic well-being of our people.

3. The measure of the rational, healthy development of a country is not the extent of its investment of capital, itsoutput of products, or its exports and imports, unless there is a corresponding economic opportunity affordedto the citizen dependent upon employment for his material, mental, and moral development.

4. The development of business may be brought about by means which lower the standard of living of the wageearners. A slow expansion of industry which would permit the adaptation and assimilation of the incominglabor supply is preferable to a very rapid industrial expansion which results in the immigration of laborers oflow standards and efficiency, who imperil the American standard of wages and conditions of employment.

The Commission agrees that:... The investigations of the Commission show an oversupply of unskilled labor in basicindustries to an extent which indicates an oversupply of unskilled labor in the industries of the country as a whole,a condition which demands legislation restricting the further admission of such unskilled labor.

It is desirable in making the restriction that—(a) A sufficient number be debarred to produce a marked effect upon the present supply of unskilled labor.(b) As far as possible, the aliens excluded should be those who come to this country with no intention tobecome American citizens or even to maintain a permanent residence here, but merely to save enough, by theadoption, if necessary, of low standards of living, to return permanently to their home country. Such personsare usually men unaccompanied by wives and children.(c) As far as possible the aliens excluded should also be those who, by reason of their personal qualities orhabits, would least readily be assimilated or would make the least desirable citizens.

The following methods of restricting immigration have been suggested:(a) The exclusion of those unable to read or write in some language.(b) The limitation of the number of each race arriving each year to a certain percentage of the average of thatrace arriving during a given period of years.(c) The exclusion of unskilled laborers unaccompanied by wives or families.(d) The limitation of the number of immigrants arriving annually at any port.(e) The material increase in the amount of money required to be in the possession of the immigrant at the portof arrival.(f) The material increase of the head tax.(g) The levy of the head tax so as to make a marked discrimination in favor of men with families.

All these methods would be effective in one way or another in securing restrictions in a greater or less degree. Amajority of the Commission favor the reading and writing test as the most feasible single method of restrictingundesirable immigration.

*More detailed excerpts from the commission’s report are available on pages 26-31 of the student text.

Day 1



Role Playing the Four Options: Organization and Preparation

Objectives: Students will:•Analyze the issues that frame the debate on U.S. immigration policy.•Identify the core underlying values of the options.•Integrate the arguments and beliefs of the options and the background read-

ing into a persuasive, coherent presentation.•Work cooperatively within groups to organize effective presentations.

Required Reading: Students should have read Part II of the background reading in the student text(pages 8-16) and completed “Study Guide — Part II” (TRB 9-10) or “AdvancedStudy Guide — Part II” (TRB-11) .

Handouts: •“Presenting Your Option” (TRB-12) for option groups•“Expressing Key Values” (TRB-13) for option groups•“U.S. Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims” (TRB-14) for subcommitteemembers

In the Classroom: 1. Planning for Group Work — In order to save time in the classroom, form stu-dent groups before beginning Day Two. During the class period of Day Two,students will be preparing for the Day Three simulation. Remind them to incor-porate the background reading into the development of their presentations andquestions.

2a. Option Groups — Form four groups of four students. Assign an option toeach group. Distribute “Presenting Your Option” and “Expressing Key Values”to the four option groups. Inform students that each option group will be calledupon in Day Three to present the case for its assigned option to the House Sub-committee on Immigration and Claims. Explain that option groups should followthe instructions in “Presenting Your Option.” Note that the option groups shouldbegin by assigning each member a role.

2b. Subcommittee Members — The remainder of the class will serve as mem-bers of the Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims. Distribute “Subcommitteeon Immigration and Claims” to each subcommittee member. While the optiongroups are preparing their presentations, members of the subcommittee shoulddevelop cross-examination questions for Day Three. (See “Subcommittee on Im-migration and Claims.”) Remind subcommittee members that they are expectedto turn in their questions at the end of the simulation.

Suggestions: In smaller classes, other teachers or administrators may be invited to serve asmembers of the subcommittee. In larger classes, additional roles — such as thoseof newspaper reporter or lobbyist — may be assigned to students.

Extra Challenge: Ask the option groups to design a poster or a political cartoon illustrating thebest case for their options.

Homework: Students should complete preparations for the simulation.

Day 2



Study Guide — Part II

1. What is the largest category of immigrants today?

2. Approximately what proportion of the total are estimated to be illegal immigrants?

a. almost none b. 1/3 c. 1/2 d. 3/4 e. almost all

3. List three positive effects immigrants currently have on the economy.

a.

b.

c.

4. List three negative effects immigrants have on the economy.

a.

b.

c.

5. Explain this statement from page 9 of the reading: “Measuring the cost of newcomers in terms ofeducation , health care, welfare, and other social services has also become part of the immigrationdebate.”

Day 2Name:



6. List two reasons why illegal immigrants have become a crucial element in the work force in manyareas.

a.

b.

7. How has the profile of illegal immigrants changed in recent years?

8. a. Where have most refugees admitted to the United States in recent decades come from? Explainwhy this is so.

b. What do critics say is wrong with that?

10. List three points in the Patriot Act that affect immigrants.

a.

b.

c.

Day 2



Advanced Study Guide — Part II

1. What are some of the positive and negative effects that immigrants currently have on the U.S.economy?

2. What factors account for the steady flow of illegal immigrants into the United States?

3. Are the results of illegal immigration positive or negative? Explain.

4. Why has pressure for change in U.S. refugee policy increased since the end of the Cold War?

5. What are the benefits of the Patriot Act? What are the risks?

Day 2Name:



Presenting Your Option

Preparing Your Presentation

Your Assignment: Your group has been called upon to appear before the Subcommittee on Immigrationand Claims of the House of Representatives. Your assignment is to persuade the subcommittee membersthat your option should be the basis for U.S. policy. You will be judged on how well you present youroption.

Organizing Your Group: Each member of your group will take a specific role. Below is a brief explana-tion of the responsibilities for each role.

1. Spokesperson: Your job is to explain the option of your group to the Subcommittee on Immigra-tion and Claims in a three-to-five minute presentation. You will receive help from the other membersof your group. Keep in mind, though, that you are expected to take the lead in organizing yourgroup. Read your option and review the background reading to build a strong case for your option.The “Expressing Key Values” worksheet will help you organize your thoughts.

2. Domestic Policy Analyst: Your job is to explain how your option would improve the lives ofAmericans here at home. Carefully read your option, and then review Part II of the backgroundreading. Make sure that your area of expertise is reflected in the presentation of your group. The“Expressing Key Values” worksheet will help you organize your thoughts.

3. Foreign Policy Analyst: Your job is to explain how your option would address our internationalinterests. Carefully read your option, and then review Part II of the background reading. Make surethat your area of expertise is reflected in the presentation of your group. The “Expressing Key Val-ues” worksheet will help you organize your thoughts.

4. Historian: Your job is to show how the lessons of history support your option. Carefully read youroption, and then review Part I of the background reading. Make sure that your area of expertise isreflected in the presentation of your group. The “Expressing Key Values” worksheet will help youorganize your thoughts.

Making Your Case

After your preparations are completed, your group will deliver a three-to-five minute presentation to theSubcommittee on Immigration and Claims. The “Expressing Key Values” worksheet and other notes maybe used, but you should speak clearly and convincingly. During the other presentations, you should tryto identify the weak points of the competing options. After all of the groups have presented their options,members of the subcommittee will ask you cross-examination questions. Any member of your group mayrespond during the cross-examination period.

Day 2



Expressing Key Values

The notion of values lies at the core of this unit. Each of the four options in this unit revolves around adistinct set of values. The opening two paragraphs of your option are devoted to making a convincingcase for the values that are represented. The term “values,” however, is not easy to define. Most often,we think of values in connection with our personal lives. Our attitudes toward our families, friends, andcommunities are a reflection of our personal values.

Values play a critical role in our civic life as well. In the United States, our country’s political system andforeign policy have been shaped by a wide range of values. The high value many Americans place onfreedom, democracy, and individual liberty rings loudly throughout U.S. history. For most of our country’sexistence, the impulse to spread American values beyond our borders was outweighed by the desire toremain independent of foreign entanglements. Since World War II, however, the United States has playeda larger role in world affairs than any other nation. At times, American leaders have emphasized the valuesof human rights and cooperation. On other occasions, the values of stability and security have beenstressed. Many of these values have entered into the debate on immigration reform.

Some values fit together well. Others are in conflict. Americans are constantly being forced to chooseamong competing values in our ongoing discussion of public policy. Your job is to identify and explainthe most important values underlying your option. These values should be clearly expressed by everymember of your group. This worksheet will help you organize your thoughts.

1. What are the two most important values underlying your option?

a.

b.

2. According to the values of your option, what image should the United States project to the world?

3. Why should the values of your option serve as the basis for our country’s immigration policy?

Day 2Name:



Subcommittee on Immigration and ClaimsHearing on U.S. Immigration Policy

Your Role

You serve as a member of the Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims in the House of Representatives.Your subcommittee is the starting point for much of the legislation affecting U.S. immigration policy. Asyou know, the rapid pace of change internationally and new challenges here at home have again placedimmigration in the national spotlight. These hearings will introduce you to four distinct approaches tothis question.

Your Assignment

While the four option groups are organizing their presentations, you should prepare two questions re-garding each of the options. Your teacher will collect these questions at the end of Day Three.

Your questions should be challenging and critical. For example, a good question for Option 1 might be:

Isn’t there a danger that high levels of immigration will overburden our country’s social service system?

On Day Three, the four option groups will present their positions. After their presentations are completed,your teacher will call on you and your fellow subcommittee members to ask questions. The “EvaluationForm” you receive is designed for you to record your impressions of the option groups. Part I should befilled out in class after the option groups make their presentations. Part II should be completed as home-work. After this activity is concluded, you may be called upon to explain your evaluation of the optiongroups.

Day 2



Role Playing the Four Options: Debate and Discussion

Objectives: Students will:•Articulate the leading values that frame the debate on U.S. immigration

policy.•Explore, debate, and evaluate multiple perspectives on U.S. immigration policy.•Sharpen rhetorical skills through debate and discussion.•Cooperate with classmates in staging a persuasive presentation.

Handouts: •“Evaluation Form” (TRB-16) for the subcommittee members

In the Classroom: 1. Setting the Stage — Organize the room so that the four option groups face arow of desks reserved for the Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims. Dis-tribute “Evaluation Form” to the subcommittee members. Instruct members ofthe subcommittee to fill out the first part of their “Evaluation Form” during thecourse of the period. The second part of the worksheet should be completed ashomework.

2. Managing the Simulation — Explain that the simulation will begin with three-to-five minute presentations by the option groups. Encourage students to speakclearly and convincingly.

3. Guiding Discussion — Following the presentations, invite members of theSubcommittee on Immigration and Claims to ask cross-examination questions.Make sure that each subcommittee member has an opportunity to ask at leastone question. The questions should be evenly distributed among all four optiongroups. If time permits, encourage members of the option groups to challengethe positions of the other groups. During cross-examination, allow any optiongroup member to respond. (As an alternative approach, permit cross-examina-tion after the presentation of each option.)

Homework: Students should read “Three Immigrants’ Stories” (TRB 18-19).

Day 3



What was the most persuasive argumentpresented against this option?

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

Option 4

What was the most persuasive argumentpresented in favor of this option?

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

Option 4

Day 3 Name:

Evaluation FormSubcommittee on Immigration and Claims

Part I

Part II

Which group presented its option most effectively? Explain your answer.



Immigration Profiles

Objectives: Students will:•Compare the stories of three recent immigrants to the United States.•Explore the reasons behind immigration to the United States.•Analyze their own attitudes and perceptions about immigration and immi-

grants.

Required Reading: Students should have read “Three Immigration Stories” (TRB 18-19).

In the Classroom: 1. Focus Question — Ask students to consider the following question (put on theboard or an overhead) – “Immigrants: Whom should we allow to stay in theUnited States?” List student responses on board or overhead.

2. Forming Small Groups — Divide the class into groups of three or four. Eachgroup should review the three case studies and answer the questions witheach. Students should try to find specific examples from the reading tosupport their points of view.

3. Sharing Conclusions — After about ten minutes, call on students to sharetheir findings in a discussion.

Homework: Students should review each of the four options in the student text (pages 18-25). Moving beyond these options they should fill out “Focusing Your Thoughts”(TRB-21) and complete “Your Option Five” (TRB-22).

Day 4



Three Immigrants’ StoriesTania

Tania Ivanova left the Soviet Union twelve years ago when she was thirty-two years old. Today, she livesin a large city with her two children and her husband. Her husband Vartan, a musician, had defected fromthe communist Soviet Union in the mid-1980s during a trip to the United States. Separated from her hus-band for years, she did not know if she would ever see him again.

After decades of hostility, the political situation between the United States and the Soviet Union began toimprove in the late 1980s. At the same time, the Soviet Union underwent changes so massive that it be-gan to crumble. In 1991, Tania, worried about a return to power of the old-style communists, followedVartan to the United States with her two children.

While her husband has acquired a green card, Tania’s visa expired long ago. She and her children are inthe United States illegally. Tania makes a good living giving private violin lessons. She doesn’t pay taxes—although she says she would willingly pay them, she is afraid that doing so will call attention to her andsubject her to arrest or deportation. She does not want to return to Russia—making a living as a musi-cian there would be even harder than it is in the United States. She likes her life here and her many studentsappreciate her a great deal. Her children are Americanized and remember little of their lives in Russia.

Tania owns a car and lives in a house that she and her husband purchased. Both of her children attendpublic schools and plan to go to college and live in the United States. She is afraid to attempt to resolveher visa issues because she is worried that might be deported or forced to stop working — somethingher family could not afford.

Maria

Maria Lopez is from Venezuela, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in engineering at a technicaluniversity. After graduation she worked for a few months in a company which designed products to beused in the medical arena. She met her husband in Caracas, and they had two children while Maria wasin her twenties. When Maria was thirty her husband died in an accident on the oil rig where he worked,and Maria was unsure where to turn. Because she had been out of the workforce for several years, shewas not able to secure a job in the small Venezuelan engineering and technology sector.

Maria knew she would need more training to succeed in the biotech industry. She applied for a PhD pro-gram in medical robotics at a large research university in the northeastern United States, and to her surprisewas accepted with a full academic scholarship. Maria’s sister begged Maria to take her two children withher as well, as she felt her children would have a better opportunity with an American education. Mariatherefore left Caracas with four children, all of whom she pretended were hers.

Since Maria had no income while she was a student, she and the children lived with an elderly womanwho needed some personal care and light chores done around the house. The elderly woman providedfood for the additional five people out of her own retirement funds. Maria did not pay rent, and her chil-dren attended the local suburban schools, where they were all enrolled in bilingual education programs.One of Maria’s sister’s children, who had asthma, was frequently at the emergency room with flare-ups,as the university did not pay for health care for dependents, and Maria could not afford to purchase healthcare for four children.

Maria and her children lived with the older woman for several years while Maria worked on her disser-tation, which despite her academic strengths took longer than she anticipated. Maria hoped when shefinally graduated from her program that she would be able to contribute to the biotech industry in theUnited States—an industry much in need of highly trained scientists—and that she might arrange for hersister to be reunited in the United States with the children.

Day 4



The Alis

Famine and war in Somalia in the early 1990s led to a huge refugee crisis, with massive numbers of dis-placed persons in the East African country. In 1994, Mr. Ali, along with his wife and their six children fledto Kenya where they lived in a refugee camp for three years. In 1997 they were relocated to Atlanta in theUnited States.

Accustomed to a small village in Somalia, the Alis found Atlanta’s expensive housing costs, busy streets,high crime rates and scattered Somali population to be overwhelming. Somali friends living in a smallcity in Maine told the Alis of their happiness over their friendly community, the affordable housing, andthe local school system. In 2001, the Alis decided to leave the big city and join their Somali friends in theirsmaller city in Maine.

For the first year in their new home the Alis collected welfare checks in order to survive while they read-justed and found jobs. Many of the Somalis in the city utilize the welfare system for a period of time.Having spent three years in Atlanta prior to their move to Maine, Mr. Ali and his family can all speakEnglish relatively well. Nonetheless, they are grateful that the city provides translators to help them withschool lessons and doctors’ visits. Both parents and the two oldest children take evening English classesat the local community center. These classes are taught free of charge.

Many native city residents are very concerned that their social services are being over-burdened and theirfunds drained by the nearly 1,500 Somali refugees who have recently moved into their small city. Others,however, welcome the increase in population and diversity. Although the city’s financial resources aretaxed by the newcomers, the city receives more school funding because of the increasing population. Someracial tension exists between the native white, Christian population and the newly arriving black, Mus-lim Somalis. There is also some unrest within each group stemming from differing views on the newresidents.

Mr. Ali currently works for a small accounting firm in the town, while his wife still searches for employ-ment. Their children enjoy school and are making friends. They play most often with other Somali children,though three of them play on the town soccer team with local residents, and one of them sings in the schoolchorus. The family attends religious services at the new storefront mosque on Main Street.

Many of the Alis’ friends and extended family members live elsewhere in the United States. Loving theirnew home in Maine, they want them to join them there. The Alis, like many of the long-time residents,however, do not want to overextend the resources of the town. They are encouraging others to come, butask them to give the town some time to adjust to the large numbers of Somalis who have already arrived.

Answer the following for each of the stories:

1. List the reasons that this person came to the United States.

2. List the positive and negative effects of this person being in the United States.

3. How do you feel about this person being here in the United States? Explain.

Day 4



Looking into the Future

Objectives: Students will:•Articulate coherent recommendations for U.S. immigration policy based on

personally held values and historical understanding.•Weigh the long-term consequences of individual policy recommendations.•Compare underlying values and assumptions about the significance of immi-

gration with classmates.

Required Reading: Students should have read each of the four options in the student text (pages 18-25) and completed “Focusing Your Thoughts” (TRB-21) and “Your Option Five”(TRB-22).

Handouts: •“Immigration and America in the 21st Century” (TRB-23)

In the Classroom: 1. Expressing Values — Review the beliefs in “Focusing Your Thoughts,” not-ing the relationship between beliefs and policy options. Call on students toexplain how their beliefs guided their responses in “Your Option Five.”

2. Weighing Consequences — Distribute “Immigration and America in the 21stCentury.” Emphasize that immigration policies adopted today will greatly in-fluence the development of the United States over the coming decades. Afterstudents read the instructions, call on them to explain how their options wouldaffect the topics featured in the worksheet. Encourage students to distinguishdifferences among the options they have crafted. How do the options reflectcontrasting values about where the United States is headed?

Extra Challenge: As homework, instruct students to write a letter to a member of Congress, thepresident, or the editor of a local newspaper on their ideas for U.S. immigrationpolicy. In the first part of the letter, students should summarize their responsesto “Your Option Five,” while in the second part they should assess the impactof their option on the United States over the coming decades. Suggest that stu-dents send their essays to the president or a member of Congress.

Encourage students to explore the local dimension of the immigration issue.Immigration lawyers, ethnic organizations, social service centers, business as-sociations, and religious groups are often at the forefront of the policy debate onimmigration. Local political leaders could also be asked to express their opin-ions on the subject. In addition, students could assess the impact of recent reformsin U.S. immigration law on the local community.

Day 5



Focusing Your Thoughts

Instructions: You have had an opportunity to consider four options on U.S. immigration policy. Now itis your turn to look at each of the options from your own perspective. Try each one on for size. Thinkabout how the options address your concerns and hopes. You will find that each has its own risks andtrade-offs, advantages and disadvantages. After you complete this worksheet, you will be asked to de-velop your own option on this issue.

Ranking the Options

Which of the options below do you prefer? Rank the options, with “1” being the best option for the UnitedStates to follow.

___ Option 1: Open Ourselves to the World

___ Option 2: Make Emigration Unnecessary

___ Option 3: Admit the Talent We Need

___ Option 4: Restrict Immigration

Beliefs

Considering the statements below will help you answer the first four questions of “Your Option Five.”Rate each of them according to your personal beliefs:

1 = Strongly Support 3 = Oppose 5 = Undecided2 = Support 4 = Strongly Oppose

___ U.S. policy should be based on a realistic assessment of our national interests, not on lofty inter-national ideals.

___ As the most powerful nation in the world, the United States is capable of addressing sufferingabroad while helping the disadvantaged here at home.

___ U.S. national security begins by protecting our borders.

___ The problems affecting most poor countries are only going to get worse, regardless of U.S. assis-tance programs overseas.

___ The United States must remain a symbol of hope and opportunity for the people of the world.

___ Americans will face a struggle in the coming decades just to maintain their present lifestyle.

___ The greatness of the United States is based on its diversity and openness to fresh ideas.

___ The United States cannot isolate itself from problems beyond our borders.

___ Our country’s ability to compete in the global economy will determine the fate of the United Statesin the coming century.

Creating Your Own Option

Your next assignment is to create an option that reflects your own beliefs and opinions. You may borrowheavily from one option, or you may combine ideas from two or three options. Or you may take a newapproach altogether. There are, of course, no perfect solutions. And there is no right or wrong answer.Rather, you should strive to craft an option that is logical and persuasive. Be careful of contradictions.For example, you should not sharply reduce immigration if you believe that cultural diversity and freshideas are essential to our country’s strength.

Name: Day 5



Your Option Five

Instructions: In this exercise, you will offer your own recommendations for U.S. immigration policy. Yourresponses to “Focusing Your Thoughts” should help you answer the first four questions.

1. How many legal immigrants, including refugees, should the United States allow to enter the countryevery year? Explain the basis of your decision.

2. How should the United States decide which applicants for immigration are admitted into the coun-try?

3. How should the United States deal with the issue of illegal immigrants?

4. What image of the United States does your option project to the rest of the world?

5. What are the two strongest arguments opposing your option?

a.

b.

6. What are the two strongest arguments supporting your option?

a.

b.

Name:Day 5



Immigration and America in the 21st Century

Instructions: Now that you have had an opportunity to develop your own option for U.S. immigrationpolicy, consider the impact your recommendations will have on the future of the United States. Imaginethe year is 2050. How will your option have influenced the following topics?

1. The economy:

2. Population and the environment:

3. Foreign policy:

4. Border control:

5. Social service costs:

6. Ethnic relations:

7. Stability in Mexico and Central America:

Name: Day 5



Extra Challenge:Understanding The Immigrant Experience

Directions: Write a short essay or prepare a short oral presentation on one of the two following topics.

1. Interview an immigrant to the United States. When did the person come to the United States andfrom what country? Why did the person leave his/her country? Was it difficult to leave? In whatway? Was it difficult to get in to the United States? Were there hardships in coming to the UnitedStates? How does daily life differ in the United States? Does this person still have ties to his/hercountry of birth? What elements of that country’s culture does this person maintain in his/her life?

2. a. Research the history behind one of your own ancestor’s immigration to the United States. Whendid he or she arrive and from what country? What were the conditions in your ancestor’s coun-try of origin? What were the historical immigration trends at the time?

b. If you can not find out anything about a specific ancestor, research the history of immigrationfrom your family’s nation of origin or ethnic background. When did the greatest numbers comefrom that country? What prompted the emigration? What experiences did they have as a groupupon settling in the United States? (E.g., did they suffer discrimination or were they well-re-ceived?) Is this group fully integrated into American society? Can they still be identified as aunique culture?



Key Terms

Part I: Immigration in the American Experience

Industrial Revolutionpersecutionlabor forceeconomic growthquotas

Part II: Immigration Today

political asylumillegal alienlegislationamnestyvisalegal residentsborder controlundocumented workersrefugeetax basefederal funding



Constitutional Rights: U.S. citizens are entitledto constitutional protection of their rights. In ad-dition, resident aliens are entitled toconstitutional protection against unreasonableclassifications or distinction. They do not have allthe rights of U.S. citizens. For example, residentaliens may not vote. Illegal aliens are also entitledto constitutional protections, such as due processand equal protection. One consequence is thatstates may not deny undocumented alien chil-dren free public school education.

International State: An international state is anentity that has a defined territory and a perma-nent population under the control of its owngovernment. A state has sovereignty over its ter-ritory and its nationals. States can enter intointernational agreements, join international orga-nizations, pursue and be subject to legalremedies. A state has the right to control the flowof persons and goods over its borders.

Sovereignty: The absolute right of a state to gov-ern itself. The UN Charter prohibits externalinterference in the internal affairs of a sovereignstate without the state’s consent.

Diplomatic relations: A formal arrangement be-tween states by which they develop and maintainthe terms of their relationship including ques-tions relating to immigration and visitation. Thisoften includes establishing treaties regardingtrade and investment, the treatment of eachother’s citizens, and the nature of their securityrelationship. It also includes the establishment ofan embassy and consuls in each other’s countriesto facilitate representation on issues of concernfor each nation.

Cold War: The Cold War was the dominant for-eign policy problem for the United States andRussia between the late 1940s and the late 1980s.Following the defeat of Hitler in 1945, Soviet-U.S.relations began to deteriorate. The United Statesadopted a policy of containing the spread of So-viet communism around the world, which led to,among other things, U.S. involvement in Viet-nam. During this period both Russia and theUnited States devoted vast resources to their mili-tary, but never engaged in direct military actionagainst each other. Because both the Soviet Unionand the United States had nuclear weapons andwere in competition around the world, nearlyevery foreign policy decision (including those onimmigration) was intricately examined for itspotential impact on U.S.-Soviet relations. The endof the Cold War forced policy makers to struggleto define a new guiding purpose for their foreignpolicy.

Refugee: The UN defines a refugee as someonewho “...owing to a well-founded fear of beingpersecuted for reasons of race, religion, national-ity, membership in a particular social group, orpolitical opinion, is outside the country of hisnationality, and is unable to or, owing to such fear,is unwilling to avail himself of the protection ofthat country.” Defining a refugee is often contro-versial. One country's refugee may be anothercountry’s illegal alien. Internally displaced per-sons who are forced from their homes in theirown country are not recognized as refugees un-til they cross the border of another country.

Immigration IssuesToolbox



Making Choices Work in Your Classroom

This section of the Teacher’s Resource Book offers suggestions for teachers as they adapt Choices curriculato their classrooms. They are drawn from the experiences of teachers who have used Choices curriculasuccessfully in their classrooms and from educational research on student-centered instruction .

Managing the Choices SimulationRecognize Time Limitations: At the heart of the Choices approach is the role-play simulation in whichstudents advocate different options, question each other, and debate. Just as thoughtful preparation isnecessary to set the stage for cooperative group learning, careful planning for the presentations and de-bate can increase the effectiveness of the simulation. Time is the essential ingredient to keep in mind. Aminimum of 45 to 50 minutes is necessary for the presentations and debate. Hence, if only one class pe-riod is available, student groups must be ready as soon as class begins. Teachers who have been able toschedule a double period or extend the length of class to one hour report that the extra time is beneficial.When necessary, the role-play simulation can be run over two days, but this disrupts the momentum ofthe debate. The best strategy for managing the role-play is to establish and enforce strict time limits, suchas five minutes for each option presentation, ten minutes for questions and challenges, and the final fiveminutes of class for wrapping up the debate. It is crucial to make students aware of strict time limits asthey prepare their presentations.

Highlight the Importance of Values: During the debate and debriefing, it is important to highlight therole of values in the options. Students should be instructed to identify the core values and priorities un-derlying the different options. The “Expressing Key Values” worksheet is designed to help studentsincorporate the values into their group presentations. You may also find the supplemental activity, Con-sidering the Role of Values in Public Policy, available from the “Faculty Room” on the Choices web site<www.choices.edu> helpful.

Moving Beyond the OptionsAs a culminating activity of a Choices unit, students are expected to articulate their own views of the is-sue under consideration. An effective way to move beyond the options debate to creating individualoptions is to have students consider which values in the options framework they hold most dear. Typi-cally, students will hold several of these values simultaneously and will need to prioritize them to reacha considered judgment about the issue at hand. These values should be reflected in their own options andshould shape the goals and policies they advocate.

Adjusting for Large and Small ClassesChoices units are designed for an average class of twenty-five students. In larger classes, additional roles,such as those of newspaper reporter or member of a special interest group, can be assigned to increasestudent participation in the simulation. With larger option groups, additional tasks might be to create aposter, political cartoon, or public service announcement that represents the viewpoint of an option. Insmaller classes, the teacher can serve as the moderator of the debate, and administrators, parents, or fac-ulty can be invited to play the roles of congressional leaders. Another option is to combine two small classes.

Assessing Student AchievementGrading Group Assignments: Research suggests that it is counterproductive to give students individualgrades on cooperative group assignments. A significant part of the assignment given to the group is tocooperate in achieving a common goal, as opposed to looking out for individual interests. Telling stu-dents in advance that the group will receive one grade often motivates group members to hold each otheraccountable. This can foster group cohesion and lead to better group results. It may be useful to note thatin addition to the cooperative group assignments, students complete individual assignments as well inevery Choices unit. The “Assessment Guide for Oral Presentations” on the following page is designed tohelp teachers evaluate group presentations.



Requiring Self-Evaluation: Having students complete self-evaluations is an extremely effective way tomake them think about their own learning. Self-evaluations can take many forms and are useful in a varietyof circumstances. They are particularly helpful in getting students to think constructively about groupcollaboration. In developing a self-evaluation tool for students, teachers need to pose clear and directquestions to students. Two key benefits of student self-evaluation are that it involves students in the as-sessment process, and that it provides teachers with valuable insights into the contributions of individualstudents and the dynamics of different groups. These insights can help teachers to organize groups forfuture cooperative assignments.

Evaluating Student Options: The most important outcomes of a Choices unit are the original optionsdeveloped and articulated by each student. These will differ significantly from one another, as studentsidentify different values and priorities that shape their viewpoints. These options cannot be graded asright or wrong, but should be evaluated on clarity of expression, logic, and thoroughness. Did the stu-dent provide reasons for his/her viewpoint along with supporting evidence? Were the values clear andconsistent throughout the option? Did the student identify the risks involved? Did the student presenthis/her option in a convincing manner?

Testing: In a formal evaluation of the Choices approach, it was demonstrated that students using Choiceslearned the factual information presented as well as or better than students who were taught in a moretraditional lecture-discussion format. However, the larger benefits of the Choices approach were evidentwhen students using Choices demonstrated significantly higher ability to think critically, analyze mul-tiple perspectives, and articulate original viewpoints, compared to students who did not use this approach.Teachers should hold students accountable for learning historical information, concepts, and current eventspresented in Choices units. However, a simple multiple-choice examination will not allow students todemonstrate the critical thinking and communication skills developed through the Choices unit. If teacherschoose to test students, they may wish to explore new models of test design that require students to domore than recognize correct answers. Tests should not replace the development of student options.

For Further Reading: Cohen, Elizabeth G. Designing Groupwork: Strategies for the Heterogeneous Classroom(New York: Teachers College Press, 1986).



Assessment Guide for Oral Presentations

Group assignment:

Group members:

Group Assessment

1. The group made good use of itspreparation time.

2. The presentation reflected analy-sis of the issues under consider-ation.

3. The presentation was coherentand persuasive.

4. The group incorporated relevantsections of the backgroundreading into its presentation.

5. The group’s presenters spokeclearly, maintained eye contact,and made an effort to hold theattention of their audience.

6. The presentation incorporatedcontributions from all the mem-bers of the group.

Individual Assessment

1. The student cooperated withother group members.

2. The student was well-prepared tomeet his or her responsibilities.

3. The student made a significantcontribution to the group’spresentation.

Excellent Good Average Needs UnsatisfactoryImprovement

5 4 3 2 1

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Alternative Three-Day Lesson Plan

Day 1 See Day One of the Suggested Five-Day Lesson Plan. (Students should have readPart I of the background reading and completed the “Study Guide — Part I”before beginning the unit.)Homework: Students should read Part II of the background reading and com-plete “Study Guide — Part II” as homework.

Day 2 Assign each student one of the four options, and allow a few minutes for stu-dents to familiarize themselves with the mindsets of the options. Call on studentsto evaluate the benefits and trade-offs of their assigned options. How do theoptions differ in their assumptions about the strengths and problems of our coun-try? Moving beyond the options, ask students to imagine that they have beenasked by Congress to review U.S. immigration policy. What issues (i.e., illegalaliens, refugees, the economy, etc.) would they emphasize in their report? Whichvalues should guide the direction of U.S. immigration policy? Which options bestmeet the challenges facing the United States?Homework: Students should complete “Focusing Your Thoughts” and “YourOption Five.”

Day 3 See Day Five of the Suggested Five-Day Lesson Plan.

Order FormStudent Teacher Quantity SubtotalTexts* Set*

Global Studies (15+ copies)

Responding to Terrorism: Challenges for Democracy _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ $7/copy $15 ______ ______

Global Environmental Problems: Implications for U.S. Policy _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ $7/copy $15 ______ ______

U.S. Trade Policy: Competing in a Global Economy _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ $7/copy $15 ______ ______

U.S. Immigration Policy in an Unsettled World _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ $7/copy $15 ______ ______

Dilemmas of Foreign Aid: Debating U.S. Priorities, Policies, & Practices _ _ _ $7/copy $15 ______ ______

Keeping the Peace in an Age of Conflict: Debating the U.S. Role _ _ _ _ _ _ _ $7/copy $15 ______ ______

The International System in the 21st Century: Considering the U.S. Role _ _ _ $7/copy $15 ______ ______

World History and Area StudiesIndian Independence and the Question of Pakistan _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ $7/copy $15 ______ ______

Conquest, Conflict, and Commerce: The Colonial Experience in the Congo _ _ $7/copy $15 ______ ______

Crisis, Conscience, and Choices: Weimar Germany and the Rise of Hitler _ _ $7/copy $15 ______ ______

Shifting Sands: Balancing U.S. Interests in the Middle East _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ $7/copy $15 ______ ______

Charting Russia’s Future _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ $7/copy $15 ______ ______

Russia’s Uncertain Transition: Challenges for U.S. Policy _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ $7/copy $15 ______ ______

China on the World Stage: Weighing the U.S. Response _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ $7/copy $15 ______ ______

Caught between Two Worlds: Mexico at the Crossroads_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ $7/copy $15 ______ ______

United States HistoryA More Perfect Union: Shaping American Government _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ $7/copy $15 ______ ______

Challenges to the New Republic: Prelude to the War of 1812 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ $7/copy $15 ______ ______

Reluctant Colossus: America Enters the Age of Imperialism _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ $7/copy $15 ______ ______

Ending the War against Japan: Science, Morality, and the Atomic Bomb _ _ _ $7/copy $15 ______ ______

Coming to Terms with Power: U.S. Choices after World War II _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ $7/copy $15 ______ ______

The Cuban Missile Crisis: Considering its Place in Cold War History _ _ _ _ _ $7/copy $15 ______ ______

The Limits of Power: The United States in Vietnam _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ $7/copy $15 ______ ______

Subtotal ______

add 7% for shipping and handling($3.50 minimum) ______

TOTAL ______

Make checks payable to: Brown University

Return to: Choices Education ProgramWatson Institute for International StudiesBrown University, Box 1948Providence, RI 02912

PRICES SUBJECT TO CHANGE

*Choices gives you a choiceTeacher sets include a reproducible student text and a teacher’sguide. You are welcome to make as many copies of the stu-dent text as you need for your students. The two-book set isavailable for $15. You may also download teacher sets for afee at www.choices.edu.

With an order of a classroom set of student texts (15 or more ofthe same unit), the price per copy falls to $7each. One teacher’sresource book is included free with each classroom set.

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