Starting in 1917, President Woodrow Wilson signed the first immigration law. The law included a literacy test, established a tax to be paid by new immigrants, and allowed officials a wide berth in deciding who could be admitted or excluded. The law also contained a “Asiatic Barred Zone”, which was a quota system to limit individuals from certain country entrance into the U.S.
Nevertheless, it paved the way for the Immigration Act of
1924. Originally, the laws were created with the purpose of keeping track of and
limiting who was entering the country, their skill level or occupation, level
of education, did they have the means provide for themselves until they got
established, and country of origin. Eventually other statistics came along and asked
questions about age, religion, overall health, or ethnic group to gain a more complete
picture of our changing national demographics. America was, after all, a
melting pot.
America is facing a national crisis. Some even refer to it as a non-violent “invasion" similar to what Europe is currently experiencing (although that situation has become more violent due to an increase in physical assaults, murders, robberies, and rape gangs). While illegal entry into this nation (mainly along our southern border) has been going on in drips and drabs for decades, it’s been since the late 1970’s and early 1980’s that it has evolved into the serious problem is it is now.
The primary
reason for the influx of immigrants, legal and illegal, at least initially, was the social and economic upheavals happening in Latin America (some at our instigation), such as militarily in places like El Salvador, Panama and Nicaragua, or were due to violent hurricanes and tropical storms hitting nations like Haiti and the Dominican Republic. President Ronald Reagan was the first post-Watergate president to address the issue of illegal immigration.
In 1986, Reagan signed into law the Immigration Reform and Control Act (aka "IRCA"). The law set new minimum guidelines for arriving immigrants and streamlined immigration policy. It promised tighter border security and established strict penalties for employers who knowingly hired someone here illegally. In addition, Reagan granted amnesty to some 3 million, mostly Hispanic, individuals illegally residing in the U.S.
In signing
the bill, President Reagan made it clear that this was “one and done” and that
the U.S. would crackdown hard on illegal immigrants and there would be no
further amnesties offered or given. However,
what would-be migrants apparently heard was that if they could illegally enter the U.S.
and evade authorities long enough, they’d eventually be granted amnesty too. As
a result, the flow of migrants crossing the border illegally increased over previous years.
In 1994, under Bill Clinton’s
presidency, Congress also pardoned roughly 548,000 illegal immigrates living
the U.S. while fining them $1000 (which was waived). This amnesty was renewed
in 1997 and again in 2000. Also in 1997, Congress passed the Nicaraguan Adjustment
Central American Relief Act (“NACARA”) which give legal status to over one
million illegal residents (most form Latin America) who had lived here since
1995. Facing claims of discrimination, NACARA was amended in 1998 to include an
undisclosed number of Haitians illegally living here since 1995.
However, President Clinton signed the Illegal Immigration
Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (“IIRAIRA”). Critics thought
the bill went too far. Under the bill,
immigrants, regardless of the legal status, could be deported if they were convicted
of having committed a felony. The new law would also remove anyone who
overstayed their vistas, by so much as a day, could be deported and would automatically
be ineligible to apply for a new non-immigrant visa. From 1996 through early
2000, deportations went from 50,000 to more than 200,000.
In 2000, the Legal Immigration Family Equity Act (“LIFE”) was
passed, giving amnesty to illegal immigrants attempting to obtain permits (aka “green
cards”) to work here legally and had married legal or natural citizens. This
allowed them to jump to the head of line, thus bypassing millions of other
would-be immigrants waiting to gain legal entry into the United States. And who
says crime doesn’t pay?
Despite promises to crack down on illegal immigration while
running for office, President Barack Obama signed an executive order called the
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (“DACA”). This allowed some allowed some
700,000 individuals who had come here illegally while under the age of 18, de facto
U.S. citizenship in the form of renewable grants.
During this same period, dozens of American communities opted
to ignore federal immigration laws by declaring “sanctuary” status. What this
meant was that they would not cooperate with federal immigration officials is identifying,
apprehending, or detaining any non-resident, illegal or otherwise. Not
unexpectedly, there were massive increases in illegal migrants which brought huge
jumps in demand for government services.
As a result, local taxes were dramatically increased along
with demands for more state and federal money. Can you imagine refusing to
cooperate with federal authorities while demanding they send more money to help
them in breaking the law? Talk about a sense of entitlement!
Under President Donald Trump’s first term, there were
several attempts made to curtail the tidal wave of illegal immigrants coming
from our southern border, but from Asia (including China), Africa, the Caribbean
(many of whom were fleeing areas hard hit by storms and corrupt governments),
and the Middle East, which included not just refugees from Syria, Iraq, and
Afghanistan, but unfortunately members of Al Qaeda, ISIS, and other terrorists
as well.
Trump went so far as to try to contain the influx of
migrants attempting to cross illegally by beginning to be a massive wall along
the southern border. While nationally, many people supported the concept, which
was also locally popular, Trump face widespread criticism from Democrats and
some Republicans, various pro-immigration groups (many of whom had strong
church ties), and even foreign governments. In addition, Trump was urged to suspend all
border crossings under Title 24 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In June 2024 he signed legislation to shut
down the border in illegal crossings that surpassed 2500 a day. Between January 2021 and January 2024, ICE
encountered 7.2 million illegal immigrants attempting to enter the U.S. In
2023, there were a record 2.5 million occurrences. The bill also suspended protection from
deportation to anyone unable to provide proof of need for asylum.
It's also worth mentioning that international law states individuals
seeking asylum may do so if they are being persecuted due to their race,
religion, gender, or ethnic status. Seeking asylum for economic purposes is not
recognized as a legitimate reason to be granted asylum. Secondly, the individual
seeking asylum must apply to the next closest country, not the country of their
choice.
Now that Trump is again president, he has hit the ground
running on the immigration issue as promised. With nearly 11 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. and decades of bipartisan blunders to correct, thousands of illegal
immigrants have already been deported to their home country, despite a lot of gnashing
of teeth by their respective leaders. Apparently, they think that the United States
is somehow obligated to accept and provide for these individuals. Ironically,
if this happens there, the outcome wouldn’t be so amicable. Individuals caught in
their country illegally face an automatic prison sentence as does anyone who
aids them in any way.
Clearly there needs to be a single universal law regarding
the disposition and repatriation of individuals seeking to enter a country
illegally which protects the right of a country to secure national borders and maintain
its national sovereignty. It should also
include guidelines for dealing with individuals, groups, or associations (and
private or religious) who promote the breaking of international and national
laws concerning immigration. It should be up to each nation to provide for any
exceptions such as a natural or manmade disaster.
Thank
you for reading "Another Opinion", the Op/Ed blog page for the "militant
middle". Here at "A/O" we truly value our readers. At
A/O we seek the facts as they exist, not partisan talking points. We
hope you find our articles informative and engaging. Comments are welcome,
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Opinion is offered without charge and is directed toward all independent and free-thinking
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to the sources we used in writing this article. Thank you.
The Immigration Act of 1924 (The Johnson-Reed Act)
Immigration and Immigrants: Anti-Immigration Sentiment
Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Actof 1996
Immigration policy under the Joe Biden administration
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