preston

=Senator Preston=

CRACKING DOWN ON ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

 * This law prohibits people from hiring illegal immigrants and requires all businesses to verify the employment eligibility of workers through a federal database. The goal is to weaken the economic incentive for immigrants to sneak across the U.S.-Mexico border.


 * Under the new law, employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants could have their business license suspended for up to 30 days. Second-time violators would have their business licenses revoked permanently.


 * The proposal would give a measure of legal protection to employers who can prove they have verified the eligibility of workers through a federal records database. Employers would be required to begin using the database on May 25, 2008.

Issue: Immigration

Graph proves that illegal immigration has increased throughout the past 25 years. (An estimated 11.5- 12 million foreign nationals are living illegally in the US, according to the Pew Hispanic Center.)

[|**www.heritage.org/Research/ Immigration/bg1936.cfm**] Illegal immigration has become a major problem in the United States. While the majority of illegal immigrants consist of those coming from Mexico, there are also some coming from Latin America, Europe and Canada, Asia, and Africa.

=Illegal Immigration=

- Definition : immigrants are considered illegal if… o 1) enterting without authorization o  2) staying beyond the amount of time that they were given o 3) violating terms of legal entry - a state of coming to the United States in violation of nationality laws - Most common means of violation o  Crossing border without government authorization (no visa etc.) o Employment without proper government authorization - First time offender= misdemeanor o If its repeated, one can be charge with a felony - “Using data from March of 2004, PHC estimated that 57% of this population comes from [|Mexico]; 24% from [|Central America] and, to a lesser extent, __ [|South America]; __ 9% from [|Asia] ; 6% from [|Europe], and the remaining 4% from elsewhere.” - Around 400,000- 700,000 illegal immigrants enter the U.S. each year o Most coming from the United States- Mexico Border - How do illegal immigrants get into the U.S. ? o Hide in trucks to avoid customs o Swim across the Rio Grande or American canal

=Causes= -<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal"> Few jobs in Mexico o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal"> Factory workers were let go from their jobs because there were less factories o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal"> Number of manufacturing workers dropped from 4.1 million in 2000 to 3.5 million in 2004 -<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal"> U.S. was able to out compete Mexico in production of inexpensive corn o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal"> “Consequently, the price of maize in Mexico fell 70% between 1994 and 2001, and the number of farm jobs dropped from 8.1 million in 1993 to 6.8 million in 2002.” -<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal"> Mexican government encourages illegal immigration to U.S. o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal"> Has made it easier for them to get to the U.S. o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal">  Those immigrants (legal and illegal) are the ones brining in largest source of foreign income for Mexico -<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal"> Some people in the U.S. want illegal immigrants because they are cheap o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal"> Big businesses can pay them a lot less than average workers o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal"> Saves them money à business gains a larger profit o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal"> Give them jobs that the majority of peope don’t want

Watch this short video to get an idea of the history of illegal immigration. It takes you through some of the past recent presidents and the decisions that they came up with. media type="youtube" key="r-p4ITOhkWg&rel=1" height="355" width="425"


 * PERSPECTIVES**

__GLOBAL__ __NATIONAL__
 * Solves global problems
 * poverty, overpopulation etc.
 * Some people say that we can not deal with illegal immigration until the forces that are causing illegal immigration are solved
 * Reality: if we don't deal with illegal immigrations we are only increasing problems in the U.S.
 * Illegal immigration can only get better if we make a point to try and resolve
 * Only until Americans force their leaders to address the problem will levels be significantly reduced."
 * There should be a punishment rather than being rewarded if an illegal alien is caught
 * Recommended solutions... from http://www.illegalaliens.us/solutions.htm
 * Interior enforcement
 * Border security, especially the Arizona border, and
 * Elimination of benefits, such as amnesties, educational subsidies, driver's licenses, illegal alien identification cards, and many others.

- Not a "victimless" crime - Illegal immigration causes many issues to the American citizens and legal immigrants - Especially to the poor, minorities and children - Drain on public funds - "... taxes paid by immigrants do not being to cover the cost of services received by them." - Job competition - Illegal immigrants take jobs away from those who would normally take those jobs (minority workers and those without high school degrees) - Contributes to population growth - "crowding school classrooms, consuming already limited affordable housing, and increasing the strain on precious natural resrouces like water, energy, and forestland - Illegal immigration has increased the population by around a half million people annually - Some Americans believe that we should give them the opportunities but if we don't start to fix this problem, it will be a problem forever
 * ISSUES**

NATURALIZATION - a process in which a person who was not born in the U.S. can become a citizen

http://www.illegalaliens.us/solutions.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegal_immigration_to_the_United_States http://www.justicetalking.org/viewprogram.asp?progID=646 http://www.fairus.org/site/PageServer?pagename=iic_immigrationissuecenters6ce3
 * WORKS CITED:**

Resources
 * If you can stand to listen to something pretty long online, NPR"s Justice Talking recently focused on immigration. I listened to the program tonight. It gives a really good overview of the issue today---both sides---and a good overview of what the states are doing and what the federal govt. is or is not doing. You can find the program here: http://www.justicetalking.org/viewprogram.asp?progID=646