Salt Lake Community College

The Break Down of Immigration

Three Major Aspects of Immigration

Emily Delgado Salceda

Politics 1100
Professor Perparim Gutaj
August 4, 2016

As the 2016 presidential campaign is in full swing a broad issue that has been debated is
immigration. The primary election is over with and political parties now await the general
election. Both the democrat and republican nominees have shared their plan on dealing with
immigration. While Trumps plan seems drastic and even absurd to some, for others, this is the
most ideal and reasonable choice, according to their ideology. Trump proposes that building a
wall and putting into motion a mass deportation is the best way to deal with immigration. Hilary
has decided to defend immigrant families and plans to take executive actions that expand
President Obamas programs, which protect millions of immigrants from deportation (The
Editorial Board, 2016). While some may think this is a wise choice, there are others who are not
too happy about her decision. Regardless of who will be Americas next president, they will have
to carry out their plans and laws for immigration. They are aware that immigration affects more
than just the people who are living the outcomes of laws, in all ways it affects every little aspect
of America. Immigration involves politics, interests, and identity which is why it is a topic that is
universally debated.
Immigration can be a difficult subject for politicians to speak about because of its great
effect on people all over America. Presidents especially are remembered by immigrant and antiimmigration groups for the laws they pass. Take Ronald Reagan for example, when immigrants
remember him its with a grateful heart. He is responsible for the Immigration Reform and
Control Act of 1986, which granted amnesty to about 3 million undocumented immigrants in the
United States (Wikipedia, 2016). Getting your laws approved by public opinion is one story and
passing a law is another issue. Barack Obama has experienced some of these difficulties with his
proposal for an immigration reform. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, this reform would
expand deferred deportation for parents of U.S. citizens, and for immigrants brought to the

country as young children. It would affect an estimated 5 million immigrants (Davidson, 2015).
In other words, this reform would stop the deportation and separation that immigrant families are
enduring. But, implementing a reform is not as easy as it sounds because there are separation of
powers that prohibit the president from making a decision this huge on his own. The United
States government is made up of three equal branches, they are as follows: legislative, executive,
and judicial. These branches established by the constitution have important tasks. The legislative
is in charge of making laws, while the executive does just that, executes the laws made, and the
judicial is in charge of interpreting the laws. In order for a law to pass it has to be approved by
the Supreme Court but since there are only 8 judges in the Supreme Court at this time, Obamas
reform law went into deadlock (Shear, 2016). Ultimately, this means that the judges are tied in a
4 to 4 vote, but others assure that this wouldnt have happened if there was another judge to
equal nine in the Supreme Court. Obama had this to state about the deadlock, If you keep on
blocking judges from getting on the bench, then courts cant issue decisions. And what that
means is then you are going to have the status quo frozen, and we are not able to make progress
on some very important issues (Shear, 2016). Obamas point is that he understands the
separation of powers is important but things could be faster if the legislative branch had more
help because ultimately, there are lives at stake with this decision. Politics are an important part
of immigration, because what is decided in the government affects peoples lives.
Immigration is not only important in politics but there are also certain interests that are
involved with it, that is economic and business interests. Both followers and critics of
immigration will probably argue that immigrants either benefit or damage our U.S. economic
system. Some Americans today tend to believe that immigrants are stealing jobs and costing
businesses money. Although, The New York Times disagrees when they write, economic growth

has been slow and wages have been stagnant (mostly because technology is displacing workers)
(Brooks, 2016). In other words, Brooks believes that the reason why there have been fewer jobs
available to the general public is because the increase of technology has come with a cost of
downsizing on jobs. Jobs that have been cut are those which machines can do in lesser time than
a human, although, there are some difficult jobs where human labor is still required. Interviewee,
Patricia Salceda had this to say about immigrants contribution to the economy. She stated, I do
believe that immigrants contribute to the economy and businesses. Just take a look at what
happened when Cesar Chavez and immigrants refused to work under harsh labor conditions and
decided to strike until they were treated with civilized equality. The businesses lost product and
in turn that hurt their economic growth, (Salceda, 2016). According to both Salceda and
Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli Jr., immigrants are exploited and distorted in labor markets
because of their illegal status (Shear, 2016). While immigrants can affect the labor market and
even be mistreated by it, others are worried about how much money immigrants will cost the
United States Government. President Obamas push for a reform to keep immigrant families
together sparked controversy between some states due to the fact that it would cause the state
expenses to document these immigrants and issue them licenses (Shear, 2016). Although Utah is
now a supporter of Obamas reform, they originally where against it (Davidson, 2015).
According to The Salt Lake Tribune, Utah along with 26 other states thought that President
Obamas action to implement this law was unconstitutional (Davidson, 2015). This protest and
concern with the economic side of immigration put forth by the states caused the judges to fall
into a deadlock. In short, there are various aspects to consider when discussing immigration,
which is why it is difficult for the courts, businesses, and even politicians to have a solid stand on
this topic.

The age old question that is always asked is, why do immigrants come to America? This
question is related to the identity aspect of immigration, which in short refers to how
immigration is viewed in a moral, cultural, and race aspect. When immigrants migrate to the
United States there are different things they are searching for. It can be argued that the top three
reasons people immigrate to the U.S. are for security, economic, and ideological reasons (Gutaj,
2016). Often immigrants flee their country and immigrate to America because they want to feel
safe and protect their family. For example, Syrians today are fleeing from their country because
they are being persecuted by ISIS. Others from Mexico and South America are also escaping
their countries to be safe from the drug cartel or corrupt governments. After immigrants feel safe,
the second interest they search for is economic. They search for economic stability for the same
reasons that anyone would, to keep food on the table, provide shelter, and give the necessary
things to their family. It is only after they have achieved these two interests that immigrants start
to fight for their ideological beliefs, which could be described as pursuing ones dreams. Just like
immigrants have interests of their own, the American government has its too. The New York
Times observes that, Fifty-nine percent of the public said immigrants strengthen the country,
while only 33 percent said they were a burden. And 75 percent said immigrants should be
allowed to stay legally, if they meet certain conditions (The Editorial Board, 2016). These
statistics show that there are diverse public opinions on the matter of immigration, which makes
it difficult for politicians to decide on a plan for immigrants. There are three ways or cultural
methods which past governments have tried to use when dealing with immigration, they are
assimilation, relocation, and genocide. Assimilation is what Americans are more familiar with,
this would be taking an immigrant child attending school and molding him/her into the American
culture. For example, as a child, Erick Saidi, now a junior at the University of Utah, remembers

being pushed into an ESL (English as a Second Language) class (Saidi, 2016). This is the
molding or assimilation method that some countries like the U.S. choose to approach
immigrants, they want immigrants to become like one of the group in order to be accepted.
The second method, relocation is sadly also a part of the American history today and in the past.
Relocation can be defined as deportation, which is what the American government has been
practicing for years. But a more saddening event related to this method of relocation were the
Japanese internment camps. The internment camps happened during World War Two, Japanese
Americans were removed from their homes and incarcerated just because they were of Japanese
ancestry. Approximately sixty-two percent of the 120,000 who were relocated and held against
their will were United States citizens (Wikipedia, 2016). Even more gruesome than internment
camps is the third method, genocide, which Germany is well known for, the holocaust. Here
many Jewish children, women, and men were forcibly taken out of their homes and thrown into
camps to be killed because of their beliefs. Although the Jewish were not immigrants but rather
citizens much like the Japanese Americans, they did not fit the mold that Hitler wanted to create
or assimilate. To summarize, there are different methods that governments use when dealing with
certain groups of people and there are specific reasons why immigrants choose to endure those
sometimes gruesome methods.
By breaking down the topic of immigration into these three views which are the, political,
interest, and identity aspects, it is easier to understand and find possible solutions to this national
issue. The best possible solution to get things rolling with law making would be to take President
Obamas advice and put another judge in the court. Because if you have eight judges then thats
not a fair game and like President Obama stated, it slows things down because deadlocks, like
the immigration reform situation will happen if you have an even number of judges. As opposed

to having nine judges in the court, you can be sure that there wont be any tied votes because its
impossible. In relation to the economic side of things, states argued that it would cost millions to
issue immigrants licenses. Although, according to Mr. Saidi, immigrants even though illegal still
pay taxes but never get a tax return due to the fact that they are not legally able to (Saidi, 2016).
In addition, immigrants today are still forced to work under the table with harsh conditions and
get paid unfair wages, its safe to say that theyve paid the price for their license long enough.
Therefore, the money that the states are arguing about can simply be used from the extra tax
return money that theyve acquired, since forty-six percent of the federal revenue is produced by
individual income (aka tax payers). In other words, the taxes that immigrants have been paying
will cover for the expenses of the licenses that will be issued once this law is approved. The
identity aspect of immigration is not necessarily an issue, but Americans need to take away the
stereotype that the media has placed on immigrants. Not all immigrants are colored or unable
to speak English or Mexican. Immigrants are what the United States was founded on, thats why
it is called the melting pot. It also necessary for Americans to understand, that our founding
fathers were immigrants themselves, the natives to the land of America were actually the Native
Americans, our founding fathers just gave this country a name and put institutions in place. In
short, there are many solutions to this immigration issue but as long as public opinion is swayed
by the media in a bad way, then theres really nothing the government can do. The only way that
the government will move is if they feel pressure from the public, there is strength in numbers.
To conclude, immigration is a broadly debated issue because of its long lasting effects.
The legislative branch is where laws related to this topic can be passed and the judicial along
with the executive implement these laws. Although, there are many who are scared for the
economy because of the money that might need to be accumulated in order to make some laws

work. On the other hand, most agree that by making laws it would benefit many immigrants and
help those who have fled in order to be safe from persecution in their home countries. While
some are still on the fence about lending a helping hand to those who deserve one, I am not.
Following this issue in the media was rewarding because I could use my new found knowledge
to understand political terms. I would definitely have to say that there were times where I was
left with my mouth open. For example, the fact that Utah was against Obamas reform originally
then suddenly decided to endorse his idea was baffling. But I know that they probably decided to
switch their view on the matter because the public opinion might have pressured them. A large
population of Utah residents have immigrant ancestry and the public opinion of Utah was
probably not a good one when they made the alliance with the 26 other states. It was also
interesting to hear The New York Times state that immigrants are not taking up jobs but rather
technology has taken the occupation of some former American working class. Because often
times you hear that immigrants are the cause of less jobs, but really business is becoming more
technologically advanced. We are in the technological era and for some that has still not sunk in
yet. In conclusion, thanks to my understanding of political ideology I can now depict national
issues and even causes of problems that might be slowing down our country from advancing.

Works Cited
Brooks, D. (2016, February 19). A Little Reality on Immigration. The New York Times.
Davidson, L. (2015, December 4). Salt Lake City Joins in Defending Obamas Immigration
Actions. The Salt Lake Tribune.
Davidson, L. (2015, January 15). Salt Lake City Top Cop Defends Obama on Immigration. The
Salt Lake Tribune.
Gutaj, P. (2016, July 5). Notes on Interest Groups. Politics 1100. Salt Lake City, Utah, United
States of America.
Saidi, E. (2016, August 1). What is Your View on Immigration? (E. Delgado, Interviewer)
Salceda, P. (2016, August 1). What is Your Opinion on Immigration? (E. Delgado, Interviewer)
Shear, A. L. (2016, June 23). Supreme Court Tie Blocks Obama Immigration Plan. The New York
Times.
The Editorial Board. (2016, July 30). A Few Simple Truths on Immigration. The New York Times.
Wikipedia. (2016, March 31). Amnesty. Retrieved from Wikipedia the Free Encyclopedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amnesty
Wikipedia. (2016, Juy 22). Internment of Japanese Americans. Retrieved from Wikipedia the
Free Encyclopedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internment_of_Japanese_Americans