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How Do I Get to be an American?

How Do I Get to be an American?. Legal Immigration . What Is a Citizen?. A legal member of a nation who pledges loyalty to that nation. Citizen by birth Citizen by naturalization. Fourteenth Amendment. Ratified in 1868 Defined citizenship in the U.S.

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How Do I Get to be an American?

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  1. How Do I Get to be an American? Legal Immigration

  2. What Is a Citizen? • A legal member of a nation who pledges loyalty to that nation. • Citizen by birth • Citizen by naturalization.

  3. Fourteenth Amendment • Ratified in 1868 • Defined citizenship in the U.S. • All persons born or naturalized in the U.S. …..are citizens of the U.S. and of the state wherein they reside.

  4. Criteria for Naturalization • At least 18 years old (children under 18 automatically become naturalized citizens when their parents do. • Have good moral character. • Live in the U.S. for at least five years as a permanent resident prior to application

  5. Criteria for Naturalization • Read, write, and speak English • Show knowledge of American history and government • $675 in fees

  6. U.S. Foreign Born Population 1900 2008 Latin America 53% Asia 27% Europe 13% Africa 4% Other regions 3% • Europe 86% • Latin America 1% • Asia 1% • Other regions 11%

  7. Top Three Reasons for Immigrating: • Freedom from religious persecution • Freedom from political oppression • Freedom from economic hardships

  8. Examination for Naturalization • New version introduced in October, 2009 • New exam focuses less on historic facts and more on the meaning of democracy • To pass the exam, must answer 60% of the questions correctly

  9. Sample Questions • Old: Who was the president during the Civil War? • New: What was one important thing that A. Lincoln did? • Old: How many branches are in the U.S. government? • New: Name one branch of the gov’t.

  10. History of U.S. Immigration • Easy to come to U.S. (pass physical exam, able to work, at least $25.00, no criminal record) • Two chief immigration stations in U.S. Ellis Island in N.Y. harbor and Angel Island in San Francisco Bay. • Angel Island facility was filthy; immigrants treated like prisoners.

  11. ELLIS ISLAND

  12. Anti-Immigrant Movement • Economic fears: cheap immigrant labor • Political corruption: easily manipulated by big-city politicians • World War One: Nationalism • Led to passage of literacy test and strict quota laws.

  13. Immigration Act of 1965 • 1960’s Economic growth • Ended quota system • Cleared the way for greater immigration from Asia • Emphasis on attracting highly skilled professionals • Family reunification policy instituted

  14. Immigration Policies • 1970’s: 290,000 annual limit • Rise of illegal aliens • Hundreds of thousands of backlogged applicants led to rise in illegals • Immigration Act of 1990: raised annual limit to 675,000 • 21% of visas reserved for well-trained workers

  15. Immigration Today • 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform Act: improved procedures for deporting illegals. • Sept. 11, 2001: national security concerns. Fear of terrorists led to increased border control and strict enforcement of immigration laws. • Economic security concerns

  16. Economic Arguments against Immigration • Labor union leaders claim immigrants take jobs away from Americans • Hold down wages (cheap supply of unskilled labor) • Drains poor countries of their most educated professionals

  17. Economic Arguments in favor of Immigration • Unskilled workers needed in hotels, restaurants, agriculture to help keep down costs for owners. • Many high tech industries rely on immigrants. Tend to specialize in engineering, computer science, chemistry

  18. Arguments in Favor • Many large U.S. cities have seen immigrants open small businesses, create new jobs, strengthen the local tax base

  19. Arguments Against • Place a burden on social services like education, health care, and welfare. • Example: bilingual classes in public schools

  20. National Security Issues • Open borders with Mexico and Canada make us vulnerable • Provoked many changes like obtaining a passport to cross the Canadian border. • Building a 700 mile high tech fence along the Mexican border; cost 1.2 Billion

  21. Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill 2007 • Failed to pass Congress • Controversy over what to do with illegal immigrants: • If you want to remain, have to admit they broke the law • Pay back taxes owed • Pass a criminal background check to be put on path for citizenship • Increase penalties for hiring illegal immigrants • Strengthen border enforcement • Create a temporary worker program to allow migrants to work in U.S. up to five years

  22. Arizona’s New Immigration Law • Arizona took matters into their own hands and passed their own immigration law • Requires local police to question the legal status of anyone they “reasonably suspect” of being an illegal • Unclear on what constitutes a reasonable suspicion • Police required to check a person’s citizenship or immigration status if there is reasonable suspicion • S.C., R.I., Pa., and Minnesota are considering similar laws

  23. Proposal to change the 14th Amendment • Some Republicans are pushing for congressional hearings to consider changing the 14th Amendment to deny children born in the U.S. if one or more parent is an illegal immigrant • Senator Lindsey Graham from S.C. is a vocal advocate for changing the Constitution

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