“American Dream and Promise Act is a Welcome First Step for Immigrant Youth” States News Service, 2021, p. NA. Gale in Context: Biography.
An article by the Church World Service (CWS) urges Congress to advance inclusive legislation that grants permanent citizenship pathways to all immigrants without discrimination. The CWS Director, Meredith Owen, acknowledges the American Dream and Promise Act in the view that it would grant citizenship to immigrants. In this short article, through their director Owen, ACW view the act as a path to citizenship for the three million undocumented youth, Deferred enforced departure recipients, and temporary protected status holders. This article draws its strength from religion as a unifying factor. Further, the article’s credibility is drained from the CWS. The article, however, fails to include other denominations such as the Muslim council as a way of unifying all religions. Muslims and other religions may feel as if they have been left out while they form part of the undocumented immigrants. This resource will be critical in my topic as it will touch on the “American dream and promise Act” as it pertains to immigrants.
DeLuca, Lawrence A. et al. “United States–Mexico Border Crossing: Experiences and Risk Perceptions of Undocumented Male Immigrants.” Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, vol 12, no. 1, 2008, pp. 113-123. Springer Science and Business Media LLC, doi:10.1007/s10903-008-9197-4.
Deluca, McEwen, and Keim conduct qualitative research on undocumented male immigrants’ experiences and risk perceptions crossing the US-Mexico border. They analyze the different risks sustained by immigrants, including cold injury and heat, wild animals encounter, and dehydration. In this study, the authors use a sample population of 8 undocumented male immigrants who had attempted to cross the US-Mexico border illegally. To elicit information from the individuals, semi-structured interviews where the responses were classified into broad themes. From the responses, the authors validate the risks as being commonplace. The study also found that the individuals sought information before crossing from their acquaintances in border towns, media, and family members. However, they did not value the information and proceeded to cross the border. The study also identifies other risks, such as one being alienated from the family and mingling with people with existing medical problems. The study highlights the need for awareness of the eminent risks of crossing the US-Mexico border. Perhaps including women could have brewed other problems faced by women immigrants as they cross the border. Overall, this publication’s credibility is assured by semi-structured interviews as the individuals can be traced. This resource will be helpful in my research as it focuses on the challenges faced by illegal undocumented immigrants as they cross the US-Mexico border.
Yee, Vivian et al. “The Reality of Illegal Immigrants Who Live in The United States.” New York Times (1923-Current File), 2017, p. A14.
In this article, Yee, Davis, and Patel document “the reality of illegal immigrants who live in the United States” who work in American fields, restaurant kitchens, American classrooms, and immigration courts. The authors estimate the number to be close to 11 million who are perceived differently by varied audiences. From the public’s view, undocumented immigrants live in America illegally from Spain and Mexico. The government perceives these people as criminals who menace American neighborhoods by sapping American resources, taking jobs, and should be expelled. However, advocates view them as people who take jobs that have been rejected and come to earn a good living. They also critique the proposed wall by president Trump across the southern border, terming that many immigrants come from other regions such as China. The authors propose ways of categorizing the immigrants, including geography, demography, and circumstances. Overstayed visas have been another reason that has increased undocumented immigrants. Repeat crossers is another factor that strongly impedes undocumented immigrants. The resource covers the information on immigrants from a more comprehensive view. This resource will help me in my study as it touches immigration by focusing on their reality.
Landgrave, Michelangelo, and Alex Nowrasteh. Incarcerated immigrants in 2016: Their numbers, demographics, and countries of origin. Cato Institute, 2018.
Landgrave and Alex conduct research on incarcerated immigrants in 2016, their numbers, demographics, and countries of origin. The authors critique Trump’s administration that expanded interior immigration enforcement, making it easier for states and local governments to detain and apprehend illegal immigrants. The root cause of Trump’s action is based on the increased crime rate in the United States. The article uses American Community Survey data from the United States Census Bureau to analyze detained immigrants based on their citizenship and legal status for 2016. From the study, all immigrants, whether legal and illegal, are less likely to be incarcerated than native-born Americans. Landgrave and Alex cite significant incarceration rates between illegal and legal immigrants and native-born Americans, depicting that they are more likely to be incarcerated than immigrants. The incarceration rate for native-born Americans was 1,521 for every 100,000 while for immigrants was 800 per 100,000. This resource will be vital in analyzing the incarceration rate for immigrants against native-born Americans.
Camarota, Steven A. “Deportation vs. the Cost of Letting Illegal Immigrants Stay.” Center for Immigration Studies Backgrounder, 2017.
Steven Camarota’s article provides deep insight on the deportation vs. the cost of letting illegal immigrants stay. Camarota views deportation costs from different angles ranging from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) cost per removal and immigration courts cost. On the other hand, the cost of letting immigrants stay seems to be high based on social, economic, and political factors. Camarota points out that most immigrants have much lower education levels than native-born Americans, hence draining substantial fiscal. This means that letting illegal immigrants stay would create a significant net fiscal drain due to their low education levels. However, deportation is not costly relative to the fiscal cost created by letting them stay. Camarota’s article sheds some light on that deporting a large share of immigrants would be justified by the fiscal view. This resource is essential to my topic. It gives a clear guideline on approaching immigrants’ issues by comparing deportation costs with letting illegal immigrants stay.
Nowraster, Alex. Criminal Immigrants in Texas in 2017: Illegal Immigrant Conviction Rates and Arrest Rates for Homicide, Sex Crimes, Larceny, and Other Crimes. CATO Institute, 2019.
Alex Nowraster critique the rate of immigrant criminality in Texas in 2017. This study focuses on illegal immigrant’s conviction rates and arrest rates for homicides, larceny, and sex crimes, among other crimes committed by immigrants. Nowraster uses the Texas Department of Public safety data to estimate the conviction and arrest rates for Texas individuals in 2017. The article results depict that illegal immigrants were less likely to be convicted of a crime than native-born Americans and legal immigrants. Nowraster cites that controlling the size of the population I critical to compare relative conviction rates between subpopulations. The subpopulations cited in brief include native-born Americans, legal and illegal immigrants. This resource is vital to my topic as it compares the rate of conviction and arrests for crimes. Immigrant criminality is an important topic that causes mixed reactions among Americans as most believe that illegal immigrants commit more crimes than American citizens.