In the News..

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In the News..

• Lecture 11

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Migration Law Options

• PLAN A
• Will make been an illegal alien a felony
  punishable by jail.
• Anyone who provides aid to an illegal a crime
  will be punishable by jail.
• Fines will increase to employees who hire illegal
  immigrants from 250-10,000 to 5,000-25,000
• PLAN B
• Will provide for a guest worker program (However,
  the person will need to leave the country and
  apply). Leave the country after 5 years.
• The visa offers no real path to citizenship.
• Double fines to employers.
• Hire 10,000 agents to investigate businesses in
  violations and hire 1,000 more agents to examine
  visa fraud.
• Increase border patrol and technology

• PLAN C
• Immigrants to apply for a three year temporary
  work visa that can renew once.
• Provide a tax-preferred savings account in the
  home country so immigrants will have an incentive
  to leave after six years the immigrants will
  leave.
• No automatic path to permanent residency and
  citizenship.
• PLAN D
• Immigrants who entered before 1/7/2004 would be
  eligible to apply for a three year quest worker
  visa.
• Could be renew once if paid a 1,000 fine and
  passed a background check.
• After six year, if they demonstrate English
  proficiency, pay 1,000 fine, and back taxes
  could apply to permanent residency.
• Immigrant abroad could apply for this visa but it
  would be capped at 400,000

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Immigration Enforcement at the Workplace

• Investigations into the employment of illegal
  immigrants also know as Worksite enforcement
• Resulted in 127 criminal convictions in 2005
  nationwide,
• Up from 46 the previous year,
• One single investigation resulted in 15 million
  settlement.
• Three Maryland restaurants pleaded guilty to
  federal offenses and agreed o forfeit more than
  1 million in cash and property.
• Owners of Kawasaki restaurant in Baltimore
  pleaded guilty to money laundering and harboring
  illegal immigrants.
• Admitted to harboring as many as 24 illegal
  immigrants, paying less than minimum wage and
  using profits to buy luxury cars and properties.
• In Ohio two temp agencies and nine people were
  indicted in money laundering of 5.3 million
  dollars.
• Wal-Mart last year as a result of criminal
  investigation settled for 11 million after
  hiring illegal immigrants by contractors
  providing cleaning services.
• Source Rich, Eric. April 16, 2006 Immigration
  Enforcements Shift in Workplace. The Washington
  Post, p. C1

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Immigration and Aging

• With more people living longer and couples having
  fewer children.
• Immigrants are contributing by working and paying
  taxes into Medicare and Social Security.
• In addition, immigrants affect the age structure
  and do the hands-on care work (Immigrants are the
  prime caregivers.)
• In 2004, a little more than 946,000 were admitted
  legally to the United States.
• Only 137,000 were over 50 years old.
• Only 154,400 were under 16.
• About 655,000 were between 16 to 49, with peak
  numbers between the ages of 25 and 39.
• For the Washington area most of the immigrants
  were immigrants between 25 and 44 with the
  concentration 25 and 34.

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Immigration and Aging

• Without immigration the United States birth rate
  would be below replacement level (2.1).
• That is the situation in Europe, in the case of
  Italy looks like a retirement community with
  about 20 of the population over 65.
• Foreign-born and foreign trained nurses are
  taking up the slack.
• They come from Nigeria, South Korea, Canada and
  Jamaica.
• More than half come from the Philippines.
• In California, 25 of all nurses are from the
  outside of the United States.
• Immigrants are helping fill the jobs caring for
  people in hospitals and nurseries.
• The Bureau of Labor Statistics will require more
  than 1.2 million new nurses between 2004 and
  2014.
• (Source Trafford, Abigail. April 18, 2006.
  Immigration is an Aging Issue. The Washington
  Post. p.F1)

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Deportation and Police

• Local and State law enforcement officials are
  taking upon themselves to pursue deportation
  cases against people who are illegally.
• Some jurisdictions are invoking the little-used
  1996 Immigration and Nationality act that help
  local and state authorities to seek special
  federal training in immigration enforcement for
  their officers (ex. Costa Mesa, California).
• In other places, police officers are alerting
  immigration officials after stopping them for
  minor offenses (ex. Suffolk County, Long Island).
• On January 9, 2006 nine immigrants were arrested
  and handed to immigrant officials after they were
  arrested for playing soccer in school field and
  charge with trespassing (ex. Putnam County, New
  York).
• For the first five years it was not used until
  recently
• Florida trained 60 agents in 2002
• Alabama 40 state troopers
• Arizona, Los Angeles, San Bernardino had dozens
  officers trained.
• 11 new state and county jurisdictions have
  applied in the last year.
• Missouri, Tennessee, Arizona, and dozens of
  counties in California, Texas, and North Carolina.

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Deportation and Police

• Why the sudden trend?
• Include a housing boom that attracted growing
  numbers of illegal workers to distant suburbs and
  exurbs, where federal resources are thin.
• Stagnation of the size of the federal immigration
  police force at 2,000 for several years.
• An increase local opposition to illegal
  immigration, again especially in the suburbs.
• Last year 160,000 illegal immigrants were
  deported last year which represents a 10
  increase.
• (Source Vitello, Paul. April 14, 2006. Path to
  deportation can start with a traffic stop. The
  New York Times. P. A1)

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Business sector and Immigration

• Businesses say it is hard to persuade Americans
  to perform the unskilled jobs.
• Significantly higher wages might work, but that
  increase would be passed on to unhappy consumers.
• A recent study by the Pew Hispanic Center
  estimated that unauthorized immigrants make up 5
  of the labor force in the US.
• In the DC region they account for 10 of the 3.1
  million providing mostly unskilled labor.
• The government has work visas know as H-2B that
  aim to help unskilled migrants legally.
• 66,000 new H-2B visas are awarded each year.
• They usually take jobs in business in
  restaurants, amusement parks, cleaning companies,
  and landscaping firms.
• Are allowed to work for 10 months.

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Business sector and Immigration

• Business owner are concerned they are going to be
  the first line of defense to detect illegal
  immigrants.
• With the new proposal they could face fines or
  face criminal penalties.
• Bethesda-based Miller Long Concrete
  Construction Co, one of the largest in the
  country, has been a target by the Labor
  Department five times looking for illegal
  immigrants.
• The Pew Hispanic Center data revealed that
  undocumented workers clustered in service and
  construction industries and make up more than 50
  of the regions janitors and landscape workers.
• Wages for landscaping and groundskeeping average
  9.61 in 1999 to 10.51 in 2004.
• Construction wages went from 15.65 in 1999 to
  17.19 in 2004.

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Business sector and Immigration

• Percentage in selected occupations in 2003-2005
• Building cleaning and maintenance 51
• Construction 43
• Food preparation and serving 22
• Production 14
• Maintenance and repair 12
• Transportation 11
• (Source Kalita, S. M. and Williams, K. March
  27, 2006. Help wanted as immigration faces
  overhaul. The Washington Post. A1)

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Immigration and Love

• Number of foreign nationals who came to the USA
  to marry an American using a Fiancé (e) visa.
• 1990 6,545
• 1995 7,793
• 2000 20,558
• 2004 28,546
• (Source USA Today April 19, 2006)

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