Immigration & Race

For my research paper, I worked to analyze how the perception of immigrants and the formation of immigration policy have racial implications. In an effort to address the issue, I began with a discussion on how the United States of America was built on immigration and transitioned to current debates about the problem of immigration.

Throughout my paper I discussed the following things:
- language used to address immigration issues --> implications of "alien" and "illegal" opposed to undocumented.
- history of immigration laws: quota systems that initially favored Northern Europeans and eventually progressed to favor Western Hemisphere migrants--> immigration preference
- current policy changes and implications:
1) "English Only" proposals, forcing assimilation
2) the "Secure Fence Act" which is the fence built between the US and Mexico-- why so scared of immigrants from the south?
3) Arizona's new immigration law-- which condones racial profiling and allows great room for interpretation and abuse by law enforcements, also making hispanics that identify as American feel less American.

After close analysis of immigration issues, I concluded that residents of the United States must work to recognize (and overcome) their fear of changing demographics. Additionally, government policies must work to understand why people migrate in an effort to better address the issue. With better education and the deconstruction of stigma and stereotypes, better relationships will develop amongst the immigrants and those born in the United States.