Research Paper on US Immigration Program

Introduction

The immigration issue in the United States has caused various debates among different groups of people living in the US. A majority of Americans believe immigrants have a positive contribution to the American society. They are, however, against the increased number of immigrants making their way into the US. The immigration policy was designed to solve a variety of immigration issues such as illegal immigration into the USA and the security threats associated with having immigrants into the country. The US immigration policy has been the subject of various changes ever since it was adopted. The changes which were introduced were meant to deal with the immigration problem and also to protect the country's interests. Some of the earlier restrictions enacted by Congress were overtly racist and unfair. They were simply used to prevent individuals from specific countries from entering the United States. The recent changes to the immigration policy have also been perceived as racist and only meant to deter a certain group of people from entering the country.

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The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (INA) was the statute which was enacted to deal with the issue of immigration. Before 1875, immigration into the United States was largely unrestricted (Yale-Loehr and Koehler, 2005). The main reason why the policy was enacted was to check the growing number of immigrants into the USA. As of 2014, the number of foreign-born residents living in the United States was 42.4 million (Kandel and Wasem, 2016). There are two types of stakeholders associated with the program: government and non-government stakeholders. The office of the intergovernmental affairs is an example of a government stakeholder. Non-government stakeholders include leaders from community-based organizations and local US citizens. Successful implementation of the policy and program requires a concerted effort of both the government and non-government stakeholders. The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is charged with the responsibility of implementing the program. The effectiveness of the ICE depends on the collaboration and cooperation of state and local governments (Pierce and Selee, 2017). Some of the local jurisdictions have not fully cooperated with the ICE which has affected the implementation of the program.

The media, interest groups and lobbyists have a great impact on the success of immigration programs. Immigration is a very complex issue, and not many people can comprehend it on their own. The views which people have regarding immigration are formed out of personal experience, reports, and information received from the media, interest groups and lobbyists (Kandel, 2017). When immigrants are portrayed negatively by the media and other interested groups, the citizens are bound to support government efforts aimed at deporting them. It is important for governments to have the support of the citizens since they can provide important information regarding the immigrants. The media is charged with the responsibility of informing the public about various government policies and actions. Interest groups and lobbyists have a certain duty towards a particular group of people and are therefore constantly evaluating the effects of government policies on particular groups of people.

President Donald Trump's administration has been at the forefront of championing for the implementation of the program. The White House believes that both legal and illegal immigrants pose a threat to America's economic and national security (Pierce and Selee, 2017). The program has received several criticisms from several groups of people. Most of them perceive the program as being inhuman since it has led to the massive separation of families. The courts have especially been instrumental in preventing some of the changes enacted by the White House. The ban on entry for nationals of some Muslim countries has received severe opposition by the courts. Courts have used several legal justifications to block some of the immigration changes introduced by Trump's administration (Pierce and Selee, 2017). Critics of the program have had limited to no success in preventing the implementation of the program. The administration has been able to introduce several changes to the policy even as the critics continue to oppose the program. The advocates of the program have had their way, and the program has been designed according to how it was envisioned. One of the ways through which the advocates of the program affected its design is that they expanded the DHS' removal priorities which made it possible for people who had no criminal records or those who did not pose a danger to society to be removed.

The program's effectiveness is monitored in several ways. The administration uses compliance, auditing and sometimes accounting strategies to gauge the effectiveness of the enacted programs. Compliance is however used in greater proportions compared to the other means. The administration has been pressuring several sanctuary jurisdictions which did not previously cooperate with ICE (Wasem and Ester, 2008). This is done through the setting of conditions for department grants. The administration is also hell-bent on ensuring immigration cases are promptly processed. It has embarked on a mission that will see the backlog of immigration cases significantly reduced. Auditing is occasionally used to measure the effectiveness of the policy. For instance, at one time, the National Research Council was sanctioned to conduct case studies on the financial impact of immigration (Hanson, 2005). Recommendations and reports from the NRC are considered during the enactment of laws. The fiscal burden associated with immigration is also factored in during budgeting.

Conclusion

The successful implementation of the program heavily depends on the amount of funding available. Many of the programs pursued by Trump's administration require federal funding. Their implementation has therefore stalled since the administration's proposals have not been approved by Congress. During the presidential campaigns, Trump had pledged to build a wall along the US-Mexico border. It was his signature initiative which has also been stalled as lawmakers have not yet appropriated the funds needed to implement the initiative. Trump's immigration program is viewed by many as overly ambitious. It has therefore not been able to secure sufficient funding to implement it completely. The limited funding received has been used to hire more enforcement officers amongst other changes. The programs lack of sufficient funding can be solved through a variety of ways. The government can reduce funding for non-essential programs and divert the funds towards the implementation of immigration programs. As things stand, one-third of the immigration is illegal. This has a huge impact on the economic performance of a country. It is therefore important to ensure sufficient funds are diverted towards dealing with the issue. Additionally, different officers should be assigned defined responsibilities and held accountable for any performance variances which occur. Technological strategies can also be used to facilitate the process. Successful implementation of the program depends on a host of factors which need to be carefully considered before being executed.

References

Hanson, G. H. (2005). Challenges for US immigration policy. The United States and the world economy: Foreign economic policy for the next decade, 343-372. doi:10.4324/9781315307114-2.

Kandel, W. A. (2017). A primer on U.S. immigration policy (CRS Report R45020). Washington, D.C.: Congressional Research Service, 3(7), 1-7. doi:10.2307/2547393

Kandel, W. A., & Wasem, R. E. (2016). US Immigration Policy: Journal of Chart Book of Key Trends, 30(2), 1-27 doi:10.1111/1728-4457.2001.00661.x

Pierce, S., & Selee, A. (2017). Immigration under Trump: A Review of Policy Shifts in the Year since the Election. Migration Policy Institute. Policy Brief, 2(32), 1-7. doi:10.1177/019791830003400407

Wasem, R. E., & Ester, K. (2008). Temporary Protected Status: Current immigration policy and issues, 20(844), 1-6. doi:10.24/0078130711s

Yale-Loehr, S., & Koehler, S. (2005). Overview of US immigration law. Journal of Research Gate, 40(17). doi:10.1057/1137047892.0013