Immigration: The Issues Remain

The outcry of employers for common labor has been measurably diminished by the fact that the law allows Mexicans to enter without restriction by the quota law. Moreover, there has been much illicit immigration. The pressure has been diminished from the rear. Yet the Mexican is an alien who actively resists assimilation, perhaps, than any from southern or eastern Europe. We cannot call the quota law established until it applies to Mexico, Central and South America as well as to Europe and Asia. Until this is achieved, is it still an experimental policy?   (Lewis, 1928, p xii)

Sovereignty and citizenship are two generic principles of the modern nation-state that are challenged by immigration. But the nation-state exists only in distinct historical incarnations, each characterized by distinct immigration experiences. Historically studies have compared the responses of three Western nation-states: the United States, Germany, and Great Britain, to large-scale immigration after World War II.   Even though all three represent distinct types of nation building in an intrinsic self-serving purpose, one must recognize that the United States is the world’s classic settler nation, where the experience of immigration has been a nation-founding myth. (Joppke, 1999, p8)

It is no coincidence that the American-centered theories of assimilation and immigration appeared in the 1920s and 1950s, when the United States enjoyed enormous prosperity and the unquestioned status of a gigantic world power. Today, increasing attention is being paid to global sources of migration at precisely the moment when the United States is confronting serious challenges to economic and political hegemony even from friendly Asian and European powers. (Yans-McLaughlin, 1990 p14)

Dealing with the problem of illegal immigration from Mexico, neither a policy of strictly policing the border nor a policy of opening the border seems acceptable. An alternative is to permit temporary migration by Mexican guest workers.  Another solution included the opportunity for temporary migrants gradually becoming permanent immigrants. However the focused remains fixed on technical and political feasibility of implementing meaningful visa rationing criteria based on occupation or skills. Even more so, the issue of whether or not the occupational classifications should be broad or narrow. (Cornelius et al, 1994, p iii)

As a world wide issue, attempts have been made by governments to group international migration as a national security problem.   The United Nations High Commission for Refugees as well as other international organizations has come under intense pressure to assist states in management of the increasing flows. (Cornelius et al, 1994, p 7)  The Unites States Congress in the late 1980’s first initiated action to address the immigration issue. The Speaker of the House O’Neill removed immigrations bills from the House floor consideration fearing splits in his party over the measure. The Hispanic Caucus convinced the Speaker political repercussions that might ensue if the bill were passed. Even then, Hispanic legislatures feared that the current administration (Regan White House) would veto the bill, for if it had passed, it would an obvious effort to curry favor with the growing Hispanic vote. (LeMay, 1994, p 43)