Immigration Overview

1
Immigration Overview

• Rogelio Saenz
• Texas AM University
• rsaenz_at_tamu.edu

2
Introduction

• The U.S. has long been a country of immigrants
• Waves of immigration associated with flows from
  different parts of the world
• Movement of capital and products across
  international borders
• NAFTA
• Movement of people across international borders

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Globalization

• Globalization is a process by which money, labor,
  goods, and services move easily across
  international boundaries. Globalization requires
  that goods and services be produced where costs
  are lowest, and then sold wherever profits are
  highest. Capitalists and workers alike should be
  free to produce a product (or increase the value
  of their labor) wherever they can. They should
  then be free to sell this product (or their
  labor) where it can bring them the greatest
  profit. NAFTA allows the free movement of goods
  and capital, but obstructs the free movement of
  labor. This deviation helps create the problem of
  undocumented immigration.
• Source Chad Richardson, University of Texas at
  Pan American.

4
Nationalism

• Nationalism is an ideology which holds that
  individuals owe loyalty to their nation and that
  each nation should give preference to its
  citizens. Nationalism promotes a strong sense of
  belonging based on a shared national culture,
  glorifying myths, core values, and a common
  identity. It is a glue that holds a people
  together. But it also inspires many to act out
  against outsiders, or those considered
  different. Today we see nationalism used to
  attack illegal aliens and to argue that
  immigrants are ruining our way of life
  (American culture).
• Source Chad Richardson, University of Texas at
  Pan American

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Increasing Globalization and Nationalism

• Globalization is dramatically increasing. Free
  trade creates major market changes. To stay
  competitive, employers seek for ever cheaper
  labor. This leads them to take jobs overseas or
  to draw immigrants to the U.S. While some U.S.
  jobs are eliminated (or replaced by immigrant
  labor), new jobs are created at increasingly
  higher levels of skill and education.
• Nationalism is also increasing. The changes
  brought by globalization (job loss and new waves
  of immigrant labor) lead to fears and resentment
  against outsiders. These fears are being
  exploited by politicians and media outlets who
  promote immigrant bashing and alarmist
  legislation.
• Source Chad Richardson, University of Texas at
  Pan American

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The Current Environment

• Militarization of the Border
• Walls and Fences
• Worksite Raids
• Detentions and Deportations
• Hate and Violence

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• Source http//www.afa.org/magazine/Dec2006/theate
  r04.jpg

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• Source http//farm1.static.flickr.com/167/4146850
  19_30c6abeb79.jpg

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• Source
• http//bp1.blogger.com/_t5CFZhL40BE/R8BQUUHu1dI/AA
  AAAAAAAqY/fKVyT5i7YiI/s1600-h/US_Mexican_Border_Wa
  ll2Bconstruction2B(web).jpg

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• Source http//i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/04
  /24/gall.texmex.gi.jpg

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• Source http//cache.daylife.com/imageserve/01Ny0h
  Y1FL9jK/610x.jpg

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• Source
• http//fairimmigration.files.wordpress.com/2008/06
  /242_cartoon_border_fence_hurwitt_large.gif

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Source http//pewhispanic.org/files/reports/84.pd
f
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Source http//pewhispanic.org/files/reports/84.pd
f
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ICE Raid Litigations

• 2007
• http//www.nilc.org/DC_Conf/dc-conf2007/wrkshp_mat
  erials/2-5_ICEraidslitigation2007.JPG
• 2006-2007
• http//www.nilc.org/DC_Conf/dc-conf2007/wrkshp_mat
  erials/2-5_USraidmap_2006-10-22.JPG

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• Source http//static.flickr.com/143/321540194_a54
  5dd69f6_o.jpg

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• Source http//farm4.static.flickr.com/3276/254698
  9172_2c46dfe848_m.jpg

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• Source http//www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dw
  s/img/12-06/1213cactushp.jpg

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• Source http//farm3.static.flickr.com/2368/251669
  1728_c078399551_m.jpg

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The T. Don Hutto Family Detention Center
Source http//subtopia.blogspot.com/2007/02/circu
s-of-detention.html
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Hutto Family Detention Center in Taylor, Texas
(Photo by Jay Johnson-Castro)

• Source http//latinalista.blogspot.com/2006/12/pr
  ivatized-immigrant-detention.html

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• Source http//www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,253699
  ,00.html

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Source http//pewhispanic.org/files/reports/84.pd
f
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Southern Poverty Law Center

• 14 Hate Groups Against Immigrants
• http//www.splcenter.org/intel/map/type.jsp?DT27

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• Origen http//news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_
  article.html?article_idcb1ac6666cf80f87fd61e4cec5
  421342

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Inmigrante Mexicano Golpeado a Muerte en
Pennsylvania

• Source
• http//americanhumanity.wordpress.com/2008/07/19/m
  exican-immigrant-beaten-to-death-in-pennsylvania/

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Effects of Globalization vs. Nationalism on the
US-Mexico Borderlands Source Chad Richardson
Globalization
Nationalism
Borderlands
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Maximizing the Goodand Minimizing the Pain of
this Conflict

• Globalization produces both winners and losers
• Globalization pushes Mexican workers off ejidos
  and pulls them to the U.S. where they can earn
  money for their families
• Globalization takes away some U.S. jobs. But many
  jobs are also created for those with the needed
  education skills.

• Immigration also produces winners and losers
• Though some workers are displaced by immigrants,
  evidence strongly suggests that they create more
  jobs than they displace
• Immigrants can also keep many U.S. industries
  competitive and keep some companies from taking
  jobs outside the U.S.
• Source Chad Richardson, University of Texas at
  Pan American.

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• Current Trends

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• Jeffrey S. Passel and DVera Cohn. Trends in
  Unauthorized Immigration Undocumented Inflow Now
  Trails Legal Inflow. Washington, DC Pew Hispanic
  Center, October 2008.
• http//pewhispanic.org/files/reports/94.pdf

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Estimates of the Undocumented Immigrant
Population in the U.S., 2000-2008
34
Key Trends

• Decline in the undocumented population since 2007
• The 2005-2008 period has seen the slowest growth
  in the undocumented population during the decade
• Average of 800,000/yr. in 2000-2004
• Average of 500,000/yr. in 2005-2008
• In 2005-2008, legal permanent residents outnumber
  undocumented immigrants, a reversal of a trend
  that started a decade ago
• Still, undocumented immigrant population has
  increased more than 40 since 2000
• Undocumented immigrants account for 4 of total
  U.S. population

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Possible Reasons for Changes

• Slowdown in U.S. economy
• Stabilization of Mexican and Latin American
  economies
• Heightened enforcement and security of the border
  and beyond

36
Percentage Distribution of U.S. Undocumented
Immigrant Population by Region and Country of
Birth, 2008Source Pew Hispanic Center estimates
based on March supplements of Current Population
Survey.
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Other Key Findings

• Undocumented immigrants account for 30 of
  nations foreign-born population of more than 39
  million.
• 2 of every 5 undocumented immigrants have arrived
  since 2000
• 4 of 5 undocumented from Latin America (9.6
  million with 7 million coming from Mexico alone)

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• Rakesh Kochhar. Sharp Decline in Income for
  Non-Citizen Immigrant Households, 2006-2007.
  Washington, DC Pew Hispanic Center, October
  2008.
• http//pewhispanic.org/files/reports/95.pdf

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• Mark Hugo Lopez and Susan Minushkin. Hispanics
  See Their Situation in U.S. Deteriorating Oppose
  Key Immigration Enforcement Measures.
  Washington, DC Pew Hispanic Center, September
  2008.
• http//pewhispanic.org/files/reports/93.pdf

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• Workplace Raids
• High-profile workplace raids to detain
  immigrants who are working without authorization
  have become more common in recent years (Bazar
  2008). Some of the largest raids this year
  include that of Pilgrims Pride in which over 300
  immigrants were detained in five states,
  AgriProcessors in Postville, Iowa, where more
  than 300 immigrants were detained, and Howard
  Industries of Laurel, Miss. in which nearly 600
  were detained.
• Source Lopez and Minushkin (2008).

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• Prosecuting Employers
• Employment-based immigration violations involve
  two parties, the employee who is not authorized
  to work in the United States and the employer who
  is not permitted to hire undocumented workers.
  The federal government has stepped up its actions
  against employers in recent years (Pew Hispanic
  Center 2007). Some recent enforcement actions
  couple workplace raids with the criminal
  prosecution of employers who are alleged to have
  knowingly hired undocumented immigrants. Among
  the high-profile actions of this sort are the
  filing of charges this year against the owners
  and managers of AgriProcessors, a meatpacker
  based in Postville, Iowa, and in 2006 against the
  managers of IFCO Systems, a wood pallet maker
  with corporate headquarters in Houston.
• Source Lopez and Minushkin (2008).

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• A Demographic Profile of Latinos in the South
  (Excluding Texas) from the 2007 American
  Community Survey

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Age-Sex Pyramid of the Latino Population in the
South, 2007
61
Age-Sex Pyramid of the White Population in the
South, 2007
62
Age-Sex Pyramid of the Black Population in the
South, 2007
63
Percentage of Population Foreign-Born in the
South by Race, 2007

• Latinos 51.6
• Whites 2.6
• Blacks 5.6

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Occupations Where Higher Percentages of
Foreign-Born Latinos Work Compared to Other
Selected Groups, 2007

• FB NB
• Occupation Latino Latino White Black
• __________________________________________________
  __
• Food Preparation Service 7.8 7.3
  5.3 7.6
• Bldg. Grounds Cleaning Maint. 11.7
  4.5 3.1 6.3
• Farming, Fisheries, and Forestry 3.4
  0.7 0.6 0.5
• Construction 21.2 6.7 6.4
  4.7
• Production 10.0 5.1 6.0
  8.5
• __________________________________________________
  ________

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• State Variations in the Foreign-Born Latino
  Population in the South
• (Excluding Delaware, District of Columbia,
  Maryland, Oklahoma, Texas, Virginia, and West
  Virginia)

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Percentage of Latinos Who are Foreign-Born in
Selected States in the South, 2007
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Sex Ratios for Foreign-Born Latinos in Selected
States in the South, 2007
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Median Year in Which Foreign-Born Latinos
Immigrated to the U.S. in Selected States in the
South, 2007
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Percentage of Foreign-Born Latinos Who Speak Only
Spanish in Selected States in the South, 2007
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Median Hourly Wages of Foreign-Born Latino Males
in Selected States in the South, 2006
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Percentage of Foreign-Born Latinos in Poverty in
Selected States in the South, 2006
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• Combating Some Common Misperceptions in the
  Anti-Immigrant Backlash
• Source Chad Richardson, University of Texas at
  Pan American

73
Misconception 1 They Only want welfare and we
simply cant afford it.

• Francisco Rivera-Batiz Survey research showed
  that most undocumented workers do not come here
  seeking welfare payments, health care, or other
  government handouts. They come to work to earn
  money that they can then use to supplement their
  meager incomes in Mexico. Journal of
  International Affairs 53, no. 2 (Spring 2000)
  485-501
• A University of Illinois at Chicago study of
  1,653 documented and undocumented immigrants in
  metro Chicago found that only a very small number
  of them were receiving government benefits.
  Conclusion Undocumented immigrants support
  thousands of other workers in the local economy,
  pay taxes, and demonstrate little reliance on
  government benefits. Center for Urban Economic
  Development at the University of Illinois at
  Chicago, Chicago's Undocumented Immigrants
  (2002) iv
• At the national level, almost no evidence
  indicates that immigrants impose net burdens on
  taxpayers at the federal level. In fact,
  Espenshade shows that immigrants provide a
  substantial fiscal surplus (e.g., 30 Billion
  surplus account of the Social Security
  Administration. Thomas J. Espenshade,
  Unauthorized immigration to the United States,
  Annual Review of Sociology, 21, (1995) 195

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A Look at Public Expenditures for the
Undocumented in Texas

• Comptroller of Public Accounts in Texas, 2005
• The Comptrollers office estimates the absence of
  the estimated 1.4 million undocumented immigrants
  in Texas in fiscal 2005 would have been a loss to
  our Gross State Product of 17.7 billion.
• Also, the Comptrollers office estimates that
  state revenues collected from undocumented
  immigrants exceed what the state spent on
  services, with the difference being 424.7
  million.
• The Comptroller estimates that undocumented
  immigrants paid more than 513 million in fiscal
  2005 in local taxes, including city, county and
  special district sales and property taxes.
• While state revenues exceed state expenditures
  for undocumented immigrants, local governments
  and hospitals experience the opposite, with
  outlays exceeding tax revenues in 2005.
• Source www.window.state.tx.us/specialrpt/undocume
  nted/

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Misconception 2 They Commit More Crimes

• Rebecca Clark and Scott Anderson found that
  almost half (47 percent) of illegal alien federal
  prisoners are in prison for an offense that only
  applies to them (unlawfully entering the United
  States). This crime is generally seen as an
  administrative, not a criminal, violation.

Source Rebecca L. Clark and Scott A. Anderson,
Urban Institute, (June 30, 2000) 3
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Crime by Aliens in Texas

• Only 7.5 of TDCJ inmates are foreign born
  (11,514 out of 151,852), though foreign born are
  estimated to be 14 of total Texas population.

Source Undocumented Immigrants in Texas,
December 2006. Susan Combs, Texas Comptroller of
Public Accounts. Section V. Incarceration
http//www.window.state.tx.us/specialrpt/undocumen
ted/5incarceration.html
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Misconception 3 They steal our jobs

• An extensive body of research shows that while
  the undocumented do take some jobs desired by
  U.S. workers, they also create many jobs.
• A University of Illinois at Chicago study, for
  example, found that undocumented workers spend
  almost 3 billion a year in the Chicago region as
  consumers, which provides jobs to those who
  provide these goods or services.
• The contribution of all Latino immigrants, of
  course, is much greater. In 2004 the
  Inter-American Development Bank, based on survey
  and census data, reported that Latin American
  immigrants (legal and undocumented) in 2004
  contributed an estimated 450 billion to the U.S.
  economy, often doing jobs spurned by others.

• Center for Urban Economic Development at the
  University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago's
  Undocumented Immigrants ?An Analysis of Wages,
  Working Conditions, and Economic Contributions,
  (2002) iv

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Conclusions

• Immigration from Latin American to the U.S. has a
  long history, particularly in the case of Mexico
• NAFTA solidified the interdependent relationship
  between Mexico and the U.S.
• Human migration is part of the forces of
  globalization
• Rise of nationalism and its negative impact on
  Latino immigrants and native-born alike
• Mexico, Latin America, and the U.S. have gained
  from immigration
• Latino immigrants represent a net benefit for the
  U.S.
• Investment in Latino immigrants reaps even more
  benefits
• The Dalton, Georgia story

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• El Fin