Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Counterpoint: Reply To Orrenius And Zavodny, Vernon Briggs

Vernon M Briggs Jr

[Excerpt] On the fundamental conclusions, the positions argued by Pia Orrenius and Madeline Zavodny and my own are in essential agreement. The immigration policy of the United States is in dire need of changes. The public concern is, in their words, “driven by the increase in immigration in recent years, particularly of unauthorized immigration.” Our mutual worries pertain to the disproportionately adverse impacts of the immigrant inflow on the nation’s low-skilled work force and the high fiscal burden borne by local communities and states with growing immigrant populations. The differences between the two papers center on the approaches taken to …

The Elusive Goal: The Quest For A Credible Immigration Policy, Vernon Briggs

Vernon M Briggs Jr

[Excerpt] The starting point for all immigration reform efforts must be making the immigration system enforceable. Nothing else makes sense. Otherwise, immigration policy is on a squirrel wheel going nowhere. Illegal immigrants will keep coming in defiance of its terms.

Using Federal Documents To Dispel A Myth About Ellis Island, Katherine A. Pennavaria, Rosemary L. Meszaros

Rosemary L. Meszaros

Government workers at New York’s Ellis Island have been accused of murdering ancestral names to serve their own purposes and prejudices. Despite zero evidence to support this accusation, the myth stubbornly persists. They did not change names. They worked from manifests, which were governed by law.

Bypassing Civil Gideon: A Legislative Proposal, Erin B. Corcoran

Law Faculty Scholarship

Eighty-four percent of immigrants appearing before immigration judges are unrepresented. Immigration judges are overwhelmed with the dual role of adjudicating cases and serving as counsel to pro se individuals appearing before them. In addition, due to the rising costs of retaining a lawyer, immigrants are turning to immigrant consultants. These incompetent and unscrupulous individuals are preying on vulnerable immigrants and engaging in the unauthorized practice of law. In addressing unmet legal needs for immigrants, most advocacy efforts for immigrants regarding the acquisition of competent representation focus on persuading the courts that immigrants appearing before an immigration judge have a constitutional …

Caught In The Immigration Cross-Fire: The Changing Dynamics Of Congressional Support For Skilled Worker Visas, Maryam Tanhaee Stevenson

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This project examines the congressional politics associated with legislation on skilled foreign workers, specifically the H-1B visa which was created by the Immigration Act of 1990. It attempts to explain why legislative policies were successful on a small scale between 1998 and 2004 and completely unsuccessful after 2004.

Specifically, this study is a longitudinal qualitative analysis that uses Krehbiel's pivotal politics model (1998), Cox and McCubbins' party politics models (2005; 2007), Sinclair's (2007) unorthodox lawmaking theory, and Gilmour's (1995) strategic disagreement model to explain four key periods of H-1B legislation: (1) the passage of the Immigration Act of 1990; (2) …

The Power To Regulate: State Vs. Federal Authority In Immigration Law, Mallory E. Young

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Illegal Immigration And The Dilemma Of American Unions, Vernon Briggs

Vernon M Briggs Jr

[Excerpt] Over its long and often turbulent evolution, the American labor movement has confronted few issues as persistently and as difficult has those related to subject of immigration. By definition, immigration affects the size of the labor force at any given time as well as its geographical distribution and skill composition. These vital influences, in turn, affect national, regional and local labor market conditions. Most immigrants directly join the labor force upon entering the country, as do eventually most of their family members. Hence, organized labor never has ignored immigration trends. As Samuel Gompers, one of the founders of the …

Illegal Immigration And The Dilemma Of American Unions, Vernon Briggs

Vernon M Briggs Jr

[Excerpt] Over its long and often turbulent evolution, the American labor movement has confronted few issues as persistently and as difficult has those related to subject of immigration. By definition, immigration affects the size of the labor force at any given time as well as its geographical distribution and skill composition. These vital influences, in turn, affect national, regional and local labor market conditions. Most immigrants directly join the labor force upon entering the country, as do eventually most of their family members. Hence, organized labor never has ignored immigration trends. As Samuel Gompers, one of the founders of the …

Wired Nation: How The Tea Party Drove An Anti-Immigrant Campaign, Louis Edgar Esparza, Judith Blau

Societies Without Borders

Emails written by activists mobilized by organizations affiliated with the tea party and supporting anti-immigrant legislation illustrate two primary kinds of tea party activists. Most activists articulate economic grievances and employ paralogical argumentation that, for them, resolves real grievances with anti-immigrant state policy. A smaller set stands against illegal immigration, a priori. Surprisingly, we also find that this email mobilization attracted a significant number of counter-protest emails. We conclude that tea party activists have channeled energy originating from legitimate grievances into scapegoating immigrant groups in Arizona in the campaign to support SB 1070. On the tenth anniversary of SSF, we …

"A Truthful Accounting Of Events": The Roles Of Linguistic Strategy, Narrative, And Performance In United States Asylum Hearings, Celia Feldman

Senior Projects Spring 2012

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College.