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Issue - Immigration

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Issue: Immigration

From Ryan Woodhams,
Your Guide to Conservative Politics: U.S..
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The Issue

Immigration has been a top issue with Americans practically since the ink was starting to dry on the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. public regularly questions whether too many immigrants are being allowed in as residents and workers, often during bad economic times.

While a pro-immigration position is frequently considered the liberal one, many conservatives consider pro-immigration stances conservative. The conservative editorial page of The Wall Street Journal, for one, believes immigration and greater levels of immigration improve life for all Americans.

People who advocate for less immigration overall or less immigration from certain countries say immigration means lower wages and lost jobs for native-born Americans and immigrants in the country legally. Additionally, anti-immigration groups worry how large numbers of non-English speakers will affect the nation's culture and history. While the United States has no official language, English is the de facto national language although Spanish is often spoken, particularly by immigrants from Central and South America, from which most immigrants come.

Immigration is an broad issue with many sub-issues, such as how to deal with illegal immigrants, the proper level of legal immigration and how to ensure immigrants are properly "Americanized" -- or if they should be Americanized at all.

Latest Developments

Now that President George W. Bush has won reelection, news reports say he again will push for his plan to give legal status to Mexican in the country illegally. The plan is controversial with some conservatives, such as U.S. Rep Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., who call it an amnesty plan for illegal immigrants and discriminatory toward non-Mexican immigrants. Some representatives of pro-immigration groups say the plan doesn't go far enough.

Arizona voters approved Proposition 200, which would amend the state constitution to require people in Arizona to provide proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote and require people show ID when seeking benefits from any state or local agency that aren't federally mandated. The amendment passed 56 percent to 44 percent on the Nov. 2 ballot. Most of the state's political leadership, Republicans and Democrats alike opposed the measure.

Background

While public opinion sometimes shows a broad desire for a crackdown on immigration or at least illegal immigration, such moods can shift. In California, for example, many Republican state leaders in 1994 pushed for a ballot proposal, known as Proposition 187, that aimed to deny public services to people in the United States illegally. Although the measure passed, the Republican Party was hurt, some political observers say, because voters viewed the party as intolerant, if not racist, toward immigrants. Now, of course, state voters picked Arnold Schwarzenegger, an Austrian immigrant, as their governor.