The subject of immigration is near the forefront of today’s news and editorial views; it’s hard to get through a paper or broadcast without encountering it. But immigration as a political issue is in fact quite recent.
Immigration first surfaced as a current national concern in a Gallup poll taken at the beginning of President Clinton’s second term, and then only as small percentage. It remained a minor issue in subsequent polls until the 2016 presidential campaign. According to a month-old CBS News poll, it has now become the number-one concern of the American public, beating out the economy, health care, terrorism, and national security. How did we get here? Why are there such divisions about immigration policy? And what can we do about it?
One could say that human immigration began when people started moving from central Africa and never really stopped. In the U.S., we often think of immigration as something that happened a little more than a hundred or more years ago, with ships full of “huddled masses, yearning to be free” passing through Ellis Island on their way to assimilation and prosperity. Now many of us see immigration as something much more disruptive and threatening, both to our economy and to our “American way of life,” which everyone in the nation reserves the right to define in his own way. And the divisions are sometimes paradoxical: A majority of Americans feels that not enough is being done to keep at-risk foreigners from entering the country, while an even greater majority opposes building a wall on the southern border. And President Trump’s revised travel ban of people from seven largely-Muslim nations has just been stalled by a federal court.
As luck would have it, a two-session class, “Introduction to the U.S Immigration System,” was presented at Northeast Library recently, through the Minneapolis Community Education program. Moderator Linda Levering-Snyder, a community education coordinator at Lucy Laney School, brought two staff attorneys from Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid, Greger Calhan and Alison Cox, to explain some of the components of current immigration law and their effects on citizens and non-citizens alike. Both speakers stressed that they were not representing Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid, but from their own experience handling cases. Calhan called the class a “basic primer” on the subject.
Calhan noted that there were few immigration laws, and even fewer enforced, until the middle of the nineteenth century. Until then, people entering the U.S. were predominantly northern Europeans, and the country was wide open for both people of means and workers. But by the 1850’s, political and economic upheavals throughout Europe greatly increased the number of immigrants applying for citizenship. Ethnic groups already here saw a threat to their livelihoods in the increasing numbers, and Congress acted to make immigration less of a formality and more of a siphon, which could be regulated to favor certain nationalities and discourage others.
The U.S. Constitution addresses immigration, and gives Congress the power to make laws, but it’s the executive branch that enforces those laws through what Calhan calls “a sprawling federal bureaucracy.” While direct control of immigration is under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Departments of Justice, State, and Health and Human Services (HHS) also have immigration responsibilities.
The DHS has three services that deal with immigration: The Customs and Immigration Service (CIS), which works with family members of immigrants, benefits for green card holders, and temporary status applications; Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which enforces immigration laws within the country; and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), which handles security at borders, airports, and other points of entry. Since 2006, the CBP’s jurisdiction of enforcement is now 100 miles inside any border. The Department of Justice has immigration courts, a parallel judicial system to protect the rights of non-citizens. The DOJ acts as a third party to insulate decisions from any political considerations of the DHS. The Department of State is responsible for processing visa applications in other countries, and HHS has its Office of Refugee Resettlement. Calhan said “Each department has an office of civil rights and an inspector general, and are constrained by the constitution, but long practice has established that people crossing the border have less rights than people already in the country.”
Calhan said “The amount of rights you are granted in this country depends where you are on the ‘immigration ladder’. If you are a U.S. citizen, you can commit as many crimes as you want, and whatever punishment you receive, you won’t lose your citizenship.” As a green card holder, a person is restricted from voting, running for office, committing certain crimes, and traveling to other countries. A refugee can work and travel within the country, but if conditions in the country of origin improved, that person can be forced to return. Both refugees and green card holders can get Social Security cards and join the military. People in the Deferred Action for Child Arrival program (DACA), usually people who entered the country as children of undocumented immigrants, are granted a quasi-status that must be renewed yearly.
At the bottom rung are people who have entered the country without going through customs, people who have overstayed their visas, criminals, and those who have been deported before. All of these groups are subject to deportation, but the U.S. has a policy of not sending people to countries with bad human-rights records (North Korea) or countries with little or no functioning government (Somalia). Those people are under “orders of supervision,” and can work and get Social Security cards.
During the class’s second session, Ms. Cox spoke about some immigration policies that appear to conflict with the goal of an orderly and fair process. She noted that some type of quota system has been used for over a century to manage the number of emigres from various countries, and this practice has led to a lot of imbalances. While many European countries do not use up their yearly quotas, others (notably Mexico, Philippines, China and India) have far more applicants than slots available. In the case of refugees, defined as persons who fear past, present, or future danger within their country of origin, she asked why some areas of conflict, like Somalia, are reason for admittance, while others, like Central America, are not.
Cox said most of her clients are undocumented, having come across the border on a now-expired visa or without passing through an official point of entry. She noted that they could be pulled over for a traffic violation and get a visit from ICE. But deportation isn’t always immediate, or even certain. If a person hasn’t been deported before, he or she can present a case for remaining on grounds of asylum, persecution, a victim of domestic violence, among others. For an undocumented immigrant who has lived in the U.S, for ten years without a criminal record, or who has a medical condition or unusual hardship can also present a case to an immigration court, and a judge can approve or deny it.
Cox said “there are always people who need to come to the U.S. The problem of immigration will never be ‘solved.’ Even within the recent travel bans, whatever their outcome, there are still options for people who claim refugee status.” To audience members who asked what they might do, Cox replied: “First, try to understand cultural differences; find out who undocumented persons are and why they came. Talk to your legislators; visit an immigration court” (the local court is at Ft. Snelling).
She also suggested checking with online immigration organizations like the Immigration Legal Resource Center (ILRC), The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), and the American Refugee Committee (ARC).
Calhan and Cox each brought their copies of “Immigration Laws and Regulations”, a 2262-page volume, which sat on the desk during both sessions. While it wasn’t opened, the book was less a prop and more a stark reminder of the complexity of a system that badly needs a better understanding.
Minneapolis Community Education will hold the class again on two Thursdays (May 18 and 25), 1-2:30 p.m. at Northeast Library, 2200 Central Ave. NE.
Below: Greger Calhan and a copy of Immigration and Nationality Laws of the United States. (Photos by Mark Peterson)