Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota Minnesota Immigration Statistics

Background
Immigration laws and the effects of illegal immigration on U.S. communities have recently been the focus of several hot political debates. In California – the state arguably affected by illegal immigration more than any other – this issue has provided such intense political discussion at state and local levels that it thrust the issue into the national spotlight. The political hot button of immigration, however, certainly predates recent debates in California and elsewhere.
Since the 1880s, American immigration policy has worked to limit and control the increasing trend of people seeking to locate in the United States. The historic Foran Act in 1885, for example, prohibited businesses and individuals from recruiting unskilled labor from outside the U.S. with advance contracts. From 1890 to the mid-1920s, new literacy requirements further restricted immigration. In fact, the first Immigration Act in 1917 required literacy for immigrants over the age of 16. Many sociologists and political scientists contend that the restrictionist policies associated with immigration since the late 1800s have largely emerged from socially and politically sanctioned racism and a protectionist attitude among native-born American citizens.
Two important pieces of legislation are relevant here. The first is the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. Signed into law by Ronald Reagan in November 1986, the bill contains the following noteworthy provisions:
— Employers would be forbidden to hire illegal aliens. The ban would apply to all employers, even those with just a few employees.
— Employers would have to ask all job applicants for documents, such as a passport or birth certificate and a driver’s license, to confirm that they were either citizens or aliens authorized to work in the United States. The employer would not be required to check the authenticity of the document.
— The government would offer legal status to aliens who entered the United States illegally before January 1, 1982 and have resided here continuously since then. For five years, they would be ineligible for welfare, food stamps, and most other federal benefits, with some exceptions.
— States would have to verify, through records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the legal status of aliens seeking welfare benefits, Medicaid, unemployment compensation, food stamps, housing assistance, or college aid under federal programs.
— Under a special program, illegal aliens who worked in American agriculture for at least 90 days in the period from May 1, 1985, to May 1, 1986, could become lawful temporarily residents in the United States. After two years of that status, they could become permanent residents, eligible for American citizenship after five more years.
— Employers would be forbidden to discriminate against legal aliens because of their national origin or citizenship status. A new office would be established in the Justice Department to investigate complaints of such discrimination.
The second bill, the Immigration Act of 1990, was signed into law by President George Bush (the first Bush president), in November of that year. The new law placed tighter restrictions on the number of immigrants allowed to enter the U.S. annually. According to the act, the number of visas granted to immigrants (excluding refugees) would drop from the 1992-94 figure of 700,000 annually to 675,000 beginning in fiscal year 1995. The history of American political attention to immigration issues has varied widely across the decades since the late 1800s; however, the legislative trends have leaned toward tighter restrictions and attention to economic and social effects of immigrant populations on American communities.
The Situation and Your Role
You were hired just yesterday as a researcher and speechwriter for Brian Lindeman, candidate for U.S. Congress from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Lindeman is running as an Independent. New on the political scene, he has spent most of his career in higher education teaching political science and ethics. He cultivates his Washington “outsider” status and is just in the process of getting his campaign (and fundraising) off the ground. Though you have yet to meet Lindeman personally – you were hired by his chief of staff, Shaswana Bahktu – you feel strongly that this opportunity is a good chance to keep your professional communication skills polished as well as to enhance your portfolio. You have read most of what has been written about Lindeman (which is not much) and feel there is nothing in what Lindeman has articulated concerning his position on various issues with which you vehemently disagree, although your interest in politics is certainly secondary to your interest in professional communication.
On your first day of work, you are anxious to get started on a project and Shaswana, your immediate supervi