In a lecture on the ‘Polarization, Politics and the Legal Architecture of American Immigration and Refugee Policy, Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar discussed the recent failures of immigration policies and the uprising movement for immigrant legalization.
“Immigration is connected to some of the biggest questions this country has to face,” said Cuéllar, a professor and Deane F. Johnson faculty scholar at Stanford Law School, as well as chair to Barak Obama’s Immigration Advisory Group. What many don’t realize, Cuéllar said, is that the flow of immigrants from 1990 to 2000 increased native worker’s wages with at least a high school diploma 3 to 4 percent. Native worker’s wages without a high school diploma decreased 1 percent.
“You don’t necessarily see the subtleties–how you indirectly benefit from immigration,” Cuéllar said, adding that the 3 to 4 percent increase affected 9 out of 10 native workers.
“The border is no man’s land,” Cuéllar said. “You have no protections at the border.”
67 percent of registered voters in America say they are in favor of giving more rights to illegal immigrants, according to a Fox News opinion dynamics poll in June 2007.
He noted three problems with immigration policy today. The first is conflicting paradigms, “The border is not in chaos, yet this is the image that sticks in people’s minds,” Cuéllar said.
“You have to start by recognizing… where those fears and concerns come from,” Cuéllar said.
Second, Cuéllar noted a complicated policy dilemma. In 2006 and 2007 a partial legalization bill was struck down in Congress. Both bills died, however, because of amendments made to the bills that legislatures feared would not be supported by the public or by businesses.
“Unless we persuade folks on the issue… we’re going to continuously see policy failure,” Cuéllar said. “Legislation is frustration.”
The third problem Cuéllar sees, is defining the role of the nation state. He noted that some people include immigration in their anxiety on the future and stability of the U.S. According to Cuéllar and the U.S. Census Bureau, immigration is relatively high; however, the percentage of foreign born in the United States was higher in 1850 to 1920. The U.S. also sees the highest amount of immigration in absolute terms, not percentage to the population, than any other country. With the high immigration, Border Patrol expenditures are up to $4 billion a year, nearly a 20-fold increase since 1990.
“The enforcements at the borders also have a human cost,” Cuéllar said, adding that the number of dead found near the border has increased dramatically over the years.
All the while, “The undocumented workers here are not going to leave,” Cuéllar said.U.S. refugee policies also frustrated Cuéllar.
“I find our treatment to Iraqis deplorable,” Cuéllar said.
Iraq has produced millions of refugees since U.S. occupation in 2003, and the U.S. has accepted about 5,000 Iraq refugees a year.
In current movements with immigration policies, “There’s a strong reaction to local action,” Cuéllar said.
“I foresee more local action and federal action in response.”Students attending the lecture didn’t always agree with Cuéllar.
“I’m definitely for more strict enforcement of the laws that are here now,” said Michael Oporto, a junior business major.
“Politicians are fearful of being labeled as a racist … so much is concentrated on getting re-elected instead of the issue.”
When asked if their parents were immigrants about half of the audience raised their hand.
“I myself come from immigrant parents and they have been a very positive element to the American fabric,” said Steve Miranda, a senior engineering major.
“We’re having to deal with the immigration issue in a very open-minded way… we’re all interconnected,” Miranda said.