Immigration nation
Articles
...The United States spends more than $1 billion a year patrolling its borders to keep out illegal immigrants. But once inside those borders, the same [illegal] immigrants find that federal, local and state governments provide them health care, education and even jobs --- a virtual welcome mat. It is as if the United States draws a line in the dirt and then welcomes the people who step over it...
The Marietta city school district eliminated Spanish-language classes for elementary students to save about $690,000. The same year, at a cost of nearly $600,000, it opened an International Academy serving mainly Hispanic students, many of them illegal immigrants...
Although employers may call the Social Security Administration to determine whether an employee's Social Security number is correct, many don't. The Social Security Administration has all but given up warning employers that their workers are using fake Social Security numbers. In 2002, the administration notified 933,000 businesses of "mismatched" numbers being used by about 10 million workers. After the program produced little response, the agency cut back last year and mailed out only 126,000 notifications.
Even when federal authorities hear about illegal immigrants at a factory or construction site, chances are good they won't follow up. In 2002, federal officials detained only 381 people in Georgia simply because they were illegal immigrants. That's roughly one detainee for every 600 illegal immigrants in the state...
Some experts say the 1986 amnesty actually led to more illegal immigration as the new residents brought in friends and relatives from their home countries illegally.
In 2000, 14 years after amnesty, the Census estimated that 8 million or more illegal immigrants were living in the United States, about 228,000 of them in Georgia. More recent estimates place the number nationally at 10 million or more...
A few years ago, Ulises Cordoba paid a smuggler $2,500 to take him from Mexico to the United States. It took 11 tries --- he kept getting caught and sent back --- but he finally made it to Indiana.
He headed South after his aunt told him he could make more money in Atlanta. With a fake green card and Social Security number --- which cost $80 --- he soon found a job framing the walls for new offices.
...the statewide expense for ESOL classes --- English for speakers of other languages --- grew from $9 million in 1995 to nearly $59 million last year, according to the state Education Department.
WHO GETS DEPORTED
The U.S. deported more illegal immigrants from Arab and Muslim nations after Sept. 11, 2001, but Mexicans still accounted for most expulsions. Top 12 countries by percent:
Fiscal year 2001.......... Fiscal year 2002
Mexico............ 79.7%.. Mexico............ 73.2%
Honduras............2.5%.. Guatemala.......... 3.2%
Guatemala.......... 2.4%.. Honduras............3.2%
Dominican Republic..2.2%.. El Salvador........ 2.6%
El Salvador........ 2.1%.. Dominican Republic..2.3%
Colombia............1.2%.. Brazil..............1.7%
Jamaica............ 1.1%.. Colombia............1.5%
Brazil..............0.9%.. Jamaica............ 1.4%
Canada..............0.6%.. Canada..............0.6%
Ecuador............ 0.5%.. Peru................0.6%
Peru................0.4%.. Pakistan............0.5%
China.............. 0.3%.. Philippines........ 0.5%
Source: AJC analysis of records from the former U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service
MILESTONES IN IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION LAW
1790: First federal act provides for naturalization of "free white persons" with two years' residence.
1798: Alien and Sedition Acts establish registry of aliens and authorize president to arrest and/or deport dangerous aliens.
1868: 14th Amendment ratified, creating "birthright citizenship."
1882: Chinese laborers are suspended from immigration to the U.S. for 10 years and Chinese are barred from naturalization.
1898: Supreme Court rules that birthright citizenship applies to children of immigrants.
1917: Natives of Asia and islands in the Indian and Pacific oceans (except Japan, the Philippines and Guam) are barred from the United States.
1921: National-origins quota is introduced, favoring immigrants from Northern and Western Europe.
1924: Quotas are set based on ethnic composition of the United States. Non-quota status is granted to immediate relatives of U.S. citizens.
1950: Immigrants living in U.S. are required to report their addresses annually.
1952: The Immigration and Nationality Act brings immigration laws into a single code section that makes all races eligible for naturalization, eliminates discrimination by sex, gives preferences to relatives of citizens and people with skills needed in U.S.
1965: Immigrant visas are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis with a limit of 20,000 per country except Western Europe.
1976: Congress eliminates country-quota exception for Western Hemisphere countries.
1986: Congress legalizes almost 3 million aliens who had resided in the U.S. illegally since Jan. 1, 1982; creates sanctions against employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants and increases border enforcement.
1990: Major overhaul of immigration law sets flexible cap of 675,000 immigrants worldwide to begin in 1995.
1996: Congress tightens border security and employment verification and makes citizenship a condition for most public benefits.
2002: After Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the Homeland Security Act sets up a Cabinet-level post that consolidates some immigration, intelligence and law enforcement functions.
Sources: Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services; The National Immigration Forum; American Comparative Literature Association
Read the complete article in the Atlanta Contitution-Journal.
