Pro-Immigration and Anti-Immigration Groups in the United States
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 While
the majority of Americans remain generally sympathetic to the plight and
hardships immigrants face, some are concerned about the increasing number of
illegal immigrants crossing the borders into
the United States. Many immigrants who have previously emigrated to the United
States, or have relatives who were immigrants can relate to the myriad of
hardships faced by both legal and illegal immigrants. Some immigrants eventually become
U.S.
citizens or permanent residents while others remain in
the country illegally. For many illegal immigrants just obtaining a Green Card
would be sufficient. Illegal immigrants in the United States are comprised of a
variety of races and ethnicities including:
Mexican,
Chinese, Irish, Filipino, Central Americans and others. Regardless of race or
ethnicity, however, for the most part all immigrants come to the United States in search of a
better life. For most immigrants, their home countries offer limited opportunities, so illegal immigrants
risk what they have and try to move to the United States. Illegal
immigrants have the support of some while lacking the support of others. Some
pro-immigration groups include: We Are America Alliance, Border Angels, American
Immigration Lawyers Association, and New American Opportunity Campaign. We Are
America Alliance is an organization that consists of community, labor and
religious organizations. The purpose of the organization is to form an alliance
in order to combine efforts of many organizations. We Are America Alliance hope
to persuade Congress to grant amnesty to the estimated 12 million illegal
immigrants that reside in the United States. In addition, they aim to persuade Congress to increase the number of family visas granted
annually along with other reforms that would improve the lives of illegal immigrants.
Border Angels is a group of volunteers that have set up water stations near the
Arizona border to prevent dehydration of illegal immigrants crossing the border.
The stations are not set up to encourage illegal immigrants to cross the border,
but instead aim to reduce the incidence of deaths that have occurred due to
dehydration. Since the United States built a steel fence along the U.S.-Mexico border in 1994
this has made it more difficult for illegal immigrants to cross the border near
California. As a result many illegal immigrants have instead opted to take the
more difficult voyage through the Arizona desert. Thousand of lives of illegal
immigrants (nearly 3,000) have been lost due to dehydration since the erection
of the fence, also known as Operation Gatekeeper. Along with setting up water
stations the Border Angels have also given out snacks, sweaters, and blankets.
The locations of the stations are changed periodically so as to not encourage
dependency. The Border Angels volunteers also replenish the supplies
from time to time. Another pro-immigration group, the American Immigration
Lawyers, has been working on immigration reforms which are similar to those
proposed by Former President Bush. The 43rd President has also proposed that more immigration-friendly
legislation be introduced such as a temporary guest worker program
which would give
illegal immigrants the opportunity to gain legal status if they met certain
requirements. He believes that immigrants have helped shape American into what
it is today. The next step for many of the pro-immigration groups is to
encourage those who are able to vote in the U.S. to register and vote. The
pro-immigration groups believe that by heading to the polls, citizens will have a
greater influence and shape American policies. Immigrant advocacy groups are also encouraging permanent residents who
qualify to apply for U.S citizenship.Anti-immigration groups are also located throughout the United States. An
example is an organization called Grassfire, who has put up billboards that express their
anti-immigration stance. The billboards found along the highways state “Stop the
invasion: save our border.” The billboards can currently be found in West
Virginia, Texas, Florida, Arizona, Georgia, and California. A Michigan activist
by the name of John H. Tanton claims to have organized the anti-immigration
movement by founding and providing financial support to some groups. The network consists of 13
anti-immigration groups which include the American Immigration Control
Foundation, California Coalition for Immigration Reform, Federation for American
Immigration Reform, Pro English, and Project USA among others. Some believe that
the membership numbers of the network are exaggerated. Currently, one of the
most active anti-immigration groups is known as "Minuteman." Minuteman is
consisted of two
organizations. One of the groups is "Minuteman Project Incorporated" and the
other is "Minuteman Civil Defense Corps." Both groups have made headlines for
organizing their own volunteer force to temporarily patrol sections of the
U.S.-Mexico border. While the Minutemen volunteer patrols have not been
significantly large, the Minutemen have managed to catch the attention of the
media. The Minutemen like to refer to themselves as the “local neighborhood
watch” of the border. The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps has planned on erecting
a 10 mile fence in Arizona to deter illegal immigrants, livestock, drug
traffickers, and other criminals from crossing the U.S. - Mexico border. Through
private donations and volunteers, the Minute Civil Defense Corps has been able
to build 2.5 miles of the planned 10 mile fence.
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