WHAT IS IMMIGRATION?

What is
immigration?
Bridge
Project

A BASIC GUIDE TO UNDERSTANDING IMMIGRATION

IN THIS GUIDE
Since its discovery, America opened its door
to newcomers seeking opportunity, refuge or
simply a place to call home. It all began with
the prehistoric hunters from Asia that
crossed that Bering Sea and Strait to reach
American soil. These migrants at the height
of their existence developed colorful cultures
that were inherited by the late American
Indians. Later then came explorers and
settlers from Europe.
During those days this land was seen as an
obstacle between spice-deprived Europe and
the abundance of riches in the Orient.
As the tale goes, the Vikings (Norsemen)
took a glimpse at the New World around A.D.
1000 by employing wooden ships on their
seafaring journeys. A twist of fate left
America untouched by further Europeans
until 1492 when Christopher Columbus
reached the Bahamas. However, many men
including sailors, soldiers, traders, and even
Spanish priests explored the new land
without visas. The British, though, were
ready to settle down and began the process
for colonization by establishing the Thirteen
Original Colonies.
Behind the massive immigration of millions
of Europeans was wealth seeking curiosity
coupled with finding religious and political
sanctuary. In France, until 1787 the
Protestant Huguenots were killed and
expelled. In England, poverty, crowding and
disease was rampant. In Ireland, the Great
Famine during the 1840s signaled a need to
find richer soils. Hunger and illness in Europe
along with fear, frustration, illness,
exploitation, and persecution from all sides
demonstrated that there was nowhere to
turn except America.
If you are fleeing poverty in Haiti, come. If
you are fleeing gangs in El Salvador, come. If
you are fleeing censorship in Cuba, come. If
you are fleeing death in Uganda, come.
If you are seeking to reunite with your family
in America, come. If you are seeking to earn a
degree in science, come. If you are seeking to
start a business, come. History has shown us
that embracing the entrepreneurial spirit of
the immigrant is a win for all and finally to
heal the broken is at the core of who we are
as a people.



How does the U.S. immigration
system work?
Our nations laws on immigration are intricate and even
difficult to navigate. We break it down for you.
Page 2

Common Myths on Immigration
There is a great deal of misinformation out there.
Page #
They Come to America
by Jose Machado
TIME MAGAZINE
WHAT IS IMMIGRATION? | Bridge Project 2



Laws governing the flow of immigration into
the U.S. are complex. Even some policy
makers have argued that it is second in
difficulty to navigate through with our tax
codes being the first. The Immigration Policy
Center states that immigration into the
United States is based on the following
principles:
Reunification of families
Allowing entry to immigrants with
skills that are valuable to the U.S.
economy
Protecting refugees
Promoting diversity
Typically, to apply for legal entry into the
United States people go to a U.S. embassy or
consulate abroad. The process to obtain a
tourist visa is fairly simple. Fill out an
application, attend an interview, and voila
youre in! Many undocumented immigrants
apply for tourist visas and unlawfully
overstay them to permanently stay in the
U.S. They do this because sometimes
enforced numerical visas for legal entry have
been filled, they do not meet the
requirements for entry which can be based
on age, marriage and/or if the person has any
ties within the U.S. Therefore, if they do
apply for legal entry they would
automatically be denied. Also, the U.S. has
preference for people with skills in certain
markets which are filled rather quickly.
These requirements form obstacles for
people to enter the legal way.
Are you deportable? (See below)
Type Permanent Deportable*
Visa No Yes
LPR
(Resident)
Yes Yes
U.S. Citizen Yes No
*If you commit a fraud or qualifying crimes
you may be expelled from the U.S.


Below are some specific types of immigrants
that gain entry into the United States or seek
permanent legal status.
Asylees , refugees, diversity, other
Investors
Certain special immigrants
Skilled workers, professionals, and
unskilled workers
Advanced degrees or exceptional
ability
Priority workers
Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens
Family sponsored preferences















Source: NPR, Census Bureau


How does the
immigration system
work?
by Name Style
Types of Immigrants
Law provides for an annual worldwide limit of 675,000 permanent immigrants
The U.S. allows immigrants with skills
in science, technology, engineering,
and mathematics (STEM) education to
maintain competitiveness and future
economic prosperity to obtain visas.
WHAT IS IMMIGRATION? | Bridge Project 3


"Give me your tired, your
poor,

Your huddled masses
yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your
teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless,
tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the
golden door!"
JUST THE FACTS








Jobs
Immigrants typically do not compete for jobs with
native born workers. However, immigrants do create
jobs as entrepreneurs, consumers, and taxpayers.

Welfare
Unauthorized immigrants are not eligible for welfare
programs such as food stamps and Medicaid, and even
legal immigrants face strict eligibility restrictions.
SUPPORT FOR LEGALIZING IMMIGRANTS


68%
A poll by Fox News conducted in January of 2014

81%
A poll by CNN/ORC conducted in February of 2014
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Visit www.uschamber.com/immigration
Information on this page was derived from
research compiled by the U.S. Chamber of
Commerce.



Conversations around immigration usually
end up with differences of opinions guarded
by recycled talking points. Below is accurate
information you will need to expand your
knowledge about immigration.

WAGES
MYTH: Immigrants bring down the wages of
U.S. citizens.
FACT: By increasing the productivity and
stimulating investment, immigrants give a
slight boost to average wages of Americans.
ECONOMY
MYTH: The sluggish economy does not need
more immigrants.
FACT: As millions of Baby Boomers retire,
immigrants will replenish the labor force.
UNEMPLOYMENT
MYTH: At a time of high unemployment, the
U.S. does not need temporary foreign
workers.
FACT: Temporary workers fill specialized
needs in specific sectors of the U.S.
economy.
TAXES
MYTH: Unauthorized immigrants do not pay
taxes.
FACT: They do; in fact, they pay BILLIONS in
taxes each year.
Common
Immigration
Myths

Immigrants come from around the
world seeking a better live and a
place to call home.
WHAT IS IMMIGRATION?





WWW.SCHOLASTIC.COM
WHAT IS IMMIGRATION? | Bridge Project 5



FREQUENTLY ASKED
QUESTIONS ABOUT
IMMIGRATION REFORM
Q: Why allow unauthorized
immigrants to become U.S. Citizens?
Isnt legal status enough?
A: From learning English and U.S.
civics to earning higher incomes,
serving on a jury, and voting in
elections, citizens and would-be
citizens benefit from a deeper form
of incorporation into U.S. society
than do legal immigrants who have
no hope of ever applying for
naturalization.
Q: What can be done about
unauthorized immigration?
A: While enforcement plays a role in
reducing unauthorized immigration,
the deciding factors are often based
on economic need, family unity, or
fear of persecution, which will never
be fully addressed through
enforcement-only measures. Instead,
reducing unauthorized immigration
turns on increasing the number of
visas available for employment and
family membersnumbers that
havent changed since 1990. It also
requires addressing the roughly 11
million people living unlawfully in the
United States, more than 60% of
whom have been in the U.S. more
than a decade. Creating a roadmap
to legalization that acknowledges the
integral role many of these
immigrants play in our communities
is key. Millions of U.S.-citizen
children and family members risk
separation from deported loved
ones, and the country cannot afford
to deport 11 million people. This
requires lawmakers to focus on fair
ways to bring those who have
resided unlawfully in this country for
years into full legal participation in
their adopted home, which is the
only thing separating them from truly
being American.
Q: Plenty of people immigrate
legallySo why dont unauthorized
immigrants just get in line?
A: The current legal immigration
system simply cannot handle the
demands placed upon it. Roughly 1
million immigrants enter the country
each year as lawful permanent
residents, most of them based on
family or employment relationships,
but 4.6 million more have
applications pending. Because the
number of new immigrants admitted
each year is based on numbers set by
Congress in 1990, those admissions
fail to reflect the legitimate demands
for family unification and changes in
workforce needs that have occurred
over the last twenty years. For some
countries, the wait is almost twenty
years. For many other people, there
simply were not enough visas
either permanent or temporary
which led them to come to the U.S.
without authorization when the
economy was booming and jobs
were waiting. Without a well-
regulated and fair system for
determining levels of immigration,
people who have no chance at
standing in line may feel that coming
without permission is their only
optionand many are willing to take
it, no matter the dangers.

The drop in apprehensions along the
border and in unauthorized
immigration overall are closely
correlated with the economic crisis
of the last few years. As the economy
improves, demand will increase again
and the likelihood of unauthorized
immigration may increase as well.
Now is the time to create a more
flexible and forgiving system that
takes Americas 21st century needs
into account.
Q: These days, immigrants are
mostly Mexicans, right?
A: No. Fewer than one-third (29%) of
immigrants in the United States are
from Mexico. Roughly 28% are from
Asia, 24% from countries in Latin
America and the Caribbean other
than Mexico, 12% from Europe, and
4% from Africa.
Moreover, contrary to some popular
misconceptions, most Latinos in the
United States (63%) are native-
bornnot immigrants. And 29% of
foreign-born Latinos are naturalized
U.S. citizens.







Content by the Immigration Policy
Center, American Immigration
Council. For more information visit:
www.immigrationpolicy.org
WHAT IS IMMIGRATION? | Bridge Project 6















What is
immigration?
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