Cheryls_Test

Policy: UST 616 10/27/10 Policy Mid-Term Prospectus Cheryl Walcott 1. The 2009 U.S. Census Bureau announced that Cleveland lost nearly 10% of its population this decade! An “alarming, trend-setting” pace. The fastest rate of decline of any major American city except New Orleans. In 1910, research proves that Ohio thrived with innovation and growth, especially in Cleveland. At that time, more than 560,000 people lived here. The people worked hard. They built schools, stores and churches. By 1920, it has been said that more than 1/3 of Cleveland residents had been born in another country. Foreign born residents in the Cleveland Metropolitan area had made an impression on Northeast Ohio’s landscape. Immigrants played key roles as innovators and job creators and impacted both our economy and culture. Today, research says, only 5% of the residents in greater Cleveland are foreign born. As the proportion of locals claiming a foreign birth sits near the lowest mark in a century, the economy suffers. Although, this small number of foreign born and immigrant workers have held on to economic contribution well throughout the recession(s). Research says between 2000 and 2002, the foreign born unemployment rate rose 2 percentage points to 6.9%. This compares favorably with the native unemployment rate, which rose 1.8 points to 6.1 %. 2. It is very hard to find research speaking to the topic of my choice (Reentry and Immigration), but I will tackle this question, however. My response to question number one is influenced, mostly by facts stated in the research. A new report from a non-profit, non-partisan California think tank (Public Policy Institute of California, 2010, 25, Feb.), finds that immigrants, both legal and undocumented, have lower rates of incarceration and criminal activity in California the U.S. born population. It is reported that many of today’s children of immigrants, both first and second generations, confront a complex set of circumstances that shape their processes of incorporation into American society and economy. Born or raised in the U.S., they inherit their immigrant parents’ customs and circumstances but come of age with a distinctively American outlook and frame of reference, and face the often painstaking task of fitting into the American mainstream. Along the way, they face many obstacles which condition’s their transitions to adulthood. For a small portion of this population, violence and gangs make up a large part of the realities of central cities. By the time these children of immigrants reach adulthood, the impediments and opportunities faced as adolescents solidify. Moreover, some form of delinquency during adolescence signals deeper future involvements in the adult criminal justice system. 3. Immigration has been the subject of legislation since the nation’s founding. In 1790, the Congress established a formal process enabling the foreign born to become U. S. citizens. Just over a century later, in response to increasing levels of immigration, the federal government assumed the task of reviewing and processing all immigrants seeking admission to the U.S. Since then, numerous changes have been made to the U.S. policy of immigration. In a report on immigration policy changes, “the crackdown on immigration came long before 9/11/. The impact of post 9/11 legislation on immigration has been limited.” The biggest impact of 9/11 on immigration policy is that significant reform has been dropped from the political agenda. The best example is President Bush’s proposal for a guest worker program: a way to bring needed labor to the U.S. if passed it could have regularized the status of millions of unauthorized Mexican workers. Another trend emerged in the 1990’s: a move to limit the rights of non-citizen immigrants. To counteract resurgence in illegal immigration in the mid 1990’s the federal government poured unprecedented resources into the Border Patrol in terms of both personnel and technology. Between 1994 and 1999, the number of hours policing the border more than tripled. The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA), passed in 1996, were instrumental in the crackdown on illegal immigration. The law added Border Patrol agents, allowed the removal of illegal immigrants without a hearing or judicial review, and greatly expanded the definition of deportable crimes. The expanded definition was applied retroactively to cover crimes that were not deportable at the time they were committed. As a result, deportations of criminal aliens—both legal and illegal immigrants more than doubled between 1996 and 1998, rising from 80,000 to 180,000. 4. The literature says the economic contributions of immigrants are enormous. Further, it is clear the pace of U.S. employment growth is closely tied to the pace of immigration. If new policies deter future immigration, this has to be evaluated with respect to national security and economic concerns. If I agreed with the literature and other current, proposed and recommended policies, I would use the ‘Punctuated Equilibrium’ theory is described as a 3-step process. This process would allow the analysts to gain leverage on the episodic nature of policymaking. Agenda setting and path dependence is reported as the “U.S. policy making process.” This model of policy making emphasizes the tension between institutional and political sources of stability on one hand, and endogenous (driven by policy makers) and exogenous (environmental/structure) demands for change on the other. In applying this framework to immigration policy making, it is necessary to clearly specify the 3 dimensions of immigration and the US national interest: economics, international relations, and political culture, ( Rosenblum, p5). List of resources Books: 1. Immigrants and bureaucrats Journals/academic articles: 1. Theories of Immigration: An analysis of Textbooks on Human Behavior and the Social Environment 2. The Political Science of Immigration Policies 3. Migration, financial flows and development in the Euro-Mediterranean area 4. Reexamining Our Words, Reimaging Our Policies: Undocumented Migration, Families, and the Moral Imagination 5. Street-level democracy: How immigration bureaucrats manage public opposition 6. Punctuated Equilibrium in French budgeting process 7. Websites and reports/publications: 1. http://www.allacademic.com//meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/2/6/8/7/2/pages268726/p268726-5.php 2. http://www.unomaha.edu/ollas/Cumbre%202010/finalpaper/Brenner.pdf 3. http://www.independent.org/issues/article.asp'id=1505 4. http://www.clca.us/immigration/moreinfoDocs/5.pdf Articles from popular publications: 1.