IssuesMatch: Immigration helps our economy--encourage it

IssuesMatch

Immigration helps our economy--encourage it

POSITIONS

Strongly Support means you believe: The government should make no restrictions on immigration. If the number of immigrants is too high, establish an immigration fee and raise it until the number of immigrants is acceptable.
Support means you believe: Immigration restrictions are basically racist because they keep out Hispanics and other non-whites. We should reform US immigration laws and use them to increase our diversity and cultural tolerance.
Oppose means you believe: Maintain legal immigration while enforcing against illegal immigration. Tighten our borders - decrease substantially or stop all immigration so we can address domestic problems.
Strongly Oppose means you believe: We should strictly enforce our immigration laws by increasing border patrols, and we should crack down on illegal immigrants already in the US by deportation and by removing all their social benefits. In the long run, we should decrease immigration.

This question is looking for your views on both legal and illegal immigration; whether we should open our borders or patrol them more tightly and lower the legal immigrant count. However you answer the above question would be similar to your response to these statements:

Legal immigration should be increased
We spend enough on patrolling the Mexican border
Grant amnesty to illegal immigrants who have resided here for 5 years

BACKGROUND

Immigration

The US admits about 660,000 legal immigrants per year (1998 figures). The Immigration Act of 1990 allows for 480,000 immigrants with family in the US; 140,000 immigrants in needed employment fields; and the rest under per-country limits and diversity limits. Foreign-born people accounted for 8% of the US population in the 1990 census; in the decades prior to 1930, the figure was 13%. About 5 million illegal aliens reside in the US (1996 figures). 55% of all illegal aliens come from Mexico. (Other Latin American countries account for another 20%). 40% of all illegal aliens live in California. (TX, NY, FL, and IL account for the next 40%). The illegal alien population is growing by about 275,000 each year. The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) runs the Border Patrol as well as interior enforcement.

Bilingual Education

Schools may conduct classes in Spanish or other languages using federal ‘Title VII’ funds, which totaled $380 million last year (1% of total spending). 13% of K-12 students speak a language other than English at home.

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