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Becoming an American:
Immigration and
Immigrant Policy |
INTRODUCTION
Immigration and immigrant policy is about immigrants, their families and
the rest of us. It is about the meaning of American nationality and the
foundation of national unity. It is about uniting persons from all over
the world in a common civic culture.
The process of becoming an American is most simply called "Americanization,"
which must always be a two-way street. All Americans, not just immigrants,
should understand the importance of our shared civic culture to our national
community. This final report of the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform
makes recommendations to further the goals of Americanization by setting
out immigrant policies to help orient immigrants and their new communities,
to improve educational programs that help immigrants and their children
learn English and civics, and to reinforce the integrity of the naturalization
process through which immigrants become U.S. citizens.
This report also makes recommendations regarding immigration
policy. It reiterates the conclusions we reached in three interim reports-on
unlawful migration, legal immigration, and refugee and asylum policy-and
makes additional recommendations for reforming immigration policies. Further,
in this report, the Commission recommends ways to improve the structure
and management of the federal agencies responsible for achieving the goals
of immigration policy. It is our hope that this final report Becoming
An American: Immigration and Immigrant Policy, along with our three
interim reports, constitutes a full response to the work assigned the Commission
by Congress: to assess the national interest in immigration and report
how it can best be achieved.
MANDATE AND METHODS
Public Law 101-649, the Immigration Act of 1990, established this Commission
to review and evaluate the impact of immigration policy. More specifically,
the Commission must report on the impact of immigration on: the need for
labor and skills; employment and other economic conditions; social, demographic,
and environmental impact of immigration; and impact of immigrants on the
foreign policy and national security interests of the United States. The
Commission engaged in a wide variety of fact-finding activities to fulfill
this mandate. Site visits were conducted throughout the United States.
Commission members visited immigrant and refugee communities in California,
Texas, Florida, New York, Massachusetts, Illinois, Arizona, Washington,
Kansas, Virginia, Washington, DC, Puerto Rico and the Commonwealth of the
Northern Mariana Islands. We also visited such major source countries as
Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Haiti, and the Philippines. To increase
our understanding of international refugee policy issues, we visited Bosnia,
Croatia, Germany, and Kenya, and we consulted with Geneva-based officials
from the U.N. High Commission for Refugees and the International Organization
for Migration. We held more than forty public hearings, consultations with
government and private sector officials, and expert roundtable discussions.
IMMIGRATION TODAY
The effects of immigration are numerous, complex, and varied.1
Immigrants contribute in many ways to the United States: to its vibrant
and diverse communities; to its lively and participatory democracy; to
its vital intellectual and cultural life, to its renowned job-creating
entrepreneurship and marketplaces; and to its family values and hard-work
ethic. However, there are costs as well as benefits from today's immigration.
Those workers most at risk in our restructuring economy low-skilled workers
in production and service jobs are those who directly compete with today's
low-skilled immigrants. Further, immigration presents special challenges
to certain states and local communities that disproportionately bear the
fiscal and other costs of incorporating newcomers.
Properly-regulated immigration and immigrant policy serves the national
interest by ensuring the entry of those who will contribute most to our
society and helping lawful newcomers adjust to life in the United States.
It must give due consideration to shifting economic realities. A well-regulated
system sets priorities for admission; facilitates nuclear family reunification;
gives U.S. employers access to a global labor market while ensuring that
U.S. workers are not displaced or otherwise adversely affected; and fulfills
our commitment to resettle refugees as one of several elements of humanitarian
protection of the persecuted.
1 Please see the full
report for a more detailed discussion of the economic, social, demographic,
foreign policy, and national security implications for U.S. immigration.
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