A contentious issue, illegal immigration, poses a number of economic, political, and cultural challenges to the country. Often, the debate becomes a partisan-fueled, highly emotional diatribe between the two major parties. This section cover issues from the Dream Act to Arizona’s contentious immigration reforms, as Independent-minded voters are seeking potential solutions that obey the rule of law, stay within the confines of a budget, and maintain a compassionate, but realistic outlook on immigration.
While recent census figures indicate that California is rapidly becoming a melting pot of immigrants on the road to becoming the new majority, a debate is sure to materialize in a California Assembly committee hearing today over the California Dream Act (AB 130). At the
Over the past decade, the Golden State has experienced significant growth in the number of its minority residents. Led by Hispanics, minorities now comprise about three out of every five Californians.
As California enters its second week of full enrollment in the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency’s Secure Communities program, a California-based immigrant rights group claims that it’s creating an unsuitable environment for the state’s illegal immigrant population.
Texas Republican Congressman and House Judiciary Committee head Lamar Smith defended stricter immigration enforcement measures at the national level, citing the fiscally negative impact that illegal immigration has had in states like California. He also deflected the charge that the policies are anti-immigrant.
All police departments in the state with the highest population of illegal immigrants are now equipped to work with federal immigration authorities to determine the legal status of all suspects arrested under a federal program originally implemented in May 2009. Reported last week by several local outlets, all of California is now
According to a recent Modesto Bee editorial, the costs associated with housing imprisoned illegal immigrants who commit offenses in California are on track to becoming an unfunded liability for the state’s taxpayers, due in part to the federal government fleeing from their responsibility to share in those very costs.
As those immersed in the immigration debate configure their tactical strategy to reform a currently unsatisfactory system, both major political ideologies face the prospect of losing credibility in winning over critically-thinking voters.
