Family separation due to United States law, is when a family member is either deported or detained from the United States due to the lack of legal documentations. A mixed-status family is when a fraction of the family members are U.S. residents or citizens and the other members are undocumented or unauthorized to reside in the United States. Children of immigrants, undocumented or not, currently comprise 1 in 5 of all U.S.-born children. It is estimated that approximately 5 million of these children, the majority of whom are native-born U.S. citizens, live in mixed-status families with one or more undocumented parent (First Focus. 2010). With this being shared, how has family separation, due to mixed-status families, affected the immigration movement in the United States?
U.S. born children of immigrant parents are, as of late, turning to the legal voting age and with their votes they will be able to influence the United States government officials and its policies. Data from the Pew Research Center, ACLU, and Human Impact Partners will represent the statistics of family separation in mixed-status families. Articles from scholars will also focus on the affects that the family members face after separation. This research essay will further explain the immigration movement, mixed-status families, family separation, and how all of these factors have affected the immigration movement in the U.S. today. There is no doubt that the United States was founded by immigrants. Foreign people from Europe conquered this land that once belonged to the indigenous peoples. In the U.S. history, there have been many laws, policies, and events in which attempted to control the flow of immigration. 1790 was the first official date in which an action was made as a rule of naturalization. In the 1800s, about 21 dates have been recorded that have impacted immigration including the Treaty of Hidalgo and the Immigration Act of 1891. In the 1900s, 55 dates have been recorded. Unbelievably, the 2000s had a case related to immigration occur every year until 2013, 14 cases in total. (O’Leary. 2014). With this being recorded, the immigration issue is not one that occurs occasionally. Instead, the immigration movement is being brought up many times by many throughout the nation. Samuel P. Huntington defines immigration in his book “The Hispanization of the U.S.” (2004) by comparing the issue to water— lack of control, deficient, and non-human. He states that Mexican immigration is vastly different than any other kind of immigration because the U.S. and Mexico are so close to each other, and the numbers of Mexican immigrants is abundant because they can easily go back and forth between the two countries, unlike any other kind of immigrant. Another important comment Huntington made about immigration is that Mexican immigrants create a problem living in the United States because they …show more content…
Part of the reason is what Huntington has explained, but there is also very negative public discourse about them in other manners. The negative connotation about immigrants is mostly towards the immigrant women because they are giving birth on U.S. soil, therefore making American babies with full citizenship rights. This is seen as a threat because the women have high fertility rates and the children can potentially gain voting rights, along other U.S. citizen-born rights, that may affect how governmental policies develop in the
U.S. born children of immigrant parents are, as of late, turning to the legal voting age and with their votes they will be able to influence the United States government officials and its policies. Data from the Pew Research Center, ACLU, and Human Impact Partners will represent the statistics of family separation in mixed-status families. Articles from scholars will also focus on the affects that the family members face after separation. This research essay will further explain the immigration movement, mixed-status families, family separation, and how all of these factors have affected the immigration movement in the U.S. today. There is no doubt that the United States was founded by immigrants. Foreign people from Europe conquered this land that once belonged to the indigenous peoples. In the U.S. history, there have been many laws, policies, and events in which attempted to control the flow of immigration. 1790 was the first official date in which an action was made as a rule of naturalization. In the 1800s, about 21 dates have been recorded that have impacted immigration including the Treaty of Hidalgo and the Immigration Act of 1891. In the 1900s, 55 dates have been recorded. Unbelievably, the 2000s had a case related to immigration occur every year until 2013, 14 cases in total. (O’Leary. 2014). With this being recorded, the immigration issue is not one that occurs occasionally. Instead, the immigration movement is being brought up many times by many throughout the nation. Samuel P. Huntington defines immigration in his book “The Hispanization of the U.S.” (2004) by comparing the issue to water— lack of control, deficient, and non-human. He states that Mexican immigration is vastly different than any other kind of immigration because the U.S. and Mexico are so close to each other, and the numbers of Mexican immigrants is abundant because they can easily go back and forth between the two countries, unlike any other kind of immigrant. Another important comment Huntington made about immigration is that Mexican immigrants create a problem living in the United States because they …show more content…
Part of the reason is what Huntington has explained, but there is also very negative public discourse about them in other manners. The negative connotation about immigrants is mostly towards the immigrant women because they are giving birth on U.S. soil, therefore making American babies with full citizenship rights. This is seen as a threat because the women have high fertility rates and the children can potentially gain voting rights, along other U.S. citizen-born rights, that may affect how governmental policies develop in the