The history of immigration in the United States is complex, but without immigration, this country probably wouldn’t be holding this important place on the international stage. In this paper, we are going to talk about the evolution of state power regarding immigration and how it affected the personhood of immigrants.
We know that policies and laws can have significant impacts on people’s lives, especially regarding noncitizens in the United States. Through the century, many things have changed about immigration laws and its application. Before the mid-1990s, the American’s court gave the federal government plenary power, which is an absolute power, over immigration’s policies and its application. It is also known as the membership policy, the “law pertaining to the entry of noncitizens and their continued stay in the United States" (879). For a long time, the federal government had the authority to control and regulate who was admitted to the polity, which is the naturalization policy, and who was allowed to enter in the nation-state, which is the immigration policy. Immigration policy is considered as foreign policy since the late 19th century. Immigration laws are only the concern of the legislative and executive branches but not the concern of the judicial branch of the federal government. With …show more content…
Wilson (1995), the Judge Pfaelzer gave the right to the state to decide if undocumented children were allowed to have access to postsecondary education. In addition, the state received the right to sue undocumented people as fraud, which increases significantly the power of the state and its police. However, if the state could report undocumented noncitizens, immigration and naturalization matters are still under the plenary power of the federal government. In 1996, laws gave more power to local and state governments that increased discrimination and put in danger immigrant personhood on the American ground. Varsanyi stated
We know that policies and laws can have significant impacts on people’s lives, especially regarding noncitizens in the United States. Through the century, many things have changed about immigration laws and its application. Before the mid-1990s, the American’s court gave the federal government plenary power, which is an absolute power, over immigration’s policies and its application. It is also known as the membership policy, the “law pertaining to the entry of noncitizens and their continued stay in the United States" (879). For a long time, the federal government had the authority to control and regulate who was admitted to the polity, which is the naturalization policy, and who was allowed to enter in the nation-state, which is the immigration policy. Immigration policy is considered as foreign policy since the late 19th century. Immigration laws are only the concern of the legislative and executive branches but not the concern of the judicial branch of the federal government. With …show more content…
Wilson (1995), the Judge Pfaelzer gave the right to the state to decide if undocumented children were allowed to have access to postsecondary education. In addition, the state received the right to sue undocumented people as fraud, which increases significantly the power of the state and its police. However, if the state could report undocumented noncitizens, immigration and naturalization matters are still under the plenary power of the federal government. In 1996, laws gave more power to local and state governments that increased discrimination and put in danger immigrant personhood on the American ground. Varsanyi stated