Immigration Policy

Immigration is the movement of individuals who are citizens of one country to residency within another country. The gamut of reaction from host countries runs all the way from a xenophobic refusal to accept immigrants (e.g., China and Japan) to being a country that makes immigrants part of its national identity (e.g., the United States). For historical, demographic, and economic reasons, the Western Hemisphere and Anglophone countries (the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand) have a long tradition of immigration. The economic growth that accompanied the formation of the European Union (EU) has led to the influx of eastern Europeans and Muslims to western European countries such as Germany and even to Sweden. These countries are now beginning to experience some of the same problems that the United States has faced for some time.

Immigration may be looked at from the point of view of the immigrant or of the host country. The motivation of the immigrant may be either negative or positive: escape from undesirable political, economic, or social conditions or attraction to better such conditions. In other words, the major motives for immigration have been the desire to live under a different kind of regime or to better oneself and one's family economically.

From the point of view of the host country, there is a concern for the impact on national identity, the economy, the environment, unemployment, welfare, crime and security, education, culture, family life, religion, race relations, and domestic politics in general. Immigration, therefore, has always had an important political dimension and an economic dimension.

Precisely because of its economic and political dimensions, immigration is an important concern for businesses. Immigrants bring special benefits to employers and the economy of the host country and added costs both to employers and to society at large. The recent phenomenon of globalization has underscored both those dimensions. In what follows we shall focus on the United States, but we shall also show the extent to which these issues have become global.

Let us begin with some terminological clarification for those countries that have immigration. A citizen(or subject) of any country is any person born in that country or its territories or who has been naturalized. A person may have derivative citizenship if at least one parent was a citizen. An alien is any person who is not a citizen. Aliens may be of two types, temporary [Page 1103]residents or permanent residents. Temporary aliens include tourists, students, and so forth. Temporary aliens also include refugees and asylees. Refugees are persons currently outside their country who are unable or unwilling to return to their country of nationality because of fear of persecution on account of race, religion, or membership in a particular social group or because of political opinions. Asylees are refugees who have been granted temporary alien status in another country. Guest workers are aliens who have been given special permission to reside and work in a country for a specified and limited period of time.

Immigrants are aliens who have been granted permanent residency; that is, they can reside in the United States and work without restriction, and they are protected by law, but they cannot vote in elections. Asylees and refugees may apply to become immigrants or permanent residents through naturalization. Immigrants may become naturalized citizens of the United States by fulfilling the following six requirements: They must be at least 18 years of age, achieve basic literacy in English, demonstrate some knowledge of U.S. history, have resided in the United States for 5 years, reflect sound moral character, and take an oath of allegiance.

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