Orientation for Newly Arriving Immigrants to the United States

Orientation for Newly Arriving Immigrants to the United States

December 3, 2007

SWK 646

Fall 2007

SCOPE OF THE PROBLEM:

Immigration is a very sensitive topic of contention within our country; however, for the people who are immigrating legally or are fleeing their native countries as refugees, they are often not provided with necessary services and community supports to make a successful transition into a new country with a different culture and belief system. Current policies do not provide new immigrants with a solid basis on which to build their new lives to be successful citizens who can contribute to the betterment of society. And due to this lack of support and assistance, the current political realm is setting new immigrants up for failure and life-long dependency on the social welfare system. This then fosters prejudices and stereotyping of immigrants, which only furthers their lack of access to necessary social service supports.

Immigration is a very important topic in the United States as the number of immigrants is increasing significantly each year. To illustrate this point:

During the 1990s, an average of more than 1.3 million immigrants — legal and illegal — settled in the United States each year. Between January 2000 and March 2002, 3.3 million additional immigrants have arrived. In less than 50 years, the U.S. Census Bureau projects that immigration will cause the population of the United States to increase from its present 288 million to more than 400 million. (Center for Immigration Studies [CIS], 2007)

Because the immigrant population is increasing so rapidly and is expected to increase even more so over the next several years, it is necessary to assess the current policies and determine how they are affecting not only immigrants, but also other citizens of the United States.

The media perpetrates many myths about immigrants and how their presence in the United States affects the country. There are various myths that create prejudices, which develop into discrimination against immigrants, one of which is that immigrants come to this country to use up our welfare assistance. This myth is indeed false in that:

immigrant labor force participation is consistently higher than native-born, and immigrant workers make up a larger share of the U.S. labor force (12.4%) than they do the U.S. population (11.5%). Moreover, the ratio between immigrant use of public benefits and the amount of taxes they pay is consistently favorable to the U.S. In one estimate, immigrants earn about $240 billion a year, pay about $90 billion a year in taxes,and use about $5 billion in public benefits. In another cut of the data, immigrant tax payments total $20 to $30 billion more than the amount of government services they use. (Justice for Immigrants, 2007)

However, despite the fact that they are not using up all of the United States’ welfare assistance, many immigrants do need public assistance to supplement earnings made as they are often exploited for their labor and not given a fair wage. They are left with unmet needs as well because they are not educated on the various resources available to them. And because they are not being taught or guided in how to maneuver through various systems, they are often excluded from society. They are not taught how to navigate through the school system, the legal system, the social system, etc., which then sets them up for failure and dependency.
The issue that many people raise to oppose immigration issues is that of language. Many people in the United States base their argument against immigration on the contention that they do not speak English. However, many of the immigrants who come to the United States do want to learn to speak English; however the issue is that it is difficult for immigrants to access programming in which they can learn to speak English fluently. “Within ten years of arrival, more than 75% of immigrants speak English well; moreover, demand for English classes at the adult level far exceeds supply” (Justice for Immigrants, 2007). The United States has always been a country of immigrants; immigrants established the United States and it has always been advertised as the “land of opportunity.” Therefore, when people immigrate legally, there should be increased accessibility in English classes to foster their acculturation and their acclimation.
Catholic Charities offers a six-month “orientation” to the United States to refugees, but not for immigrants. However, this orientation does not provide these individuals with the appropriate education of how to access community resources nor how to be sustainable and self-sufficient within this society. There are no English classes for these newly arriving refugees and/or immigrants, nor are they taught how to navigate a grocery store or how to use the public transportation systems. There is no education on the welfare system, or on the guidelines and requirements of these systems; this then results in benefits being cancelled without an understanding of why because there was never an explanation of the eligibility of such benefits. New immigrants are not provided with information on the school system, nor on the rights of their children with special needs. They are not educated on their personal rights as members of a new society. All of these factors, among others, contribute to a population without the personal resources to have a successful transition into their new lives.
Likewise, immigrants are not provided with any transitional assistance either. If they do receive some sort of assistance, it only provides them with a very brief overview of certain systems, similar to the aforementioned refugee populations. If they are not provided with an adequate education and with proper assistance to begin their new lives on solid ground, then the political and social climates of the United States are only perpetuating the controversy and stereotyping of immigrant populations. Our current policy is setting them up to be dependent on these social service programs and then we criticize them for using needed resources and benefits. If policies do not change as they relate to immigration, immigrants within the United States will continue to not have necessary access to needed resources or services, and thus become dependent.

PAST POLICY:

Although legislation regarding immigration dates back to 1790, this examination on

immigration policy will begin in 1981. In the Act of August 13, 1981, there were specific

provisions of “items restricting the access of aliens to various publicly-funded benefits. Such

immigration-related provisions, included:

a. Precluded the Secretary of HUD from making financial assistance available to any alien unless that alien is a resident of the United States by virtue of admission or adjustment as a permanent resident alien, refugee or asylee, parolee, conditional entrant, or pursuant to withholding of deportation. Alien visitors, tourists, diplomats, and students were specifically excluded.
b. Severely restricted eligibility of aliens to Aid to Families with Dependent Children. (U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services [USCIS], 2007)
Perhaps one of the most important policy actions recently was in 1996 through the

Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of August 22, 1996. It’s

provisions included barring legal immigrants:

from obtaining food stamps and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and established screening procedures for current recipients of these programs…[from] entering the U.S. after date of enactment from most federal programs for 5 years…provided states with broad flexibility in setting public benefit eligibility rules for legal immigrants by allowing states to bar current legal immigrants from both major federal programs and states programs… increased responsibility of the immigrants…barred ‘not qualified aliens’ from most federal, state, and local public benefits…and required INS to verify immigration status in order for aliens to receive most federal public benefits. (USCIS, 2007)

Throughout the years of legislation relating to immigration, it has increasingly been used to place more limitations on immigrants. There is a tightening of the international borders to limit people entering the United States, and then there are various hoops that immigrants have to jump through in order to establish legal residency and citizenship. The legislation and policy of the past few decades has been used to make it even more difficult for immigrants to acquire employment and to have access to other services. As if it is not hard enough to enter into a foreign country without an understanding of the culture or of how the system works, immigrants are faced with obstacle after obstacle to establish a new life.
Through the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of September 30, 1996, policy changes were made that created an even more difficult atmosphere for immigrants. Within this act, the number of INS investigators was increased to monitor employment of immigrants and other aliens (USCIS, 2007). It also became more specific in the types of documents that can be used to show employment eligibility and identity. These provisions really limited immigrant’s access to employment opportunities, despite their legal status. It requires them to go through additional processes to ensure proper documentation and to prove their legality in this country. This policy also increased restrictions on benefits for aliens as well. It established additional procedures for proof of citizenship in order to receive federal public benefits; it also requires verification of immigration status for purposes of Social Security and also for higher education assistance (USCIS, 2007). It also provides states with the authority to limit assistance to aliens in providing general cash public assistance. Provisions in this act also included more criminal definitions for immigrants and illegal aliens as well. These acts shifted the mindset of immigration to a more negative perspective, including criminality and terror. Additional provisions include requiring educational institutions to “collect information on foreign students’ status and nationality and provide it to INS, tightened restrictions regarding physicians’ ability to work in the United States” (USCIS, 2007).
The National Research Council has estimated that the “net fiscal cost of immigration ranges from $11 billion to $22 billion per year…the net deficit is caused by a low level of tax payments by immigrants, because they are disproportionately low-skilled and thus earn low wages, and a higher rate of consumption of government services, both because of their relative poverty and their higher fertility” (CIS, 2007). This fact seems contradictory to the previous fact from the Justice for Immigrants organization. The number of immigrants depending on public assistance is probably disproportionate to the overall population, although they do represent a larger population of employees in the United States. However, because they are not paid fair wages, they do not earn enough income to properly support themselves and their dependents. Therefore, if needed programming and education were provided to the immigrant populations in the United States, perhaps they would be able to access needed resources and not need public assistance.

CURRENT POLICY:

When immigrants come to the United States, there are organizations that assist with the legal aspect of citizenship and legality; however, not necessarily with social services. On the menu of services available to new immigrants, none are to assist them with leaning how to navigate through the various systems. Whether they are being systematically excluded from such assistance programs or not, they are not being helped in fundamental ways to assist them with learning a new culture and a new country. Even if they are not being systematically excluded from social services, many social services are not equipped in being able to work with populations of immigrants due to language barriers, lack of cultural competence, or lack of understanding of cultural nuances and needs, etc.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, through the Department of Homeland Security has a handbook of resources for new immigrants that includes: finding housing, finding employment, taxes, brief overviews of federal benefit programs, education options, etc.; however, there is not explicit assistance with how to maneuver through the system and how to find needed resources (USCIS, 2007). This department is a public sector through the federal government; thus the federal government funds this policy, as immigration is national issue. The federal government delivers this service as well because they create the handbook and it can be ordered through their website. This does not cost much money because the people accessing the handbook are required to pay for it. The only costs to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services would be in maintaining the website and in ensuring that the documents are translated into needed languages.

Likewise, the independent organization called the United States Immigration Support also has a handbook entitled, ‘The Newcomers Guide to the United States,’ with information on visa Information, drivers license, Social Security cards, healthcare information, banking, employment, starting a business, education, etc. (U.S. Immigration Support, 2007). This is a private non-profit organization that simply offers a database of all needed documentation for immigrants. They deliver the service through their website so it is fairly accessible to immigrants who need such documents. Similar to the handbook of the USCIS, the only cost would be in maintaining the website and perhaps providing certain copyrighted documents.

The goals for the handbook and pamphlets available through these departments and organizations are positive in theory. It is good that these resources are offered in many languages and that they are accessible through the internet. These handbooks and pamphlets are fairly inexpensive and can be downloaded through the internet quite easily. The implementation is easy as once immigrants have these documents, they can just refer to them as needed. However, in application, these resources only offer limited assistance. They provide very little information on the topics included and they do not describe specifics in how to maneuver through various systems. These pamphlets assume that these immigrants are coming to the United States with a certain base of experience and knowledge to be able to read this pamphlet and to be able to successfully apply it. However, it is important to take into account why immigrants come to the United States; many of the Latino immigrants come to the United States due to civil unrest, violence, political problems, lack of opportunity, etc. When they arrive to the United Sates, it would be helpful for the immigrants to have a program to participate in to acquire needed acclimation assistance to learn about the culture of the United States, to learn about the social services available to them, to learn how to shop in a grocery store, learn basic words in English, etc. The most basic needs of these immigrants are not provided for when they first arrive, which then ultimately sets them up for failure and having unmet needs. However, because of all of the laws and policies that are in place that make it difficult for immigrants to succeed, they are really faced with a lack of opportunity and no hope for freedom, which were probably the concepts that enticed them to come the this country in the first place.

Currently, in Congress, there are various bills being proposed relating to immigration. One of which is the HB 308 that wants “to require in specified situations the verification of immigration status of persons who are not United States citizens, to impose state income taxes at a rate of six per cent per annum on the compensation of specified independent contractors who fail to document such verification, and to restrict the employment, transport, post-secondary education benefits, driver's licenses and identification cards, and receipt of public benefits of persons who are not legal residents of the United States” (Capital Advantage, 2007). This would policy would be funded through the federal government; however, it would probably be enforced by the state government as it deals with the state income taxes. However, the local government would probably enforce some of it as well through the license bureau and through the Job and Family Services. This would probably cost the a significant amount of money as it would include creating specific guidelines of accepted documentation, but then employing people to monitor and verify documentation and then to make and take reports when there are violations. Filtering access to employment, transportation, and education would be time consuming and require a lot of bodies to process documents.

Another bill is the S.774, entitled Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act of 2007. It is intended to “amend the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to permit States to determine State residency for higher education purposes and to authorize the cancellation of removal and adjustment of status of certain alien students who are long-term United States residents and who entered the United States as children, and for other purposes” (Govtrack.us, 2007). This would be a beneficial bill to pass as it relates to assisting immigrants in improving their self-sufficiency through education. This bill would allow children of aliens to be able to obtain a higher education and have a chance at increasing their success. The funding sector for this policy would be the public sector through the state. The states would determine residency and then authorize eligibility for this service. This program would cost a significant amount of money to be able to process all documentation submitted and then to review eligibility for each individual.