Tag: Immigration Law

Controlling Our Borders Through Enhanced Employer Sanctions – Note by Jeffrey L. Ehrenpreis

From Volume 79, Number 5 (July 2006)
DOWNLOAD PDF

As a nation built by immigrants, the United States has historically maintained a generally pro-immigration policy. For many Americans, however, the current immigration system appears broken. Proponents of tighter immigration controls often point to the fact that two of the terrorists involved in the attacks on September 11, 2001 received approval of their immigration applications six months after the attacks took place. This oversight proved especially embarrassing to the then Immigration and Naturalization Service (“INS”), evidencing the ease with which a terrorist could enter the United States. With terrorism currently the chief policy concern of the United States, immigration issues play an increasingly important role on the American national security agenda.

 

79_1203

Consent by all the Governed: Reenfranchising Noncitizens as Partners in America’s Democracy – Note by Gabriela Evia

From Volume 77, Number 1 (November 2003)
DOWNLOAD PDF

The United States has been the pioneer of democratic values on the stage of world history for over two hundred years. The foundation of a democracy is the right of the governed to elect their political leaders. As President Lyndon B. Johnson told Congress in 1965, Americans have “‘fought and died for two centuries’” to defend the principle of “‘government by consent of the governed.’”

Despite these democratic values, one particular group in our country is governed but has lost the right to vote – noncitizen legal permanent residents (“LPRs”). Noncitizen LPRs are legal immigrants. They are foreign-born individuals who have been granted legal permanent resident status by the U.S. government. This status allows them to live and work in the country indefinitely. Noncitizen LPRs pay taxes at the local, state, and federal levels, they can serve in the military and are eligible for the draft, and they are subject to all the laws of the United States. Although they have all the political, social, and military obligations of citizens, noncitizen LPRs are no longer allowed to vote in any state due to the recent amendments of state constitutions, which have disenfranchised noncitizens and limited the franchise to U.S. citizens. Prior to this disenfranchisement, noncitizens legally voted in local, state, and national elections for over one hundred years.

 

77_151