Legal Immigration Controversy and the Non-Bias in Academia ...

Written by: Karly Berezowsky

This article was published by GroundReport at: http://www.groundreport.com/Business/Legal-Immigration-Controversy-and-the-Non-Bias-in-/2944717

According to the U.S. Immigration Support website, ?Florida is home to 2.7 million, of 17 percent, foreign-born residents.?

Florida may be a melting pot for people of all sorts of nationalities but it is also a border state with an immigration problem, according to the Florida Immigrant Coalition. Except, people forget that there are two types of immigrants, illegal immigrants and legal immigrants residing in Florida and the latter is often overlooked.

The Balanced Politics website states that there is a common misconception of immigration always being bad for America because the ?illegals? are supposedly taking jobs away from unemployed Americans. One problem feeding the stereotypes is personal bias from people in power, whose views get projected onto television and broadcasted to the masses. Anyone including new legal immigrants can have a difficult time finding a job during rough economic times.

Many people such as Mark Krikorian, executive director for the Center for Immigration Studies, cannot get past stereotyping immigrants as unskilled people.

Krikorian said, ?It is obviously true that not all immigrants are Mexican illegal-alien gardeners, but most of the skilled legal immigrants we admit aren?t really all that skilled. In addition to a relatively small number of genuine Einsteins, the top people in their fields on the planet, we admit lots of average tech workers, who are certainly able to support themselves but aren?t special.?

According to Krikorian, such stereotypes exist because many media mongers are conditioned to believe that almost all immigrant workers take jobs as ?gardeners? or other blue-collar, labor-intensive jobs. And there is not enough sufficient data to say otherwise.

However, there another issue that people are having with legal immigration is in the increasingly huge number of immigrants that are entering the United States each year.

John Vinson, executive director of American Immigration Control Foundation, said, ?Legal immigration today is excessive. Today we?re admitting around one million legal immigrants and temporary visa holders a year. This has been going on for the past two decades, and constitutes the greatest sustained wave of immigration in our history. Most legal immigrants are not selected on the basis of needed skills but on the basis of their family ties to previous immigrants.?

According to Vinson, the volume of legal immigrants entering the United States only adds to the unemployment controversy.

Vinson said, ?With more than 20 million Americans unable to find full-time job, it simply makes no sense to keep admitting so many people. Since mass immigration took off around 1970, wage levels of Americans in constant dollars have risen little?due in some degree to competition from immigrants. This competition significantly harms disadvantaged Americans.?

Vinson does not see very many benefits to the American economy due to ?mass legal immigration,? although some people see immigration as a good thing because it helps to expand the nation?s culture.

Vinson said, ?The diversity brought by mass immigration is not our strength. Even Harvard sociologist Robert Putnam, a proponent of diversity, admits that the diversity now brought by immigration is undermining our social cohesion.?

Vinson argues that if legal immigration continues to increase, he projects that the United States will be in trouble in the long run, in terms of agriculture and jobs. Vinson theorizes that people do not realize how many resources an average person uses throughout their lifetime, and if more people keep coming in legally, there will be more of a demand for resources and the environment may not be able to supply everyone with what is needed.

Vinson said, ?If the current level of legal immigration continues, we will add 130 million more people in less than 40 years. Eighty-two percent percent will be immigrants and their descendants. This will place an enormous stress on our natural resources and the environment.?

Vinson proposes that there needs to be more strict immigration reform regarding how many people are let into the United States annually.

Vinson said, ?The problem is not (legal) immigration per se, but excessive immigration. Moderation in immigration, after years of excess, is what we should seek now.?

Nevertheless, Vinson is only one voice among many with an opinion on legal immigration. There are other advocates that are for legal immigration.

Enrique Morones, founder of Border Angels non-profit organization, believes that immigration is actually beneficial to the American economy. Morones finds American?s misapprehensions about legal and illegal immigration to be appalling considering the United States population is made up of a mash-up of national backgrounds.

Morones said, ?Immigration is good for the country. It is in large part what has made this country. Unfortunately it seems like lots of todays immigrants have forgotten their roots. It is important to remember that the majority of todays immigrants unlike yesteryears have no legal way of coming to this country, as their is no line for people of a certain socio economic level. Those same people coming in the last century did not have to worry of legal versus illegal they just came.?

According to Morones, illegal immigrant prejudice overcasts any accomplishments legal immigrants have made in the United States. Many legal immigrants are ?only looking for a better opportunity? than that which can be provided in their own country. Morones says most immigrants desire the American dream whether they cross the U.S. Mexican border through the dessert terrain or fly over in an airplane across the pond.

Moronoes knows that many legal immigrants actually do make something of themselves through determination and hard work. He says many legal immigrants achieve greatness in their professional career paths.

Morones said, ?Of the 10 and half million undocumented people in this country almost half are not from Mexico. But amongst those [legal immigrants] here we have doctors, lawyers, astronauts, teachers and virtually most walks of life that came here only way they could in desert or via mountains. There is now more than ever a need for humane immigration reform.?

Job-hunting can be difficult for any person during a time of economic turmoil. However, there are extra hoops for legal immigrants to jump through in order to receive a highly professional job in the United States.

Flagler College is a great example of a school that has highly professional immigrant teachers that have successfully achieved employment, according to William Abare, school president.

Abare said, ?Approximately one-tenth of our faculty were born in a foreign country.?

Abare does not believe that there is an immigration bias when hiring an immigrant employee. He says he views all applicants the same way when considering them for a teaching position.

Abare said, ?I do not think about their gender, their race, their native country, or other personal factors. We are very fortunate to have faculty members who are talented, dedicated, and competent.?

According to Abare, a person?s nationality does not matter. To him, the determining factor is a person?s character.

Abare said, ?When I think about our faculty, I think about their effectiveness as teachers, advisors, mentors, and valued colleagues. I also think about the many ways they contribute to the betterment of our college community.?

There is an entire process that foreign-born professors must endure before becoming a professor in the United States. But if the candidate is right for the college teaching job, the professor can achieve greatness in the academic field.

Yvan Kelly, Flagler College associate dean of academic affairs, said, ?I do know that for a professor to get a green card to work in the United States, there are special classes of employment that are considered. College teaching is one of those. So it is easier for a foreign born person to become a professor in the U.S. than it is for them to become a car mechanic.?

According to Kelly, there is a special selection process that goes into picking every professor at Flagler. However, the selection process is more rigorous for an internationally born professor because it is a huge investment for the school.

Kelly said, ?The only bias I can think of from a college?s perspective is if they have to sponsor the professor for the green card. That is a pretty expensive process, around $15,000 in total. So a school might want to select a domestic candidate for their faculty rather than a foreign candidate due to cost considerations.?

Perhaps, there is just an immigrant stereotype amongst mudslinging politicians made popular by activists in border states, but not in the hallowed halls of academia.

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Source: http://karlyberezowsky.wordpress.com/2012/03/09/legal-immigration-controversy-and-the-non-bias-in-academia/

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