Exercises for the Economics of Immigration

Exercise #1 –Immigrant interview project

Find someone who was born outside the U.S. and is not a student at your institution. This person may be a distant relative, although students are encouraged to interview someone they do not know well. This exercise consists of 3 components:

1)First, interview him/her about his/her experiences.Interview questions should be prepared in advance.The questions should be specific and not generic. The goal of the interview is to understand the immigrant’s story, which may include the following components:

  • The reasons behind their migration, and/or their situation in their home country.
  • Details of their trip to the U.S.
  • Their initial experiences in the U.S.
  • Their struggles to assimilate.
  • A reflection of their experience: has it been worth it?
  • Any regrets about their decision.
  • The connections they have to their home country.

You will be required to turn in your interview questions with your essay; they will formulate part of your grade on this assignment.

2)The second component is an essay describing the immigrant’s story. It should read like a story and not like a summary of events in the immigrant’s life.The key to this assignment is to find a “hook”—do not just tell us the chronology of the person’s life but rather about one or two key parts of his/her life relating to his/her experience as an immigrant.In your essay, be sure to provide details about the immigrant (where he or she came from, when they migrated, where they live in the U.S., etc.) by intertwining the facts within their story.If you find one aspect of the immigrant’s experience particularly interesting, feel free to focus on that component of their experience in telling their story.Your essay should not exceed four double-spaced pages (using 12 point font with 1” margins).Both the content of your essay and the fluidity of your writing will be graded.

3)The final component is a 5-7 minute oral presentation in class about the person’s experience. Students may want to show pictures of the person or objects that are linked to his/her home country or experience in the U.S. It is strongly recommended that a map of where this person is from is included.

Exercise #2 – Group oral presentationon an immigration policy or proposed legislation

In groups of 2-3, prepare a 5-7 minute oral presentation and a two-page written overview of a key law or regulation affecting immigration policy in the country of your choice.In your presentation and overview you should outline the main features of your policy and discuss the main reasons for its importance.In addition, make sure to discuss any controversy and opposition to the legislation.Each group will report to others in the class, and your reports will be combined to make a small booklet for each student so you have a reference document about current global migration policy.

Exercise #3 –Countries’ Stance on Immigration Policy

Divide students into small groups. Each group selects a country and tracks the country’s immigration policies all semester.During the early portion of the semester, each group gives a 5-7 minutecountry-specific presentation that covers background, labor mobility,educational opportunities for immigrants, residency options, and a specific immigration policy.Presentations should include at least 7 slides that cover the following:

1)Title slide with country name, student names, date

2)One slide with background information on the country (people, economy, trans-national and immigration issues from CIA World Factbook and Mipex-- and mipex.eu)

3)One slide with a link to media (e.g., someone talking about immigration in that country – less than 1 minute – find on own)

4)One slide relating to labor mobility (see mipex.eu)

5)One slide relating to education (see mixex.eu)

6)One slide relating to residency (family reunification, long-term status, nationality, see mipex.eu)

7)One slide discussing a specific piece of legislation that is important to the current state of immigration in your country

8)Use clip art at some point – you can put a picture of yourcountry or a visual of something relating to immigration or immigration policy

9)Create at LEAST 1 hyperlink to a definition of a term introduced in the presentation.

10) Be SPECIFIC – please put numbers if possible; names of legislation; etc.

11)Please put SOURCES of your information.

See the sample rubric below for assessment of this presentation.

Assessment Sheet for Oral Presentations

Students:______Date: ______

CommunicationExcellentVery goodAdequatePoor

Effectively communicated the nature or design

of their investigation4321

Effectively communicated its context and significance4321

Overall organization4321

Aspects of Delivery

Avoided distracting mannerisms4321

Showed interest and enthusiasm4321

Used voice to emphasize key points4321

Used visual aids well4321

Exercise #4–Ethnicity, location, and the second generation

Divide students into groups and assign each group an ethnicity. These ethnicities could be contemporaneous or historical, i.e., Turkish immigrants in Germany today or Irish immigrants in the U.S. in the 1890s.Groups should answer the questions below based on their assigned ethnicity. Each scenario should be considered independent of one another.Each group hands in one copy of each group’s written answers.

  1. Imagine that you live in a neighborhood of your ethnicity.You are contemplating a move out of your neighborhood.What factors do you consider when deciding whether to stay in your neighborhood or whether to leave?
  2. Imagine that you live in a neighborhood of your ethnicity.In the last few months there was a recent increase in the number of immigrants (of the same ethnicity).What sort of effects will this have on your neighborhood? Do you view this influx of new immigrants as a good or bad thing for your personal situation?
  3. Imagine that you are the parents of two children.Your entire family lives in a neighborhood of your ethnicity.What factors will determine your children’s future socioeconomic situation?Which factors are most important?
  4. How does society view the clustering of people of your ethnicity? What are society’s costs and benefits of the clustering?

Exercise #5 –Cost/Benefit Analysis of Immigration

Discuss the three most relevant costs associated with immigration in the U.S. or another country and the three most relevant benefits.You must provide support for each cost and benefit by citing relevant work.You should also discuss any disagreement or debate that surrounds the particular cost or benefit, if applicable.Feel free to introduce a cost or benefit not discussed in class, if you think it is relevant.

After describing the most significant costs and benefits to immigration, briefly discuss the net effects of immigration.Do you believe immigration is a net contributor or drain? Why?Explain the reasoning behind your position.You might need to take a stand on the largest cost and/or benefit associated with immigration.Be sure your arguments are compelling (and not based solely on emotions or personal experiences).

Instructors may want to do a similar exercise for emigration.

Exercise #6 – Group statistical profile

As a group, write 3-4 pages and present a short statistical profile of an immigrant group in the United States or other country.Your report should include information on the size of the immigrant group in the country you are examining, where they reside and other demographic characteristics.Beyond basic summary statistics, you should also provide information on gender and age through a population tree, educational attainment, typical occupations in both the receiving and host countries, and visa status and immigration policy most affecting this group in the country you are studying.

Exercise #7 –Personal Narrative about a Family Migration Experience

Whether it was an immediate relative, a distant relative, or your own experience, you have likely been affected by immigration.Write a narrative about an immigration experience that affected you personally.This assignment is meant to strike self-awareness regarding your own history and your family’s immigration experience.

In 3-5 double spaced pages, discuss a migration experience that covers the following:

  1. The decision to migrate

(a)Where did the family member come from, when did they come, how did they arrive and why?

(b)Were they part of a larger group of immigrants?

(c)What networks(e.g., family and friends) have helped?

(d)What specific factors such as immigration policy, war, economic hardships pushed them from their country or pulled them into their new home?

  1. The experience in their new country

(a)What jobs were available to them?

(b)What type of reception did they receive?

(c)How difficult was it to assimilate or integrate into the new country?

  1. What are some of their main cultural practices and traditions that they have maintained over the years?
  2. Are there still special occasions that are celebrated?
  3. Are there still unique foods prepared?
  4. How has your family changed (e.g., economically, politically, culturally) over time due to this migration experience?

Exercise #8 – Debate on Candidates’ Stance on Immigration Policy

Assigneach student a candidate to track this semester in an upcoming election in the world.For example, the election could be the presidential election in the US or a European primary.Hold a ‘mock’ debate where studentsexplain and defend their candidate’s stance on immigration policy. To prepare for the debate, students could be required to write a briefing book as an assignment. This briefing book would explain the candidate’s platform and its advantages over current policy and critiques of opponents’ platforms.

Exercise #9 – Immigration Policy Project

Much of the current policy debate in the US revolves around three aspects of immigration policy:border enforcement, amnesty programs, and employer sanctions.In this project, focus on one of these three areas and give a specific recommendation for future immigration reform.

The goals of the project are

  1. To identify multiple aspects surrounding the issue of immigration policy.
  2. Find and interpret appropriate sources to understand the background and complexity of the issue.
  3. Propose policy recommendations to address your issue with an effective rationale for implementation.
  4. Present and debate the recommendations and rationales orally and in writing.Imagine that your group is presenting a brief to President Obama and his cabinet on your particular issue in immigration policy.You must clearly describe your recommendation and make a convincing case for its implementation.

Exercise #10–“Fishbowl” Exercise

In a fishbowl exercise, a small group of students are asked to discuss an issue or concept.The rest of the class watches, takes notes, and ultimately reflects upon what they heard and the decisions that came from the discussion.

As an example of an immigration fishbowl exercise, split students up into 2-person groupswhere one group is ‘for’ or ‘against’ a certain issue. Possible topics include:

1)Open Borders

2)Points-Based Immigration System

3)Restrictions on Emigration

Teams are given 10 minutes to prepare a 1-2 minute overview of their stance.They may use the internet and other resources.The structure of the exercise can be determined by the instructor.

Exercise #11 – Role-Play and Performance-Based Learning

In a role-playing exercise, students assume the “role” of a character and must “speak” in the voice of that figure about the issue under discussion.Several students may take turns “playing” that figure during the class.The class then discusses how they understood their colleagues’ portrayal.

As an example of an immigration role-playing exercise, students are put in pairs to represent:

1)Refugees

2)Skilled immigrants

3)Undocumented immigrants

4)Emergency roomdoctors (medical field)

5)Educators/teachers

6)Employers

The class is given 10 minutes to research their group/person to know statistics about this person or institution regarding immigration.Immigrants (groups 1-3) are then interviewed by the other players (groups 4-6) without revealing their identities—groups 1-3 may not state who they are but will give “clues” via their answers to questions posed by groups 4-6, such as where they are from, where they live, the types of jobs they hold, how their health is, how old they are, etc.After 5-10 minutes, their identities should become clear and the class discusses what they have learned and what they still want to know.

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