Moving Across Borders

Lesson #1

Investigating Immigration Issues

From My Point of View: Immigration Research Guidelines

You have been assigned to represent one of four groups of people. The group your team represents is:

______

What are the Facts?

Using the Internet and other resources, your team must now research (1) how the group you represent typically views immigration in the United States and why, and (2) what their ideas are for reforming U.S. immigration laws to better meet their needs and views. Use the questions below as a guide and record as many specific facts, examples, and reasons as possible. Because you will use this information later to stage a role-play about immigration, some first-person accounts of experiences with immigration will be helpful. After the questions, some interesting resources are provided to get you started.

1. What does this group feel U.S. immigration policy should be?

2. Why does this group feel the U.S. should adopt this type of immigration policy?

3. What does this group see as the benefit of adopting this type of immigration policy? What would they gain from the policy?

4. How would adopting this type of immigration policy affect the U.S. economy? Children and families? Public services, such as education, the justice system, and health care?

5. What effect would this type of immigration policy have on the other groups represented by the class? Explain the impact of this policy for each group:

Group 1: Illegal Immigrants in the United States:

Group 2: U.S. Citizens Against Illegal Immigrants:

Group 3: Employers Hiring Illegal Immigrants:

Group 4: Legal Immigrants in the United States:

6. Collect and record additional information, stories, data, and facts that help explain the group’s views on immigration and immigration reform.

Some Sources to Get You Started

Immigration/Citizenship

•Special Sections: Immigration (Fox News)

•U.S. Senate and House of Representatives (Use the search function to learn about immigration reform legislation.)

•The President’s Position

Group 1: Illegal Immigrants in the United States

•Immigrant rights: Broken Families (by Tina Shull)

•Remade in America: A Family Divided by 2 Words, Legal and Illegal (Part VII: The Familyof a N.Y. Times series on immigration.Click the title to read the article, but also view the graphic and the audio slide show.)

•Remade in America: Deportation Furor Catches Texas Mayor in Middle (Part II: Politics of a N.Y. Times series on immigration.Click the title to read the article, but also view the slide show.)

•Democracy Now: 750+ Immigrants Detained in “Operation Return to Sender” Raids

Group 2: U.S. Citizens Against Illegal Immigrants

•Fewer Immigrants, a Warmer Welcome: Fixing a Broken Immigration Policy (Center for Immigration Studies)

•Amnesty for Illegals?

•Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) website

•News Channel 8 NewsTalk: Illegal Immigration: Three part debate between Greg Letiecq from Help Save Manassas and John Steinbach of Mexicans Without Borders

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Group 3: Employers Hiring Illegal Immigrants

•Remade in America: A Slippery Place in the U.S. Work Force (Part II: Workplacesof a N.Y. Times series on immigration.Click the title to read the article, but also view the graphic and the audio slide show.)

•Remade in America: A Google Whiz Searches for His Place on Earth (Part V: Businessesof a N.Y. Times series on immigration.Click the title to read the article, but also view the graphic, the slide show, and the debate, Do We Need Foreign Technology Workers?)

Group 4: Legal Immigrants in the United States

•OCA Website: Embracing the Hopes and Aspirations of Asian Pacific Americans

•Commentary: SIREN Website (Service Immigration Rights & Education Network)

•“You Don't Speak for Me” Website: American Hispanic Voices Speaking Out Against Illegal Immigration