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Medical University of South Carolina THE RURAL INTERDISICPLINARY PRACTICUM Lowcountry AHEC

Funded by USDHHS, PHS, Bureau of Health Professions Grant No. D36HP16004

U.S. Immigration Policy: A Rural Perspective on Enforcement and Reform

Considering the positive and negative impact on rural agriculture and communities, should theCongress amend the Immigration and Nationality Act? For example, to:

  • Increase border security?
  • Enforce existing bans on the hiring of undocumented workers?
  • Require employers to verify the legal status of their employees and impose a criminal penalty on the employer for hiring illegal immigrants?
  • Increase the penalty for living in the United States illegally from a misdemeanor to a felony? (“criminalize” status)
  • Increase the number of foreign workers allowed to work and live in the United States permanently? (green cards)
  • Create a guest worker program thatallows400,000 foreign workers to work and live in the United States for a temporary amount of time and
  • Allows guest workers to apply for green cards after 5 years?
  • Allows guest workers to apply for citizenship after 11 years?
  • Allow illegal immigrants currently living in the United States to earn citizenship? (“regularize” status)

Proposed Legislation

United States Congress

Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration and Control Act of 2005 (Referred to Senate Committee after being Received from House), H.R. 4437, 109th Cong. (2005). Retrieved May 3, 2006, from

Securing America’s Borders Act, S. 2454, 109th Cong. (2006). Retrieved May 3, 2006, from

South Carolina Legislature

Illegal Aliens and Public Employment Act, H. 5057, Retrieved May 3, 2006, from

Suggested References

Immigrant Population Characteristics & Estimates

Passel, J. S. (2006, March 7). Size and characteristics of the unauthorized migrant population in the U.S. (Pew Hispanic Center Research Report). Retrieved May 4, 2006, from

Pew Hispanic Center. (2006, April 26). Estimates of the unauthorized migrant population for states based on the March 2005 CPS (Fact Sheet). Retrieved May 4, 2006, from

Woodward, D. (2006, March). Mexican immigrants: The new face of the South Carolina labor force (Research Report). Columbia: University of South Carolina, Moore School of Business. Retrieved May 3, 2006, from

Immigrant Health Care & Social Services

Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. (2006, March). Immigrants: Coverage and access to care (Reference Library). Retrieved May 3, 2006, from

South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center. (n.d.) Emergency Medicaid for immigrants (Fact Sheet). Retrieved May 4, 2006, from

South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center. (n.d.) Food Stamp facts for immigrants (Fact Sheet). Retrieved May 4, 2006, from

South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center. (n.d.) Reporting requirements: Who has a duty to report undocumented immigrants? (Fact Sheet). Retrieved May 4, 2006, from

Immigration Debate

American Farm Bureau Federation. (2006, May 1). Immigration debates of the past resonate today. Farm Bureau News, 85(9). May 3, 2006, from

Brown University, Watson Institute for International Studies, The Choices Program. (n.d.). U.S. immigration policy: What shall we do?Retrieved May 3, 2006, from

Center for Immigration Studies. (n.d.) [Current news articles. Common topics in immigration.] Retrieved May 3, 2006, from

Independent Television Service. (2004). Take the immigration myths and realities quiz. Retrieved May 3, 2006, from

Johnson, M. (2006, May 3). Farmers worried over immigration debate. HoustonChronicle.com. Retrieved May 3, 2006, from

National Public Radio. (2006). The immigration debate. Retrieved May 3, 2006, from

Surveys of American Perceptions

Center for Immigration Studies. (2006, May 3). New poll: Americans prefer House approach to immigration. Retrieved May 3, 2006, from

Kohut, A., Keeler, S., Doherty, C., Suro, R., & Escobar, G. (2006, March 30). America’s immigration quandary: No consensus on problem or proposed fixes (Pew Hispanic Center Research Report). Retrieved May 4, 2006, from