The politics of immigration reform

The US is the target for international migration, now more than ever. Population growth and economic stragnation in the Third World are increasing the pressures for out-migration, and current immigration law is wholly incapable of responding to the ever increasing flow of illegal immigrants. Border apprehensions of illegal aliens in the US were up 40% during 1983, and total apprehensions reached 1.25 million by the year's end. Recent public opinion polls have disclosed that an overwhelming majority of the American public demands immigration reform, and yet we as a nation have been distinctly unwilling or unable to respond to this clear public sentiment. This paper discusses the politics of the "Simpson-Mazzoli" Immigration Reform and Control Act, previous immigration legislation, current counterproposals for US immigration policy, and the political realities of immigration reform.     

The politics of immigration policy in Israel

"This article examines the policies adopted by the former Likud government--and largely continued by the present Labour-led coalition government which took office in the second half of 1992--to absorb the 400,000 new immigrants (most from the former Soviet Union) who arrived in Israel between 1989 and 1992. As part of that examination, we will critically review the major features of current absorption policies, such as the policy of 'direct absorption', the 'basket of absorption services' provided as a right to new immigrants, and immigration-related housing policies. In addition, we will explore the effects of employment policy on the new immigrant population." (SUMMARY IN FRE AND SPA)     

Migration policy and politics in the receiving states

"This article explores the politics of migration policies in the receiving states." The author finds that "a survey of the politics of immigration in the major receiving states shows a strong pattern of restrictionism in the face of unprecedented pressures for entry, but also amnesties, exceptions on humanitarian grounds, and hesitation to enforce the law. As individual states founder, multilateral strategies abound, but with scant success....Ironically, the failure of states to deal with the crisis may reinforce national prerogatives and capacities with respect to immigration and strengthen rather than erode the distinction between economic migrants and refugees."     

A state of limbo: the politics of waiting in neo‐liberal Latvia

This article presents an ethnographic study of politics of waiting in a post‐Soviet context. While activation has been explored in sociological and anthropological literature as a neo‐liberal governmental technology and its application in post‐socialist context has also been compellingly documented, waiting as a political artefact has only recently been receiving increased scholarly attention. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork at a state‐run unemployment office in Riga, this article shows how, alongside activation, state welfare policies also produce passivity and waiting. Engaging with the small but developing field of sociological literature on the politics of waiting, I argue that, rather than interpreting it as a clash between ‘neo‐liberal’ and ‘Soviet’ regimes, we should understand the double‐move of activation and imposition of waiting as a key mechanism of neo‐liberal biopolitics. This article thus extends the existing theorizations of the temporal politics of neo‐liberalism.     

Labor immigration in the Arab Gulf states: patterns,trends and problems

This is an overview of recent labor immigration in Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Attention is given to factors contributing to the dependence of these countries on migrant labor, the impact of the decline in oil revenues, and future trends in the size and skill composition of the foreign labor supply.     

Parity of participation in liberal welfare states: human rights,neoliberalism, disability and employment

Governments continue to face challenges in implementing effective strategies to increase social and economic participation of people with disabilities. In a recent OECD high-level policy forum on Sickness, Disability and Work, the main policy message was the need for a culture of inclusion; with a dual focus on short-term active policy interventions and long-term structural reform. This paper examines policies in liberal welfare states that encourage people receiving disability benefits to participate in the labor market. Examples from the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia of active labor market programs aimed at moving people with disabilities from workfare are analyzed in the context of international disability rights and neoliberal discourse. The paper explores the extent to which new approaches to activation policies are facilitating parity of participation and factors that impact the effectiveness of these policies.     

Identity politics and democratic transitions in Latin America: (Re)organizing women's strategic interests through community activism

Theory and Society -     

In liberty's shadow: the discourse of refugees and asylum seekers in critical race theory and immigration law/politics

This article addresses the potential that a kind of engaged research can have in current battles for social justice and in the transformation of college curricula as a way to recover the original critical spirit of ethnic studies. Building on critical race theory, I discuss the work of NGOs such as Human Rights First and Americans for Immigrant Justice on behalf of Haitian refugees and the role of literature in inspiring human rights actions that might redefine practices of citizenship and belonging. At a time when the United States recognises the rights of refugees but criminalises the search for asylum, coalition building between ethnic studies discourse, the legal academy and the community is vital to affirm and protect the internationally recognised rights of refugees. Crucial in this process is the role played by stories as a way to humanise the often impersonal topic of the immigration debate.     

Identification in democratic society

Identification increases cooperation and fairness (“other-regarding” behaviour) in Prisoner's Dilemma and Dictator Games. While identification explains all the difference in behaviour in nonstrategic interactions, face-to face communication further raises cooperation in strategic settings. This “cooperation-increasing” effect must be traded-off against the “equality-decreasing” effect of communication. Allowing for partial communication only—which prevails in large number settings—our experimental results indicate that discussion produces unequal distributions of outcomes to the disadvantage of those excluded from the interaction. Substituting identification for communication is relevant in democracy for all distributive questions and for public good type settings if equality is valued higher than a partial increase of “other-regardedness.”     

Distributive interdependencies in liberal egalitarianism

Liberal egalitarian theories of justice share the egalitarian ideal that inequalities due to factors beyond individual control should be eliminated. This justifies that individuals sometimes receive more (or less) than their marginal productivity, which in turn implies that a change in one individual’s effort sometimes will affect the post-tax income of others. What restrictions should we place on such distributive interdependencies? The article provides characterizations of three main classes of redistribution mechanisms on the basis of how this question is answered.     

Reflections on immigration to Europe in light of U.S. immigration history

Trends in international migration in Europe and the United States are analyzed and compared, with a focus on concern about the presence of migrants in the receiving country. Consideration is given to the acculturation of migrants in the United States, including a historical outline of that process as it occurred during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Cultural pluralism and the newest wave of immigration are also described. Implications for European immigration are assessed.     

The recent evolution of immigration in Venezuela

Recent trends in immigration to Venezuela are reviewed. Data are from official sources, including the 1981 census and a 1981 survey of migrants. An analysis of migrants by major country or region of origin is presented that includes consideration of geographic distribution, migrant characteristics, and the characteristics of illegal immigration.     

Integration and immigration pressures in western Europe

"With xenophobia resurgent in Europe, this article addresses some of the complexities of immigration and integration in EC [European Community] and EFTA [European Free Trade Association] countries. The categories of legal and illegal immigrants (including estimates thereof) are first described, as are the necessary ingredients of an integration policy (a framework law, a secure environment, cultural tolerance, demarginalization in housing and the labour market). The author then considers what types of action would help to ease the present immigration pressure, discussing in turn quota policies, project-tied or training migration and, finally, the use of international aid."     

Argentine experience in the field of illegal immigration

This article provides a brief history of Argentine policy toward migratory flows from neighboring countries and Europe, and concludes with statistics on the number of foreigners in Argentina in the 1970-80 period. Measures passed during the 1940s and 1950s were aimed at providing amnesty for foreigners who were residing in Argentina without immigrant status. However, the lack of an adequate administrative structure to regulate foreigners at the borders was a drawback for migration authorities and limited the possiblility of applying admission criteria effectively. By 1970, there were 583,000 foreigners from neighboring countries living in Argentina, which represented a 25% increase from 1960. 42% of these migrants were in the metropolitan region of the country, indicative of a shift away from employment in agriculture. Decree No. 87, passed in 1974, represented an extension of a migration policy aimed at granting ample facilities for permanent residence to aliens from contiguous countries and was designed to prevent abuse of clandestine workers by employers. As a result of this measure, 150,000 foreigners were able to settle legally in the country. A 1981 law, yet to be implemented, establishes a new legal framework aimed at fostering immigration and regulating the admission of foreigners. To attain the objective of settling workers in areas of the country considered of prime importance to economic development, the law provides for infrastructural investments and promotional measures in areas such as tax exemption and the granting of credit. The 1980 National Population Census indicated there were 677,000 foreigners from neighboring countries in Argentina. In that year, foreigners comprised 2.4% of the country's population and 3.1% of the inhabitants of the metropolitan region. These figures are indicative of a decline in the growth of immigration, most likely due to the decline in the purchasing power of workers' salaries in the late 1970s.     

The role of immigration in Canada's demographic outlook

Canada's contemporary demographic profile has been profoundly influenced by the end of the baby boom, decline in the fertility rate, ageing of the population and prospects for an absolute decline in population shortly after the turn of the century.
These demographic characteristics necessitate an enhanced role for immigration and the need for a more proactive immigration policy in order to correct and fine-tune demographic trends and to come to grips with the social and economic challenges and opportunities of the next few decades.
The expanded role of multicultural immigration conveys a sense of urgency in terms of exploring and anticipating the economic and social costs and advantages related to immigration that are decidedly more multicultural and multiracial in composition.
Canada's immigration policy will require a realignment of economic and social policies as well as cultural and linguistic programmes in view of the multicultural composition of family dependents, business and entrepreneurial immigrants and refugee movements.