Essay on Texas Policy Report

“Federal government decisions about immigration have always been upheld by the US Supreme Court, which overruled attempts for any state to have a say regarding immigration”(Find-Law 2). Typically the state of Texas laws regarding immigration have to do with employment, education, licensing, and state benefits. Even though federal government has the majority of the say regarding the laws of immigration, they have to be able to know when they need to back off. Every state requires different laws when dealing with immigration laws. Almost every Texas state law that has to do with immigration is challenged either by the Federal government or civil liberties groups. The federal government does not like the idea of having different laws

For years to decades’ immigrations has been an issue and maybe in some way a solution to big business gain. Is a real way to fix it or find a balance? It has been and will always be an ongoing subject with politics to come. Since the 1800s Texas borders has had a large population of undocumented immigrants. Though in the current century it does not have the high population with undocumented immigrant now, it is a targeted border for migration.

Brannon, Ike, and Logan Albright. Immigration’s Impact on the Texas Economy. Austin: Texas Public Policy Foundation, Mar. 2016. PDF.

The purpose of the Texas D.R.E.A.M. Act is to give students who are undocumented (immigrants) a chance to claim residency of the state so they can not only pay in-state tuition but to also qualify for financial aid. Positive outcomes this law was enacted to accomplish includes giving the over 2 million children and young adults a chance to go to college, begin working, or join the military. The act would help universities by gaining more students, which in terms means more money for the schools. It would help military recruiting by allowing not only strong, brave but also smart young men and women to enlist for their country. It would also provide more taxable income, save taxpayers money, would allow legalized immigrants to invest in the U.S. economy. (American Immigration Council)

Until recent years, Immigration reform has become controversial in Texas. Despite Texas being a state with a large immigration population, many Texas legislators remain divided on the different issues of immigration measures. During the 82nd Regular Legislative Session, Doug Miller, a Republican State Representative authored House Bill 1272 that would essentially require employers, from all sectors, to participate in the federal electronic verification of work authorization program, also known as E-Verify. House Bill 1272 "would also establish criminal penalties for any employers that would engage in unlawful employment practices. Freedom and equality are being violated if House Bill 1272 should is passed, as well as it would be devastating

Texas is one of the strongest and Republican states among the fifty American states. However, Texas was politically dominated by the Democratic Party for more than a hundred years until the late 1960s, when the Republican party began to gain an increasing political strength. “In a reversal of alignments, since the late 1960s, the Republican Party has grown more prominent within the state based on an influx of primarily white voters (the majority in the state) from the Democratic Party. By the mid-1990s, it became the state 's dominant political party” (Politics of Texas). But this situation may not last so long because Texas is going through demographic shifts. The Hispanic or Latino population as well as minorities has been growing in the

The Lone Star state is one of the greatest states in the United States as it was once on its own as an independent entity. As a result, Texas politics is usually backed up by beliefs of self-reliance compared to other states and sometimes has been referred to as the stubborn teenager verses the stern mother – national government. This level of independence makes Texas unique in regards to policy making. Reasonably, Texans take pride in their history and truly believe in their government. In fact, the Texas legislative branch is relatively seen as the most powerful branch – the state’s law making body in the State. The likes of James Madison would concur with this statement, evidence of which can be found in the Federalist 51 whereby he mentions

There are several reasons why Republican-dominated Texas has a moderate stance on immigration. One explanation is that the relatively conservative Republican Party has been split between Tea Party conservatives and the influential Texas business community. The Tea Party stands for strict immigration laws while the business community tends to value immigration in respect of economic reasons. Secondly, local law enforcement agencies have their own concerns-that their further role as immigrant agents would steer citizens away from reporting crime in their communities. The number of local agreements, from law enforcement agencies to detect and detain undocumented immigrants, appears to be low in Texas. This signifies the state’s unwillingness to participate in anti-immigration movements. In fact, a significant amount of local governments passed sanctuary city resolutions, which are declarations that prevent local employees from notifying federal authorities on the immigrant status of a person they interact with. These administrative actions treat everyone the same. Thirdly, Texas’ embrace of immigration could largely be in correlation with the rapidly growing Hispanic, and minority, population. Minorities account for every one out of ten new residents in Texas. This group of individuals tends to vote Democrat, which is usually associated

Immigration is a highly contested issue in the United States. The most recent immigration reform that was proposed passed the Senate in the summer of 2013 but has yet to be introduced onto the House floor. At the same time, the country is home to 11 million immigrants without authorization to live in the United States. The current immigration policies are outdated and do not benefit those wanting to live in this country or the legal citizens of this country. With a new policy that reintroduces worker visas for unskilled labor, a clear path to citizenship and the close monitoring of employers, the United States could regain control of the immigration system while benefiting both the immigrants and citizens of this country.

On June 2001, a substantial bipartisan majority in the Texas legislature nominated the Texas Dream Act, which Governor Perry signed to allow undocumented immigrants who were brought to Texas as children by their parents to pay in-state tuition at public colleges and universities if they graduated from high school or received a GED in the state. Available to those who have at least three years of residency and are seeking legal residency, this provision has benefited thousands of Texas students.

According to the Texas Tribune, "Texas has over 1 million undocumented immigrants" which constitute a huge number compare to other states (Texas Tribune). As a result Texas has been at the Forefront of immigration enforcement while allowing long term migrants to stay and also giving them some state welfare benefits. While the federal government has been cracking down around the border area its resources for internal enforcement has been diverted to the external area. Resulting in the state to pass policy to give the local authority to enforce immigration law internally, but as states like Texas has increase enforcement internally. It has created rift between the state and federal government, according to multiple news sources like CNN the Supreme Court ruling on Arizona 's SB1070 law "stated that the Supreme Court has declared that immigration

Since the late 1800’s the United States has been challenged with multiple cases regarding immigration and citizenship. Immigration has been a direct cause for population growth and cultural changes throughout history. These causes and changes has affected society and sparked controversy. Immigration policies can affect trade, investments, and tourism for the whole country. The issue being if the federal government should have authority over a state’s immigration requirements. In 2013, the United Nations estimated that there were close to two hundred million immigrants in the world, which is approximately 3.25% of the global population. In the supreme court case of Arizona v. United States, the governor of Arizona, Jan Brewer, signed an act that was named “Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act” to penalize unwarranted immigrants.

Illegal immigration and border patrol are becoming two of America’s top problems. The border separates Mexico from the United States, in particular Arizona and Texas. The fence is becoming a bigger issue for illegal immigrants to cross which, in turn, is making it an issue for border security. Different comparisons between Arizona and Texas and their state laws on illegal immigration will be made, the federal government’s policies on illegal immigration, and President Barack Obama views illegal immigration are all important issues for this topic. As illegal immigration continues to increase it is not going to end anytime soon.

“Texas is the latest state to consider a law that would allow some undocumented immigrants to drive and get automobile

Although the Courts did not stop the identification laws in Indiana or Arizona, Texas voter id law is currently being challenged in the court on the basis that the law is discriminatory. Adam Liptak (2017) talked about the legal battle in which the state is accused of discriminating against minority communities and intimidating people when they go to vote. In the 2016 election according to Texas Secretary of State Rolando Pablo’s (2017) Texas had a 59.39% of voter turnout form those who were registered. The low voter turnout shows that the id laws can affect voter participation within the state especially when there is a miscommunication with the state and its citizens. As the case, progressed data collected showed a possibility of the law