The Next Immigration Challenge Summary

With the high number of immigrants already residing within the United States. it is time to change policy to help them become better assimilated into society. June Johnson introduces the topic of crossing borders and discusses how it leads to immigration. In Dowell Myers, “The Next Immigration Challenge,” he discusses the need for change in how we tackle both legal and illegal immigration. He argues, “we must shift from an immigration policy, with its emphasis on keeping newcomers out, to an immigrant policy, with an emphasis on encouraging migrants and their children to integrate into our social fabric”(188). As a result with the number of immigrants within the U.S. estimated to be around 11 million it is necessary to change policy for the

Many times these push factors were related to job opportunities, resulting from high birth rates which forced many women to cross the border. This factor is no longer as prevalent due to the declining Mexican birth rate. In 1970 Mexican birth rate was at 6.8 babies, today that number has dropped to 2.1(189). This has resulted in more opportunities for jobs in Mexico, leading to less people needing to move to the United States for jobs. Immigration policy budget does not need to be sky high with such low amount of people which are crossing the border. It should be moved to other areas in order to better help the immigrant population with respect to education and job opportunities. According to Myers the reason for success of immigrants assimilation is the desire to buy homes. Myers states that in particular latinos, “in the wave of 1990’s immigrants, just 20 percent owned a home in 2000. We expect that percentage to rise to 69 percent-and 74 percent for all immigrants-by 2030”(189). With the desire of immigrants to own homes they have an easier time settling into their communities. The wish to buy a home will positively impact the economy of the future, as immigrant children also carry this same