Raleigh Hightower
Way of living Editor
[email protected]
Aiming to educate learners throughout all disciplines on the historical and current realities of American immigration, a professor in the Department of Political Science and Sociology hosted a presentation.
Affiliate Professor Ihsan Alkhatib hosted a dialogue titled “Immigration Legislation: Overview and Present Issues,” on Thursday, Feb. 17 in Faculty Corridor, space 208.
Alkhatib, who emigrated to the United States from Lebanon, practiced loved ones, immigration and business legislation in the Detroit, Michigan, spot for 10 decades right before joining Murray State’s political science division.
Through his expertise in immigration legislation and his individual immigration historical past, Alkhatib has watched American immigration legislation transform substantially during his profession.
“[Immigration] has come to be simpler due to technological innovation and e-govt,” Alkhatib claimed. “You can file programs on the net and check out the standing of scenarios on the web. It was more durable for some time after 9/11 with the hardened perspective as to immigration.”
Alkhatib’s presentation commenced with an excerpt from “Walking to America with the Migrant Caravan,” an episode from the documentary sequence “Vice News Tonight.” The episode is about a caravan of migrants going for walks by Mexico to come to the United States. The episode clip revealed in the presentation adopted the journey of 16-yr-outdated Mario Cartagena Martizen, a boy from Honduras.
The documentary began in the town of Arriaga in the Mexican point out of Chiapas, which is positioned 2,260 miles south of the American border. Alkhatib explained in his presentation what varieties of elements could possibly inspire migrants to go to such extremes to commence new life.
“Desperate persons do desperate matters,” Alkhatib said. “There are root causes in sending international locations, force things. Drive aspects are issues these types of as poverty, war, unemployment and crime.”
Alkhatib also described how ingrained immigration is in American record and how immigration has altered around time. Alkhatib stated immigration has always been a section of American heritage.
Some notable historic immigration developments Alkhatib talked over in his presentation involve: the Declaration of Independence, The Naturalization Act of 1790, The Immigration Act of 1924 and the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965.
The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson established the contemporary process of American immigration. This procedure founded boundaries of immigrants authorized on a per-place basis.
Following providing guests an introduction to the record of American immigration, Alkhatib discussed the present-day challenges in immigration dealing with both The usa and the European Union.
A single trouble pointed out in the presentation was the extraordinary backlog of immigration courts. The nation’s most energetic immigration courts by caseload are Texas, California, Florida and New York. There are only 465 immigration judges although more than 1.5 million instances are backlogged.
Yet another problem stated is the failure of politicians to pass any kind of immigration plan. Various earlier presidential administrations have made immigration a marketing campaign speaking point, but there has not tiny substantive adjust in plan.
Alkhatib also explained legal problems immigrants facial area under the present method.
“Those coming lawfully to this state are put by a really rigorous and exhausting process though others just cross the border,” Alkhatib reported. “I am helping with an immigration case professional bono. My consumers are immigrating legally, and it has been a extended and exhausting process.”
Despite the a variety of immigration troubles in the country’s political and lawful devices, Alkhatib explained immigration is a single of America’s potent suits. He mentioned the adhering to estimate by former president Ronald Reagan to illustrate this:
“You can go dwell in France, but you are unable to turn into a Frenchman. You can go to are living in Germany or Turkey or Japan, but you are not able to turn into a German, a Turk, or a Japanese. But anybody, from any corner of the Earth, can occur to stay in The united states and turn into an American.”
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