Expanding Your Immigration Knowledge!

Immigration has become an important issue because of its affects on virtually every aspect of life in America. With more than a million legal and illegal immigrants settling in the United Sates each year, immigration has an impact on education, health care, government budgets, employment, the environment and many other areas of American life. This post presents a list of helpful links to further enhance your knowledge about immigration. It also gives you a glimpse of the websites that I have used to develop my arguments and postings thus far.

GENERAL OVERVIEW OF ISSUES
http://www.fairus.org/
The Federation for American Immigration Reform is a national, nonprofit, public-interest, membership organization of concerned citizens who share a common belief that our nation’s immigration policies must be reformed to serve the national interest. FAIR seeks to improve border security, to stop illegal immigration and to promote immigration levels consistent with the national interest-more traditional rates of about 300,000 a year. The website provides excellent resources and links to policy, legislation, media and press. The immigration centers are also a great place to read discussions about popular issues.

http://www.cis.org/
The Center for Immigration Studies is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit research organization. It is developed exclusively to the research and policy analysis of economic, social, demographic, fiscal, and other impacts of immigration on the United States. The center is animated by a pro-immigrant, low-immigration vision which seeks fewer immigrants but a warmer welcome of those admitted. The website is organized in a manner that is accessible and easy to naviage through. The two major sections are topics in Immigration bar which provides info about history, illegal immigrants, statistics, costs, and also current news articles

HISTORY
http://www.weareellisisland.org/
Immerse yourself in the stories of immigrants who traveled to the U.S. in search for a brighter future. This website examines the humanistic side of immigration and gives the reader a different perspective of the struggles and thoughts of immigrants coming into the U.S.

http://library.thinkquest.org/20619/Eihist.html
Discover the history of Ellis Island, “the island of hopes.” Review the timeline to understand key developments thus far. This website highlights immigration in the past and talks specifically about other races of immigrants besides Hispanics. It is very helpful for readers to gain a clearer understanding of how immigration has effected our country since the beginning.

LEGISLATION AND IMPLICATIONS
http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/immigration/
This website offers a detailed description of the proposals of President Bush’s Immigration Reform. It is beneficial for readers to become familiar with the current immigration legislation in order to decipher whether or not improvements occurred.

http://www.nwi.com/articles/2007/08/09/updates/breaking_news/doc46baf816bebac774730631.txt This article explains how the minority is slowly becoming the majority. The implications are braced by the use of statistical evidence to support the need to improve our immigration laws.

EDUCATION
http://www.helium.com/channels/583/debates/sbs/80892
A helpful website devoted to the debate over whether or not Americans should fund the education of illegal immigrants. It clearly outlines each side's arguements in an organized chart format.

http://www.ericdigests.org/pre-9217/children.htm
This website outlines successful strategies and policies for undocumented children in schools. It offers suggestions for school leaders on how to help immigrant children succeed and how to make the school environment more welcoming. Additionally, it examines the difficulties immigrant children face.

http://www.rethinkingschools.org/special_reports/bilingual/Leav171.shtml
This website focuses on the affects of No Child Left Behind in schools and how students with limited English proficiency can potentially hinder school achievement . It provides background information about the legislation and describes the standards schools are held to. The article suggests that the goal of No Child Left Behind is unrealistic even if the resources were made available to underfunded schools. It further supports the claim by recognizing that there are too many other variables in children’s lives to hold 100 percent of them and their schools accountable for anything.