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Running Head: IMMIGRATION

Community Problem Report: Immigration

Following the American Psychological Associations Guidelines
Mariana Ramirez
The University of Texas at El Paso

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Abstract
This paper is about immigration from Mexico to the United States of America, specifically to the
city of El Paso, Texas. Immigration is very relevant in the community of El Paso because it is a
border city with Ciudad Juarez, and many people come from over there and decide to stay here
for a while or for the rest of their lives for many reasons. In this community, many people are
aware that immigration is very important and that if affects both cities, but same may not know
much about it, so the purpose of this paper is to inform them and explain. This paper will talk
about the U.S. Governments definition of the term immigration, it will give examples of why
does immigration occur, and it will explain what policies have been implemented in order to
contain or allow immigration, how an immigrant can become obtain American citizenship, and
lastly; how El Paso is related to it and what impact has it had on the city.
Keywords: immigration, El Paso, Ciudad Juarez, government, policies, citizenship.

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Community Problem Report: Immigration

Immigration is a topic that many people from El Paso know about, since immigration
occurs pretty often in this particular city, whether its done in a legal way or in an illegal one. In
the past years, there was a lot of violence in Ciudad Juarez which caused people from there to
come over to the United States in search of safety and a better life. Currently, according to
studies, immigration from Mexico has decayed, but its impact can still be seen in both El Paso
and Ciudad Juarez.
Immigrant Definition
The U.S. Government has its own definition about what an immigrant is, so immigrants
can know which type of immigrants they are. According to the U.S. Department of Homeland
Security (2015):
Permanent residents are also commonly referred to as immigrants; however, the
Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) broadly defines an immigrant as any alien in the
United States, except one legally admitted under specific nonimmigrant categories (INA
section 101(a) (15)). An illegal alien who entered the United States without inspection,
for example, would be strictly defined as an immigrant under the INA but is not a
permanent resident alien.
Some differences between a legal immigrant and an illegal immigrant are that illegal
immigrants cant vote, or work, they dont receive social services, or social security, they cant
have passports from the United States, and lastly, they dont have a legal status. On the other
hand, legal immigrants begin as permanent residents, and then they can obtain citizenship

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through the process of naturalization, which will allow them to have the same benefits that a
person born in the United States has.
Immigration Policies
In the 1950s, the Bracero Program allowed many Mexicans to work in the United States
temporarily, but some decided to stay and not return to Mexico. According to Massey (2009):
In the late 1950s the inflow of temporary Mexican workers was on the order of 450,000
per year. At the same time, there was no statutory limit on legal immigration from
Mexico and around 43,000 Mexicans settled each year as permanent residents. Given
ample options for legal entry, illegal migration was nonexistent. (p. 44)
According to Massey (2009), this program ended in 1965 and new policies began to
classify immigrants as illegal and thats when the concept of illegal immigrants was created.
Later on, a limit of 120, 000 visas was placed in 1968, in 1976 Mexico was restricted to allowing
20,000 legal immigrants per year, and in this same year, Congress reauthorized another
temporary-worker program but it was limited to providing only a few visas per year, lastly in
1986 there was a total of 300,000 immigrants in the United States, and 230,000 of them were
illegal. From 2000 and forward , immigrants have tried to come in and stay, only a few have
become permanent residents and then citizens, but in 2001 the USA Patriot Act allowed
deportation of both illegal and legal immigrants without hearing them.
According to the American Immigration Council (2014), The Immigration and
Naturalization Act (INA), the body of law governing current immigration policy, provides for an
annual worldwide limit of 675,000 permanent immigrants. This current immigration policy
allows a certain number of permanent immigrants per year from every country in the world

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based on family and employment immigration, refugees and asylum, a diversity visa program,
and other forms of humanitarian relief.
Obtaining Citizenship
Permanent residents can become U.S. citizens if they meet the requirements that the
government is looking for, and after being a resident for a period of time. The most common way
for a permanent resident to become a citizen is to wait at least 5 years to apply for naturalization.
According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (2013), permanent residents have to
wait at least 5 years to be eligible to become citizens, and they must also meet certain
requirements which include being 18 or older at the time of filing the request, having continuous
residence in the United States, being able to read, write, and speak English and have knowledge
of U.S. history and government, and more.
Currently, illegal immigrants cant become citizens. They have to obtain a green card, or
permanent residency, through a family members sponsorship, job or employment offer, and even
through other ways, like the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program. Then, they can apply for
citizenship, just like any other permanent resident.
El Paso and Immigration
In mid-2008, there was a lot of violence in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Many people started
to flee from the city in search of peace and safety, and even job opportunities. According to
Cardenas (2011), Researchers from the Universidad Autnoma de Ciudad Jurez (UACJ)
released a study concluding that about
250,000 people fled Jurez between 2008 and 2010, and an estimated 124,000 had gone to El
Paso (p. 29).

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This caused people to relocate to El Paso and to stay for some time. The impact was that
Ciudad Juarez had a decline in population, and El Paso had a sort of boom.
According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the number of persons that
obtained permanent resident status in El Paso in 2008 were 3,432, 4,072 in 2009, and 3,909 in
2010. The number of persons that were naturalized in this same city in 2008 were 4, 436, 3,512
in 2009, and 1,980 in 2010. Lastly, the number of illegal immigrants that were apprehended in El
Paso in 2008 were 30,311, 14,998 in 2009,
and 12,251 in 2010. This information shows
that 2008 was the year in which there was
more activity related to immigration than in
Figure 1. Copyright Sprague

2009, or 2010.
According

to

the

U.S.

Census

Bureau, the percent of people with Hispanic or Latino origins that lived in El Paso in 2010 was
82.2%, as of 2014, it decayed to 81.2%. This percentage indicates that people that came from
Mexico have stayed in El Paso, and only a few have left for reasons that are unknown.
Conclusion
El Paso has always been a hot spot for immigration since many years ago, it is one of the
United States main ports of entry, but from 2008 to 2010, the number of immigrants that came to
this city from Mexico increased and caused the population of both cities to change. Currently, El
Paso appears to have become a more populated city, and Ciudad Juarez seems the same, but
without violence.

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Immigration is something that is difficult to contain, because immigrants will find ways
to stay in the United States whether illegally or legally, so theres always a possibility of new
policies being implemented in order to fix the current broken immigration system.
Immigrating is something thats unavoidable. People come to El Paso in search of job
opportunities, an education that will offer and include many benefits and programs, security, and
etc. As residents and citizens of a border city, we should comprehend and understand that people
have valid motives to come and stay here, and that they deserve an opportunity to live here.

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References
American Immigration Council (2014, March 1). How the United States Immigration System
Works:

Fact

Sheet.

Retrieved

November

1,

2015,

from

http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/just-facts/how-united-states-immigration-systemworks-fact-sheet
Cardenas, L. (2011). Border Crossings. Retrieved October 10, 2015, from http://0web.b.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=13&sid=a2a47094-1ace-4fcd8ce0f749cc4e9e03@sessionmgr120&hid=124&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29w
ZT1zaXRl#AN=70113078&db=a9h
Massey, D. (2009, August 6). Battlefield: El Paso. Retrieved October 19, 2015, from http://0web.a.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=7&sid=431f1b32-9bfd-4db09ea6a7b4b6ba04b8@sessionmgr4005&hid=4106&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY2
9wZT1zaXRl#AN=43026275&db=a9h
Sprague,

S.

(n.d.).

05MX251.

Retrieved

November

1,

2015

from

http://www.spraguephoto.com/stock-photography-image/12374/Cars-waiting-to-gothrough-US-immigration-and-customs-at-El-Paso,-Texas.-Juarez,-Chihuahua,-Mexico
U.S. Census Bureau. (n.d.). QuickFacts Beta. Retrieved November 1, 2015 from
http://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/RHI125214/48141,00
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. (2011, March 30). Green Card Eligibility. Retrieved
November 1, 2015 from http://www.uscis.gov/green-card/green-card-processes-andprocedures/green-card-eligibility

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U.S. Department of Homeland Security. (n.d.). 2013 Yearbook of Immigration Statistics (2013
ed.).

Retrieved

October

18,

2015

from:

http://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/ois_yb_2013_0.pdf
U.S. Department of Homeland Security. (2015, August 10). Definition of Terms. Retrieved
October 18, 2015 from: http://www.dhs.gov/definition-terms