Week 7: Basics of American Citizenship & Reform

3/16 Theorizing Assimilation ppt

This week we look at the basics of US immigration rights and analyze the political forces that led to the replacement of the national origins system of immigration with the race-neutral preferences system of the 1965 Reform, which is the basis for modern day immigration policy. How did the 1965 Reform change immigration patterns in the U.S.? Do you believe that the categories set up the by the 1965 Reform (The Family, Employees, Refugees/Asylees, Nonimmigrants, Investors, Diversity) are the right ones?

T, 3/21: Reforming the Quota System

• Federal Agencies of US Immigration System (http://tinyurl.com/gpra2wn)
• The Geopolitical Origins of the U.S. Immigration Act of 1965 (7pgs)
• Current immigration stats-- policy governing who gains entry.
• Gerstle & Mollenkopf The Political Incorporation of Immigrants, Then and Now” (http://tinyurl.com/ztf3eea) (30pgs)
• Song, Sarah. (2009) “What does it mean to be an American?” Ethics, Spring 2009, pp.31-40. (http://tinyurl.com/jktk59f) (10pgs)

Th, 3/23: Basics of American Citizenship & Birthright citizenship (in-class debate)

• The U.S. Bill of Rights (http://www.billofrightsinstitute.org/founding-documents/bill-of-rights/)
• 14th Amendment
• New York Times. 2010. “Room for Debate: The GOP and Birthright Citizenship.”  (http://tinyurl.com/jpmsgxn)

Basics of American Immigration System ppt.