The United States Immigration Reform is focused on the population of immigrants currently resident in America, legal and illegal, aimed at managing the impacts of immigration, especially illegal immigration and overstaying of visas. Immigration Reform originated from the view that immigration has and still is, impacting the United States negatively and began with the 1986 Act. The large numbers of immigrants into the country who come seeking employment have resulted in a reduction of wages for American natives who have lesser skills while the costs incurred in providing such services as education, healthcare among others bear unforeseen negative impacts on the economy. However, the high immigration rate has helped to compensate the low birth-rate and large aging population, helping to expand America’s workforce and their contribution to taxes and government programs for the aging like Medicare and Social Security have helped increase America’s help support (Schmidt, Shelley and Bardes 575).
The 2012 Immigration Reform is influenced by the Republican and Democratic leaders’ positions that support a STEM immigration bill, and the IEEE-USA’s fight for a high-skill visa reform. This 2012 Immigration Reform package includes such propositions as the issuing of 45,000 to 55,000 new green cards for international. graduate students, putting an end to country-cap restrictions within the EB visa program for skilled workers, a provision to extradite the family-visa immigrants’ process, and a new entrepreneur’s visa program for immigrants with plans to set up businesses upon immigration (Harrison).
The proponents of the Immigration Reform believe that it presents an opportunity for legalization of undocumented immigrants and shall help to end workplace immigration raids. The proponents of the Reform propose securing of the United States which they view as a chance to stem cross-border violence.