Category Archives: Immigration

Keep Having Friends

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by Kensuke Ikeda

I saw a documentary movie about young boy as undocumented immigrants on TV called “Nihon de Kurashitai: Huhou Taizai Kazoku no Kizuna” (We want to live in Japan: the bounds of family who are undocumented and overstay). In the movie the young boy said “please leave me in Japan, I cannot speak other language and I don’t have any friends in another country”. I realized uneasiness of the undocumented immigrants because his speech is so honest and so direct.

In Japan there are many undocumented immigrants, and some of them are children. They don’t have decision to leave in Japan or to return to “home” country where they have never lived. They should return home country by legal steps. Also, they force to return the country instantly. Japanese government takes care of undocumented people because they will do terrorism and have relation to group of drug peddler. I understand the stance of the Japanese government, but the legal steps are too tactless to ignore other undocumented immigrants who are useful for improving the Japanese economy.

These ineffective legal steps have the room to improve. I suggest that these legal steps are used by the Internet. If undocumented immigrants get approval of stay, they can stay in Japan as have been the way until now. However, they need long process to take the approval because the official apply is tiresome. If they can get temporary approval by the internet apply, they may need not to immediately return home county and they can submit their official document for immigrants. Also, if they cannot stay in Japan, they have some time for preparing to live other country, for example children can learn other language and adult can find the job in other country. The internet gives undocumented immigrants time to pass the legal steps.

However, the use of the internet for apply is dangerous because the apply may be not appropriate on legal. For instance, terrorist can make the stay time in Japan long, and then they can plan the terrorism without haste. In short, the crime people also have time to prepare next crime and escape. For this problem, the governments should strict for immigration by passport. To begin with, these crime people should not come in Japan. It is important that people who come in Japan are terrorist or not and drug peddler or not. Young undocumented immigrants deliberately make crime as overstay. I think the Japanese government should give them the room to think next life. They don’t need to lose their friends and their country.

References

“Nihon de Kurashitai: Huhou Taizai Kazoku no Kizuna” (We want to live in Japan: the bounds of family who are undocumented and overstay).2000. Fuji TVstation. http://www.fujitv.co.jp/b_hp/fnsaward/backnumber/back/00-167.html

HP of Kayamori Office. http://www.geocities.jp/a_kayamori/index.html

Immigration and the U.S.

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by Ayaka Kondo

The problem of illegal immigrants has troubled the U.S for a long time, but now the U.S has very strong social and economic ties with them, and it can be asserted the influence of illegal immigrants become so important that it cannot be ignored.  However, the situation over immigration gradually takes different color compared to the past; the number of immigrants from Asia and Mexico continues to go down recently.

It is said that the number of immigrants from China dropped by 87,000 to 70,863 from 2006 to 2010. Moreover, from the data of Pew Hispanic Center, the number of Mexican immigrants used to grow rapidly from the 1970s to 2000s, but since 2007, Mexican immigrants have been decreasing every year. Nevertheless the effect which Hispanic immigrants can give is thought to be still much stronger in the U.S because about 11 million people stay in the U.S illegally and more than 60% of illegal immigrants are Hispanics, mainly Mexicans, and most of them engaged in jobs such as agricultural industry, food service industry and cleaning service industry. In the long run, this tendency will probably give a great impact on American society.

Then, what makes the number of immigrants decrease? The U.S. might become less attractive to immigrants than it used to be in following two points: increasing discontent against immigrants and the depression in the U.S. First, it seems that anti-immigration movement gradually spread out every part of the U.S. For example, in Arizona, near the border between the U.S and Mexico, the state law to crack down on illegal immigrants was enacted in 2010 by conservative people. They have been regarded as those who disturb the peace of the U.S or can be a burden for American citizen, while they contribute to American economy as farmers or low-income workers. Obama announced that it can foster racial discrimination and order an injunction, but Arizona still maintains that stance, and to make matters worse, similar tendency can be seen in the other 23 states.

Now, immigrants are indispensable part of the U.S and they play an important role in American society from perspective of economy and politics, and how make them stay in the U.S might be a significant issue in the near future. Therefore, the government of the U.S has to look for a solution to make its nations and immigrants cooperate although it will be the hardest way.

References

Huhou Imin ga Gensho Bei Keizai heno Eikyou ha?, [Illegal Immigrants Decrease in the U.S and How Does It Affect American Economy?], retrieved from http://www.nandemo-america.com/mobile/?p=23313

NHK Online, 2012, Huhou Imin no Wakamono ni Zairyuu Shikaku, [The Status of Residence for Young Illegal Immigrants], retrieved from http://www.nhk.or.jp/worldwave/marugoto/2012/08/0817.html

Yasui. A, 2012, Nikkei Business Online, Keikikoutai de Beikoku deha Mekishiko Imin ga Ryuunyuuchou ni, [The Decrease of Mexican Immigrants in the U.S Due to The Depression], retrieved from http://business.nikkeibp.co.jp/article/money/20120518/232294/

The Wall Street News, 2011, Amerikan Dori-mu no Syuuen? Chuugoku Kara no Imin ga Gensho, [The End of American Dream? Immigrants From China Decreased], retrieved from http://wstreetnews.com/2011/11/16/アメリカン・ドリームの終焉？%E3%80%80中国に引き上げ/

DREAM Act for the future of undocumented youth

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by Kim Jina

Immigrants could be classified in two groups, legal immigrants and undocumented immigrants. There are over 30 million legal immigrants in the United States. On the other hand, no one exactly knows how many undocumented immigrants are in the United States. There is only the estimated number of undocumented immigrants in the United States and it is 11 million. Undocumented immigrants in the United States are confronted with various situations. Among them, many young people have no idea why they are undocumented immigrants, because they live most of their life in the United States, have lots of American friends, and attend American schools. Most of them were brought to the United States when they were young by their parents. Some of them realized that they are undocumented immigrants when they had to prepare their passport for a school trip or tried to get a driver’s license.

They fall deep into despair with the fact that they are undocumented immigrants because they are not supposed to be in the United States where there is almost their whole life. If they are forced to go back to their home country, it is like they lose almost everything in their life.

The DREAM Act began in 2001 for giving chance to live legally in the United States to certain immigrants. The certain immigrants with good moral character would be granted temporary residency, if they meet some requirements of the DREAM Act. The requirements is that heir age must be at least 15 but less than 31, they must graduate from American high school, they arrived in the United States as minors, and they lived in the United States continuously for at least five years. Plus, if they complete two years in the military or two years at a four years’ institution of higher learning, they could gain conditional permanent residency for a six-year period and at the end of the six-year conditional period, they would be allowed to become legal U.S. citizens.

Every year, almost 65,000 undocumented students graduate from American high schools and most of them want to have higher education or join the military. However, with their illegal status, they cannot make their dreams come true. Of course, there is some criticism regarding this DREAM Act. They said that it is unfair to legal immigrants and it would create additional illegal immigrants. However, it is not like what the critics said, because the DREAM Act requires strict conditions.

In 2012, the president Barack Obama announced the administration would accept request for the DREAM Act. Even if they are classified into undocumented immigrants, they did not know that they were breaking the law and almost their whole life is in the United States. What is more, they think they are the U.S. citizen. Many of them are brilliant and their talents could contribute to the growth of American economy. It could be considered in a positive way. Hence, DREAM Act should be more supported to give opportunities to young undocumented immigrants for their future in the United States.

Undocumented Families in Japan

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by Ryoma Kagawa

In 2009, a 13-year-old Filipino girl who was living in Japan was separated from her parents because they had come to Japan in an illegal manner of fake passports. After arriving in Japan, they had lived for about a decade and the girl knew the Japanese culture better than the Philippine culture; for example, she spoke Japanese as well as the Japanese do. However, the arrest of her mother uncovered their secret, and the girl was made to decide whether she would go to the Philippines with her family or she would keep staying in Japan while her family would go back, which she took the former and the family was separated.

If a family in Japan has been found that they have come illegally and their children were very small and had no choice but to follow their parents on their arrival, what should  be done? There are many arguments among the Japanese whether the government should force such undocumented families to return their own countries, allow those children to keep staying, or some other opinions. In my opinion, the government should allow the parents to keep staying with their children until they are 18 years old and then force the parents to return.

The first reason is that the separation of parents has a big influence on their children when they are adolescent. Adolescent children are usually unstable in minds and the role of parents is of great importance here. In the case of the Filipino girl above, on the day of departure, she missed her parents very much and wanted them to stay with her; they also understood her feelings and knew well that she still needed them because she was young. I think that children who grow up through adolescence without parents might behave badly and it will result in bad effects on society. The second reason is that it is a matter of human rights. For instance, children may suffer from mental illness due to the lack of parents nearby, and it may become difficult for them to be educated. I think that the example describes the violation of their human rights by the government.

While the Japanese government should restrict the entry of people in illegal ways from the point of views such as national security, I believe that it should give more consideration to undocumented families who have already come and lived in Japan from the point of views such as influences on society and human rights.

References

Schoolgirl told to choose: Country or parents. (2009, April 13). CNN. Retrieved June 24, 2013, from http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/04/13/japan.philippines.calderon/index.html#cnnSTCText

 

Undocumented Immigrants and Labor in the U.S.

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by Kanami Hirokawa

The U.S is a multiracial country and has a lot of immigrants. Although it is said that the number of immigrants who come to the U.S is about 12 million, we can guess that more immigrants come to the U.S because they are undocumented immigrants and the sure number can not be counted. Moreover, many of the immigrants who come to the U.S are Hispanics who come from South America, especially from Mexico. This paper first describes the problems and influences about undocumented immigrants in the U.S, then examines the relationship between the undocumented immigrants and the labor in the U.S, and finally explores the future policy on the undocumented immigrants in the U.S.

First is the problem and influences about undocumented immigrants in the U.S. As this paper shows before, millions of undocumented immigrants live in the U.S illegally and a large percent of them is Hispanic. In fact, about 60 percent of undocumented immigrants who come to the U.S are Mexican. However, these days the number of Mexican undocumented immigrants who come to the U.S is declining. The reason of declining the immigrants from Mexico has many causes. For example, Mexico is developing more, and the border between the U.S and Mexico is enforced.

Second is the relationship between the undocumented immigrants and the labors in the U.S. The U.S relies on immigrants with regard to cheap labor such as housekeepers, farmers and so on. These cheap labors are called 3K labors. However, with the decline in the number of immigrants, some areas in the U.S get damages and influences. The state of Georgia is one of the areas which get damages. It is said that 75 percent of farm workers in Georgia are undocumented immigrants and because of the shortage of farm workers, Georgia suffered a reduction of 391 million dollars of crops. The undocumented immigrants in Georgia support the bottom of economics in the state. Therefore, the U.S is facing on the problems of the shortage of people who are cheap labor workers.

At last, the paper explores whether the U.S will get along with undocumented immigrants in the future or not. In some places of the U.S, especially in Arizona, people begin to complain about undocumented immigrants. In Arizona, some estimate that 500,000 people are undocumented immigrants, meaning that one out of ten residents in Arizona is an undocumented immigrant. The citizens in Arizona are forced the hard life because of the economic depression. However, in such a situation the money for social security is used for undocumented immigrants. Moreover, people worry about deterioration of public order. In Arizona the law that undocumented immigrants must emigrate forcibly was made by the assembly. Against this, Obama began the policy that Obama gives young undocumented immigrants the civil rights. Of course, to enter the country without receiving the visa is guilty. However, U.S makes the construction that the economy of the U.S must rely on undocumented immigrants. Furthermore, the new policy made by Obama creates new undocumented immigrants because people think that the U.S receives undocumented immigrants willingly. Therefore, although the number of the Mexican undocumented immigrants is declining, many undocumented immigrants from the world will come to the U.S. This has dangerous aspects.

References

Close up Gendai[Close up the Present Day]. (2010). NHK Online. Retrieved June 26, 2013 from http://www.nhk.or.jp/gendai/kiroku/detail_2942.html

Huhouiminn no Gensyou[The Declining of Undocumented Immigrants]. (n.d.). Sumitomo Hudousann. Retrieved June 26, 2013 from http://www.nandemo-america.com/mobile/?p=23313

The Rights of Undocumented Children

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by Tatsuya Haishi

Through the immigration class and the articles of newspaper, I learned the fact that there are many children who were detached from their parents due to deportation of the parents. It is very cruel for children to choose their parents or their country. I think children should be treated specially. The government gives the right of staying to the children whose parents are undocumented immigrants. Of course, I have never experienced the situation like these children have, but I am sure that nobody wants to be born as an “undocumented child.”

I think being legal or illegal will not become a problem in near future and people will no longer care about that. The world is in a period of transition at present. The laws against illegal immigrants of the developed countries including the US and Japan would be rescinded.

I believe that when we think about such difficult issues, we have to seek a better solution rather than the best one. According to one of the articles of our immigration class, there is a boy who lives in Mexico. His name is Jeffrey and his father was one of the immigrants deported in the first half of 2011 who said they had American children.

Jeffrey moved from the US because of his father’s deportation, but it is difficult for him to acclimate himself to a new environment. Many undocumented immigrants leave from their country to look for a job. While they can obtain a job, their children would also become undocumented children. When a child who does not know they are undocumented realizes that, they must be terribly shocked.

To think a better solution for such children, we should imagine what the worst situation for them is. If the parents stay their home country and do not take a job, the family would be hard to gain food and they could not live anymore. We have to put children first. We have to consider a better way for children. Laws are important and should be observed. However, at the same time, the rights of undocumented children are respectable as well. Some people might say that adults also have rights! I know that, but we can think, demand, and act. I believe that all adults have a childhood. If it is true, it ought to be obvious that we must think about children as top priority.

Undocumented immigrants

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by Fujisaka Shunsuke

Nowadays there are a lot of immigrants in a lot of countries. Most immigrants are accepted officially but some immigrants do not have permission. These immigrants are called undocumented immigrants. These undocumented immigrants go to other countries to find a job or any other reasons. In this essay, I will write whether countries should accept undocumented immigrants or not. In my opinion countries should accept undocumented immigrants.

First undocumented immigrants should be accepted and not leave from the country by human rights. Human rights have to be protected. It is true that they came to country illegally. It is against a law. However human rights are more important. The law should be changed and undocumented immigrants should be treated like others. Therefore family must not be separated. There are a lot of children whose parents came to the country illegally. However children are not illegal and they do not even know they are illegal or not. These children have to be protected by human rights because if their parents leave from the country they have to live without their parents. It is against human rights.

Second to live a better life is important for all people. There is a problem of anchor baby in America or China. This anchor baby means mother stay in another country by taking care of the baby. This is a problem of the America or Hong Kong so they try to solve this problem. However to live a better life is important. That is why mother tries to stay in America or Hong Kong. I think this is a problem but these parent and baby should not leave. Government should make a regulation of this problem that makes their life better Due to live a better life is important.

In conclusion undocumented immigrants have to be treated like others by human rights and to live a better life. Country should accept undocumented immigrants. In addition I think one more important way for them is to migrate to another place of same country like article of Mexico. If they migrate to another place of same country, they do not have to worry about language. Another article of the wife of the immigrants said that language is very difficult problem. That is why if it is possible, they should migrate another place of same country. Undocumented immigrants are difficult problem but I hope this problem to be solved in a good way.

Illegal Immigrants in Japan

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by Shoki Fujimoto

As we learned in class, there are some people who are called undocumented immigrants in the world. Most of them came into other countries without necessary qualification, so they are illegal. The reasons why they went into other countries are various. Some people decided to go to foreign countries to get job, money and chance to be successful, and another went over boundaries to escape from the threats of the authority like government by political and religious reasons. There are many cases of undocumented immigrants in the world. In this article, I describe about undocumented immigrants in Japan.

According to the Ministry of Justice, in the case of Japan, there are 67,065 illegal immigrants. The country which produces the biggest number of undocumented immigrants is Korea, and Korean undocumented immigrants account for the quarter of the total amount. The second is China. It produces about 10% of the total. The reasons why they stay Japan illegally are various. The most common one is expire of short stay visa, and it accounts for about 70%. Then, why Japanese government permits this situation? I found interesting political reasons. One of them is that Japanese government would like to avoid political troubles between such countries.

Some years ago, there were many Iranian undocumented immigrants in Japan, and Japanese government made them go out from Japan. However, Iranian government took countermeasures to this. Iran stopped accepting Japanese tourists. What if this happen in Japan and China, Korea? Today, the economic connection between Japan and China, Japan and Korea is necessary. Therefore, if these countries government took countermeasures like Iran, Japanese economy and politics will get big damage. This is the biggest reason, I think.

We studied the case of Noriko Calderon. She is a child of parents who entered Japan with forged passports. Noriko grew up in Japan with Japanese environment, she knows only Japanese culture and speaks only Japanese, so there was a debate on what we should do about her situation. The Japanese government decided ejection of her parents and only permits for Noriko to stay in Japan alone.

It is a very difficult problem, but in my opinion, Japanese government should take a strict stance for illegal immigrants. Needless to say, it is a tragedy for the Calderon family to be forced to be separated, and of course I feel sympathy for her. It sounds merciless, but her parents are criminals. Moreover, I think it is not too much to say that Noriko’s human rights were trampled on her parents’ crime. To protect children’s human rights, Japanese government should take strict stance, and even if Japanese government does not hope to have troubles between illegal immigrants-producing countries, Japan should not be worried because it is not wrong.

References

Ministry of Justice [http://www.moj.go.jp/nyuukokukanri/kouhou/nyuukokukanri04_00016.html] (retrieved June 27, 2013)

Information on migration [http://www.interq.or.jp/tokyo/ystation/jvisa6.html] (retrieved June 27, 2013)

How to change undocumented immigrants’ situation in the U.S.

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by Reina Doi

There are many undocumented immigrants in the U.S who demand a better life. They travel beyond the border, sometimes with fake passports, so a situation that many children do not recognize that they are undocumented until they are needed to turn in paper in some case is often happened. According to this fact, U.S. government decided to the plan Dream Act that admire undocumented immigrants to legal immigrants. This project seems good, and good step to adopt immigrants. However I think it is not enough to care of undocumented immigrants. Therefore I would like to point out the thing that U.S. should rethink.

First, it seems problem that only child will have a chance to get legal state. Of course, children had no choice to go to the U.S., so they should be prior, but adult had no choice to immigrate U.S. as well, because they face to leave their home country to support their family. Therefore I felt so weird when I heard about Dream Act for the first time (It does not mean I disagree with the Dream Act). I just wondered why government would allow only children. There are a reason that adult should have legal state. First of all, adult who is working has more opportunity that paper is needed, so they need paper to get guarantee from the government. In addition, they are almost working, so there are lots of care is needed about health, so working undocumented immigrants should have a benefit of legal state.

Through these reason, I would like to add that working undocumented immigrants also admire as a legal immigrants. It is needless to say that immigrants have to pass some terms. For example, they have no record a crime, good carrier at a working place and seems contribute U.S. society. Thus, if government admire like this suggestion, the situation that undocumented immigrants face will be better to live.

In conclusion, I think Dream Act will be good sample as a supporting immigrants project if it would success. In addition, I think many countries follow this model.

In Japan, there are children who face to leave Japan because of they are undocumented like Noriko. However, I think Noriko was no choice whether she came to Japan or not. so it seems there are no claim for children. If Dream Act will work, and improve some point I suggest before that adult should have more chance to get legal state,too, then this model will success to contribute getting better life for immigrants. Therefore I expect U.S. find solution that immigrants live with no fair, and if that projects will realize, many countries would imitate Dream Act, include Japan as well.

DREAM Act a solution for undocumented immigrants

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by Yurika Chiba

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Mexican Americans were 10.8% of the population of the United States in 2011. There is a huge number of immigrants from Mexico in the U.S. because the distance is very close between Mexico and the U.S. In addition to Mexican immigrants, America has more than 50,000,000 immigrants. However, it is a fact that America has also a lot of “undocumented immigrants.” One of the reasons is that the pay in America is better than that in their home countries. But, why are they “undocumented”? In America, it is hard for foreigners to get VISA.

ALBS JAPAN explains that the American government does not want to increase the number of immigrants because it thinks that undocumented immigrants cause American economy a great loss. In addition, America pays careful attention to immigration after 9.11 attacks. I think that the system of immigration intake in America has a problem to increase the number of undocumented immigrants.

Of course, they are illegal immigrants because they do not have the permission to get into America. However, some undocumented immigrants are doing jobs which American citizens do not want to like the 3Ds: Dirty, Dangerous and Difficult. In fact, their workings sustain the American economy even though some American citizens discriminate against them. It is clear that a lot of undocumented immigrants have a hard time in America.

How about their children, called “undocumented children”? They do not have their own passport. They can’t prove their nationality and can’t work legally. It is difficult for them to get their own driver licenses. Before they graduate from the high school, they can take the education. However, entering the university is difficult for them because most state university do not accept their entrance and they do not have enough money to enter the private university. That is why college-going rate of undocumented immigrants is really low. I watched the video about Jose Antonio Vargas whose parents are undocumented immigrants during the class. He hadn’t known he was an undocumented immigrant until he was 16 years old. After that, he has lived in America with hiding his citizenship. He is talented. But, he could not do an internship because he did not have American citizenship. In other word, he missed a lot of chances to do what he wanted. I think these children should be given the equal opportunity to live in America because they are innocent.

In order to help these children, the American government has suggested the “DREAM Act”, the idea of giving the right of living in America. Recently, the president of America, Obama, promotes this bill. It provides permanent residency to undocumented children. For example, the condition of application is given to people who enter into America until 16 years old and have lived in there for more than 5 years. Even though there are some more conditions to apply it, this bill is really beneficial to undocumented children. However, it has not passed yet in the U.S. If it does, undocumented immigrants who contribute to America would increase more and more. I think that this bill will give advantages to both American government and undocumented children.

On the other hand, opponents against DREAM Act insist that undocumented immigrants should get the green card by the legal process. They also explain that the opportunities of having green card should be equal to legal immigrants. However, in my opinion, undocumented immigrants do not have equal opportunities from the beginning. For undocumented immigrants, having the green card is much harder than other immigrants. I think DREAM Act has very important role to correct the gap between undocumented children and documented children because they did not do wrong at all.

In conclusion, the problem of undocumented immigrants in America should be solved as soon as possible. I do not mean that American government has to force undocumented immigrants to away from the U.S. Rather, American government should consider the policy which these immigrants can live in there at ease. As one of the solution, DREAM Act needs to pass for undocumented children. If undocumented children can have the right of permanent residency, next generation can live in America as American citizens. I believe that it would lead to a positive outcome for undocumented immigrants.

 

References

U.S. Census Bureau:

Retrieving June 23, 2013 from

http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=bkmk

ALBS JAPAN: Retrieving June 24, 2013 from http://www.usavisa.jp/howto/faq_visa07.html

NYT, Mexican Data Show Migration to U.S. in Decline: Retrieving June 24, 2013 from http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/15/us/15immig.html?pagewanted=all

NYT, My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant: Retrieving June 24, 2013 from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/26/magazine/my-life-as-an-undocumented-immigrant.html?pagewanted=all