Is U.S. immigration policy racist?
...d about the living and working conditions of illegal Mexicans why did the INS deport them to Mexico, where conditions were much worse? Because instead of solving the problems that immigrants face, the agency is more worried about identifying illegal immigrants to drive them out of the country and increase its control of the borders (Kosova 243). Political refugees are accepted based on diplomatic relations of United States and their native countries. According to INS, everyone in danger of harassment in its own country based on race, religion or political belief is eligible under the law to apply for asylum in U.S. (Kosova 246). In reality it does not work that way, because those aren’t the values that government really considers in accepting refugees. The United States may decide to accept refugees to embarrass people of an enemy country or to refuse other refugees to avoid embarrassing an ally. The contrast between the U.S. policy toward Cubans and Haitans is a case in point. The U.S. has no diplomatic relations with Cuba and has accepted a great many Cubans since Castro’s revolution. As politicians and protesters were fighting to keep 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez in America, a boatload of Haitian immigrants and their children were ferried back to Haiti. To Miami’s Haitian community, the two similar journeys have dramatized what they say is a cruel and racist standard in U.S immigration policy. The U.S. embraces Cubans and almost automatically offers citizenship, while Haitians are routinely sent back. Illegal immigrants caught trying to get to U.S are sent back to their home countries, but Cubans who reach U.S soil can stay. The immigration from countries with standards of living much below that of the U.S is very restricted, perhaps immediate family only, with a very small quota for refugees or those with special work skills. The division between rich and poor countries bears out that what lies at the bottom of mass attitudes toward immigrants is partly rooted in shifting economic circumstances. For example, the hostility to immigrants in the northeastern states in 1800s created a competition for cheep immigrant labor. It resulted in keeping a generous immigration policy toward blacks, because they had less power to fight back. Immigration policy prejudice is expressed in qualifications, which make immigrants eligible to work in United States. INS restricts the number of immigrant workers to 40,000 a year based on whether or not they meet the INS economical preferences (Kosova 245). The immigration policy awards entry visas on the basis of n...