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| Preface: Is the United States a Nation of Immigrants? | |
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| Authors' Notes | |
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| Who Are the Immigrants? | |
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| How do we define immigrants? | |
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| How many immigrants are here? | |
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| Are immigrants different from other people? | |
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| Who are the undocumented immigrants? | |
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| Is there a "new wave" of immigration? | |
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| Is the new wave really new? | |
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| Are politicians stirring up a panic about immigration? | |
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| Why Do People Immigrate? | |
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| What are the "root causes" of migration? | |
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| Why do people come to the United States? | |
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| Is it our fault other countries have so many problems? | |
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| Why do so many Mexicans come here? | |
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| Why don't people stay home and fix their own countries? | |
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| What happens when people do try to fix their countries? | |
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| How can we address the root causes of immigration? | |
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| Does the United States Welcome Refugees? | |
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| What is a refugee? | |
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| The Voyage of the St. Louis | |
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| Who gets political asylum? | |
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| Are all refugees treated equally? | |
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| Why do Cubans get special treatment? | |
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| Why Can't They Just "Get Legal"? | |
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| Is it really important who's "legal" and who's not? | |
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| How "illegal" is immigration, anyway? | |
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| Criminal or Civil? | |
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| Why don't immigrants "follow the rules"? | |
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| Don't all immigrants bring their extended families here? | |
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| Isn't there some kind of "visa lottery"? | |
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| Is it really so hard to get a tourist visa? | |
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| "Yacht people" | |
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| Aren't there lots of other ways to come here legally? | |
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| Once immigrants have been here a while, can't they "get legal"? | |
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| Isn't there some kind of "waiver"? | |
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| Who can "get legal"? | |
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| What about the so-called "anchor babies"? | |
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| Couldn't immigrants become U.S. citizens if they wanted to? | |
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| Is It Easy to Be "Illegal"? | |
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| Is it easy to live here "illegally"? | |
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| Do immigrants have the right to an education? | |
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| Are undocumented workers more exploited? | |
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| Are all workers protected by labor laws? | |
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| Do immigrants have constitutional rights? | |
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| Do immigrants have the right to protest? | |
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| How can you tell who's a citizen and who's not? | |
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| Are Immigrants Hurting Our Economy? | |
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| How much do immigrants cost us? | |
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| Do immigrants collect welfare? | |
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| Do immigrants pay taxes? | |
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| How much do out-of-status immigrants get back? | |
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| The 9/11 Victims | |
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| Do remittances drain the economy? | |
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| Do immigrants take our jobs? | |
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| Don't they just take jobs we don't want? | |
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| Do immigrants bring down wages? | |
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| Why do they work for less? | |
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| Who benefits from low wages for immigrants? | |
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| What can we do about the "race to the bottom"? | |
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| Is Immigration Bad for Our Health, Environment, Or Culture? | |
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| Do immigrants endanger public health? | |
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| What about epidemics like TB and AIDS? | |
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| Is immigration bad for the environment? | |
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| Do immigrants care about the environment? | |
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| Are immigrants to blame for population growth? | |
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| Is overpopulation a serious environmental threat? | |
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| How can we slow population growth? | |
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| What about overcrowding in our communities? | |
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| Do immigrants learn English? | |
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| Are the new immigrants too "different" to assimilate? | |
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| What factors slow assimilation? | |
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| Who are the "real Americans"? | |
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| Are Immigrants a Threat? | |
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| Do immigrants commit more crimes than non-immigrants? | |
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| Is it unfair to treat immigrants who commit crimes differently than citizens? | |
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| Does deportation make us safer? | |
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| Is there a link between immigration and terrorism? | |
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| Is the government going after foreign terrorists? | |
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| How did the September 11 hijackers get here? | |
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| Who decides who's a terrorist? | |
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| Does the crackdown on immigrants make us safer? | |
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| How does the crackdown on immigrants affect the rest of us? | |
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| Did all this start with September 11? | |
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| Are immigrant workers a national security risk? | |
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| Enforcement: Is It a Solution? | |
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| If we enforce our laws, will the problem go away? | |
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| What if we deport all the "illegal" immigrants? | |
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| Are we doing enough to secure the border? | |
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| What has border enforcement done so far? | |
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| Can't we seal off the border? | |
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| How would smugglers deal with "sealed" borders? | |
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| Can't we cut off the "job magnet"? | |
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| What have employer sanctions accomplished? | |
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| How are employer sanctions enforced? | |
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| How does workplace enforcement affect organizing? | |
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| If we make life hard enough for immigrants, will they leave? | |
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| Who profits from enforcement? | |
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| What About "Guest Worker" and Amnesty Programs? | |
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| Are "guest worker" programs a solution? | |
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| How did we end up with these "guest worker" programs? | |
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| Slavery in the Cane Fields | |
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| What happened to the Mexican "braceros"? | |
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| How are "guest workers" treated now? | |
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| What happens when "guest workers" defend their rights? | |
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| Do "guest worker" programs hurt U.S. workers? | |
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| What's all this talk about amnesty? | |
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| Haven't we already had an amnesty? | |
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| What impact will amnesty have in the United States now? | |
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| Won't amnesty cause more problems later on? | |
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| Why Do We Jail and Deport Immigrants? | |
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| Who gets deported, and why? | |
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| What happens to people who are deported? | |
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| What happens to the families of deportees? | |
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| What is immigration detention? | |
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| Is immigration detention new? | |
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| Who is in immigration detention, and where? | |
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| How long do people spend in detention? | |
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| How bad is detention really? | |
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| The Story of S | |
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| How are families affected by detention? | |
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| Is detention necessary? | |
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| Who pays for detention-and who profits? | |
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| Can We Open Our Borders? | |
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| What do we mean by open borders? | |
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| Have any countries actually tried opening their borders? | |
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| Does the European Union really have open borders? | |
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| Has freedom of movement caused problems in Europe? | |
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| Does freedom of movement threaten national identity or culture? | |
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| How can we keep criminals and terrorists out without borders? | |
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| Is opening the borders part of "free trade"? | |
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| How would freedom of movement actually work here? | |
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| How would we control citizenship? | |
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| What would happen if we opened the U.S. borders? | |
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| Wouldn't we be flooded with immigrants? | |
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| Would our standard of living collapse? | |
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| Could freedom of movement really work? | |
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| Resources | |
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| Suggested readings | |
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| Suggested films | |
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| Organizations | |
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| "Know-your-rights" information for immigrants | |
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| Notes | |
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| Index | |