POSC 250A TIP: Immigration Politics & Policy
This course will analyze the history, legal structure, current controversies and reform proposals that surround U.S. immigration policy. As a course in U.S. public policy, one objective of this class is to increase your understanding of the public policy process. Immigration policy will be used as a means to help achieve that objective. First, we will discuss the basics of the public policy process in the United States. Then we will analyze the long history of immigration to the United States and the policies that guided it. After going over historical trends, we will shift focus to the modern legal structure that defines immigration policy today. We will discuss the nature of illegal immigration in the U.S. and the escalation of border control policy over the last few decades. We will also analyze the controversial issues of immigrant assimilation and the contributions that immigrants make to U.S. society. Then we will go over immigration policy in the 21st Century focusing on the most recent immigration reform proposals, a theme we will be following throughout the course of the semester. We will also take a brief comparative look at the immigration policies of other immigrant receiving nations. Lastly, we will conclude by pondering the future of immigration and immigration policy in the United States. By the end of the course, you should be much more familiar with the nature of U.S. immigration policy, both in a historical and contemporary sense. You should have a greater ability to understand and analyze the information that is presented in the media, newspapers, and other sources in regard to U.S. immigration policy. Hopefully, you will have developed and sharpened your own opinions concerning U.S. immigration policy.