Illegal Drug Use in Vietnam War Essay

During the Vietnam War, American soldiers and officials used illegal drugs such as marijuana, heroin and opium to release stress from war and to kill the pain of an injury. The uses of narcotics were not strictly monitored and were sold at low prices increasing the amount of usage. The use of illicit drugs may have also resulted in some sexual assaults that led to children with mixed nationalities. Before the Americans came into Vietnam, drug laws were not well determined and people did not use dope as much. However, soon after the Vietnam War started, most soldiers and citizens dramatically started using narcotics, mostly marijuana. Marijuana was available all over the country and this type of drug was a convenient crop to produce although it was an illegal act. Marijuana usage in Vietnam was far more widespread than it was in the United States and was cheap since it does not have to be imported from a foreign country. However, the South Vietnamese Government tried to tighten its policies so that it will be harder to obtain. In about 1970, the North and South Vietnam militaries pressured the soldiers to reduce the use of marijuana. This led to soldiers smuggling narcotics and wanting a refined kind of drug that could not be noticed easily. When heroin was first introduced, people hid it in their cigarettes and consumed by smoking. This highly addictive drug became very popular in Vietnam and was consumed a lot. Statistics and army records show that about 50% of the soldiers and officials had used either heroin or opium during the war.

Lessons learnt about one-on-one communication Essay

Another point to mention is that even though it is the group of critics that are to blame, the speaker is not always just a victim. It is the speaker’s fault is he or she does not prepare for what is to be said, how to say it and what tone and anecdotal examples to use, keeping in mind the audience at hand. Therefore, planning beforehand is very important in all meetings as is the equal level of participation and input from all members present in the meeting. Answer 2: Example of a meeting I would plan and conduct and how it actually differs from what actually happens Using the above example of the business entrepreneurs meeting, I would try and plan for the meeting in advance and inform the members of what is to be discussed in the meeting. Before every meeting, the members will get an agenda of what is to be discussed in the meeting and what is to be expected of them. Punctuality and preparedness will be emphasized and encouraged. If any one has an idea that they want to discuss in the meeting, they will be asked to prepare for how they are going to present it to the audience. All criticism will be within limits and focus on the idea, rather than the person. The meetings will be around forty five to fifty minutes and focus on the topic at hand and not divert to unrelated issues. If someone comes up with an idea during the meeting, he or she is advised to write it down and mention it in the next meeting. In actuality, none of this happens. People have low attention spans and often get distracted and distract others as well. Also, punctuality is rarely observed and people often show up late, sometimes at the end of the meeting. Absenteeism is also a problem. Moreover, there are some who prepare half heartedly for what they want to share in the meeting and yet others who do not prepare at all. Furthermore, criticism is often focused on the person as much as the idea and personal grudges fostered. Finally, the meetings do not remain within the limits of the allotted time and therefore, people tend to lose interest and focus from the issue at hand. References â€Å"Oral† Communication: More than Words. Unit 3: Essentials of Oral Communication in Business.

A Review of the Pirates House and the History of the Restaurant

A Review of the Pirates' House and the History of the Restaurant The Pirates House is a notable eatery and bar built up in 1753. It’s situated in Savannah, Georgia. It is believed that Pirates House is the oldest building standing in Georgia. This restaurant stands out as one of the major tourist attractions in Georgia. This comprehensive narrative reviews the restaurant as a business as well as a historic entry together with the activities that were undertaken in the restaurant since it was established. Criteria 1 Pirates House was based on a plot of land that had been set aside to be a botanical research garden. The garden was assigned to Oglethorpes Trustees. Oglethorpe selected botanists from around the globe to procure plants for the venture, such plants include, cotton, therapeutic herbs, indigo and flavors. The garden was put up with the hope of boosting the wine and silk industries that were mushrooming by then, the garden later centered its operations to growing mulberry trees. The soil and climate states in however did not favor the mulberry trees. The wine and silk industries also crumbled as a result of those factors. The garden would later develop cotton farming that quickly became the staple for the residents of Georgia. The small building had therefore been built to house the gardeners who worked in the farm. The house was formerly known as the herb house due to its old age. By 1754, Savannah was rapidly growing as a port town thus the residents decided that it was no longer relevant to have a botanical garden. The herb house was therefore transformed to serve as a tavern and an inn where visiting seamen from abroad would be housed (McGrath and Pirates House). The pirate’s house started to constantly house seamen and pirates and with time, it started to earn a bad reputation and the general public started to avoid it. The pirate’s house did not earn its status by rumor; many sailors had been reported missing from this restaurant. Duisburg captains who needed slave men frequented the inn and took away vulnerable drunkards. The restaurant was initially owned by captain Flint. The savannah gas company would later buy Pirates house and the neighboring land in the 1900s. Mrs. Hansell Hilyer who was the wife to the president of Savannah Gas Company was attracted to the design of the building in the premises they had bought. She rehabilitated the museum house into a restaurant with 15 dining rooms with a capacity of 120 guests. It started operations and served several varieties of southern dishes. Frances McGrath’s book â€Å"The Pirates House Cook Book lists the recipes that the restaurant offered. Criteria 2 The pirate’s house is a notable restaurant most significantly because of the stories that it is founded on. The restaurant holds an annual competition known as the Girl Scouts of Historic Georgias where they different entries showcase their innovative recipes and at the same time have a time to celebrate the history of the restaurant (McGrath and Pirates House). The restaurant has earned several good reviews for their delicious food and their exclusive service and theme. The residents of historic Georgia view it as a source of their pride and it relatively sees a consistent flow of tourists who come to share the experience and learn the history. The pirate’s house has been used in a handful of contexts which includes Robert Stevenson’s book â€Å"Treasure Island† which was written in 1881. It is believed that the novelist was inspired by the house and the activities that were happening in the house. Some pages of the novel where the action was from the res taurant are displayed in one of the rooms in the restaurant. The pirate’s house serves several people each with a different goal. May people travel from far destinations to have an exclusive service in a restaurant that is believed to be haunted by the souls of the initial owners and those of the sailors that died in the restaurant in the 17s and 18s. Besides that, people like to see the restaurant for its old design from the 17s (McGrath and Pirates House). Criteria 3 One of the most fascinating parts of the hotel is the set of ancient staircases that lead into unseen tunnels that are underneath the restaurant. It is believed that the tunnels beneath the restaurant ran to the banks of Savannah River. The strong men drinking at the bar were dragged via the staircases, to the tunnels and drugged. They would then be dragged through the tunnel to a ship and forced to be part of the crew. The restaurant is a vibrant business that has employed a handful of employees. In the event that the restaurant is closed, several people would lose their jobs and a spring of pride for the Historic Georgia would have dried. People visiting the town often visit the restaurant for delicious foods and interesting ghost stories. Since the 18s, the structure of the restaurant has barely changed. This is most likely because the restaurant needs to preserve the original feel of the house since it was built. Many people who would like to see the building and attribute it to the story behind it will often visit the restaurant and that acts as the restaurant’s point of sale. Conclusion This restaurant has been a favorite spot for everyone who visits as it was the same case for the privateers and sailors for several years. The food and drinks were as terrific as they still are now. It is no surprise that the pirates would hang around the place that they enjoyed and loved when they were alive, like we do today.

Talent Management Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Talent Management Strategy - Essay Example Israelite (2010) defines talent management strategy as the process which ensures that an organization has the right and competent people for particular jobs at the right time in order to achieve organizational goals and objectives. This strategy includes the processes of induction, performance management, career planning, compensation management, succession planning processes, assessment, goal-setting, and recruitment. These processes are aimed at retaining employees and fostering their continuing development of competencies and skills to achieve the short term organizational goals and long-term strategic objectives (Armstrong, 2007). This paper has envisioned a nonprofit organization with two hundred people, in which twenty are identified leaders. Based on this, the paper will devise a talent management strategy concentrating on the entire talent needs of the organization. The paper will also define the principal components of talent management and examine how the process of talent management provides a competitive advantage for an organization. Finally, it will assess the need for a talent management strategy to change with the anticipation of the organization doubling in five to six years. ... Also, this step of formulating talent management strategy will seek to answer questions regarding the organization’s current and desired states, as well as the organization’s culture. In answer these questions, an understanding shall be sought regarding its mission statement, vision, organization statement, strategy, corporate values, and balanced scorecard as well as how these goals and statements cascade through the organization’s units, departments, and divisions. It will also be critical to understand which roles and skills are required to support improved organization’s performance and encourage creativity and which criteria the organization can employ to identify both underachievers and high performers and to measure performance (Israelite, 2010). Based on the information obtained by analyzing these aspects, a decision should then be made on how the organization should look like in terms of capabilities, structure and leadership in order to achieve i ts objectives and goals. In other words, desired state of performance and improved position should be defined. The next key step in the formulation of talent management strategy should involve examining any talent management components that are already in place within the organization and analyzing how each of these components is working. The organization’s talent management priorities should then be documented based on the talent requirements and goals of the organization, as well as based on the analysis of existing talent management systems and processes (Armstrong, 2007). More importantly at this stage of formulation of strategy it will be critical to define the competencies that the organization needs. The

Research a women's health condition and interview someone that has Essay

Research a women's health condition and interview someone that has personally faced this issue - Essay Example By far the most common form of cystitis is known as Bacterial Cystitis. About 20-40% of women will suffer from bacterial cystitis in their lifetimes. 1 Interstitial cystitis ( IC) is caused by a trauma to the bladder, the exact causes are not known but; Some IC patients reported that their symptoms began after a traumatic event, such as a fall, car accident, pelvic surgery (i.e. hysterectomy or ovarian cyst removal), childbirth or chemical exposure in a swimming pool.   Others believed that their IC began after a severe UTI or as a result of another medical condition, such as fibromyalgia. Some patients thought that their excessive drinking of sodas (diet & regular sodas), c coffees and/or alcohol was the cause of their IC. The common factor in all of these events is their potential for irritating the bladder wall. ( Interstitial Cystitis Network) Other types of cystitis which less common are known as eosinophilic cystitis ( caused by the appearance of a large number of bacteria called ecosinophils) ,radiation cystitis ( found in patients with cancer) and hemorrhagic cystitis. For all types of cystitis the symptons are generally the same, frequent and painful urination, cloudy and foul smelling urine and pain in the lower back and kidney area. Taking a urine test will show the appearance of blood in the urine and the presecene of white or red blood cell to combating the infection. If cystitis is left untreated or worsens it can lead to a number of complications including kidney infections and renal failure. This assignment deals with treating the more common Bacterial Cystitis. In the majority of cases the condition can be successfully treated at home and the symptoms will clear up within 2-3 days. Home treatments include drinking lots of fluids including cranberry juice. For fast and effective pain relief taking one teaspoon of bio-carbonate of soda in a class of water or buying over

Business Challenges in the 20th Century Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Business Challenges in the 20th Century - Essay Example Companies are often channel their efforts in taking overcoming the threats while taking advantage of the opportunities present in their environment. Thus, the proper and thorough assessment of the challenges faced by business entities should start with an adequate audit on their environment. This paper will look at three major challenges faced by business organization. It will accomplish this t ask by making a general assessment of the current business landscape. The paragraph that follows will be a glance at the business arena. This will be followed by the specific issues and challenges revealed and how they can be properly addressed. According to Philip Kotler (2005), one of the "megatrends" which is needed to be considered by business organizations is a major economic force called hypercompetition, which is characterized as "a period where the rate of change in the competitive rules of the game are in such flux that only the most adaptive, fleet, and nimble organizations survive (D'Aveni 1994)." It is irrefutable that this trend is one of the most important factor affecting the performance and strategies of business entities. As they operate in a hypercompetitive environment, they need to cope with its various features such as more intense rivalry, higher buyer leverage, and integration of international market. These three major challenges are further examined in the following sections. Challenge 1. More Intense Rivalry As more and more players recognize that potential markets with high profit gains and acquire technologies for an efficient operation, they intensify their efforts to conquer their target markets. It is apparent how business organizations are currently battling head on for higher market shares. More efficient technology in firms' value chains enable them to drive down prices. Aside from price wars, companies also compete on the quality and features of their specific products. As the world is becoming a global village, this situation is even exacerbated by the threat of competition from foreign firms. More in tense rivalry is becoming a major concern among competing industry players. Higher competition forces firms to develop a more efficient business model and strategy. Sometimes, these may even lead to the failure and bankruptcy of a firm. Higher competition tends to shake off inefficient players leaving only those with sustainable competitive strategies. In the face of more intense rivalry, industry players need to focus on crafting a strategy which will mitigate competition with other companies. It is also important that a firm embark on a stronger effort of defining and enhancing its position in the particular market. For example, a hotel company can further realign its strategy with its goal by looking at what it wants to achieve. The company can pursue a differentiation strategy to differentiate itself from its rivals. It is irrefutable that even though two companies offer the same product, customers often perceive huge differences in the way the companies craft their marketing mix. A hotel company can either focus on offering low priced and convenient accommodation or may opt to adopt a strategy of charging prices justified by excellent customer service. It should also be noted that warding

Advertising Argument Paper. Coke Advertisements Research Paper

Advertising Argument . Coke Advertisements - Research Paper Example This essay stresses that the advertisement targets all groups of persons on each. The advertisement focuses on the young, old, not so young and the not so old people reading the advertisements. The advertising shown above is typical of bandwagon advertising. Under this type of advertising, the advertising is geared towards enticing the prospective client to go along with what the majority of the group, community, or society is engaging in – drinking a can of ice-cold coke. This researcher closely identifies with the product. This researcher always drinks a minimum of one bottle of coke each day. There are no traces of race –bias or race discrimination in the Coke advertisement. Likewise, there are no traces of race –bias or race discrimination in the Coke advertisement. In addition, there are no traces of class–bias or class discrimination in the coke advertisement. A coke can is shown on side of a coke refrigerator or cooler. The advertisement is does not contain word or written message to indicate the benefits of patronizing (drinking) a coke product. This paper makes a conclusion that the coke advertisements on a Coke refrigerator is very effective in generating more sales. Advertising increases on coke product sales. The toulmin style of argumentative essay clearly shows all aspects of the making a good argumentative paper. Indeed, advertising increases the desire to buy coke products when compared to coke products stocked inside an advertisement-free white painted refrigerator.

Reading Assessment for Adult ELS Learners Essay

Reading Assessment for Adult ELS Learners - Essay Example The reasons to look for reliable evidence in support of instructional practices are to minimize some of the negative consequences of informal practitioner lore and be more effective in helping students develop as readers. This paper presents a synthesis of research on the nature of reading. In so doing, it suggests a number of ways in which our understanding of reading can be progressed and tries to highlight some important ways to test instructional practices and search for more effective outcomes. It has also examined unique aspects of processing for second language reading. From this foundation of research, the paper then explores issues that concern second language reading assessment. There is lack of agreement among the specialist for definitions of reading. Some of available definitions for reading are development of set of habits and mastery of mechanics, ability to get fact from printed page and ability to carry on the varied and complex processes which we commonly associate with thinking (Traxler, 1944). Many specialist prefer last view of reading because it covers not only testing of reading habits and skill in obtaining facts from printed matter but also includes the appraisal of ability to comprehend all types of reading material to form judgments, to appreciate literary quality, to apply generalization and to perform various kind of mental activity characteristic of all fields (Traxler, 1944). Difficulties of learning Becoming informed about difficulties for different for L2 students can assist all of us in interpreting reading research and the many assertions made about effective reading instruction, recognizing the particular demands of L2 reading and investigating pertinent concerns in our own classrooms (Grabe & stoller, 2002). An investigation was carried out of the level of agreement on the identification of selected reading sub skills, relationship between these sub skills in terms of perceived difficulty. A summary of uniqueness estimates from within-day and across-day matrixes that result from cross validation by items in the entire sample of 988 examinees is done. It seems reasonable to prefer cross validation by items only. Sampling variation in sets of items drawn from the eight populations of comprehension skills was of chief concern in this study (Davis, 1968). Different Skills considered were recalling word meanings (35), drawing inferences about the meaning of a word from context (-1), finding answers to questions answered explicitly or in paraphrase (13), weaving together ideas in the content (5), drawing inferences from the content (23), recognizing a writer's purpose, attitude, tone and mood (14), identifying a writer's techniques (8) and following structure of passage (15). It was noted that drawing inferences about the meaning of a word from context percentages is slightly negative (-1); presumably this is a chance deviation from a true percentage close to zero. The largest percentages of unique variance occur in the case of memory for word meanings (35). The data indicate that about 32 per cent of the non-error variance of this

Nurse-to-patient Ratio Staffing Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Nurse-to-patient Ratio Staffing - Research Paper Example Legally mandated nurse to patient ratios is a controversial topic in healthcare. In this profession, there are state laws that require a certain level of staffing for each particular unit. Hospitals must balance their revenues with expenditures and patients and nurses are affected by these decisions. Mandating ratios is one attempt to ensure that a nurse workload does not exceed the needed level for adequate patient care (Conway, 2008). However, these essential ratios are not without consequences. Ratio advocates argue that fewer staffing levels are appropriate for patient care, better working conditions and higher rates of nurse retention. Those who oppose, claim that ratios will affect hospital budgets and reduce management flexibility in addressing patient’s needs.The paper will research the problem in both sides, having arguments opposed and in support of mandatory ratios. I will use survey data, interviews and original research to support both sides.Nurses have an integra l role in the systems of health care. State-mandated safe-staffing ratios will be important to ensure both patient and nurse safety. Adequate staffing is a way to nurse retention and patient care while lack of staffing can endanger patients and can pull the nurses away from their profession (ANA, 2011). However, staffing can also increase budgets and affect the management flexibility in dealing with patient's problems. Does the nurse to patient staffing ratios affect the hospital performance positively or negatively?

Movie review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Movie review - Essay Example In 1994, about 27 years down the line, another outbreak occurs in Motaba Valley. Colonel Sam Daniels of USAMRIID together with his ex-wife Roberta Keough of CDC both conducts research into the virus in Maryland and Georgia respectively. A monkey infected with the Montaba virus finds its way on a ship headed for USA. As soon as the monkey arrives, the deadly virus infects people in Cedar Creek, a town in California. Consequently, Roberta and Sam accompanied by doctor Casey Schuler head to Cedar Creek to hunt for the monkey hoping that the monkey would lead them to the cure of the virus. On his way, Sam came across some vital information that could change things – McClintock has been hiding this information from the US president. McClintock and Ford have possessed a serum (E-1101) prepared to cure the virus since 1967. On several occasions, McClintock has restrained Ford from revealing the information. McClintock now plans to bomb Cedar Creek as he did to Motaba Valley. However, Sam and Roberta discover that the virus in Cedar Creek is a different strain of the deadly Motaba virus – it is airborne and more contagious. A new serum is manufactured to stop this new strain. Thereafter, Sam and Roberta embark on stopping McClintock from blowing up Cedar Creek. Outbreak is a good example of the work of an epidemiologist. An airborne virus spread to humans through a monkey and subsequently to other humans. An epidemiologist comes in to control and monitor the spread of the virus. He firstly orders quarantine on affected regions. He then conducts tests on affected persons to identify and ascertain how the virus causes the disease. After discovering that an Ebola virus caused the disease and that the virus is naturally present in certain monkeys, he searches for the monkey so that he can produce an antidote to stop the outbreak. The things happening in the movie are the same

Richman Investments Essay Example for Free

Richman Investments Essay Overview To stop malware problems from occurring at Richman Investments Protecting Richman investments employees, partners and company from illegal or damaging actions by individuals either knowingly or unknowingly Internet /intranet/ extranet related systems including but not limited to computer equipment, software, operating systems, storage media, network accounts providing electronic mail, www browsing, and FTP, are the property of Richman investments. These systems are to be used for business purposes in serving the interests of the company and of our clients and customers in the course of normal operations Purpose The purpose of this policy is to mitigate the improper use of company computer asset these rules are in place to protect the employee and Richman investments. Inappropriate use exposes Richman investments to risks including virus attacks, compromise of network systems and services, and legal issues. Scope I would like to implement a new AUP policy to stop these problems from occurring they need to design an AUP to let user know what they can or can’t do on the system. And use the IT department to restrict access to removable devices. Policy 1.While Richman investments network administration desires to provide a reasonable level of privacy, users should be aware that the data they create on the corporate systems remains the property of Richman investments. Because of the need to protect Richman investments network, management cannot guarantee the confidentiality of information stored on any network device belonging to Richman investments. 2.Employees are responsible for creating guidelines concerning personal use of Internet/Intranet/Extranet systems. In the absence of such policies, employees should be guided by departmental policies on personal use and if there is any uncertainty, employees should consult their supervisor or manager. 3.For security and network maintenance purposes, authorized individuals within Richman investments may monitor equipment systems and network traffic at any time. 4.Richman investments reserve the right to audit networks and systems on a  periodic basis to ensure compliance with this poli cy. Security and Proprietary Information 1.The user interface for information contained on internet/intranet/Extranet related systems should be classified as either confidential or not confidential, as defined by corporate confidentiality guidelines details of which can be found in the HR policies. Examples of confidential information include but are not limited to company private, corporate strategies, competitor sensitive, trade secrets specifications, customer lists, and research data. Employees should take all necessary steps to prevent unauthorized access to this information. 2.Keep passwords secure and do not share accounts. Authorized users are responsible for the security of their passwords and accounts. System level passwords should be changed quarterly; user level passwords should be changed every six months. 3.All PCs, laptops and workstations should be secured with a password protected screensaver with the automatic activation feature set at 10 minutes or less or by logging off when the host will be unattended. 4.Use encryption of information in compliance with acceptable encryption n use policy 5.Postings by employees from a Richman investments email address to new groups should contain a disclaimer stating that the opinions expressed are strictly their own and not necessarily those of Richman investments unless posting is in the course of business duties. 6.All host used by the employee that are connected to the Richman investments , Internet/Intranet/Extranet, whether owned by the employee or Richman investments shall be continually executing approved virus scanning software with a current virus database unless overridden by departmental or group policy. 7.Employees must use extreme caution when opening email attachments received from unknown senders which may contain viruses, email bombs, or Trojan horse code. Unacceptable use The following activities are in general prohibited. Employees may be exempted from these restrictions during the course of their legitimate job responsibilities system administration staff may have a need to disable the network access of a host if that host is disrupting production services. Under no circumstances is an employee of Richman investments authorized to  engage in any activity that is illegal under local, state, federal or international law while utilizing Richman investments owned resources. Email and communications activities 1.Sending unsolicited email messages including the sending of junk mail or other advertising material to individuals who did not specifically request such material email spam. 2.Any form of harassment via email, telephone or paging whether through language, frequency or size messages. 3.Unauthorized use or forging of email header information. 4.Solicitation of email for any other email address other than that of the poster’s account with the intent to harass or collect replies. Enforcement  Any employee found to have violated this policy may be subject to disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment

Are Concerns over Immigration to Do with Culture of Economic Reasons Essay Example for Free

Are Concerns over Immigration to Do with Culture of Economic Reasons Essay Almost all economists are in agreement that immigration has positive economic effects. Indeed in the United States it â€Å"provides natives with a net benefit of at least $80,000 per immigrant, or as much as $10 billion annually† (Bolin, 2006). However despite this there are huge numbers of advocacy groups pushing the pros and cons immigration to the populations of the host countries, with natives having negative views towards immigration (McLaren Johnson, 2007). Through the course of this essay I will examine whether the root cause of these often xenophobic views towards immigration have root causes in economic reasons (immigrants taking jobs from natives, and leading to lower wages) or symbolic reasons, where the natives are fearful that the immigrants will bring their culture to the host country and cause change. Enoch Powell, the Conservative British politician, gave a warning that immigrants were causing such strife that â€Å"like the Roman, I seem to see the River Tiber foaming with much blood† (Powell, 1969). This turned out to be nonsense, and his advice that immigrants should be encouraged to leave, would have left Britain, and many other countries that rely on cheap foreign labour in a horrific state of affairs. Immigrants are now taking far longer to integrate into their host country and this is upsetting many natives. â€Å"In the past a third-generation migrant, for example in America, would have been expected to have shed much of his grandparents’ identity† (The Economist, 2008), not speaking his mother tongue and having little loyalty to the country his family originated from. This is changing â€Å"as migrants feel loyalty to more than one country† (The Economist, 2008). For example, Moroccans in Europe, even fourth generation, are encouraged by the Government to identify with the African country, and are granted Moroccan citizenship under the constitution. As many source countries such as India and China grow intent on gaining remittances from their emigres, â€Å"migrants even several generations on may come under great pressure to retain some of their old identity† (The Economist, 2008). This can all lead to immigrants never becoming fully integrated into the host country, causing social problems such as immigrants bunching together in the same place. Due to globalisation and time-space compression, it has become far easier for migrants to emigrate further away from their own country, this causes problems as they subsequently have little in common with their host country and find it harder to integrate into the community. Traveling long distances to emigrate is no longer a problem and in the future there will be the problem of â€Å"people moving greater distances and settling among different ethnic, religious and cultural groups† (The Economist, 2008), meaning they will have problems integrating. â€Å"Danes in Sweden or Albanians in Greece have little trouble integrating into the relatively familiar societies next door. Even Poles in Ireland prosper, perhaps thanks to the incomers’ good standard of education and skill and the shared Catholic faith. But Iraqis in Sweden, Somalis in Canada or Pakistanis in Norway typically find integration harder† (The Economist, 2008). Samuel Huntington blames this on the â€Å"great divisions among humankind† (Huntington, 1993) that are the differences between civilisations. He believes that immigration will ‘intensify civilization consciousness and awareness of differences between civilizations and commonalities within civilizations’ (Huntington, 1993). This leads to a ‘them versus us’ attitude, with the natives having the xenophobic view that the immigrants are qualitatively different from themselves. As the natives of the host country would have spent time constructing â€Å"discursive practices that attempt to fix meanings which enable the differentiation between the inside and the outside to be made† (Doty, 1996), they will resent immigrants not properly integrating themselves into the community. Research on social identity appears to conclude that identity is highly important to individuals, with individuals protecting these identities even if they have no realistic meaning (Monroe, et al. , 2000). People use these identities to provide a sense of self (Sniderman, et al. 2004), partly in order that they may distinguish between those similar to themselves and those different. The ‘identities tend to have their basis in perceptions of differences’ (McLaren Johnson, 2007)with those viewed as outsiders thought to have radically different values and approaches to life. â€Å"The threat posed by minorities and immigrants may be symbolic in nature and may stem from concerns about the loss of certain values or ways of life† (McLaren Johnson, 2007), due to immigrants having a significant presence in the host country. Immigrants also often congregate in areas of the host country, London for example has a huge immigrant and minority presence with only 44. 9% classing themselves as ‘White British’ (Gye, 2012), in the 2011 census. This all means that natives are fearful that immigrants will cause them to adapt or change their ways of life. Migrants who preserve â€Å"a strong religious sense that cuts across any national loyalty may be the hardest of all to assimilate into broadly secular Western societies†. In the post-9/11 world Muslims are often seen as being the greatest cultural threat to Western societies. In a recent survey McLaren and Johnson measured anti-Muslim feeling in the United Kingdom. They found that 62% of people agreed with the statement that British Muslims are more loyal to Muslims around the world, than to other Britons, only 12% disagreed. Only 30% of Britons felt that Muslims living in Britain were committed to Britain, with 47% feeling that they could never be committed to Britain. 52% of people thought that Britain would begin to lose its identity if more Muslims came to live there. Clearly there is considerable anti-Muslim feeling in Britain and concern that British-Muslims pose a threat to the identity and culture of Britain (McLaren Johnson, 2007). Most economists are in agreement that immigration has very little effect on native’s wages; this should mean that natives won’t oppose immigration based on the misbelief that immigrants lower wages. Although conventional economic wisdom states that an increase in supply of labour will lead to a decrease in price, this doesn’t happen. Friedberg and Hunt conclude that a 10% increase in immigrant levels in the population, decreases wages by 1% (Friedberg Hunt, 1995). Economist Francisco Revera-Batiz came to the same conclusion, noting that although immigration has increased the supply of low skilled workers into the United States, there has been very little impact on the wages of high school dropouts, the lowest skilled people in America (Rivera-Batiz, 1998). One of the most influential studies is Card’s 1990 study on the Miami Labour market after the sudden influx of 125,000 Cuban immigrants in 1980 due to a sharp downturn in the Cuban economy. Surprisingly the arrival of so many immigrants didn’t affect native wages, although it did lower the overall wage level in Miami; due to the immigrants being employed in low-wage jobs (Card, 1990). This tallies with the outcomes of other natural experiments in recent history such as the homecoming of 600,000 Portuguese after the collapse of their empire in Africa in 1974-76, the return of 900,000 Frenchmen from Algeria in 1962 (The Economist, 2008) or the influx of 610,000 Russian Jews into Israel 1990-94, increasing the labour force by 12%; all had negligible effects on native wages. Immigrants don’t decrease wages because as well as increasing the supply of labour, they become a domestic consumer for goods as well as services, they â€Å"create jobs as consumers and fill jobs as producers† (Bolin, 2006). A higher total population, ceteris parabus, will lead to the production of more goods and services, boosting the host countries gross domestic product (GDP). In some rare cases immigrants can even boost native’s wages. Illegal Mexican immigrants, who are â€Å"predominantly low skilled† (Bolin, 2006), have a positive effect on other workers’ wages (Bean, et al. 1998). This is due to immigration increasing the productivity of native workers by â€Å"taking low-skilled jobs, freeing higher-skilled workers to work in higher-skilled employment where they can be more productive† (Bolin, 2006). Based on the results of a range of economists, using results based on a â€Å"range of methodologies† (Bolin, 2006), it can be seen that immigrants have a small negative impact on native wages, although mainly low-skilled workers. Based on this, natives shouldn’t be concerned over immigration levels based on their own wages falling. The popular theory that immigrants ‘come over here and take our jobs’, has been shown to hold very little truth, as most studies â€Å"find no or negligible effect[s]† (Bolin, 2006) on employment rates. The ‘lump of labour fallacy’ is the mistaken idea that there are a set number of jobs in the economy, and when an immigrant takes one of those jobs, it is a job lost for a native. This is incorrect for three reasons. Firstly, by coming to a country â€Å"immigrants increase the supply of labour and hence reduce wages. In turn, cheaper labour increases the potential return to employers to build new factories or expand their operations. In so doing, they create extra demand for workers† (Grinda, 2006), and more jobs are created. Secondly, immigrants are consumers as well as producers. When there is a large influx of immigrants such as the 610,000 Russian-Jews into Israel in the early 1990’s, they are in need of goods and services. People are employed to provide these goods and services, meaning more jobs added to the economy, and immigrants simply enlarge the economy. Thirdly, immigrants are 10 to 20 percent more likely to become entrepreneurs and start their own business than natives (Briggs Moore, 1994). In 1999, The Wall Street Journal reported that â€Å"Chinese and Indian immigrants run nearly 25% of the high-companies started in [Silicon] Valley since 1980†¦The 2,775 immigrant-run companies had total sales of $16. 8 billion and more than 58,000 employees† (Thurm, 1999). â€Å"Immigrants not only take jobs, they make jobs. They open new businesses that employ natives as well as other immigrants and themselves. And they do so in important numbers† (Simon, 1999). Similarly, the findings by Friedberg and Hunt discovers â€Å"no evidence of economically significant reductions in native employment†. Card, as well as examining the impact of the Muriel boatlift on wages also examined the impact of it on employment. Even though Miami’s workforce was increased by 7%, virtually overnight, with an influx of relatively unskilled Cuban workers he finds â€Å"no evidence of an increase in unemployment among less skilled blacks or other non-Cuban workers. Rather the data analysis suggests a remarkably rapid absorption of the Muriel immigrants into the Miami labour force† (Card, 1990). Again with immigrant’s impact on wages, the evidence seems to suggest that a lack of evidence that immigration causes native unemployment. This should mean that concerns over immigration should not be linked to worries over employment. Due to immigrants being â€Å"disproportionately low-skill[ed]† (Bolin, 2006) they tend to have lower wages than natives. It is often assumed therefore that they depend more upon the welfare system than natives. The level of benefits are often higher in the host country than the source country, and it is often suggested that it is this difference that brings in migrants. Borjas coined the term â€Å"welfare magnet effect† (Borjas, 1999), making the point that immigrants are drawn to the country with the highest benefits. This however has all been shown to be completely false, and many economists believe that over the long term immigrants more than pay for the public services they use (Simon, 1999). In the United States â€Å"most immigrants, including Mexicans, are usually less likely than comparable natives to receive welfare†, with the per capita cost of social welfare for immigrants being 8% less than the per capita cost for natives (Bean, et al. 1998). It is plain to see that objections to immigration come from those who are worried about the identity and culture of their nation being eroded, rather than for economic reasons. Immigrants are solving many problems for the host countries, such as the problems of aging populations and those participating in the workforce being increasing choosy about the jobs they do. Immigrants have few economic disadvantages, although high immigration may bring about a small decrease in jobs for the natives, the tax revenue that they bring in more than displaces this negative effect. As the immigrants have little impact on jobs, and simply create more jobs in the economy, disproving the lump of labour fallacy, they don’t have a negative impact on wages which is a positive for the economy as a whole. The argument that immigrants have a negative impact on the identity and culture of a nation holds some truth. Due to the fact that a nation’s identity is made up of what its inhabitants believe it to be, immigrants having different views, can water this identity down.

History of US Immigration Law and Reform

History of US Immigration Law and Reform Alejandro Bojorquez is a Mexican citizen who has been waiting decades to be reunited with his family in this United States through issuance of a family-sponsored green card.   Alejandro’s father, Jesus Bojorquez, first filed a family sponsored green card petition for his son when Alejandro was only 14 years old (Gonzalez, 2013).   Alejandro is now 33 years old and he could still wait until 2018 before he receives his family sponsored green card due to the wait time for the visa category he is currently in.   This will make his wait for issuance of his green card twenty years, however, this length of time is not that uncommon.   Alejandro Bojorquez’s family is not alone.   Similar situations are being seen every day due to the current shortage of family-sponsored visas available.   In the past, the United States immigration system has made it a priority to have families kept together; however, due to shortage of family-sponsored visas available, the number of visa backlogs have rapidly increased, keeping families separated for many years.   Congress must reform the family immigration laws and the family visa process to start reuniting families again, before families become completely broken.   History of Immigration Laws Immigration laws in the United States date back to the early 18th Century.   During the 18th and early 19th Century, the United States welcomed free and open immigration and did not have concrete immigration laws put in place under legislation.   In the 1880’s, the number of immigrants immigrating to the United States was rising, and economic conditions were becoming worse.   Therefore, Congress implemented legislation and passed the General Immigration Act of 1882 (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, 2012).     Ã‚   The General Immigration Act of 1882 placed a fifty cent head tax on each immigrant.   Additionally, this Act barred the entry of any immigrant presumed to be an idiot, lunatic, convict, or a public charge (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, 2012).   The first laws enacted that began prohibiting certain immigrants from coming to the United States was the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and the Alien Contract Labor Laws of 1885 and 1887 (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, 2012).   These Acts were the first immigration laws that significantly placed a restriction on certain immigrants immigrating to the United States.   The Chinese Exclusion Act prohibited entry of Chinese immigrant workers due to the belief that the Chinese immigrants were taking American citizen jobs, and the Alien Contact Labor Laws prohibited American employers from recruiting immigrant workers to work for lower wages than the American workers.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Pursuant to the Immigrant Act of 1891, the United States federal government began the control, inspection, admitting, rejecting, and processing of all immigrants trying to be admitted into the United States (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, 2012). Due to the need to have a single agency enforce and regulate the new immigration laws, the Act also created the Office of the Superintendent of Immigration in the Treasury Department, also known as the Department of Commerce and Labor.   This name changed in 1895 to General of Immigration (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, 2012) The Superintendent oversaw the United States Immigrant Inspectors who were stationed at the port of entry, Ellis Island.   Ellis Island was opened by the United States Immigration Service on January 2, 1982 (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, 2012).  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Naturalization Act of 1802 allowed any court of record to naturalize a new American citizen (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, 2012).  Ã‚   However, immigration laws began to change in the early 1900’s.   In 1906, Congress enacted the Basic Naturalization Act of 1906.   This Act was designed to add uniformity to the naturalization process. This Act also outlined the essential rules and regulations that governed the United States naturalization process for the majority of the 20th Century.     The 1906 Act created the Federal Naturalization Service. Accordingly, Congress placed the Federal Naturalization Service together with the Bureau of Immigration, which changed the name to the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, 2012).  Ã‚     Ã‚   In the early 1900’s, the United States admitted more than 14.5 million immigrants (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, 2012).  Ã‚   The large amount immigrants being admitted began to raise concerns as to the type of immigrant they were due to many of the immigrants not being able to read or write.   Therefore, it was determined that there needed to be stronger immigration laws in place.   In 1917, Congress passed the Immigration Act of 1917.   This Act required that immigrants being admitted into the United States be able to read and write in their native language (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, 2012).   This was a way to catch the undesirables from being admitted in to the United States.     However, large amounts of immigration slowed when World War I began.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   When World War I ended, mass immigration to the United States began again. Therefore, stricter immigration laws were put in place.   Immigration legislation of the Immigration Acts of 1921 and the Immigration Acts of 1924 placed a numerical limit on immigration for the first time in United States history (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, 2012). Each nationality received a certain quota based on numbers in the United States census and was referred to as the national-origins quota system.   A visa was required to be admitted into the United States.   If immigrants tried to be admitted and did not have a valid visa, they were not admitted it. The Immigration Acts of 1921 and the Immigration Acts of 1924 severely restricted the amount of immigrants allowed to be admitted into the United States.   Immigrants from all over the world began to cross into the United States illegally. Congress needed to do something about the amount of illegal immigrants coming into the United States, therefore, they passed the Labor Appropriation Act of 1924 (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, 2012).     This created the Border Patrol which secured the borders between inspection stations and on the coast. In 1952, Congress combined all of the previous immigration and naturalization regulations into the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (INA).   This removed all of the racial barriers within immigration and naturalization and retained the national origins quotas (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, 2012).   However, civil rights activists viewed this Act as discriminatory as a quota system that placed a numerical limit on visas issued by national-origin was not equal treatment.   Ã‚   Consequently, in 1965, amendments were made to the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 which created the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965 (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, 2012).   This Act removed the earlier quota system that placed limits on the number of immigrants by their nationality.   Instead, the Act established a new preference system that was designed to reunite families and draw skilled immigrants to immigrate to the United States. The preference system was supposed to put all immigrants on the same footing while immigrating to the United States. The preference system, like the national-origin quota, places a limit to the number of immigration visas that were available each fiscal year.   Throughout the years, modifications have been made to the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965, however, the framework of this act remains still today.   The 1965 immigration policies are illogical.   Prior to the 1965 amendments to the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), the only thing that stood between families being reunited, was the amount of time it took for first family member that immigrated to the United States to get a job and save money to send back for their relatives to immigrate.   However, the passage of 1965 INA eliminated that way of immigrating and instead created the family preference quota that places annual limits on the number of family visas that can be awarded each year by country of origin and family preference.   Currently, family-sponsored visas are the majority of visas given each year (Department of Homeland Security, 2017).   Thus, the equality, organization, and promptness of the entire visa process is vital.   Ironically though, the United States current policies lack all of them.  Ã‚   More recently, one of the most important immigration laws that has been put in place is the Immigration Act of 1990.   This act changed American immigration law as it allowed more immigrants to come to the United States each year.   Additionally, the 1990 Immigration Act began the yearly lottery of visas and it encouraged counties that do not have a strong presence in the United States to apply for a visa in the lottery (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, 2012).     The lottery system assigns visas to immigrants randomly.   Ã‚  Previous immigration laws did not allow immigrants from a certain nationality, origin or country to attain visas. The 1990 Immigration Act changed those immigration policies.  Ã‚   In 1996, the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigration Responsibility Act (IIRIRA 96) was signed into law by former President Bill Clinton.   This Act made immigrating and adjusting status in the United States very hard for immigrants and United States citizens.     Ã‚  The IIRIRA 96 made more immigrants, even legal immigrants, deportable and less immigrants legalizable (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, 1996).   The provisions in this Act increased penalties on immigrants who had violated the United States law in some way.   IIRIRA 96 needs to be reformed.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Prior to 1996, undocumented immigrants were able to obtain legal status if they had been in the United States for at least seven years and could show extreme hardship if they were to get deported. This was essentially the back door to gaining lawful status in the United States. After the passage of IIRIRA 96, the back door closed.   The only way for an undocumented immigrant to gain lawful presence with a green card was by having an immediate relative (United States spouse or child over 18 years) file a petition.   IIRIRA 96 defined unlawful presence.   This act has provisions that place a three-year ban on immigrants who were in the United States for more than six months (180 days) unlawfully, and a ten-year ban if the immigrant lived in the United States for more than one year unlawfully (8 U.S.C.A  § 1182, 2013).   In order to adjust the immigrant’s status, they would have to travel back to their country of origin to have the visa appointment.   This created tremendous difficulties for the families of undocumented immigrants whose immigrant spouse or parent had to leave the United States to apply for their visa.   Once the immigrant would leave the United States, they would trigger an unlawful presence ban.   Under United States law, the USCIS is permitted to waive the unlawful presence ban through filing for an I-601a provisional unlawful presence waiver (8 U.S.C.A  § 1182, 2013).   In order to file the waiver, the applicant needs to be able to demonstrate that denial of the waiver and their excessive time abroad would result in extreme hardship of the immigrant’s U.S. citizen spouse or parent. The problem with the I-601a provisional unlawful presence waiver is that it does not include guidance for how â€Å"extreme hardship† is defined. Therefore, many families were placed in the backlog and separated for many months to years because they did not provide enough extreme hardship. The lengthy separation caused emotional and financial hardship of families waiting for the waiver to be approved.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Prior to 2013, families were separated for many months to many years waiting for their visa and their I-601a provisional unlawful presence waiver to be approved.   Under the Obama Administration, President Obama made an executive order regarding the I-601a provisional unlawful presence waiver and decreasing the backlog (8 CFR 103, 2013).   Under his order, U.S. citizens were allowed to file their petition and an I-601a provisional waiver while continuing to reside in the United States.   Once both were approved, a visa appointment would be scheduled in the immigrant’s country of origin and a visa would be issued within weeks. Besides including immediate relatives of U.S. citizens, it also included immediate relatives of legal permanent residents, work visa petitions, and diversity visa applicants.   These changes decreased the backlog and reunited relatives more prompt.  Ã‚  Ã‚   With the improvements of the I-601a under the Obama administration, it was hoped that there would be clarification and updated regulations to make clear what is considered to be extreme hardship and how it was defined.   However, that was not the case and it is still vital for DHS to propose regulations that will make extreme hardship more clear.   Regardless, the improvements that were made in the I-601a waiver was a huge step for immigration reform as it greatly reduces the amount of time family members are separated from those that they love the most.  Ã‚   Currently there are harmful anti-immigration laws that are damaging state economies.   Alabama and Arizona have both passed harsh anti-immigration laws to try to dismantle the amount of undocumented immigrants that are living in their states.   The idea of these laws was to make the everyday life of the undocumented immigrant so difficult that they would choose to go back to their country, however, the laws implemented did far worse damage.   For Arizona, the passing of The Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act, S.B. 1070, in 2010 was extreme. S.B. 1070 was the most comprehensive, strictest and most controversial anti-illegal immigration law put in place in the United States for a long time.   S.B. 1070 includes provisions which add penalties in relation to the enforcement of immigration law that include trespassing, harboring and transporting illegal immigrants, alien registration documents, employer sanctions, and human smuggling (Morse, 2011).  Ã‚   This law has been criticized most due to the encouragement of racial profiling of anyone who looked like a Mexican.   A boycott of Arizona began immediately after passing of this law, which cost Phoenix Arizona 141 million dollars in tourist and business in the first four months after passing the Act (Khan, N, 2015).      The Alabama Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act, Alabama H.B. 56, of 2011 is an anti-illegal immigration law aimed to remove illegal immigrants from the state of Alabama.   This law turned out to be the strictest illegal immigration law in the nation’s history, even more strict than Arizona’s S.B. 1070, as it attempted to regulate every part of immigrants lives in the State of Alabama.   Areas regulated included interfering with immigrant children’s schooling, preventing immigrants from renting, entering contracts, and working, obstructing lawful access to public benefits, and require law enforcement to verify immigration status (ACLU, 2017).  Ã‚   Shortly after the passage of H.B. 56, the citizens of Alabama began to see that the law was causing more damage than good.   Particularly, it was harmful to Alabama’s agriculture industry.   Due to Alabama’s anti-immigration law, agriculture farmers lost a significant amount of income. Chad Smith, an Alabama tomato farmer, estimated that he would lose up to $300,000 a year due to lack of immigrant farm workers that were in Alabama (Baxter, 2012).   Additionally, the H.B. 56 is tearing families apart to the point that undocumented immigrants are facing the choice on whether to take their United States born children with them to their country of origin, or leave them behind to allow them to have a better future. Anti-immigration laws implemented in states have been proven not to work in both the example of Alabama’s H.B. 56 and Arizona’s S.B. 1070.   These laws legalized racial profiling, frightened immigrant children, and damaged both state’s economies.   Both of these laws should be either repealed, replaced or reformed with more effective laws that will not racial profile, tear families apart and deter immigrants from residing in those states and the United States. Petition for Lawful Presence The 2016 Current Population Survey (CPS) notes that there are currently more than 84.3 million, or 27 percent, of immigrants living in the United States, which include legal, illegal and their U.S. born children of immigrants (Zong & Batalova, 2017).   Each year, the United States admits more than one million legal permanent residents (Department of Homeland Security, 2017).   The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) authorizations American citizens and legal permanent residents to immigrate their spouse, children (under the age of 21), or parents to the United States. The family visa process has three main steps.   The first step is for the petitioner to file an application.   The United States citizen or legal permanent resident relative needs to file a Form I-130 Petition for Alien Relative and a Form I-485 Application to Register Permanent Residence or to Adjust Status with the USCIS.   If the immigrant is an immediate relative of the United States citizen, the visa process can move forward.   However, if the immigrant is not an immediate relative, they will be put in the family visa backlog to wait for their priority date for visa issuance to become available.   Ã‚  It is often thought that once an immigrant’s Form I-130 is approved, the immigrant can be immediately admitted to the United States.   However, that is not the case.  Ã‚   The case of Bolvito v. Mukasey discusses the issue that once the Form I-130 is filed and approved by the USCIS, a visa is not automatically provided and approval does not automatically grant lawful status of the immigrant in the United States.   Instead, the approval of the Form I-130 only means that the immigrant is eligible to receive permission to enter the United States as long as they are not found to be excludable under another immigration law.     Ã‚  The approval of Form I-130 simply means that the immigrant is free to move to the next step. When the immigrant reaches their priority date, they can then move to the second step.   For immediate relatives, the second step comes within months after the Form I-130 is approved.   The second step is to determine if the immigrant can apply for their visa at the USCIS offices inside the United States, or a United States consulate in the immigrant’s country of origin.   If the immigrant was lawfully admitted, they will be able to apply for their visa at a USCIS office in the United States.   If the immigrant is unlawfully present, or are not currently present in the United States, the immigrant will have to apply for their visa in their country of origin, regardless of whether they are currently residing in the United States. The third step is when the visa is issued to the immigrant.   In order for a visa to be issued, the immigrant must prove that they are not admissible under 8 U.S.C.A Sec. 1182.   Immigration violations, crimes, mental disorders, unlawful presence, national security concerns, public charge, and infectious diseases are all grounds that may bar the immigrant from the United States for a period of time.     Ã‚  If the third step is a success, the immigrant will be admitted to the United States as a lawful permanent resident.   If the third step is not successful, there are other hoops that need to be jumped through before the immigrant will be admitted into the United States.   Consequently, the immigrant will be placed in the backlog for months to years.     Ã‚   Current Backlog Most of the legal permanent residents the United States admits each year are immigrants that are already residing in the United States due to their current visa status or they are residing as undocumented immigrants.   Nearly two-thirds of them qualify as members of an American family that have already adjusted their status to legal permanent residents through a family-sponsored visa or they are currently waiting in the backlog for their family-sponsored visa to be issued (Department of Homeland Security, 2017).  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The backlog of family-sponsored visas begins with the number of visas that are allowed to be issued each fiscal year surpasses the amount of family-sponsored visas being applied for.   In 2015, 1,051,031 Lawful Permanent Residents were admitted to the United States (Department of Homeland Security, 2017).   However, out of the 1,051,031 legal permanent residents admitted, 44.03 % were immediate relatives of United States citizens and only 20.4 % of them were from the family sponsored preference categories (Department of Homeland Security, 2017).   The remaining visas went to the employment based visas, refugees, diversity, asylees, and other types of visas. As of November 1, 2016, 4,259,573 family-sponsored immigrants were still waiting in the backlog for their visa to become available (U.S. Department of State, 2016).  Ã‚   Pursuant to 8 U.S.C.A.  § 1151(c) (2009) Worldwide level of immigration, the worldwide level of family-sponsored visas allowed to be given can be the maximum of 480,000 and is to be no less than 226,000 per fiscal year.   The variance in the maximum amount of visas allowed and the minimum amount of visas allowed to be issued each fiscal year is due to that certain immigrants are not subject to the worldwide numerical limitations.   Under current immigration law, there is currently not a limit set for the amount of immigrant visas that can be given to â€Å"immediate relatives† of United States citizens.   According to 8 U.S.C.A.  § 1151(b)(2) (2009), â€Å"immediate relatives† is defined as the children, spouses, and parents of a citizen of the United States.   This means that spouses, children and parents of United States citizens do not have to worry about the numerical limitations and are able to get a visa issued to them right away, as long as they are not excludable. However, relatives to United States citizens and legal permanent residents who are not considered to be an â€Å"immediate relative† and apply for a family-sponsored green card are subject to the current numerical limitations of worldwide visas.   These relative immigrants have to wait in line and are placed in a backlog until their place in line is ready for a visa.   8 U.S.C.A.  § 1151(a)(2) (2009) places the annual numerical limits allowed per nation.   Currently, the total numerical limit for family-sponsored visas for relatives other than immediate relatives is 226,000 per fiscal year (8 U.S.C.A.  § 1151(a) 2009).     Ã‚   There is not only one line to wait in, there are multiple lines.   The lines are divided into family-sponsored preference categories that set limits depending on the exact relationship the petitioner has with the immigrant, age of the immigrant, and country of residence.   According to 8 U.S.C.A.  § 1154 (2014) – Procedure for granting immigrant status, the current family-sponsored preferences are as follows: First: (F1) unmarried sons and daughters of U.S. citizens; Second (F2A) spouses and children of legal permanent residents and (F2B) unmarried sons and daughters (21 years or age or older) of permanent residents; Third (F3) married sons and daughters or U.S. citizens; and Fourth (F4) brothers and sisters of adult U.S. citizens (U.S. Department of State, 2017).  Ã‚  Ã‚   According to 8 U.S.C.A.  § 1152 (2000) – Numerical limitations on individual foreign states, each country is only allowed to receive 7% of the worldwide immigrant visa level provided under 8 U.S.C.A.  § 1151 (2009).   Some countries have a higher amount of visa applicants each year.   For example, China, Mexico, and the Philippines have a higher amount of applicants each year and most family preference categories force these visa applicants to wait two decades or more to have their visa approved.   As of April, 2017, the wait time for the first family-sponsored visa preference category for Mexico was 22 years.   The National Visa Center is currently processing visas for May 22, 1995 (U.S. Department of State, 2017).   Ã‚  Due to the numerical limitation for visas per country, visa applicants from countries with a high immigration demand (Mexico, China, and the Philippines) have to wait a long period of time for their visa to become available.  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There are currently two different backlogs that family-sponsored visa applicants are placed into while waiting for a visa to be issued to them.   The first backlog is the administrative backlog, also referred to as the processing backlog (Vaughan, 2015).   The administrative backlog is given to visa applicants due to the lack of resources that are available from Congress to the specific agency handling the visa processing (Vaughan, 2015). Therefore, USCIS is not able to effectively manage the large volume of visa applications that comes in each year.   These applicants are put in queue until resources are made available. The administrative backlogs could easily be eliminated if the United States government would provide adequate resources to those agencies.   The second, and more grave backlog is the shortage of visa backlog.   The shortage of visa backlog begins with the annual number of visas available to be distributed each year.   Due to the current visa demand being higher than the 480,000 visas available to be issued each year pursuant to 8 U.S.C.A.  § 1151 (2009), family-sponsored visa applicants get placed in the backlog and have the possibility of waiting as long as twenty years or more for their visa to be issued.   Congress passing a comprehensive immigration reform that will meet the current visa demands and cut down on the current backlog, is the only solution. INA does not specifically state that immigrants who have visa applications pending cannot visit the United States to visit, however, in order to do so, they would have to qualify for a non-immigrant or employment visa (Cruz, 2010).   Both these visas require the immigrant to state that they have no immigrant intent.   If the immigrants fail to disclose their pending immigrant visa, they will risk being denied into the United States.   Thus, if immigrants are waiting for their visa to be issued in their country of origin, they typically they are not allowed to visit their family in the United States until they become a legal permanent resident.     Ã‚   A lot can happen while an immigrant waits in the backlog for their visa to be approved.   If they want to reunite with their family sooner, they may enter the United States illegally.   They also may choose to get married, and then a putting them in an even longer backlog (Cruz, 2010).   Moreover, the petitioning relative or the immigrant could die before the visa was issued.   Current United States immigration laws do not account for these circumstances.   Alejandro Bojorquez was put in the endless shortage of visa backlog when he was only 14 years old.   At that time, his father was a legal permanent resident.   As a permanent resident, his father petitioned for Alejandro and his mother to gain lawful entry to the United States through a family-sponsored visa petition on January 8, 1998 (priority date) (Gonzalez, 2013).   Nevertheless, Alejandro’s backlog increased when he attained the age of 21, as the United States government automatically moved him to the F2B category for unmarried adult children 21 years and older, and that line was much longer.   In January of 2013, Alejandro’s father became a naturalized United States citizen, and Alejandro was again moved into another family preference category.   This time, Alejandro was moved into the F1 category for unmarried adult children 21 years and older of United States Citizens.   Currently, for the FL preference category, the National Visa Center is processing priority dates of June 15, 1995 (U.S. Department of State, 2017).   Reform of current immigration laws is needed to eliminate loopholes like described above that keep family members apart for more time than initially required. Clearly, the timely family reunification process is not working well for U.S. Citizens or legal permanent residents and their immediate family members.   Currently, there are 423,373 adult children over the age of 21 still waiting in line for their visa and the priority date to come (U.S. Department of State, 2016).  Ã‚   Forcing families to be separated from each other for many years, while trying to gain lawful status in the United States, puts major emotional and financial strain on them.   Many immigrants find themselves facing either family reunification or keeping the life that they have set up in the United States.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Immigration Reform Immigrants come to the United States for the promise of freedom and the many opportunities the United States has to give.   However, current immigration laws keep families separated and the incoherent laws make it hard for immigrants to attain a visa.   Current immigration regulations and statutes in the United States need to be reformed on both the federal level and the state level.   The United States needs a comprehensive immigration reform and a path to citizenship for the undocumented immigrants already residing in the country. There are social consequences for immigrant families who are waiting in the backlog for their visa to become available.   The undetermined time an immigrant family has to wait for their visa disrupts family relationships.   This is due to spouses and children residing in their country of origin for an uncertain period of time.   Children who are waiting for their family sponsored visa are often staying with grandparents and develop a sense of abandonment, which results in destructive behaviors (Cruz, 2010).   The immigrant’s opportunity to develop language, cultural, and economical ties to the United States are also delayed due to the undetermined wait for a visa to be issued.   Therefore, many immigrants waiting in the backlog immigrate to the United States illegally to ease these social consequences.   More than 6,000 immigrant children are arrested at the Mexican/United States border each year while attempting to reunite with their parents in the United States (Cruz, 2010).   Comprehensive immigration reform will eliminate the social consequences of the family visa backlog.      Currently there are 11 million undocumented immigrants residing in the United States (Cohn &Passel, 2016). Legalizing these undocumented immigrants would boost the economy and the federal and state tax revenue.   In 2010, the United States collected 11.2 billion dollars of tax revenue from undocumented immigrants.   This tax revenue is beneficial to both the federal government and individual states.      A comprehensive immigration reform that would legalize the current undocumented immigrants would benefit the United States economy and American workers. Employers need to have a legalized workforce.   Business owners from farm workers to hotel workers have worker lacking immigration status.   A compressive immigration reform would put all workers, Americans and immigrants, on a level playing field which would result in increased wages.   Higher wages would mean more consumers spending, and a huge benefit for the United States economy.   The federal government would accrue $4.5 billion to $5.4 billion in additional net tax revenue in three years if the 11 million undocumented immigrants were legalized (Hinojosa-Ojeda, 2010).  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Immigration reform would keep families together.   According to a 2011 study, more than 5,100 children were in foster care because their parents were undocumented and had either been detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or deported (Cortez-Neavel, 2016).  Ã‚   ICE completed their own assessment in the years 2010 to 2012, which they recorded removing 204,810 parents of U.S. citizen children under the age of 18 (Cortez-Neavel, 2016).   Removing undocumented immigrants with United States citizen children only leaves more family on welfare.     Ã‚     The Trump administration plans to deport between two and three million undocumented workers (Cortez-Neavel, 2016).     If President Trumps words hold true, the children of the undocumented immigrants being deported will either go to a relative, if one was available, or be placed in foster care.  Ã‚   Comprehensive immigration reform that includes legalizing the undocumented immigrants is the only way to keep families together and these children out of foster care and off welfare.   Reforming of current immigration laws will also create more jobs.   According to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), one out of every ten immigrants owns a business and 620 out of 100,000 immigrants start a business each month (Fairlie, 2012).   This means that immigrants being admitted into the United States will be employing workers, paying taxes and contributing to the economy.   These immigrants will become strong members of a community and their societies.  Ã‚  Ã‚   A comprehensive immigration reform that encourages more high-skilled workers to be admitted to the United States will strengthen the economy, innovate and provide workforce stability throughout the country.   Opposition of Immigration Reform From research, it appears that some Americans seem to not favor the idea of comprehensive immigration reform. Many individuals who oppose immigration reform believe that all of the immigrants who are undocumented can simply go back to their country and get in line for a green card (Nowrasteh, 2016).   It is just not that easy.   For most of the undocumented immigrants in the United States, there is no line available to them as they do not have a family member in the United States who can petition for their legal entry.   Since there is no current amnesty in the United States and IIRIRA dismantled the grandfathered adjustment of status, undocumented immigrants either have the choice to stay in the United States and fear deportation, or go to a country that many do not even know.    The cost of immigration reform is a major concern of congress.   In 2013, the Heritage Foundation stated that immigration reform was estimated to cost the United States 6.3 billion dollars from start to finish (Harris, 2013).   The 6.3 billion dollars represents the total cost of immigration reform, which includes; revising the family visa process, border security, and creating a pathway for citizenship for the current undocumented workers in the United States (Harris, 2013).   However, that number does not even include the Trump Administrations proposed border wall.   The Department of Homeland Security estimated that the proposed border wall would cost the United States 21.6 billion dollars (Ainsley, 2017).   Congress needs to take into consideration the broad range of areas that the estimated cost of reform covers when determining if it costs too much.  Ã‚     Ã‚   What the estimated cost of reform fails to represent is what comprehensive immigration reform will do for the United States.   Due to the current broken family visa process, there are consequences which arise from the inability of families being able to reunite in a timely manner. A comprehensive reform of current immigration laws will allow for many families to be put back together.   Families lean on each other in time of need. They help each other raise the children, and help with the daily finances. When a family is waiting for one of their family members to be provided with their visa, they often have to apply for state aid as they cannot afford food, childcare, housing, and their everyday bills (Vaughan, 2015).   Eliminating the backlog will get families off of welfare. The Trump Administration has categorized undocumented immigrants as a threat to the American workers.   President Trump claims to be on the side of American workers and he vows to deport the undocumented workers that are taking jobs away from the white working class.   This argument resonates well with the white working class supporters who are struggling with poor jobs, low wages and unemployment. However, deportation of these immigrants is not the answer for the following reasons. First, there is not any documented proof that undocumented immigrants are taking the jobs of the white working class.   Undocumented immigrants rarely compete for employment against an American worker, immigrants compete against other immigrants (Nowrasteh, 2016).  Ã‚     Ã‚  Second, six states that account for 40 percent of the goods and services produced in the United States have the largest amount of undocumented workers, as undocumented workers often work as farm help, which is low wage employment (Nowrasteh, 2016).   If President Trump does as he has promised, there will be a shortage of farm workers and the employers will have to offer higher pay to get new employees.   The higher pay will be passed to consumers at the super market.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Those that oppose immigration reform believe that the United States needs tighter border security.   The Department of Homeland Security and Congress should tackle the problems at the border and they should provide Border Patrol with the means to protect the United States border adequately.   The Trump administration has signed executive orders directing federal agencies to being constructing a wall on the U.S./Mexico border and he has directed the Department of Homeland Security and local law enforcement to enforce the laws of the United States strongly.   President Trumps words were hostile and all they did was seclude immigrant communities and families.   The immigrants will go back to the shadows and again fear the police.   The will not assimilate into American culture any longer as there will be no incentive Nowrasteh, 2016).   Those that oppose immigration reform believe that granting amnesty to the 11 million undocumented immigrants will create and encourage more illegal immigration to the United States.   This view is not true.   Actually, recent numbers show that the number of immigrants crossing the border illegally has decreased (Cohn & Passel, 2016).   Therefore, granting amnesty to the undocumented immigrants who currently have their life and family in the United States will in fact deter future illegal immigration and keep families together.   Amnesty is admission of that the immigration laws of the past are not working and they need to be reformed.   Importance of Immigration Reform to the Researcher Reforming the immigration process is important to the researcher due to the fact the researcher has been through the family visa process, stuck in the backlog, and the researcher has saw firsthand the effects current immigration laws have on families.   In 2010, the researcher was separated from her spouse for a period of 11 months waiting for her husband’s visa to be approved.   The researcher initially had to file a Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative and Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or to Adjust Status for her spouse, and because the researcher’s spouse was brought the United States as a teenager, her spouse needed to go to his country of origin, Mexico, to complete the visa process at the United States Consulate in Ciudad Juarez.   The researcher’s husband accrued more than 180 days of unlawful presence.   While crossing the United States/Mexico border to go to his scheduled visa appointment in Ciudad Juarez, the researcher’s husband immediately triggered a ten-year ban created by IIRARA 96. The ten-year ban was able to be removed by filing a I-601a, provisional unlawful presence waiver. The researcher had to prove the hardship that she would face if she would have to live separate from her husband for ten years.   The process was a difficult one for the researcher, as she was not able to utilize legal counsel and prepared all the documents alone.     When filing the I-601a, the United States Consulate in Ciudad Juarez immediately backlogged the petition for lack of extreme hardship.  Ã‚     The researcher knows firsthand how difficult the current immigration laws are on both immigrants and United States citizens as she has gone through them.   Though there have been some decent changes to the immigration laws that directly affected the researcher and her family in 2010, a comprehensive immigration reform that eliminates that backlog and revises the family-sponsored visa process is still important to keep families together.   Congress needs to reform the family immigration process to being eliminating the backlog of other family preference categories besides the immediate relative category.   Children over 21 of U.S. Citizen or legal permanent residents are just important.   Importance of Immigration Reform to the Legal Profession There is no question that immigration reform is important to the legal profession.   With immigration reform, there will be improvements to our laws. Prior to the 20th century, there was not much need to immigration counsel.   However, when the federal government of the United States began enacting immigration laws and restrictions immigration lawyers evolved.   Ã‚  With the constantly changing laws, nearly all immigrants will need to use an immigration attorney to assist them with the increasing amount of new restrictions that affect immigration law.   Without adequate counsel, the United States fundamental concepts that revolve around fairness and equality become damaged.   According to 8 U.S.C.A.  § 1362 (2016). – Right to counsel, Immigrants are able to secure legal counsel in immigration proceedings, but â€Å"at no expense to the Government.†   Ã‚  It is vital for immigrants to have quality representation, as the type of representation an immigrant often has determines whether the immigrant will be able to be reunited with their family in a timely manner, given an employment visa, or is granted asylum.  Ã‚   Immigrants often are not fluent in the English language.   In order for immigrants to not be at a disadvantage in their immigration proceeding, it is necessary to have adequate counsel.  Ã‚   The United States is a nation of immigrants, however, since 9/11, immigration laws and immigration reform has become a heated political issue, mostly due to fear.   Current administration in the United States has been trying to reverse many of the immigration laws that allow refuges into the United States (The White House, 2017). Doing this has incited racism and fear throughout the United States.   The Trump administration has tried to place bans on certain immigrant nationalities, predominantly Muslim countries, from entering the United States (The White House, 2017).   This ban presented legal challenges, as the United States government cannot act arbitrarily with having supportive evidence to back up their reasoning.   Immigration reform is needed to amend immigration laws to prohibit the seclusion of certain immigrants from the United States.  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Conclusion For Alejandro Bojorquez, waiting for his visa priority date to be available has been long and difficult process.   Alejandro has been waiting in the backlog because the current immigration laws only provide a certain amount of visas to be allocated to each country.   The majority of the yearly visas allocated to family-sponsored immigrants go to spouses, minor children, and parents of United States citizens (immediate relatives), followed by spouses and children of legal permanent residents.  Ã‚   He has been waiting since he was 14 years old to be reunited with his parents.   Alejandro is like millions of other family-sponsored visas applicants whose priority date keeps getting pushed back due to the increased amount of family visas that are currently being applied for.   The hardship of separation is tough and he awaits the day he gets a call from his dad and he says â€Å"yeah, you made it† (Gonzalez, 2013). Alejandro Bojorquez is just one of the millions of examples of immigrants waiting to be reunited with their families.   Current immigration laws in the United States need to be updated due to the fact that they are set up to do more harm than good.   Congress needs to update the number of visas that allowed to be given each fiscal year, change the individuals that are considered to immediate relatives, and create a wait time that does not surpass five years.   It is for these reasons that the only conclusion that can be reached is that Congress needs to reform the current immigration laws.   If they do not, families are going to continue to be separated for many years.   Immigration reform is needed now.   References 8 U.S.C.A.  § 1151 (West 2009). 8 U.S.C.A.  § 1152 (West 2000). 8 U.S.C.A.  § 1153 (West 2006). 8 U.S.C.A.  § 1154 (West 2014). 8 U.S.C.A  § 1182 (West 2013). 8 U.S.C.A.  § 1255(a) (West 2016). 8 U.S.C.A.  § 1362 (West 2016).    ACLU. (2017).   PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS OF HB 56 â€Å"Alabama Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act†.   Retrieved from https://www.aclu.org/other/analysis-hb-56-alabama-taxpayer-and-citizen-protection-act Ainsley, J. (2017).   Trump administration has found only $20 million in existing funds for wall.   Retrieved from http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-funds-idUSKBN1685SY American Immigration Counsel.   (2016).   How the United States Immigration System Works. Retrieved from https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/how-united-states-immigration-system-works Baxter, T. (2012).   Alabama’s Immigration Disaster.   Retrieved from https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/immigration/reports/2012/02/15/11117/alabamas-immigration-disaster/ Bolvito v. Mukasey, 527 F.3d 428 (5th Cir. 2008). Cohn, D. and Passel, J. (2016).   Overall Number of U.S. Unauthorized Immigrants Holds Steady Since 2009.   Retrieved from http://www.pewhispanic.org/2016/09/20/overall-number-of-u-s-unauthorized-immigrants-holds-steady-since-2009/ Cortex-Neavel, B. (2016).   Left Behind:   Trump’s Immigration Plans Could Spur Uptick in Foster Care Numbers.   Retrieved from https://chronicleofsocialchange.org/featured/left-behind-trumps-immigration-plans-could-increase-children-of-deported-immigrants-in-foster-care/23525 Cruz, E. H. (2010). Because youre mine, I walk the line: The trials and tribulations of the family visa program.  Fordham Urban Law Journal, 38(1), 155-181.   Retrieved from  http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.lib.kaplan.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=08c1257b-3ff8-4109-a355-8e1014a13e49%40sessionmgr4009&vid=2&hid=4211 Department of Homeland Security.   (2017). The U.S. Immigration System by the Numbers: 2015 Lawful Permanent Residents.   Retrieved from https://www.dhs.gov/immigration-statistics/visualization/2015 Expansion of Provisional Unlawful Presence Waivers of Inadmissibility. 81 Fed. Reg. 50244-01. (July 29, 2016). (to be codified at 8 C.F.R. Pts. 103, & 212) Fairlie, R. (2012).   Immigrant Entrepreneurs and Small Business Owners, and their Access to Financial Capital.   Retrieved from https://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/rs396.pdf Gonzalez, D. (2013).   Millions of immigrants waiting for green cards.   Retrieved from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/06/23/millions-of-immigrants-waiting-for-green-cards/2450461/ Guendelsberger, J. (1988). Implementing Family Unification Rights in American Immigration Law: Proposed Amendments.  San Diego Law Review., (2), 253.   Retrieved from  http://heinonline.org.lib.kaplan.edu/HOL/Page?public=false&handle=hein.journals/sanlr25&page=253&collection=journals   Hinojosa-Ojeda, R. (2010).   Raising the Floor for American Workers.   Retrieved from https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/immigration/reports/2010/01/07/7187/raising-the-floor-for-american-workers/ Khan, N. (2015). Five years after SB 1070, Arizona Immigrants Defy Climate of Intimidation. Retrieved from http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/3/23/five-years-after-sb-1070-arizona-immigrants-defy-law.html Morse, A. (2011).   Arizona’s Immigration Enforcement Laws.   Retrieved from http://www.ncsl.org/research/immigration/analysis-of-arizonas-immigration-law.aspx Nowrasteh, A. (2016).   15 Common Arguments against Immigration, Addressed.   Retrieved from https://fee.org/articles/15-common-arguments-against-immigration-addressed/ The White House, Office of the Press Secretary. (2017). Executive Order: Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States [ Press release]. Retrieved form https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/01/27/executive-order-protecting-nation-foreign-terrorist-entry-united-states U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. (1996).   Pub. L. 104-208 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996. Retrieved from https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/ocomm/ilink/0-0-0-10948.html U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. (2012).   Overview of INS History. Retrieved from https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/History%20and%20Genealogy/Our%20History/INS%20History/INSHistory.pdf U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. (2015).   Visa Availability and Priority Dates. Retrieved from https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/green-card-processes-and-procedures/visa-availability-and-priority-dates#Finding U.S. Department of State.   (2016). Annual report of immigrant visa applicants in the family-sponsored and employment-based preferences registered at the National Visa Center. Retrieved from https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/Immigrant-Statistics/WaitingListItem.pdf U.S. Department of State.   (2017).   Visa Bulletin for April 2017. Retrieved from https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/law-and-policy/bulletin/2017/visa-bulletin-for-april-2017.html Vaughan, J. (2015).   Waiting List for Legal Immigrant Visas Keeps Growing.   Retrieved from http://cis.org/vaughan/waiting-list-legal-immigrant-visas-keeps-growing

The Jesuits Essay -- essays research papers

The Jesuits missionaries in America faced many problems, one in particular dealt with relations between the missionaries and the Natives. The letter deals with the treatment of prisoners after a brief military engagement and in addition, attempts by the Jesuits to convert the captured Iroquois. The treatment of the prisoners seems benevolent, compared to the past modus operandi used by the Church to hasten conversion. Furthermore, the letter exemplifies the hypocrisy of the missionaries after the prisoners, willingly, convert. This letter is a perfect of the Counter Reformation, and Church's attempt to expend its areas of influence as well as to "save" more souls from the Devil. Furthermore, the content of the letter can be easily proven to be bias towards the Iroquois in order to promote Catholicism. This letter, being one of many, is a part of the Counter-Reformation and serves as propaganda for the Catholic Church. The author of the "Relations" letters, Jerome Lalemant, tells of a victory over the Iroquois. The first paragraph describes how the Algonquins, allies of the French, easily defeat the Iroquois without a single loss of their own. Immediately, the letter seems to embellish the victory of the Algonquins. The Iroquois were one of the most powerful tribes in the French America, possessing a large army of veteran, gun armed, warriors. In fact by 1675, the Iroquois had wiped out or absorbed four tribes, and destroyed most of the Huron country (Eccles, 138). Do to the strength of the Iroquois, it seems unlikely that the Algonquins would have been able to defeat the Iroquois, without inquiring a single loss of their own. In the second paragraph, the Jesuit priest describes the treatment of the captured foe. The author acknowledges that the first action that the Algonquins take, however, is to ".return thanks to Heaven." The meaning of that can be interpreted in two ways. The first, is that the Algonquins are going to thank their native Gods. However, since this letter is being written to the Vicar General in France and the Papacy in the Vatican, however, it seems unlikely that Jerome would discuss native offerings. The second interpretation can be that the Algonquins have infact converted to Catholicism. Jerome continues with his observation of the treatment of the captives, by noting that they are not tortured. .instea... ...er Helene to meet their death with firmness in the possession of the Faith. This letter seems to be more of propaganda than a report. Infact, the mission reports, "Relations Letters", were sent to the Propaganda, the Roman Congregation overseeing all missionary activity. It seems ironic the name of the Congregation, that received letters from around the world from their missionaries would be called Propaganda. Furthermore, the letter was published, and in the interest of spreading Catholic sentiments during the Counter-Reformation, however, for that reason the letters were reviewed in Paris and were edited. In conclusion, it seems that Father Jerome Lalemant seems to present ironic situations, most likely in order to please the Vicar General as well as the Propaganda Council. Some of the actions and relations seem embellished and exaggerated. Although the letter contains certain uncertainties, however, the letter does provide a case study of the relations between the European and native "governments", relations between native tribes, attempt at pro-Catholic propaganda, and the affects the Counter-Reformation had on religious policies towards the New World.