By Elijah King
Take The Hook’s immigration quiz to test your knowledge of citizenship, border walls and more.
1. True or False: DACA is dead
Answer: False. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) provides temporary legal status for “Dreamers” – Immigrants under 31, who came to the US before the age of 16. It was part of President Obama’s DREAM Act and protects almost 700,000 undocumented immigrants. The Trump Administration rescinded DACA on Sept. 5, 2017 and gave Congress six months to legislate new immigration policy to support Dreamers. The deadline expired on March 5, but a Supreme Court decision not to take up the case to eliminate DACA will keep it in place temporarily. However, Dreamers can only apply for renewal, no new applicants allowed, and lawmakers are struggling to provide legal pathways for Dreamers, improve border security and change broader immigration policies.
2. True or False: Immigrants harm the US economy
Answer: True AND false According to Politico’s Brian Stauffer, immigrants from many countries come and do the jobs some Americans don’t want to do, and bring their talents from their home countries to the US. In 2013 immigrants added $1.6 trillion to the US economy, according to the “Center for American Progress.” On the other hand, Politico also reports that immigrants hurt the economy because when the supply of workers goes up, the price that firms have to pay goes down, hurting other low-skilled American workers.
3. True or false: As of 2016 India had the largest number of immigrants to the US
Answer: False.In2016MexicohasthelargestnumberofpeopleobtaininglawfulpermanentresidencyintheUS(174,534),followedbyChina(81,772),thenCuba(66,516).Indiarankedfourthwith64,687people.
4. True or False: Immigrants commit a disproportionate amount of crime compared to US citizens
Answer:False.ANationalAcademyofSciencesstudyin2015foundthat“Immigrantsareinfactmuchlesslikelytocommitcrimethannatives,andthepresenceoflargenumbersofimmigrantsseemstolowercrimerates.”TheNationalBureauofEconomicResearchalsoconcludedthatimmigrantsarelesslikelytocommitcrimesthanpeoplebornintheUnitedStates
5. True or False: The only way to legally immigrate to the US is to become a US citizen
Answer: False. Immigrants can obtain legal residency several ways. Visas grant short-term permission to enter, leave, or stay for a specified period of time in a country. A green card grants permanent legal residency for foreigners to live, attend school and work in the US. Immigrants can also become US citizens through naturalization if they are 18 years old, have lived in the US continuously for 5 years ( or 3 if married to US citizen) after becoming a lawful permanent resident, have good moral character, and support the laws in the constitution of the US.
6. True or False: Building a new border wall will decrease illegal immigration and create a safer America
Answer: TrueANDFalse.AccordingtotheDepartmentofHomelandSecurity,whenitcomestostoppingillegalimmigrantsfromcomingacrossUSborders,borderwallshaveproventobeextremelyeffective.Ontheotherhand,TIMEmagazinereportedin2017thatthousandsofimmigrantscrosstheUS-Mexicoborderevenwiththeexistingfence.
