We all know that today, we have an immigration system that’s out of date and badly broken’ But for comprehensive immigration reform to work, it must be clear from the outset that there is a pathway to citizenship. We’ve got to lay out a path ‘ a process that includes passing a background check, paying taxes, paying a penalty, learning English, and then going to the back of the line, behind all the folks who are trying to come here legally. That’s only fair. So that means it won’t be a quick process but it will be a fair process. And it will lift these individuals out of the shadows and give them a chance to earn their way to a green card and eventually to citizenship.’
– President Barack Obama, January 29, 2013
Every modern state formally defines its citizenry, publicly identifying a set of persons as its members and residually designating all others as non-citizens. Every state attaches certain rights and obligations to the status of citizenship.
Earned citizenship refers to a modern concept in Immigration Law in which citizenship in earned in an unconventional way. It refers to a system of citizenship in which one takes some extra steps to ‘earn’ citizenship and become fully paid-up members of a society. This is still an emerging concept and hence a fully structured notion of it hasn’t evolved yet. It is under consideration by many countries for the purpose of providing a chance to undocumented or illegal immigrants to earn the citizenship of that country. The process is under consideration by countries like USA and UK as well.
US annually accepts the largest intake of immigrants in the world. US is currently under debate over immigration reforms. Canada, too, might see similar debates erupt in the future given the rise of temporary workers’ admissions that have skyrocketed in recent years. Many of those in the United States without status have U.S.-born citizen children who possess a legal right to remain in the country.
Often a question is raised – ‘why should people who violated the law be given an opportunity ‘of converting to legal status and earning a path to citizenship”? They view any such concession as rewarding lawbreakers with ‘the most coveted asset on the planet’permanent residence in the United States.’
THE POSITION IN UK:
The UK government is radically changing the route to British citizenship under a new system of ‘earned citizenship’. Until now migrants have largely taken for granted that they would gain a British passport or permanent residence by virtue of the amount of time spent in the UK. But this is all about to change as the UK Border Agency introduces the radical new concept of earning citizenship as part of the biggest immigration shake-up for sixty years.
The new system will create a clear, three-stage ‘path to citizenship’ for migrants to become British citizens, which will include for the first time a new ‘probationary citizenship’ stage.
The government say the proposed new rules will ensure that the ‘rights and benefits of British citizenship are matched by responsibilities and contributions made to our society. Those who want to settle permanently in the United Kingdom will have to earn the right to stay by learning English, paying taxes and obeying the law ‘
The government said it will support migrants who ‘play by the rules’, and will take action to punish those who do not. Migrants who demonstrate ‘active citizenship’ will be able to become British citizens more quickly.
Migrants will need to take extra steps to "earn" citizenship and become fully paid-up members of society. In future, they will need to spend the next six to eight years proving their worth to the UK as part of a personal journey and contract with British society. At present, an immigrant living in the UK can apply for permanent settlement after about five years.
Under the new system, ministers say migrants – excluding those from the European Economic Area – will pass through three clear stages. At first they will be classed as temporary residents – the status they receive as a worker, relative or recognised refugee. After five years they will be given an entirely new status for a minimum of another 12 months – probationary citizen. This probationary status will ultimately lead to someone becoming a British citizen or permanent foreign resident – or being told it’s time to move on.
The critical difference between the current situation and the proposals is around the idea of a probationary period. During this phase migrants will no longer have access to a full range of benefits that are currently available to permanently-settled foreign nationals.
It will no longer be enough for a migrant to prove they are living in the UK – they will have to prove that they are actively taking steps to fit in. They will have to show that not only have they made some effort to learn English – but they are making progress. They will have to obey the law and where possible prove they are "active citizens". On criminality, the equation is simple. Serious crimes will become a bar to achieving citizenship – and may lead to deportation. Minor offences would slow down the process. The more "active" they are in the local community the quicker their journey to citizenship will become.
Acceptable activities could include voluntary work, involvement in local groups or the school parent-teacher association. Migrants will need to find referees to vouch for these good deeds.
The scheme’s architects think this idea of active citizenship will make the journey from migrant to citizen much more significant because it creates a social contract between individuals and their new society.
Crucially, ministers believe migrants would meet more British people more quickly and learn more quickly how to integrate.
Measures in the new ‘Path to citizenship’ include:
‘ a new naturalisation process for foreign nationals to become British Citizens
‘ extending the Citizenship process from 5 to 8 years
‘ introducing the concept of ‘Earned Citizenship and
‘ introducing a ‘probationary citizenship’ replacing Indefinite Leave to Remain
‘ restricting Citizenship to certain skilled categories
THE POSITION IN US :
US citizenship gives a person as many rights as the US has to offer; for example, the right to vote, petition for family members to immigrate, and live abroad without losing the right to return. For these reasons, citizenship is not easily obtained.
The most concrete proposals for immigration reform thus far in 2013 include earned legalization with a path to U.S. citizenship for unauthorized immigrants already living in the United States. This is a process that essentially permits unauthorized immigrants to come forward and receive a provisional legal status that’after paying taxes, proving they understand English and civics, passing all criminal and other background checks, and showing they are committed to the United States’allows them to become lawful permanent residents (LPRs). From there, like other LPRs before them, they will have to decide whether or not to make the final commitment to their adopted country by becoming American citizens.
Some critics of the new proposals argue that citizenship is too good for unauthorized immigrants, or that legal status is really all they need to thrive in this country. But that kind of short-sighted thinking ignores some very important facts: more than half a century ago the US finally abandoned the idea that there should be a second-class status for any group by denying them citizenship and, in fact, today the vast majority of Americans support a path to citizenship.
Every immigrant-receiving country in the industrialized world provides a route for immigrants to become citizens. Last year, the administration approved 99.5% of applications of those who had applied for legal status under President Obama’s non-deportation policy for young adults, granting legal status to more than 250,000 formerly illegal immigrants.
Granting undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship could help improve the economy. Authorizing an immediate path to citizenship for the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States would add as much as $1.4 trillion to the country’s economic growth, create more than 200,000 jobs, and increase tax revenue by more than $180 billion in the next decade
Undocumented immigrants currently pay less in taxes than they would as citizens, so granting them citizenship would bring in additional revenue. They also earn less, according to the report. Not only would earning more increase the amount of taxes they pay, it would also increase the amount of money they spend. They will spend their increased earnings on the purchase of food, clothing, housing, cars, and computers. That spending, in turn, will stimulate demand in the economy for more products and services, which creates jobs and expands the economy.
Citizens have average incomes that are 40 percent higher than the salaries of both undocumented and documented noncitizen immigrants. Citizenship would also give immigrants increased legal protection, and lead to more investment in education and training. The jobs undocumented immigrants can apply for are limited, and so they may be less likely to seek new job training if they feel they will not be able to move up the career ladder because they are undocumented. Citizenship would encourage labor mobility and foster entrepreneurship.
There is also an argument that the idea of granting citizenship to undocumented immigrants will somehow hurt citizen workers. It would ensure that millions of illegal aliens compete for just about every job in America and admit millions more new foreign workers to our labor force, with no realistic prospect that promises about curbing future illegal immigration would ever be kept.
A strong majority of Americans from diverse states and political backgrounds support a path to earned citizenship. However, some in Congress have suggested that immigration reform should provide only legal status, without any opportunity for those who are getting on the right side of the law to earn their way to citizenship. ‘This ‘legalization-only’ approach violates a basic principle of our country: that anyone, no matter where they came from, can become an American citizen if they’re willing to work for it and take on the responsibilities of citizenship. We cannot afford a system that creates a group which can never become fully American, denying equal rights to people who pay the same taxes and play by the same rules even after they’ve paid a penalty and gotten on the right side of the law.’
The nation as a whole would benefit from a sizable increase in GDP and income and a modest increase in jobs. It is also clear that legalization and a road map to citizenship bestow greater gains on the American people and the US economy than legalization alone.
To get on a path towards citizenship, undocumented immigrants working and living in the US must complete a registration process, submit to reasonable background checks, pay and appropriate fine, pay taxes, and study English.
BENEFITS OF THE CONCEPT :
There are several reasons why legalization and citizenship both raise the incomes of immigrants and improve economic outcomes. Providing a road map to citizenship to undocumented immigrants gives them legal protections that raise their wages. It also promotes investment in the education and training of immigrants that eventually pays off in the form of higher wages and output; grants access to a broader range of higher-paying jobs; encourages labor mobility which increases the returns on the labor skills of immigrants by improving the efficiency of the labor market such that the skillsets of immigrants more closely match the jobs that they perform; and makes it more possible for immigrants to start businesses and create jobs. Following are the various benefits :
1. Legal Protection
2. Investment in education and training
3. Access to better jobs
4. Labor mobility and increasing returns
5. Fostering entrepreneurship
6. Benefits the economy as whole
CONCLUSION :
The movement toward comprehensive immigration reform has accelerated significantly in recent months. Some lawmakers, however, do not want to extend legal status’let alone citizenship’to the unauthorized. Others have expressed interest in stopping just short of providing full citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants, instead calling for a so-called middle-ground option’to leave undocumented immigrants in a permanent subcitizen status.
The debate over immigration reform has important legal, moral, social, and political dimensions. Providing or denying legal status or citizenship to the undocumented has implications for getting immigrants in compliance with the law, affects whether or not immigrant families can stay in their country of choice, and determines whether they have the opportunity to become full and equal members of the society. But legal status and citizenship are also about the economic health of the nation as a whole.
Legal status and a road map to citizenship for the unauthorized will bring about significant economic gains in terms of growth, earnings, tax revenues, and jobs’all of which will not occur in the absence of immigration reform or with reform that creates a permanent sub-citizen class of residents. The timing of reform also matters. The sooner legal status is provided, the greater the economic benefits are for the nation.
Legal status and citizenship enable undocumented immigrants to produce and earn significantly more than they do when they are on the economic sidelines. The resulting productivity and wage gains ripple through the economy because immigrants are not just workers’they are also consumers and taxpayers. They will spend their increased earnings on the purchase of food, clothing, housing, cars, and computers. That spending, in turn, will stimulate demand in the economy for more products and services, which creates jobs and expands the economy.
...(download the rest of the essay above)