MODULE 63: Immigration Policy
Core Module Issues:
• What is an ideal immigration policy?
Module Teaching Notes
The Arizona statute passed in 2010 that sought to stop illegal immigration sparked an immediate firestorm.
It will no doubt continue to polarize people, and it will also be challenged in court, for years to some.
Arizona may be joined by many other states over the next few years.
The issue is simple: what does an ideal immigration policy look like?
The answer is not simple, and many feel passionately about ideas that seem largely at odds.
The scenario is set on the floor of a state senate. Three politicians outline three sets of ideas that are
inspired by common arguments that orbit the issue of immigration.
As with all political issues, try to make sure that class discussions are reasonable and respectful. This is a
big political issue, and is worth discussing if you are including a political component in your class. But you
must keep the discussion constructive.
Discussion Points for Scenario Questions
1. Which of the three proposals do you like the most? Why?
2. Which of the three proposals do you like the least? Why?
[LET THE STUDENTS GIVE THEIR ANSWERS AND RESPOND TO ONE
ANOTHER.]
3. Would you be less likely to go to Arizona on vacation as a result of the immigration law?
Would you be less likely to do business with companies from Arizona?
A. LESS LIKELY – WHATIF SEVERAL STATES PASS SIMILAR LAWS?
4. Should a state like Arizona be free to set its own immigration policy, or should the courts
require such laws to be set exclusively by the national government?
A. SET THEIR OWN – BUT SHOULDN’T THE NATION SET NATIONAL
IMMIGRATION POLICY?
5. In the end, if a state adopts an Arizona-style law, it will be actual police who will implement
the law when encountering actual people. If a law uses the “reasonable suspicion of illegal
immigration” language, to what degree are you concerned that police officers would engage in
racial profiling? Not concerned? Somewhat concerned? Quite concerned?
A. LOTS OF CONCERN – WHAT PART F THE LAW COULD BE CHANGED
TO MAKE YOU LESS CONCERNED.
B. NOT CONCERNED – WHY NOT?