Introduction

This deliberation explores the range of limitations that might be applied to immigration in the United States, including the various historical iterations of American immigration policy. Largely framed in the context of 2017’s proposed RAISE Act and Criminal Alien Gang Member Removal Act, students will view the videos in this deliberation for background and historical perspective on immigration policy, and will explore a variety of viewpoints from government officials on how to address the issue.

This lesson is intended to be accessible to teachers across the social sciences, as well as other humanities fields and modifiable to fit the best needs of your curriculum; for instance, a history teacher might choose to focus more on historical immigration limits and briefly tie in modern proposals, while a government teacher might take the opposite approach.

NOTE: Given the personal relevance of certain immigration issues to many students, teachers are encouraged to adapt this lesson and its resources to best fit the needs and sensitivities of their individual students and classrooms.

Objectives and Outcomes

• Students will identify and contextualize the history of immigration policies in the United States, and the factors behind the latest series of policy debates.
  
  
• Students will analyze video clips to summarize the key arguments supporting more restrictive immigration policies and the key arguments against such initiatives.
  
  
• Students will deliberate the extent to which the federal government should limit immigration in the future.