The Immigration Debate:

“PROJECT SAVE”

Presented by: Ms. J. Schimmel

MS 319

jschimmel@schools.nyc.gov

ESL/Social Studies

Introduction

The United States has been traditionally a nation of immigrants. We are strong and powerful because of our national diversity. Immigration affects all Americans and recently immigration has become a “hot topic.” Many Americans do not like the idea of immigration in general, saying immigration is costly since immigrants “take” jobs, and services, etc. Do we unfairly discriminate against all immigrants because we misunderstand the debate? What are the costs and benefits of immigration? Must we crack down on illegal immigration as harshly as many people say? What does this mean for YOU, your friends, and your families?

** Difficult vocabulary is in red italics; please look them up using a dictionary.

We immigrants

OR

The Tasks: What do we have to do?

Congratulations! You and your group have been selected to be Special Advisors to the Chairperson for the Future of Immigration. Your boss wants to know what she should do in the future so she wants to know all about the benefits that immigrants receive and if the costs outweigh the benefits. Using the resources below and by reading the Supreme Court case Plyler v. Doe with your group, you will hand in 2 items to me:

Task I:

Write a group paper for your boss, examining whether or not immigration is truly a burden for the United States. Please make sure to examine all “costs” to society, including economic, political, and social costs. Also, discuss the benefits of immigration. Your report should include a discussion of today’s immigration debate about the “costs” of immigration. You should also look at public opinion in relation to services to immigrants. Finally, make recommendations to your boss about a future policy.

· This group paper should be 2-4 pages double-spaced, 12 pt. Time New Roman font.

· You must hand in a rough draft of your paper by a date assigned in class

TASK II:

“A picture is worth a thousand words.” The Internet is a wealth of information and images! By yourself, create a visual summary to show what you think are the main points of your research on the immigration debate. Show us what we should know and what conclusions we should make.

· You should have fun doing this!

· is a great resource!

· You will present your visual summary to the class

Click here to see an example:

THE PROCESS: How do we do the project?

In order to complete this project you will work in groups and will use the Global History Policy Analyst process. The goal of a PUBLIC POLICY ANALYST is to determine the causes and effects of immigration on society as a whole (All costs and benefits). As a policy analyst you will look at American immigration policy and will propose a new policy. Using the links for each step, you will complete worksheets that will serve as an outline full of information necessary to write your report.

Your group will follow the format set down by the “Public Policy Analyst”. This is a web site from Syracuse University which guides the policy analyst in identifying social problems and then finding solution for them. Each of the SIX STEPS is linked below. Each web page explains the step. At the bottom of each web page is a worksheet. Your group will click on the link and complete each of the six worksheets. You will then use these worksheets to complete the task products.

Using The Public Policy Analyst (PPA), you will follow these steps:

¨ Identify the social problem and complete the worksheet.

¨ Gather evidence that this is indeed a problem. While researching, complete the worksheets.

¨ Identify the causes of this problem by researching the immigration debate.

¨ Evaluate the existing policy: Take a closer look at what benefits immigrants receive and what this means for the immigration debate. Record your answers on the worksheet.

¨ Develop possible solutions to this debate.

¨ What in your opinion would be the Best solution?

¨ Assess the costs and benefits of this solution and make recommendations to your boss.

Resources: Where do we find information?

Check out these websites as you’re doing your Web Quest. Feel free to ask me for help with the English or with the ideas in these articles. ALSO, you are welcome to use other resources (online and in hard copy); please list these extra sources on your worksheet.

· https://www.google.com/

· Website with lessons on the immigration debates

o http://www.crf-usa.org/immigration/immigration_illegal.htm

· Can States Deny Public Benefits to Illegal Immigrants?

Supreme Court case Plyler v. Doe

· NYC Immigrant Services

· Immigrants' Access to Public Benefits: Who Remains Eligible for What? Article from Popular Government outlining public benefits eligibility of both legal and illegal immigrants in the U.S. in the wake of the Welfare Reform Act of 1996, designed to limit the ability of migrants to obtain benefits from government agencies. From University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill School of Government.

· Immigrants and Health Care article by Meredith L. King, August 16, 2007
Meredith L. King argues against claims that reauthorization of the SCHIP program will grant undocumented immigrants access to public health insurance.

· “The High Cost of Cheap Labor: Illegal Immigration and the Federal Budget” article

EVALUATION

Your work on the Web Quest will be evaluated using the following rubric:

	A	B	C	RedoL
Research	*Problem is well-identified and thoroughly researched *All six steps of the PPA are thoroughly addressed *Evidence of notes and active research	*Problem identified and reasonably well-researched *All six steps of the PPA are addressed	*Problem identified with limited research. *All steps of the PPA are addressed,	*Problem identified but research is lacking *Incomplete work
Written Proposal	*Well organized, showing logical writing and sentence structure *Thoroughly addresses each of the six different parts (see Task)	*Well-organized, but paper is not completely logically ordered and complete. * Addresses each of the six different parts	*Well organized, but illogical sequencing and sentence structure. * Barely addresses each of the six different parts	*Weakly organized. *Does not address each of the six different parts
Presentation of visual summary (individual)	*Main points of group’s social problem are summarized well with innovative graphics. *Visual aids are clear and helpful *Student is knowledgeable about topic and answers classmates’ questions well	*Limited summary of group’s social problem with graphics. *Visual aids used. *Student is somewhat knowledgeable about topic and able to answer most questions from classmates	*Students state the social problem *Student is unprepared to answer questions	*Inadequate, unprepared visual summary.
Group cooperation	*Everyone participates and contributes equally. *Group members are mature, showing listening skills, leadership skills, and ability to compromise and work well with others	*Group makes attempts for equal participation among all members. *Almost all differences are dealt with maturely and students show some listening skills, leadership skills, and compromise skills	*Groups make unsuccessful attempts to maintain an equal distribution of labor among all participants. *Only some differences are dealt with maturely as students attempt to exercise listening skills, leadership skills, and compromise skills	*Group was unable to equally distribute work. *Differences are not dealt with maturely

Conclusion: Now what?

"The philosophy in the classroom of this generation is the philosophy of government in the next."

-Abraham Lincoln

Thank you for your hard work on this Web Quest. Please share your ideas and new policies with your families and continue to study the immigration debate. In addition, the process that you have followed here (PPA) will be one that we can apply to many other tasks, both in literature and in life. Critical thinking skills guide us to improve ourselves and our worlds. Let’s hope you made a difference!

STANDARDS

In this Web Quest activity, we’ve covered many Standards, including:

English Language Arts

E1c: Read and comprehend informational materials.

E2a: Produce a report of information.

E3a: Participate in one-on-one teacher conferences.

E3b: Participate in group meetings.

E3c: Prepare and deliver an individual presentation.

E4a: Involves conventions of Standard English.

E5a: Utilizing and analyzing functional documents.

E7a: Utilizing and analyzing public documents.

Social Studies:

Utilizing and analyzing functional documents.

Utilizing and analyzing public documents.