Analyzing US Immigration Law and the Challenges Faced by Refugees

This essay delves into the intricacies of US immigration law and its implications for refugees. It explores the historical context and the current policies, including the roles of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The essay examines the categorization of refugees based on priority levels and discusses the challenges faced by asylum seekers. Furthermore, it analyzes the impact of media portrayal on public perception and the resulting societal attitudes towards immigration policies. The conclusion highlights the need for a balanced approach in addressing immigration issues, considering both legal frameworks and the humanitarian aspects of the refugee crisis. The analysis emphasizes the importance of accurate media representation to avoid the generation of hostility within the American society, which is seen as a threat to the immigration policy itself.

Running Head: IMMIGRATION LAW OF US AND REFUGEES
Immigration Law of the US and Refugees
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note:

1IMMIGRATION LAW OF THE US AND REFUGEES
Introduction
The domination of the United States in terms of economic and social aspects and their
establishment as the world leader when it comes to technological advancement has made it the
location where people from around the world look for an opportunity for capital accumulation.
The nuclear power, along with the domination of the dollar as the global currency, made for the
living standards, which appeals to a huge mass of the population trying to make it in the country.
The national register shows that almost 65, 000 people are admitted to the country under various
immigration policies. This has been recommended by the Congress of a regular basis for the US
has benefitted in a number of ways due to it, and there has been regular updating of the policies
by the INA ( The Immigration and Nationality Act), the governing body for the process of
immigration.
Discussion
In spite of the various advantages of procuring and allowing immigration in various
categories, out of which one category posed a matter of concern for the immigration
administration due to the rising armed conflicts witnessed across the globe. The international
media shows displacement and movement of people in huge numbers, and according to the
UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees), fifty percent of the total refugees
around the world were children below the age of 18 years (Nickerson, 2019). But the percentage
of refugee’s admission has been capped by the government due to the religious conflicts which
have been generated by the media in the general population.
The category has been further divided into three categories according to the priority basis,
and the most controversial one is the Priority One refugees. They are the asylum seekers who
have compelling reasons to leave their nation, and it is decided after the interview with the

2IMMIGRATION LAW OF THE US AND REFUGEES
USCIS (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. They are most of the time referred to the US
by the UNHCR and have no other options (Eberl et al., 2018). They are decided on the basis of
the risk they may pose to the native people of the nation. Priority two group refugees are those
who seek asylum and are citizens of the disputed nation growing through mercenary conflicts
and are in danger of persecution. They are selected by the joint effort of the USCIS as well as
UNHCR (Yalcinkaya et al., 2018).
The role of the media in the US informing the general attitude towards immigration
policies and has been found to generate negative feelings in the population. Their coverage of
immigration policies tends to delve on the negative impact, and their coverage of refugees is
more than often seen to incline towards painting in the negative light. Their portrayal has been
deemed as a threat towards the democratic and humanitarian approach of the US constituency
(Koehn, 2019). Most of the major newspapers and media houses have been observed to ignore
the illegal and inhuman behaviors which are meted out to the refugees in the border, and the
detentions are shown as the containment of risks. They fail to show the right demographic, and
the illusion created by them has often been witnesses as the source of chaos and discrimination
which are faced by the refugees.
Conclusion
Though the immigration policies in the US are extensive and have been an on-going
process under different presidential rules, Congress has deemed the media portrayal to be in the
negative light, which is reflected by the conflicts prevalent in the society/. The American society
has turned hostile towards their immigration policies due to continuous media coverage of the
refugees in the wrong light. The resources and the employment issues have been accelerated
where the sense of hostility among the general population is seen as a threat to the policy itself.

3IMMIGRATION LAW OF THE US AND REFUGEES
References
Eberl, J. M., Meltzer, C. E., Heidenreich, T., Herrero, B., Theorin, N., Lind, F., & Strömbäck, J.
(2018). The European media discourse on immigration and its effects: A literature
review. Annals of the International Communication Association, 42(3), 207-223.
Koehn, P. (2019). Refugees from revolution: US policy and third world migration. Routledge.
Nickerson, C. (2019). Media portrayal of terrorism and Muslims: a content analysis of Turkey
and France. Crime, Law and Social Change, 72(5), 547-567.
Yalcinkaya, N. S., Branscombe, N. R., Gebauer, F., Niedlich, C., & Hakim, N. H. (2018). Can
they ever be one of us? Perceived cultural malleability of refugees and policy support in
host nations. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 78, 125-133.