What is Immigration Law?
San Diego immigration law refers to national government policies that control the phenomenon of immigration to their country.
Immigration law, regarding foreign citizens, is related to nationality law, which governs the legal status of people, in matters such as citizenship. Immigration laws vary from country to country, as well as according to the political climate of the times, as sentiments may sway from the widely inclusive to the deeply exclusive of new immigrants.
Immigration law regarding the citizens of a country is regulated by international law. The United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights mandates that all countries allow entry to their own citizens.
Certain countries may maintain rather strict laws that regulate both the right of entry and internal rights, such as the duration of stay and the right to participate in government. Most countries have laws that designate a process for naturalization, by which immigrants may become citizens.
Immigration Law in the USA
The immigration laws in the United States have experienced uneven progress. During colonial times independent colonies created their immigration laws. The first law governing the naturalization of foreigners was the Naturalization Act of 1790. However many years later the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed to stop the immigration of Chinese people. The Emergency Quota Act of 1921 and the Immigration Act of 1924 put a quota on how many immigrants were permitted, based on nationality and previous influx years. The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 led to the creation of the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, the Department of State, the Department of Labor, and the Department of Health and Human Services. Of the five, the Department of Homeland Security, which replaced the Immigration and Naturalization Service, enforces immigration laws and bestows benefits on aliens. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Customs and Border Protection. The United States allows more than 1 million aliens to become Legal Permanent Residents every year, which is more than any other country in the world. The United States also issues more Visas than any country in the world.
Visas in the United States can be broadly separated into two categories: one for people seeking to live in the US; termed Immigrant Visas, and the other for people coming for limited durations, termed Non-Immigrant Visas. The former visa has “per country caps”, and the latter does not. Most non-immigrant visas are for work purposes and usually require an offer of employment from a US business. Such immigration may involve restrictions such as a labor certification to ensure that no American workers are able to fill the role of the job, hence designed to protect wages and conditions. Other categories include student, family and tourist visas. Each visa category is further divided into numerous subcategories; a large number of specific categories has been recommended as a main area for comprehensive immigration reform.
Control measures
To control immigration, many countries set up customs at entry points. Some common locations for entry points are airports and roads near the border. At the customs department, travel documents are inspected. Some required documents are a passport, an international certificate of vaccination and an onward ticket. Sometimes travelers are also required to declare or register the amount of money they are carrying.