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Chapter Ten: Policy Actors and the Immigration Policy Process
- University of Notre Dame Press
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t e n Policy Actors and the Immigration Policy Process Li s a M a g a ñ a The Immigration Policy Process The immigration policy process is as follows: Popular and emotional reactions to undocumented immigration develop at the local and state level. When these sentiments eventually reach politicians at the federal level, Congress responds with a new policy, which only creates more responsibilities for immigration policy actors, agencies, and organizations . When these immigration policies are eventually assigned to policy players, they lack adequate direction for implementation, improvements in the budget, or newly designed organizational infrastructures . Subsequently, immigration policy actors appear inefficient, and new policies are assigned as an attempt to improve performance (Magaña 2003). It is important to consider the impact that the immigration policy process has on Mexican immigrants, given the large numbers processed every year. For instance, according to the Department of Homeland 285 286 ■ Lisa Magaña Security, Mexican immigrants represent the largest group to be admitted into the United States legally, as well as the largest group to be naturalized . Mexican immigrants also represent the largest group to be apprehended and deported. How an agency carries out policy mandates has much to do with the success or failure of a policy. That is, from a theoretical research perspective, organizational characteristics such as: (1) impossible and multiple tasks; (2) illogical and shifting federal mandates; and (3) the appearance of ineffectiveness and inefficiency merit consideration in immigration reform research. This chapter will highlight the findings of three studies of the policy process and how it influences delivery. Overall, agents carry out immigration policy in environments with shifting federal mandates while being assigned impossible tasks. Policy Actors When examining immigration policy implementation, enforcement activities generate a significant amount of attention, however, they are only one part of the overall mission of immigration agencies. One study showed that the public’s tendency to believe enforcement activities more important than service activities deters Mexican legal immigrants from going to the agency (Magaña 2003). In the last decade, a number of new policies have been assigned to the immigration agencies, thereby increasing agency responsibilities and establishing new roles and procedures. These may not be in the best interest of the organization, however. For instance, one study found that policy actors maintain that they are typically not given enough resources to carry out their objectives efficiently. In addition, these mandates have not coincided with sufficient time to formulate clear agency guidelines, and as a result implementation performance has suffered (Magaña 2011). Other studies examine the environments from which policy actors operate, having much to do with the way policy decisions are made. Theorists find that environments inculcate systems of rewards and values in the minds of policy actors. For example, local policy actors who Policy Actors and the Immigration Policy Process ■ 287 work within federal agencies have overwhelming and complex duties to perform. The agency’s expectations are ambiguous, vague, and often conflicting. Furthermore, since agencies are often large, actors can only see problems narrowly and independently of their connections to other issues. A variety of studies focusing on the organizational constraints show that the agency must carry out complex immigration policies despite inadequate funding (North and Portz 1989), and poor management styles (GAO 1991). One study illustrated the agency’s inability to carry out policies effectively based on dysfunctional organizational aspects (GAO 1991). Immigration bureaucrats, particularly those at the local level, have the most influence over policy decisions. Which is to say, regardless of the political and financial capital dedicated to a given immigration policy and the clarity with which it is defined, its effectiveness ultimately rests with the individuals responsible for its implementation. Because expectations placed on policy actors tend to be ambiguous and their performance is difficult to measure, theorists more often tend to consider the policy process (Lipsky 1980; Romzek and Johnston 1999). Historically, immigration policy has been implemented by a variety of organizations, institutions, and agencies, like the Border Patrol Agency (BPA). The first immigration office in the federal government was created in 1864. The agency to be formed within the Department of State was to be led by a Commissioner of Immigration and serve a term of four years. During this period, the agency was responsible for interviewing and denying entrance to individuals convicted of political offenses, lunatics, idiots, and persons likely to become public charges. In 1888, a federal committee was formed, “The Ford Committee,” to study the growing immigration problem. This...