Different Views on American Immigration Reforms and Policies

Introduction

Immigration is when individuals move from their native region to another country to reside. This topic has recently become a huge issue in the United States. The debate is mainly about who should be admitted, how many, and the illegal immigrants already in the United States.

There are four types of immigration statuses. Those being: citizens, residents, non-immigrants, and the undocumented. Citizens are the individuals that were born in the United States or became naturalized. They cannot be deported, unless naturalization was done illegally. They are able to work and obtain public benefits upon qualification.

These benefits include; food stamps, medicaid, etc. A resident is a person who has a green card. Therefore they have authorization to live and work in the United States so long as they have not committed any crimes or broken any immigration rules. Both: citizens and residents can petition for legalization for their spouse or child/children. Non-immigrants are in the country legally, but temporarily. They are given visas that expire, such as; F-1 or student visa or K-1, which is a fiancé visa. The undocumented are those who are in the United States illegally. Immigrants can become undocumented by overstaying a temporary visa or crossing the border without permission. Some reasons that individuals immigrate are to join family, to marry someone, to find better educational or job opportunities, to escape horrible things that have happened in their country, and to have a better quality of life.

Most American citizens can agree that our immigration system is broken. Some argue that America has been built by immigrants. They believe that these immigrants were our ancestors and they came to the United States in search of religious freedom, self- rights, jobs, etc. These American citizens are pro-immigration and they believe that it is a human right to live anywhere you want. Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of Brooklyn, NY, said that immigration reform is not a political issue, but “is a moral issue which impacts human rights, human life, and human dignity”.

Other individuals believe that immigration is diminishing all the great aspects of the United States. They believe that we need restraints on population growth and also that we need to balance foreign debt. They believe immigration is altering our environment majorly. The United States has been referred to as “the golden doors”. These individuals wonder, “How golden are those doors if everyone is allowed in?” They believe that we have much bigger problems than immigration such as; political problems, lack of jobs, etc. In addition, they think immigrants take away jobs and educational opportunities that American citizens need. They believe immigration will cause America to lose its national identity.

Our President, Donald Trump, believes that building a wall across the Mexican border is the best decision. However, some American citizens do not support building a wall due to the expenses it would cause; construction fees and paying guards to monitor. They believe building a wall is only fixing a quarter of our problems when the real problem is the immigrants that overstay their welcome on visas. Not only that, but blocking the Mexican border will not stop illegal immigrants from coming into the United States. Immigrants from Central America, South America, and the Caribbean would still be able to come in the United States illegally. According to the American Community Survey (ACS), there were just over 310,000 undocumented border crossings. More than 700,000 foreigners overstayed visas, according to Homeland Security Department 85% are still in the United States today. These individuals believe that it is inhumane to unwelcome anybody because most immigrants are fleeing violence from their own countries or looking to reunite with family. Not only do they think illegal immigrants should stay in the United States, but also that they help the United States more than they hurt us. They believe that most immigrants are more skilled, more appreciative, and they worked harder for less money. They believe that immigrants strengthen our economy by making the value of the dollar worth more, because they usually send money to family outside of the United States. When asked about the priority for dealing with illegal immigration, more Americans said better border security and a path to citizenship should be given equal priority than favor either approach individually.

Susan Terrio discusses many myths that circulate the United States about the immigrant minors. Some of these myths being “ Young Mexican and Central American migrants are coming to the US to get legal status” and that “Unaccompanied children apprehended alone need detention for their own protection”. During the first 10 months of the fiscal year 2014 (1 October 2013-31 July 2014), the Border Patrol took into custody an unprecedented 62,998 unaccompanied children. Although current apprehensions have sharply declined, in July 2014 nearly 500 children were crossing the border every day, some with parents or relatives and many who travelled on their own. In her research she found that, most of them knew nothing about US immigration law and were unaware that they could petition for asylum or apply for a visa designed to protect those who had been the victims of trafficking, crime, or abuse, abandonment, or neglect by parents in the home country. Her research indicated that child migrants leave their countries because they feel that they have no choice. Many American citizens think that children should be with their parents.

Conclusion

The immigration policy should be strict, but welcoming. Before allowing more immigrants into the United States, we should first deal with the illegal immigrants already here. America has reaped many benefits from immigrants economically. It would be unimaginable to discontinue the stay of all illegal immigrants in the United States. We should discourage employers from hiring individuals without legal documents. If found doing so, the first offense will result in paying $2,000 fine. The second offense will result in incarceration. The judge will decide the time length. All illegal immigrants will be found in a humane and orderly fashion. They will go through an investigation process. This process will include having a clean criminal record, eligibility to work, ability to pass a drug test, and capability to pass a health examination. These tests are put in place so that the United States crime rate will not increase due to the poor decisions of others. In addition, if you cannot work then you are only taking up space, the United States does not have enough room for people to sit and do nothing. Immigrants must be healthy, if not diseases will spread and hospitals will become overpopulated. If they are not able to pass all tests, they will return to their country furthermore or until able to pass each test. As American citizens, we should welcome new immigrants to the United States. They too will have to be able to pass all tests. In the account that immigrants have children, they will also be allowed in the United States, so long as they can pass all tests. We should strive to improve America’s image, border enforcement, and national security. Our immigration system would respond to our labor needs and enhance United States competitiveness. Due to the risk of overpopulation, there would have to be a limited amount of immigrants allowed each year. Unfortunately, no policy will ever be one hundred percent suitable for everyone, but we must work together to make America thrive.