Moving Forward: Immigration Reform Essay

The debate over immigration has become one of the most heated arguments. Immigrants leave their home countries desperate need for food to feed their families, unemployment purposes, their poverty conditions environment, for those who are employed are tired of the below market wages, and the unequal treatment. Today they are about 11 million undocumented workers in the United States and Americans fear that because of this matter, immigrants will increase

These people are illegally crossing because the citizens of the United States want them here. Either society wants

America has, is, and will always be a nation of immigrants: the great melting pot. In the years that have passed since Emma Lazarus' poem was inscribed on the Statue of Liberty "the golden door" Americans have seen times when the door was open wide and times when it was close shut to most immigrants (Sure 4). Many people look at the present immigration problems as a purely modern dilemma. The truth is America has always struggled with the issue of immigration, both legal and illegal. Changing times, however, makes it imperative that our government reexamines and adjusts today's immigration laws to today's standards. Those standards, however, are not easily defined. Too often the issue of

Looking at the current socio-political-economic issues of the world, the once self-sufficient jobs of Mexicans and Ecuadorians, such as farming, has become inadequately scarce to even provide food on the table for their family, much less send their children to school. As such, the need to provide the necessities for survival and a better life for their family has driven these individuals to illegally cross this vast terrain of land between Mexico and the United States, a

Legal people cross the border with permission, illegal individuals cross without permission. Crossing the border to the US unwelcomes unskilled workers, but welcomes tourism, education, business travel, world trade, etc. R.L. Doty explains reasoning for people leaving their home and moving to a new country is due to, push and pull factors. The lack of job opportunities, low wages, and poverty push people to leave country, while, employment opportunities where they can earn higher salaries pull them into the country. One of the examples was a man from Vera Cruz, Mexico, named Antonio Dominguez Callejas a 47 years old male, found dead due to dehydration. Other undocumented people crossing illegally will survive the trip while others will have

Immigration Reform is obviously a big issue in America today. I mean everywhere you go; you either see something about or read about it. There is no exact number as to how many illegal immigrants cross the border, but it is estimated to be around 11 to 12 million. This has become a major political and social issue because of the continued flow of illegal immigrants. There is nothing really around that will stop this problem. Nothing has really been done, I mean there are borders and all, but who watches the borders to stop the immigration and even so there is no one there to protect the people who are there trying to prevent it. Anything can happen to the people who are watching the borders such as being shot at and things of the nature,

The American public seems to be aware of the issue in general, but is short of the details. There has certainly been a healthy amount of media coverage of immigration reform, but as the coverage itself is unclear as to how best to frame the problems, it mostly informs about the existence of the issue rather than informing about the issue itself. As such, there is conflicting public opinion about the issue. This mirrors the views of politicians. This could be the result of the fact that immigration reform is often framed as a singular issue when it is not. Immigration reform is an omnibus issue – a series of issues that are all loosely related to one another. There is little real connection between the H-1B visa issue and the undocumented immigrant issue. If the public and the politicians are slightly confused about immigration reform, the framing of multiple issues as a single one is part of the problem.

“We are nation of immigrants. Some came here willingly, some unwillingly. Nonetheless, we are immigrants, or the descendants of immigrants, one, and all. Even the natives came from somewhere else, originally. All of the people who come to this country come for freedom, or for some product of that extraordinary, illusory condition. That is what we offer here—freedom and opportunity in a land of relative plenty.” (Middletown Journal 2005)

The immigration patterns of the United States have fluctuated over the years, some years having little while others see a rising amount of immigrants, both legal and illegal, looking for opportunities to improve their lives. The amount of illegal immigration is a problem since many take advantage of the social services provided by the government without contributing towards the country since they are not citizens and many people see these illegal immigrants as a threat to their employment. Illegal immigrants do affect the U.S negatively in a number of ways, but if those illegal immigrants were to have a safe passageway towards gaining citizenship, the immigrants would contribute greatly towards the

Immigrants into the the states were given the same promise of the American Dream as the citizens already there. This dream was meant to release them from a previous suppression and give them the opportunity to better their life. They had the right to work towards this better life with fairness and without discrimination. Once a group had taken full advantage of the dream and substantially improved their own quality of life, they were able to destroy this opportunity for others. The dream that was once “held to be available to every American” became difficult to achieve. The problem was that individuals were looking out for only themselves and forgetting to take into account the welfare of their nation and fellow citizens.

Just as we look at the concerns of our citizens, it is equally important that we look at the concerns and issues faced by the illegal immigrants. We need to understand why they are risking illegal entry, and what they face once they arrive. It is easy to answer the question of why they are coming into our country. The illegal aliens are looking for a better life, one with economic stability. They are living in third-world countries where wages are low and jobs scarce. In order to feed their families, they look toward the north. They weigh their

One of the most defining traits for the United States of America is that the nation is one made up of immigrants, it is a basic building block that can not be overlooked, nor should it. That being said, it is important to countless citizens to be open when it comes to immigration, while keeping the country hospitable to its citizens for generations to come. However, this attitude to immigration is a fairly recent phenomenon in American history, especially in regards to immigrants coming in from non-Western European countries. With the introduction of the Immigration Act of 1965 and the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) came about the changes to immigration policy that would forever change the face of the nation and create the diversity that has become a point of pride. The sentiment is not felt nationwide, however, as the immigration patterns brought about with these two acts has brought hostility as well, especially from those who feel that immigration is a threat to the country as a whole, specifically illegal immigration. Immigration, and its illegal counterpart, is an issue that defines this period in American history, and while it did not necessary start off targeting Mexican and Latino immigrants, it has very much been immortalized within the communities and become the face of immigrants to the nation as a whole.

This idea that immigrants are an issue only criminalize all immigrants, illegal and legal. The topic of illegal immigrants is very controversial, however, those on both sides of the argument can agree that there would be no issue if they became legal. Well, almost all “illegal” immigrants would become legal if it were only possible. In most cases, it takes up to six months to two years to get permission to enter the U.S. The system works off a lottery system that only allows a small percentage of the millions of people applying for citizenship (Giovanni). Many struggling families do not have that kind of time to wait. To rationalize mostly Mexicans that are illegally crossing, take this story of a family that had to make a life or death decision due to our immigration process. The Carlos family, living in Oaxaca, Mexico, ran out of crop to keep their farm afloat. They were going to go broke and starve if they had to wait two years for legal citizenship. Instead, they made an hegira and crossed the U.S.-Mexico border, where they found work picking crops and working in restaurants (Giovanni). Their children, Gloria and Hector, were not a problem to society, their parents, were not a problem to society. In deference for the family, we need to realize that they are not criminals, for they would have followed legal process for migration if they could, but they would have died if they did. Many

The reason people move across borders without proper documentation is primarily for survival. There are so many places around the world where resources are scarce and there is not much to be done to improve the situation. Specifically, here in the borders to come into the U.S., people are pulled in because of job opportunities and because America is known for anything being possible and a chance at a better life. The immense growth of globalization has caused the need for employees to increase; therefore, people know jobs here are available. Another reason is that pay would be better than at their home country, since some main reasons people leave their home countries is because of low pay, poverty, and lack of jobs. Furthermore, people choose to cross borders because they will do anything that is in their power to provide for themselves or for their family. Sometimes the person who crosses is the father of the family because of stereotypes that say he is responsible for providing for his family no matter what. Since, applying for documentation and waiting takes a long while, people prefer to avoid this process and just cross illegally by coyotes or with human smugglers which charge less than it would take to get legal papers. The journey of crossings the border can sometimes end badly for these people, but those who do get across encounter hate, or violent antagonism. Citizens treat them as outsiders and see them as below their level. Sometimes crossing the border is the

Illegal transportation of people is a global challenge. It is not a safe way of traveling and has taken the lives of many people. At first glance, the obvious option is to get transported legally and getting admitted to a safe country. However, it is not that easy, and these people do not have a choice. Waiting to get legally transported can take a long time, and not everyone has the option to just sit and wait quietly. Many of the illegal migrants wholeheartedly believe that illegal transportation is their only solution. So they collect all the money they have and give it to the smugglers in a hope of a better future, which not all of them get unfortunately. According to Appendix 2 around 800 people died in the accident. Accidents similar