Moving Forward: Immigration Reform Essay

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

The United States of America has millions of illegal and legal immigrants more than people that born in the country. Our country has received many immigrants since 1600s with the pilgrims and continued in the time of industrialization. Many of those immigrants were searching religious freedom and better opportunities. But they faced racial discrimination, low pay rate, and didn’t have opportunities to find better jobs. Now in our times, people still immigrate illegal and legal in our country. They are people just like us and they need to be treated right and fair. The United States should help illegal immigrants to have the same and equal rights that citizens and shouldn’t be punished for where country they come from.

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,

Many of the undocumented immigrants have both successfully and unsuccessfully tried to find different ways to migrate into the United States. They have traveled by swimming across borders, driving, trafficking, from many underdeveloped countries around the world like Mexico, Cuba, Africa, and many others. Many have become part of such a vulnerable population because they have come to the United States to seek a better life for their families, the healthcare, job opportunities, as well as having been in the united states and staying past the time allowed on their visa.

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.

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

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

The other issues that have raised concern relate to national security and unfairness. In order to protect our security, some opponents want to discourage entry by increasing patrols and surveillance and raising a wall to protect our southern border. These measures have failed in the past, and will likely do so in the future. By increasing the money we spend for added patrols and surveillance, we will only increase our costs. We should recognize that the majority of the individuals that have entered our country, by slipping across the border, are, otherwise, willing to abide by our laws for an opportunity at a better life. Their primary purpose is to improve their economic conditions, not to jeopardize our security or cause controversy with people holding legal status.

Immigration reduction refers to a movement in the United States that advocates a reduction in the amount of immigration allowed into the country. Steps advocated for reducing the numbers of immigrants include advocating stronger action to prevent illegal entry and illegal immigration, and reductions in non-immigrant temporary work visas (such as H-1B and L-1). Some advocate a tightening of the requirements for legal immigration requirements to reduce total numbers, or move the proportions of legal immigrants away from those on family reunification programs to skills-based criteria.

“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)

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.

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

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

Most people only see immigration as an issue when it is illegal or in mass migrations, but

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