Should Illegal Immigrants Be Citizens

Eleanor Roosevelt said, “the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” That statement holds strong for immigrants in America. Equal access to opportunities allows immigrants to achieve the American dream. Their success correlates with America’s success because of the contributions immigrants provide to America. Unfortunately, the current immigration policy in America denies many immigrants the American dream. It is crucial to understand the historical context of immigration in America. Initially, most immigrants were from Europe and were not restricted by any immigration laws. Now, most immigrants come from Latin America but are restricted to severe immigration laws. The Latino/a community is one of the most

Illegal immigration has become more of an important issue in the United States since Donald Trump’s campaign for president in 2016. Immigration can be known as the act of people crossing national borders to live permanently in other countries. It becomes illegal when they cross those borders without the legal right to be in those countries. The U.S. has been an immigrant country since the pilgrims in the 1600s and has ever since, been diverse. Most of the immigrants are Latinos that come from Central America, but they also come from all over the world. The current path to legal citizenship is flawed and needs to be reformed to allow rights to be upheld, equal and fair treatment of all applicants, and to facilitate the process altogether.

Becoming a U.S. citizen is a long process with a lot of requirements. These requirements take copious amounts of time which do not help lower the current illegal immigration population in the United States. In fact, “as of the year 2016, the United States population was 323.1 million citizens, approximately- 12.5 million of those citizens living in the United States are illegal immigrants” (Raley). In order for an undocumented immigrant to qualify for U.S citizenship they must meet very specific criteria. A path to citizenship is a long process, which in some cases can take up to ten years or longer. Before becoming a citizen of the United States, the recipient must be a green card holder for at least five years. If the

United States the land of the free, that is until illegal immigrants come to the United States

First, of all the definition of amnesty is a forgiveness by the Federal government to illegal immigrants; allows illegal immigrants to be eligible for U.S citizenship if they meet certain requirements.

Providing a path to citizenship has been labeled as granting amnesty. In 1986, President Ronald Reagan introduced an amnesty plan similar to the one being proposed as a solution for America’s current immigration problems. The 1986 bill required immigrants to prove they were

Immigrants aren’t given the rights that they should be. Throughout history, immigrants haven’t been given the opportunities they deserve. When certain races came to America, they were always unwanted. New immigration process would benefit many people.

The U.S. is slammed by growing numbers in population. It seems that many do not think of the long term effects of this increase. This is one of the most significant problems Americans face today, yet no one talks about the problem, when it comes to the debate over immigration. “The current world population is over 6 billion and increases at a rate of 76,570,430 people every year. Since 1950, U.S. population has nearly doubled - growing from 151 million to over 294 million today. If present trends continue, our population will exceed 400 million by the year 2050. Immigration contributes over one million people to the U.S. population annually. The total foreign-born population in the U.S. is now 31.1 million, a record 57 percent

In 2012, the immigrant born population was around 40.7 million people in the United States. Even though we initially came to this land as immigrants from mainly the European countries, we are still very protective of our country. Americans have this greediness when it comes to having our own land and not sharing it. Remembering back to when Americans first came to this region of the world, we kicked out the true natives and made this land our own for our safekeeping. Hundreds of years later, we still have the same mentality of keeping The United States away from others who were not there in the first place to take it over. Jones-Correa and Mendoza both address the issue of letting in immigrants and whether it could benefit our society or not. They

As an old saying goes: “Everything is a two-edged sword!” although the U.S. has been benefits a lot form the upcoming immigrant, there are a lot of social and political problem associate with it. As politician often put when they made the speech: “current immigration system in the United States is broken.” There are several reasons why the immigration system in the U.S. needed to be reformed: families are separated, immigrant workers are exploited, people died when they try to across the border, and the discrimination against immigrants.

On the other hand, if we get rid of immigrants we would have a major population decrease. In 2015, there was 42.1 million immigrants in the United States (Blake). 11 million of them were illegal immigrants (Hennessey). In 2013,

Amnesty can help restore order in some cases when it comes to “Illegal Aliens”. Pardoning upheld citizens that are illegal aliens could help give a balance. A majority of the illegal immigrants want to take jobs that American citizens do not want. They will work for low income and several shifts to help support their families. A large portion of the settlers are trying to get away from drugs, sex slave trade, violence, and living in poverty. Immigrants can be on the run, changing their appearance, changing their

America is considered to be the “land of opportunity,” yet ironically, its doors are closed to the vast majority of people seeking to become citizens and pursue this opportunity. Legal immigration to the United States is a complicated process that is generally limited to those that have been petitioned by family members or employers, or have fled their home country as refugees. Most unauthorized immigrants do not meet these requirements, and even those that do may have to wait years or even decades. This leaves many with the choice to either immigrate illegally, or not immigrate at all. Those who choose the former receive criticism from Americans that do not understand why they refuse to just “get in line” and become legitimate citizens, but this line already has 4 million people, and for many there is no line at all. The naturalization process is specifically designed to protect the national security of the country, but there are some immigrants that could potentially be hard-working, law-abiding citizens who are denied this opportunity due to the complexity of the process. It would be beneficial to make a simpler pathway to citizenship for these immigrants specifically, and reduce the number of illegal immigrants, strengthen the economy, and keep families together.

A persons family or Family background can help determine one’s identity. Where you come from or who you’re raised by can help determine your identity in society. There are many other things that can help influence your identity, but your family’s background is one of the main ways and this is evident In “Public and Private Language” by Richard Rodriquez. Depending on what background you’re from your identity will automatically be determined.

The United States is known to have one of the most accepting immigration in the world. It has contributed to the country's population growth as well as social change. However, the policy remains to be a controversy because of the topic that is illegal immigration. According to the Department of Homeland security in 2010, there are 10.8 million illegal immigrants residing among the 300+ million Americans. Since then, the number has grown to 11+ million people. The U.S. Congress has always sought to find the solution for illegal immigration, with amnesty being an option. If enacted, an amnesty will give unauthorized immigrants a path to legalization and eventually citizenship. The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) is a prime