The Issue Of Illegal Immigration

Immigration has been a major topic since the beginning of the United States of America. This phenomenon is what helped the establishment of this country; and even today it continues to have an impact in in most aspects of the lives of North American’s. The subject has also brought much criticism and created divided opinions about its immediate and long term impact. Migration itself it’s not a problem, but the modern dilemma of who is allowed to migrate and reside permanently in a country “legally.” It is interesting to explore this subject under three basic theories that Sociology deals with: symbolic interactionism, conflict theory and social functionalism. Each theory brings us closer to understand some of the reasons why “illegal immigration” is controversial today. The purpose of this paper is not to persuade but to explore and expose some ideas on a recurrent social issue.

The debate over illegal immigration has been a constant and ongoing struggle in the United States. Millions of illegal immigrants are living among us in the country, we have more entering daily. Recently, President Barack Obama touched on the topic with his immigration executive order. Unfortunately, with the republican takeover of the white house, many of his actions are not being supported. This is viable evidence that there are people who want to help fix the immigration system in a way that will benefit illegal immigrants and give them a fighting chance to prosper here in the United States. With that being said, there are also powers who do not want to see that happen because they believe that it is not in the best interest of the United States to open their borders to illegals. This puts to question what the next steps for the United States will decide and how that will affect Americans across the country. My goal of this essay is to enlighten the moral concerns in the debates pertaining to immigration.

The debate of who should be allowed to enter the United States has been an issue for many years, with the large number of people entering and living here illegally this has become a significant talking point amongst the candidates in this presidential election. But are their views something that should be shared and supported by Christians today? There are definitely two opposing views from Christians on this topic. I will present both views regarding illegal immigrants in the United States and then I will present my own opinion on this topic.

Illegal immigration is the migration of people across national borders in a way that violates the immigration laws of the destination country. Some countries have millions of illegal immigrants. Immigration, including illegal immigration, is overwhelmingly upward, from a poorer to a richer country. The easy definition of an undocumented immigrant is someone who was not born in the United States and therefore has no legal right to be or remain in the United States. Not all undocumented immigrants snuck across the border illegally. Although it is hard to get an accurate number on the amount that did, some undocumented immigrants originally came here legally as tourists or some came on a temporary visa and just did not leave. The reasons on why they decided to stay and not go back to their countries are numerous. Some immigrants come to the United States to work and escape the poor economy in their country, while others come to be with their family. Whatever the reason may be, at the end of the day they all come here to achieve the american dream.

Immigration is an issue that many people see as small and insignificant. Many believe that it doesn’t concern or affect them in any shape or form. Truth is, it doesn’t matter if you're African American, Caucasian, Asian, Mexican, or another race, immigration is an issue that affects everyone. Immigration affects the economy, the workforce, families, and the individual’s themselves whose main goal and dream is the “American Dream” that they come to the US looking for.

America is deemed the land of the free and the home of the brave. The very fabric of this great nation was built upon immigrants from the Pilgrims landing on Plymouth Rock to the millions of immigrants landing at Ellis Island. America is known as a melting pot of many different cultures and ethnic groups with roughly 11.7 million illegal immigrants living here. There has been a long standing love/hate relationship with the issue of immigration. It has long been debated as to whether or not we should continue to allow immigrant into our country so freely.

“More than any other nation on Earth, America has constantly drawn strength and spirit from wave after wave of immigrants. In each generation, they have proved to be the most restless, the most adventurous, the most innovative, the most industrious of people. Bearing different memories honoring different heritages, they have strengthened our economy, enriched our culture, renewed our promise of freedom and opportunity for all” (Clinton 146). Those are some wise words from a former president who explains the importance of immigrants and has the mentality of a person who has reason. For many, or everybody, walking through a hot, dry desert with no water or even through a cold, windy and rainy desert would not be an activity that they would like to engage. Even though this dangerous and severe weather goes on, several people still immigrate illegally because they want what is going to be best for them. Some make it all the way and unfortunately some we do not hear about ever again.

No issue in any immigration policy kindles more dispute than the issue of illegal immigration. Unfortunately, some people confuse legal and illegal immigration. Legal immigrants are here legally. They have the proper, legal documents that allow them to live and work in the U.S. without complications. Illegal immigrants are defined as anyone who was born in a country other than the U.S. to parents who are not official U.S. citizens; they enter the U.S. without legal documents to prove their legal citizenship. Yet before the twentieth century, many individuals and families immigrated to the U.S. without restriction, and illegal immigration was not a problem at that time. Restrictive immigration quotas were presented, but even with limitations, citizens of the Western Hemisphere countries continued to immigrate outside of the quotas. Not until the 70th Congress did the Senate Committee pass an amendment to remove Mexico from the list of countries where families and individuals could immigrate without a quota. However, World War II began to require more and more troops, and the U.S. government looked toward Mexico because of the lack of manpower rather than issues regarding illegal immigration. The U.S. and Mexico endorsed an agreement that permitted Mexicans to work in America as a method to attend to the concerns of food processing in the U.S. during the war (Anderson, 91-93). In more recent years, President Obama, in an executive action, announced changes to DACA (Deferred

The immigration is an important phenomenon that exists throughout human history and the United States of America is not an exception of this “rule”. People leave their motherland to travel to different continent, country, island or state for many different reasons. Among these reasons (business, education, asylum and so on) it is very important to highlight one of the most sensitive: the economic reason or the desire to find a better job/life in order to help their families. The USA is usually considered a country the tradition of immigrants. Due to the fact that The United States of America rank the top five most rich and developed countries in the world, the flow of immigrants has been growing considerably. However, beside the millions of legal immigrants there are millions of illegal immigrants target as a struggle of the economy and a ruin of the middle class.

On February 28th in 2000, Luis Alberto Jimenez an immigrant living in the U.S was coming back home from work when he was involved in an accident in which he was hit by a stolen vehicle near Palm Beaches Gardens in Florida. Jimenez was rushed to Martin Memorial Hospital Center, where he was attended to and stabilized, but this was after he had suffered acute brain damage and other injuries. Jimenez was speechless and immobile according to his cousin, Montejo Gasper, who was also his guardian. This tragic event started a major debate in the public where some others supporting the hospitals decision to repatriate undocumented and uninsured immigrants and others against the repatriation. Jimenez finally came out of his inactive state though many supported Martin Memorials decision to send him back to Guatemala, which was his home country. The main issue was the uncertainty that Jimenez would receive better care back in Guatemala. Many physicians realized that the repatriation could possibly lead to his death.

Immigration has been a topic for debate in the last couple of decades. Migrations have always caused a shock to the American people, whether it was from Japan, Eastern Europe, and now the large quantity of immigrants coming from Latin America. People on both sides of the spectrum pose valid arguments of the effects of illegal immigration on the U.S. Economy. People fear that immigrants will take their jobs, use their taxpayer dollars to receive government benefits, and they will take over the country. Yet time has proved that illegal immigration brings positive impacts on the economy, through job creation and contribution. The next couple of articles are an example of perspectives on the jobs crisis from a favorable angle.

Birth Right citizenship is a legal right to citizenship for all children born in a country 's territory, regardless of parentage. But many people use the term to indicate the general or specific roles, rights or duties of people within a given society. To federal government officials, a person either is or isn 't a legal "citizen" of the United States. The Preamble to the United States Constitution states: “We the people of the United States, in order to form a

Immigration is one hot topic in today’s conversation and society. Many think that immigrants coming to America are taking many jobs away from who need them. Some also think that there are jobs being taken away are not ones that Americans would not perform due to the horrible working conditions, low pay, and lack of important medical coverage. The immigration issue has come to a point where the United States must make a decision to spend a lot of money to curtail the amount of immigrants coming here.

Every year, around one million people are immigrating into the United States both legally and illegally. As of now nearly 40 million immigrants live in the United States; 11.5 million of which came to the country illegally (CNN). That is nearly thirteen percent of the total United States population. The role the United States government plays in the handling of immigration from foreign countries both legal and illegal, plays a vital role in the security of the people of the United States and

In the United States, children of illegal immigrants are automatically given the citizenship. Once in the country they tend to search for work without permit or citizenship, illegal immigrant tend to have no choices than work on low paycheques or disgusting work or in bad conditions in what is known as low skilled jobs. These kinds of jobs are usually bad work conditions and don’t attract many employees. For example, many illegal immigrants decide to work in a job that doesn’t require any permits, as landscape and construction are the most common ones for immigrants because they only require intense work. Others are employed into restaurants as dish washing, hospitality, prostitution, agriculture, and domestic services. Besides these raisons to immigrate, others search for better economic services and opportunities; people illegally migrate due to family problems, war, overpopulation, or illness. Some countries around the world are