The Issue Of Undocumented Immigrants

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.

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.

In the United States of America, there is a big problem with illegal immigration. Illegal immigration is an enormous issue that during the 2016 presidential primary debates. It was a problem when President Obama took office eight years ago, and it is an even greater problem now that he is getting ready to leave office. Most Americans want the border closed, but that will only solve half the problem. The other half of the problem can be solved by deporting the illegal immigrants that are already in the United States. Illegal immigrants are taking American jobs. Therefore, negatively affecting the economy. Furthermore, they have a higher crime rate than the average U.S. citizen. Yet, supporters view illegal immigrants as a good thing because it helps grow the economy by doing jobs nobody else will do. Besides helping the economy, supporters believe that illegal immigrants are not criminals and will not do any more harm than coming into the country illegally. Most U.S. citizen believe that the U.S. immigration policy needs to be reformed. Illegal immigrants should not be allowed to stay in the United States because they take away U.S. jobs, they negatively affect the economy, and contribute to crime.

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

Although the issue of immigration policy has been at the center of political debates, largely discussed in the media and newspapers, no one has yet found a solution to this ill-defined problem, that would comply with the America’s core values. While I think the immigration policy does need a reform, the solution to this problem certainly is not a deportation of all undocumented residents.

Republicans and Democrats have been fighting over the issue of immigration since the 1900s. Immigration has been an issue declared by both Democrats and Republicans alike over debates, elections and even the presidency. Each political party has different viewpoints of immigration and how it effects society and the U.S. as a whole. Immigration is the great division between two opinions. These two sides are: one being people that are accepting with immigrants coming in and out of the U.S., while the others say there shouldn’t be any immigrants coming to the U.S. Both parties have different stances on these issues, however, neither are as reliable as the facts.

Charles B.Rangel once state a quote about immigrants settling in America. "America was born as a nation of immigrants who have always contributed to its greatness". This country is based on freedom, not having amnesty for immigrants has a positive and negative outcome. Statistically, it is about 11.2 million unauthorized immigrants residing in America, with that being said, without the statics Americans wouldn't even notice because there are so many people in this country with different faces seen daily.

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.

The United States is a country that has always drawn much of its strength from having people come here and add to the energy and prosperity of the country. Immigrants who have chosen to make the difficult and challenging choice to move to America have often been some of the most productive citizens of the countries they left behind. They are, by nature, driven people who were willing to take the risk of pulling up roots and moving. As a result, the United States has, for the most part, gotten the benefit of talented and committed citizens who have raised our culture and our standard of living. Right now our country is facing the problem with undocumented immigrants and has to decide what to do about the eleven million people living here illegally.

Inherency: The current state of immigration policy in the United States is characterized by a reliance on surveillance technologies to track and deport undocumented immigrants. The federal government has been spending vast amounts of money on surveillance programs that lack any oversight or accountability. [Kalyan 2014] Federal expenditures on border and immigration control have grown fifteen - fold since 1986. These initiatives have yielded a staggering increase in the number of non citizens formally removed from the United States. Much less widely noted, however, has been that immigration control has rapidly become an information - centered and technology - driven enterprise. Both non citizens and U.S. citizens are now subject to collection

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