Immigration Issues

Should Immigration be Legalized

Why does the issue of immigration divide American opinions when the United States is a country built by immigrants? The online encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org defines immigration to the United States as "the permanent movement of foreigners to the United States." This online encyclopedia also states that immigration to the United States has been a major source of population growth and cultural change throughout American history." In order to establish an objective and well thought out viewpoint on this very sensitive subject, I thought it would be best to discuss as many different viewpoints as possible. However, my research indicates that is seems like everyone in the United States and abroad has his or her own stance. So I will limit this discussion to two viewpoints; they are as follows:

* Those who oppose illegal immigration and want the immigrants to be forced back to their originating countries.

* Those who oppose illegal immigration but would prefer that illegal immigrants that reside within the United States are granted citizenship options.

There are obviously quite a number of people that are opposed to illegal immigration. In order to witness this reality today, all you really have to do is turn on your TV and search for a news channel that is covering current politics. You will definitely hear something in reference to the current issue of illegal immigrants within the United States as well as numerous videos or images of activists protesting or supporting the residential status of immigrants within the United States today. No decision has been made on what will happen to the millions of illegal immigrants that currently reside in the United States, but I am sure that the heated debate will become more heated when presidential elections occur. I think this will be the ultimate driving factor for a decision on what will happen with the illegal immigration issue we are witnessing today. There are numerous reasons why people oppose immigration. Some have antiracially motivated objectives. They simply reject immigrants because of racist notions. Another reason why people opposed both legal and illegal immigration is because they believe that the population levels will increase severely, which will ultimately cause joblessness and an increase in famine and crime within the United States.(1) These reasons are more socioeconomically related. One could say the ultimate reason is due to fear of a negative impact at an individual level as well as a deteriorating environment. The numbers in my research do tend to support this argument, especially when you realize that, as it states in the wikipedia.org Website, immigration boomed to a 57.4% increase in foreign born population from 1990 to 2000 and that there are more than 7 million illegal alien workers with more that 11 million household members already inside the U.S. and another 700,000 to 750,000 predicted for each coming year. (1) Remember one key word in these past statements, "illegal." The immigrants who have come to the United States have done so in an illegal manner. These individuals have essentially broken our laws. So you might say to yourself, "immigration, both legal and illegal, has been evident for decades; What's all the hype about now?" Well, no one will ever be able to forget the atrocity that occurred on 9/11/2001 when the United States was attacked by terrorist. Many honorable citizens perished in those attacks. The United States government and its citizens realized that they could no longer live as carefree and unsecured anymore. The people (politicians/government officials) of the United States also realized they needed to tighten the borders and regulate who enters our country. This sense of urgency to secure our country developed and with that development so did the debate over immigration.

A debate, of course, must have various points of views to exist. So with this thought in mind I will now outline the arguments for those who support immigration. The main reason why people support immigration is that the United States was established as a free nation; a nation where all men are created equal and have the right to enjoy various liberties. Immigration really overshadows this ideology and repeals the notion of what this country stands for. If you step back and recall American history you will remember that the only people that have a real claim towards our land are the Natives, since they are the first residents or citizens of the United States. The American Indians were here prior to Christopher Columbus or any pilgrim arrived. They Natives were basically ousted from their home, and had their land taken away. As history portrays, immigrants and migrants from other countries have continually arrived and diversified the United States. The word immigrant as defined by the online dictionary "http://dictionary.com" is a person who migrates to another country. If you review U.S. history and exclude the American Indian population you can't help but notice we are all products of immigration. Our ancestors have migrated here from other countries. Franklin D. Roosevelt once said:

"Remember; remember always, that all of us . . . are descended from immigrants and revolutionists."

The United States is essentially a melting pot of different cultures and ethnicity's. Why did our ancestors, grand parents or parents flock to the United States? For the same reason immigrants do today; for a better life. Many immigrants risk their lives to reach the United States so that they may provide their families a better life. Some immigration supporters also feel that the risks the immigrants take to get here are far too great. They feel the United States government is placing these individual's lives at risk by regulating immigration with policies and laws. One way to understand we people support immigration is by placing yourself in the shoes of an immigrant. Many of immigrants not only risk their lives but they also sacrifice day to day by surviving off of less than minimum wage pay. They work under harsh and sometimes dangerous conditions providing backbreaking duties for jobs that many Americans refuse to take. They arrive from different countries all over the world and many speak different languages. They assimilate to the American culture to blend in for survival purposes. Manny immigration supporters