Illegal Immigration is a large issue within our country, which inspires much debate, and as such, there are a multitude of different views on the subject. However, there are some things that should be taken into consideration when broaching the subject.
We need to remember that the illegal immigrants we speak of, are people as well, and that this subject, immigration, has been quite touchy throughout history.But, we also need to remember the legality of the issue and how it affects the nation, the economy and ourselves.
Illegal immigration has reared its head many times in our national history, when the great immigration of Germans came, the Dutch, the Irish, the Chinese and other peoples of Asian descent. The main problem with immigration worry. We worry about our land, we worry about our jobs, about our communities, about the very balance that we have. Everything we do, everything we have done is something that has a balance; and when you throw a whole lot of new people into the mix, it upsets almost the entirety of society.
Now, it has been mentioned that the people who illegally immigrate to the U.S. are just trying to find a better life, and to that I give them a hurrah. Finding a better life is what America was founded upon. After all, does not the Statue of Liberty read "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore, send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door?" America is a place where people can come to seek opportunity in the form of a better life for their families and themselves. The issue here is two-fold: though America was made great by immigrants it was not founded off of illegality. America was founded by fighting for freedom, by bloodshed and perseverance, not slipping across a border and then leeching off the system to support families in other countries. It was founded by hard-working men and women who moved here to make a better life because either they had nothing left, they were bored at home, or they simply had to move on or die, not just because they decided that they wanted to make some extra money. This is where the sense of legality comes in to play. In debates, I have heard it said that people should be able to illegally immigrate to America because "they really want a better life." If that were the case, then I could justify stealing a car by saying "but I really wanted a new car, because my old one was bad."
Immigrants are our great work force. We are, after all, immigrants. Every new immigrant is just another spoon stirring in the great melting pot that is America. I am not saying that we should crack down harshly upon illegal immigration. On the contrary, we should make immigration easier, but we should look at the issue in the same way that our forefathers looked at winning World War II. How do you beat the enemy? You have more supplies, a larger work force and better propaganda! If we want people to immigrate then we need to insure that they, 1) Do it legally, and that they 2) stay here, rather than sending away money without contributing taxes or anything else to the system.
We need to let those who would immigrate how to immigrate, and that they are part of something greater than themselves, that they are working to make America great once more, that they are a piece of the great machine that keeps our country going and that they should be proud in the work that they do! The other alternative, as I see it, is isolationism. This problem will not go away if we just throw laws at the masses of people crossing our borders by land, air and sea. Either we make them part of us, or we exclude them and isolate ourselves so as to keep the problem lower, otherwise we will sink our ship through sheer weight alone.
I think that we as a country also need to make changes, such as a national language, a better education system, the aforementioned national propaganda, and we need to be friendlier to immigrants, but also be sure that people know that we can only take so many, we cannot allow ourselves to be washed away and transformed into a foreign nation, nor can we allow ourselves to become so meek, timid and "politically correct" that we become a neutral nation, a once great old man who is now confused and scared of shapes in the mist. We were, and are great, and our greatness comes from, in part, immigrants, I think we should remember this while directing our new policies on the matter and work towards building ourselves up, together, rather than tearing ourselves down piece by piece.
*Very special thanks to my friend Vickie for taking time out of her day to give this piece a read through and apply some of her editing skills.*
We need to remember that the illegal immigrants we speak of, are people as well, and that this subject, immigration, has been quite touchy throughout history.But, we also need to remember the legality of the issue and how it affects the nation, the economy and ourselves.
Illegal immigration has reared its head many times in our national history, when the great immigration of Germans came, the Dutch, the Irish, the Chinese and other peoples of Asian descent. The main problem with immigration worry. We worry about our land, we worry about our jobs, about our communities, about the very balance that we have. Everything we do, everything we have done is something that has a balance; and when you throw a whole lot of new people into the mix, it upsets almost the entirety of society.
Now, it has been mentioned that the people who illegally immigrate to the U.S. are just trying to find a better life, and to that I give them a hurrah. Finding a better life is what America was founded upon. After all, does not the Statue of Liberty read "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore, send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door?" America is a place where people can come to seek opportunity in the form of a better life for their families and themselves. The issue here is two-fold: though America was made great by immigrants it was not founded off of illegality. America was founded by fighting for freedom, by bloodshed and perseverance, not slipping across a border and then leeching off the system to support families in other countries. It was founded by hard-working men and women who moved here to make a better life because either they had nothing left, they were bored at home, or they simply had to move on or die, not just because they decided that they wanted to make some extra money. This is where the sense of legality comes in to play. In debates, I have heard it said that people should be able to illegally immigrate to America because "they really want a better life." If that were the case, then I could justify stealing a car by saying "but I really wanted a new car, because my old one was bad."
Immigrants are our great work force. We are, after all, immigrants. Every new immigrant is just another spoon stirring in the great melting pot that is America. I am not saying that we should crack down harshly upon illegal immigration. On the contrary, we should make immigration easier, but we should look at the issue in the same way that our forefathers looked at winning World War II. How do you beat the enemy? You have more supplies, a larger work force and better propaganda! If we want people to immigrate then we need to insure that they, 1) Do it legally, and that they 2) stay here, rather than sending away money without contributing taxes or anything else to the system.
We need to let those who would immigrate how to immigrate, and that they are part of something greater than themselves, that they are working to make America great once more, that they are a piece of the great machine that keeps our country going and that they should be proud in the work that they do! The other alternative, as I see it, is isolationism. This problem will not go away if we just throw laws at the masses of people crossing our borders by land, air and sea. Either we make them part of us, or we exclude them and isolate ourselves so as to keep the problem lower, otherwise we will sink our ship through sheer weight alone.
I think that we as a country also need to make changes, such as a national language, a better education system, the aforementioned national propaganda, and we need to be friendlier to immigrants, but also be sure that people know that we can only take so many, we cannot allow ourselves to be washed away and transformed into a foreign nation, nor can we allow ourselves to become so meek, timid and "politically correct" that we become a neutral nation, a once great old man who is now confused and scared of shapes in the mist. We were, and are great, and our greatness comes from, in part, immigrants, I think we should remember this while directing our new policies on the matter and work towards building ourselves up, together, rather than tearing ourselves down piece by piece.
*Very special thanks to my friend Vickie for taking time out of her day to give this piece a read through and apply some of her editing skills.*
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