Immigration

Immigration has been practiced by many people in pursuit of finding happiness in foreign lands. This majority of immigrants migrate for economic purposes. Those that do so hope to find success in their new land. There are many other reasons why one would move from a poor third world country to a more developed state. These reasons include economic, education, professional, political, personal, religious or even because of a natural disaster. Whatever reason it is, the one main goal is to be somewhere where they can live a better life. For those whom can not migrate by legal means, be that because of the law or a waiting list, choose to do so illegally because of the harsh conditions they currently live in.

The problems today are numerous dealing with immigration. To begin with it is stated in our Constitution and within the Civil Rights Laws that anyone wishing to gain off of the country's wealth and opportunity may do so, but what stops this from being fully true is that it must be done with legally. Those whom inhabit our country illegally for economic success are creating an unfair advantage for themselves against the legal American citizens. Not only do illegal immigrants not have to pay taxes, but they are taking many of the jobs away from those who are legal citizens and can not find work. Illegal immigrants choose to work for a lower wages, which makes them more attractive to businesses who want their work done at a low cost to them. One can, however, argue that the work these illegal immigrants do is the bottom of barrel jobs that most people would rather not do. A huge problem in America today is the fact that this is being allowed to happen even though it is against the law. Any person living in America and who is working must be a U.S. citizen or have a work VISA which grants them permission to work, but it seems as though these laws are being less enforced with each and every passing day.

Many illegal immigrants are here in America, mainly from Mexico and Latin American countries working in our businesses, not paying taxes, and getting away with it. There are to this date about 10 to 11 million illegal migrants in the United States who are doing the jobs most Americans rather not do. Some people suggest that the illegal immigrants should all be deported, but they do not realize the severe economic consequences this would cause America and it's employers. America needs to drastically begin enforcing the laws they created to prohibit illegal immigrants from entering and working in the U.S. As long as the opportunities here in American are greater than those in other countries, people will resort to some extreme measures to enter America.

Reforms have been attempted in order to create a solution, but it seems as though nothing has actually solved the problem. President Bush just recently addressed the situation by sharing a proposal for reforming immigration laws. President Bush wants to create a "guest-worker" program that would go hand in hand with a stiffer, more improved border security program. Bush also added that U.S. employers have to demonstrate that no American workers are willing to do a job before it can offer it to a person under the "guest-worker" program. Those under this program are not guaranteed to not be deported at the end of their "guest-worker" period. This program would help strengthen security because it would create identification cards that would allow authorities to keep track of everyone under this program.

The Senate Judiciary Committee has proposed their own measure by Senators John McCain and Edward Kennedy. The idea they posses, which is similar to Bush's, would allow current illegal immigrants to stay in the U.S., pay a fee, and apply for the "guest-worker" program. This plan would allow about 400,000 new "guest-workers" into the country each year and after six years of living and working in America they would be able to apply for U.S. citizenship.

The proposal that was supported by Bill Frist, the Senate Majority Leader, and the one supported by the House of Representatives would reform the system in a much stricter fashion. Their proposal would make illegal immigrants felons, increase the penalties on U.S. employers who hire these illegal immigrants, and would take a huge step at improving border control. The idea is to construct a fence along one-third of the Mexican border in hopes that it will prevent people from easily crossing the border.

These three proposals all offer something when we measure their pros and cons. With President Bush's idea our economy would remain stable, the illegal immigrants would remain employed and still have the opportunities they lacked in their past lands, and they would still be doing the jobs that most Americans choose not to do. When we look at the downside we can see that it is still drastically taking up many of the job opportunities for American citizens. These are jobs that people in the unemployment offices in America could be doing instead of collecting their unemployment checks.

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