Political Issues Relating to Immigration Essay

Reaction to the immigration problem in the United States is as diverse as the people living in the country. There are common public and political opinions on immigration; there is also factual information, which alters positions. The media plays a major role in how people react to the issue of immigration in the United States of America. There is a lot of news lately with a focus on immigration and undocumented persons in the United States. Illegal immigration has been present in the United States for a long time. The first law that the United States had against persons entering the United States was against convicts or prostitutes to enter the country. From 1892 to 1954 Ellis Island admitted over 12 million legal immigrants. Now the United States has quotas on how many can migrate to the country. Illegal immigration became more of a problem being looked at in the twentieth century. Then End Illegal Immigration group states, â€Å"Today, over one million immigrants enter our country per year, while illegal alien population rows by about five hounded thousand per year† (End Illegal Immigration, April, 2011). In May of 2011, the latest version of the DREAM Act was introduced. The DREAM Act was first introduced in March 2009. This act stands for the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Acts. The Dream act would enact two major changes in current law. The first would permit some immigrant students who grew up in the United States to apply for temporary legal status and eventually obtain permanent legal status and become eligible for U.S. citizenship if they go to college or serve in the U.S. military. The second would eliminate a federal provision that penalizes states that provide in-state tuition without regard to immigration status (National Immigration Law Center, 2011). Immigration has been a constant problem politically for elected officials. There cannot  be mass deportations; we cannot control every inch of the United States borders. Presidents and Congress try their hardest to develop new ideas or to improve old ideas on how to get the border control situation unde r what it should be, under control. One article from US News states, â€Å"Why, then, have we had so many Latin Immigrants, many of the illegal? Because of the apparatus of state has proved weaker that market focus: The old INS (now the CIS) and the understaffed Border Patrol have been among our least competent federal bureaucracies. And because the family unification provisions of the 1965 act allowed legal immigrants to bring in not just young children but also other relatives (â€Å"chain migration†), and because the Fourteenth Amendment makes anyone born in the United States a citizen.† (Barone, 2007). Problems such as these could be avoided in the future. Due to this opinion, I am forced into seeing that America is forcing this problem of undocumented immigrants on itself. Many of the articles found are biased on this view. The subject is sensitive for those that are illegal immigrants as well as American persons. Most articles are biased and the majority is on the American side. An example, one article read called Adverse Impacts of Massive and Illegal immigration on the United States, Blondell states, â₠¬Å"Data has long been collected about the cost to American taxpayers from illegal immigration and the presence of low skilled immigrants (2008)† Statements like this are clearly on the side of the American people. For the most part, the author uses objective means to portray the undocumented immigrants. This article’s biasness does affect the view on how many see the undocumented immigrants. Due to the articles, some look at the immigrants as criminals, sometimes murderers, or as if they are lower than life and not worth our time. It is not fair to judge or be judged for the exact same thing the colonists came to America from England and what this country was founded. There are numerous issues revolving around undocumented immigrants being in the United States. One of the biggest concerns surrounds the fact that of the economic cost. Taxpayers see the cost as unnecessary and unjust and unfair. The many illegal immigrants put a major dent in taxpayer’s accounts when it comes to healthcare and education. The taxpayers put out approximately $15-$20 billion dollars per year to provide for illegal immigrants to have a better life in the United States. Many will argue that having the illegal immigrants pick our fruits,  vegetables and work on the farms are keeping the cost of produce down due to the fact that wages paid are much lower than minimum wage. Blondell states â€Å"For every dollar spent, just 18 cents go to the farmer and one-third of the cost, or 6 cents, goes to the migrant laborer. Even if costs for farm workers increased 40 percent, the total increase in cost per household would be about $8 a year. A $1.80 head of lettuce would increase in price by at most, 10 cents. (2008). Another issue that is felt to stem from immigrants is crime. In reality they are breaking the law by crossing the border without the official papers. There are many other laws they are breaking if one sits back and thinks about it. They are evading taxes, working without permits, and faking identities. By this, using fraudulent identification cards, social security cards or driver’s licenses. There are also environmental issues surrounding this issue. These issues include poverty and language barriers. With the language barriers, it makes it very difficult to educate these people on the way of American people. As a manager, I would want my employees to be comfortable with everything around them. I would ask them if they were comfortable and what could be done to help the situation. I feel it is important for the staff to feel safe and comfortable in the environment that they come to everyday to make a living for themselves. I would also maker sure that no hurtful statements were said and not allow stereotyping. I would want my employees to get to know each other and be open with each other. I would encourage them to respect each other and the differences we all bring to the table. As much as we do not like it, illegal immigration is here and there does not seem to be to much being done to stop it. As a country, we should be open to change, but at some point we have to close the gaits and take care of what we already have here. References Barone, M. (2007). U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved from http://www.usnews.com/usnews/opinion/articles/070527/4barone.htm Blondell, J. (2008). Adverse impacts on massive and illegal immigration in the United States. The Journal of Social, Political, and Economic Studies, 33(3), 328-350. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/216799786?accountid=458 End Illegal Immigration. (April, 2011). History of Illegal Immigration in U.S. Retrieved from http://www.endillegalimmigration.com/history_of_Illegal_Immigration_in_US/ National Immigration Law Center. (2011, May). Dream Act: Summary. Retrieved from http://nilc.org/dreamsummary.html