The Problem with Immigration

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There are many, many issues when it comes to immigration and migration. Nothing is just black and white, and there is always at least two sides to a story, usually more than that. I’m going to tell my side, or at least the side that I see the most of living in Arizona, a border state to Mexico. Being that the issue of immigration is so broad, I’ve narrowed it down to the most important question to me, living in the southwest, concerning Mexican/American border issues. Is it the immigrants themselves that are the problem or is it the laws governing immigration? This is a big debate amongst politicians, activists, students, citizens, non-citizens, and everyone in between. I think that the problem lies on both sides, but the bigger fault belongs to the American laws and regulations.

"These are two nations that should be very close to each other, but instead of coming together, more barriers are going up…This is madness, barriers cannot stop people who don’t have enough to eat." (Vergara)

The facts are the facts, people will continue to strive for a better life, no matter how closed the border may seem. In Phoenix alone (not including surrounding cities) the Hispanic population was 34.0% in the year 2000 (Jensen p1) In addition, both sides need each other, it would be pointless to say that immigration (legal or illegal) should be altogether halted, because America has not a history of being self-sufficient, no first world country does. Imports and exports are an integral part of the prosperous economy that we Americans enjoy.

I’ll start by pointing out the smaller flaws in government action toward migration-driven debates, starting with language.

In August of 1996 the House voted...

... middle of paper ...

...st an example of the family stories that I hear often in my community. The laws are the number one problem in the immigration issue. It is true that immigration should be monitored, and immigrants thoroughly investigated. This is especially apparent in light of 9/11/01. However, if legal immigration continues to be less than feasible for hungry children and families, illegal and thus unmonitored immigration will persist. Which in turn makes the application for permanent residence cards a painstakingly drawn out process. This then discourages good, hardworking, and taxpaying migrants from even applying for citizenship. The hole gets deeper and the web is spinning out of control. Complex problems come with complex solutions, and I only wish that more people would understand this and start looking at the broadness of the issue (particularly in border towns and states).

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