Immigration looks to be the hot topic for the 2016 Presidential Elections, meaning a solution to the problem which has dogged the United States for decades might actually be found; and it’s about time.
What makes the situation look so hopeful is the change in attitudes about the issue, most notably on the conservative side. A few years ago, publicly advocating for a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants was political suicide for a republican official.
Surprisingly, more and more GOP members are supporting this path, the most notable being Florida Senator Marco Rubio, who has hinted he will be running for the office of President. Rubio is the son of Cuban immigrants, who lived in the United States for almost a decade before becoming a naturalized U.S. Citizens. That being said, he has a much needed perspective on immigration. His is one from the other side of the fence.
Nowadays, the process of becoming a naturalized citizen is long, difficult and dangerous. Many illegal immigrants travel across the border and begin searching for a lawyer that will help them become citizens, which could result in their arrest and subsequent deportation. Occasionally, they get lucky and find someone willing to help them. While this is not the official or correct way to become naturalized, it is how many immigrants go about it. The bottom line is it should not be difficult for a qualified individual to legally become a citizen of the U.S.
These men and women that brave the journey from their cities, towns and villages in Nicaragua, Honduras, Mexico, Cuba, etc. have proven just by their being here that they will do anything to support themselves and their families. How is that any different from our own view of life here in the U.S? It is a shame that all we see is someone who is ‘stealing’ American jobs, not stopping for a moment to think what they have to offer.
However, they go on unappreciated and unused because they are not citizens. Not all of them come from poverty, many held important jobs in their native country. Doctors, engineers, and teachers immigrate illegally to the U.S all the time, and work mediocre jobs as undocumented maids and day laborers. The flip side of this is many criminals also come illegally across the border. Northern Mexico has been torn apart by violence as drug cartels fight the military for control, and the concern is that a path to citizenship will make it easier for criminals to legally integrate within the U.S.
That being said, whatever this path to citizenship turns out to be it must be a two-fold plan, simultaneously keeping criminals out and easily moving the hardworking, valuable workers into the country. According to the Associated Press, in 2011 it was discovered that taxpayers spent $90 billion a year for 10 years on border security that has obviously failed.
While it will come with its own set of challenges, an easy path to citizenship cannot be worse than the broken, ludicrously wasteful system that is already in place. But this system, no matter how perfect it turns out to be, will not fix the heart of the matter.
We do not “own” this country, no one truly owns the land that they live upon. To think so indicates, as Einstein called it, the most infantile of diseases: blind nationalism.
We forget that our ancestors came to this continent as immigrants; what’s more they claimed it as their own despite the fact that it was already claimed. While todays immigrants are nowhere near as aggressive, their intent is the same. They seek to build a better life for themselves that would be impossible in their native country. Who are we to deny them that?