Illegal v. Legal Immigrant Debate
August 9, 2007 – 4:53 pmCurrently the climate in United States is not very pro-immigrant. Everyday a person can turn on the TV or pickup the newspaper to hear that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have raided another company and have arrested another group of “illegal aliens.” The debate and rhetoric in congress and elsewhere revolves around the concept of people “breaking laws,” entering the country illegally and without any respect for our U.S. legal system. On several occasions I have gotten into arguments with people over this very issue.
Most people who use this rhetoric are completely and utterly unfamiliar with U.S. immigration laws. They do not understand that aside from the visa lottery system, there are no options for those that do not already have family members or an employer willing to sponsor them in the U.S. The problem with the visa lottery of course is that it is limited to those countries who do not send many immigrants to the U.S. already. Is that a good thing? In some ways, in the larger scheme of things it could be viewed positively, after all it does attempt to ensure that we have a greater diversity in our cultural “melting pot” by making sure that no single group of people overruns the U.S. However, when one looks at this system there is an obvious problem – what happens if you are a citizen of a country that does not provide the opportunities for you to succeed but is not eligible for the visa lottery program, or the allowed visa numbers are few? Well, you try to do what so many people have done before. You take a selfish stand and pursue your own personal dreams and enter the U.S. illegally or overstay your visa. Why is this wrong?
In an interesting article from New Jersey’s Star Ledger Brian Donahue eloquently points out that many people came to the U.S. “illegally” and most of those that did come “legally” did so because until 1921 there were no immigration laws in the U.S. (except for the laws prohibiting entry of Chinese nationals passed in 1882) – all you had to do was show up.
So next time you hear someone argue that “if their parents came legally, there is no reason why today’s “illegal” immigrants shouldn’t follow the law as well,” ask that person when did his/her predecessor come to the U.S. Chances are they either came here when there were no immigration laws, or by sneaking across the border with Canada. And remember: the 1925 immigration service’s annual report estimated that 1.4 million illegal immigrants were living in the U.S.
Click here for Brian Donahue’s article.
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One Response to “Illegal v. Legal Immigrant Debate”
Good point and interesting perspective. Another perspective is that the US taught and funded military groups in Central American countries. These groups brutalized many of the native populations forcing them to leave, or die. A third perspective is that US corporations bought much of the arable land in Central America forcing the native populations to work for them at low wage or try to make a living farming on non-desirable parcels of land left to them. Again, they had to leave, or face hunger, sometimes starvation. The USA is big and rich and close so of course, they have come here. We, in essence, forced them to come to the US.
There are more perspectives, but I’ve got to get back to work.
By Aetna Thompson on Aug 10, 2007