Immigration Reformation
Immigration is a sensitive topic among the American people, with viewpoints ranging from allowing everyone in to letting absolutely no one in. Today, the United States has allowed more immigrants to enter the country than at any other time in history. Over one million legal and illegal immigrants take up residence in the United States each year. Immigration, at its current magnitude, is not fulfilling the interests or demands of this country. As we struggle to support the huge influx of people, life, for a large majority of Americas, has suffered tremendously. Due to the current immigration policies, an excessive stress has been put upon the welfare system, and population growth is out of control.
The United States welfare system is faced with difficulties trying to support the huge numbers of immigrants entering this country each year. A majority of these people are leaving impoverished countries searching for work. A research organization, the Urban Institute, revealed that immigrants require more welfare and, ultimately, earn lower incomes than US citizens. As a result, they end up paying less taxes. (The Urban Institute) With the growing number of foreigners converging to America, the consequences must be considered, if and when, the process of reforming immigration policies is to begin.
According to the US Census Bureau, the population of our country, at the end of the first census in 1790, was approximately 4 million people. Over the next 125 years, between 1790 and 1915, the population grew by 100 million. By 1970, the second set of 100 million grew much more rapidly, as it occurred in a mere 55 years. Up to this point, immigration policies have only allowed 250,000 people to enter each year. However, in a time of national concern over sustainability, Congress had begun to constantly increase immigration. In the 1970s, it was expanded to 425,000 per year. In the 1980s, it was boosted to 625,000 people per year. Finally, in the 1990s, immigration was enlarged to approximately 1 million legal entries per year. (Roy Beck) This has had a substantial impact on national population; without reform, immigration may lead to a devastatingly large number of people in this country within the next century.
As previously stated, before 1970, the government only allowed 250,000 immigrants each year. Contrary to societal belief that our pre-1970 population growth came from new immigrants; much of the expansion actually came from our incredibly high native fertility rate. However, after immigration policies were changed so that the United States could bring in more and more aliens, the majority of our nation’s population growth came from incoming immigrants. These increases have culminated America to a magnitude of over 300 people between 1970 and 2010. If we continue down this path, we will reach the 400,000,000 mark within the next 30 years. By the end of the century, we will have increased our population by a half a billion since 1970. (Roy Beck) Immigration reform is a necessity if we, as a country, want to avoid this fate.
I believe the first step in immigration reform should be to limit the number of Visas issued to newcomers each year. The current 1.1 million Visas should be, at minimum, cut in half. (The Urban Institute) The rationale behind this is that it would force a substantial number of educated, skillful citizens in developing countries to remain in their respective homelands to help develop them further. In my opinion, the only people we should admit are those seeking refuge in the United States because of the current situation in their native lands. This would allow us to harbor people who, legitimately, want to improve their lives. Not only would this enable the people who are qualified in their countries to stay there and further their nation’s well-being, but it would also benefit the United States’ economy. Many people with Visas could acquire jobs which seem less desirable for Americans, but are crucial to our country’s continued success.
Another step in the reformation cycle would be to adopt a different policy which could lower the number of people allowed to become United States citizens each year. A policy needs to be enacted that would “allow us to bring in the same amount of immigrants as people are leaving the country every year, which would be somewhere around our traditional level of 250,000, there would be immediate reductions in infrastructure demands for those of us who live here today.” (Roy Beck) The benefits would be evident in the next century, as the population would stabilize around 410 million, instead of the anticipated 625 million. (Roy Beck) This fate can easily be avoided if we, as a nation, take charge now and begin reformation.
With the upcoming presidential election, immigration policies have become a popular topic of debate. As stated by our current president, Barack Obama, “This country is a nation of immigrants, and ultimately, our policies on it will reflect who we are, and that’s not something to be afraid of; that’s something to welcome.” He believes that we should look forward to the fundamental transformation of America’s population, and, in turn, its politics. (Neil Munro) However, the current presidential candidates have very different opinions this issue. In fact, Ted Cruz has stated that Obama is “blatantly defying the Constitution by refusing to faithfully execute our nation’s immigration laws.” (Presidential Candidates on Immigration) His ideas have portrayed that there should be no path to citizenship for currently undocumented immigrants. On the other hand, candidates, such as Hilary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, have contrasting thoughts. They believe in promoting family values by expanding on Obama’s current executive actions and allowing illegal immigrants to pursue a path to citizenship. (Presidential Candidates on Immigration) Finally, contrary to every other candidate, Donald Trump has clearly presented his anti-immigration philosophies. He has stated that he will “build a great, great wall on our southern border, and have Mexico pay for it.” (Presidential Candidates on Immigration) If elected, he would call for the immediate deportation of all illegal immigrants and place a temporary ban on Muslims from entering the country. Immigration reformation is imperative in order to obtain stability in this country and should be carefully considered while evaluating the presidential candidates.