The Immigration Dilemma
In 2016, Donald J. Trump won the presidency of the United States. One of his more controversial and catchy promises he made during his campaign was to build a long wall along our southern border. The message resonated with many people around the country. It created both loyal fans and angry enemies.
President Trump voiced strong opinions about the criminal actions of certain undocumented immigrants. He exposed the Latino gang MS13's increasing crimes from murders to rapes. The crack down descended upon the notorious gang soon after he came to power. However, it divided the country and increased the tension in the already polarized country.
The US has seen lots of migrations from many different parts of the world throughout it's history. Sadly, in recent decades, the policies slowly shifted from granting admittance for freedom loving individuals to a much more selected group of intellectuals, entrepreneurs and wealthy individuals. The loss of this human capital results in economic struggles for these countries, often leaving their industries shattered.
Freedom is the idea that has lifted many societies across the world from poverty. The founding fathers, as settlers themselves, understood the need for a free land where an individual could immigrate and seek refuge from tyranny. Turning away any idividual that has the courage to take on the dangerous journey of resettling seems ironic and hypocritical.
What keeps America strong is the influx of brilliant minds that flock to this country seeking freedom. That is the gift from the founding fathers and lots freedom loving individuals around the world are aware of this fact. These individuals come together to start businesses, innovate and supplement our economy all around. Most immigrants are statistically less likely to commit crimes, and while immigrant gang members and rapists do exist in the immigrant community, they make up a tiny fraction of the population.
During the last few decades of our history some the more established European immigrants started to systemically attacking the more recent immigrants. The more conservative side of our country has failed to see this as the land of the free. Out of fear of work competition that immigrants bring to the market, conservatives ironically close the door to business freedom, innovation and a competitive work force.
The United States is the greatest country in the world. We are compassionate. We already accept and naturalize millions of immigrants every year. Our laws are already one the most of immigrant friendly around the world. We have a process in which we allow people from other countries to apply and get in line and gain access lawfully to our country. We don't have a problem with legal immigration, we have a problem with illegal immigration. There is a serious security issue when unfit individuals gain access to our country
Most Americans love legal immigration. We understand it is an essential resource of excellent human capital. However, not all immigrants bring good things into our country. We have a right to self preservation and that includes from unwanted trespassers who do not have the best intentions. Donald Trump came under fire just by pointing out that some immigrants are hardcore criminals. We have more than 12 million illegal immigrants living and working in the United States. Many of those immigrants are felony criminals, and some of them are walking free thanks to sanctuary cities poor justice regulations.
Let's be honest, not everyone loves the United States. Other countries despise our freedom loving ideals, like Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, North Korea, etc. In those countries, many hateful groups have their base of operations. Those groups of people are often trying to gain access to our peaceful lands to bring misery, death and terrorism. It is only natural for the people of the US to set rules and boundaries to whom we offer the golden opportunity to reside in our country.
Immigration is a hard issue to fix. What we can hope, is to find a fair balance between border security and immigration laws. It is important we shift from dominating other countries economies to helping those countries develop their own internal commercial infrastructure. Corporations establishing their presence in multiple countries often eliminates the country's native competition. Instead we must encourage an international competitive market, where each country posses their own products and services to compete.
We have inequality in economies among countries around the world, and as long as that is the case, we will always find poor people looking for better opportunities at the wealthy neighboring country. It is ironic to punish those immigrants risking their lives to settle in another land, given that our funding fathers were exactly that.
Date created Mar 21, 2020
Last update: Oct 24, 2021