Should the United States Immigration Policy be Changed?
Sallie Marie Futch
Common Reading Essay Contest Winner
From the Freshman Common Reading Program
Text: Sonia Nazario’s Enrique’s Journey
Submitted October 14th, 2011
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"Remember, remember always, that all of us, you and I especially,
are descended from immigrants and revolutionists." -Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Roosevelt provided this quote during his address to the Daughters of the
American Revolution in Washington, D.C. on April 21, 1938. (Roosevelt and Rosenman 259)
This quote belies the realization that was taking place in the United States during Roosevelt’s
administration. The immigration laws that had been passed under Presidents Harding and
Coolidge were rigid and contained specific quota for different countries. The Great Depression
as reported by vanden Heuvel had led many citizens and leaders in the United States to be
aggressive toward immigrants who they claimed were taking the jobs of Americans (3). The
President and Mrs. Roosevelt, however, felt the need to help the German Jews flee political
persecution. Roosevelt, as indicated by vanden Heuvel, modified the sponsorship for refugees
and was able to accept twice as many Jewish refugees than the rest of the world (4). It seems the
issues of immigration during the Great Depression have resurfaced during our economic
crises. Due to the many issues surrounding immigration, the immigration policy needs to be
reformed. These issues include economic, social, ethical, and political concerns. An in-depth
look at the problems caused by immigration will show that it has been an on-going problem in
the United States and that the present immigration policies are not working and should be
reformed.
The issues of immigration are not new issues. As early as 1882, the People’s Party
platform proclaimed, “we condemn…the present system, which opens up our ports to the pauper
and criminal classes of the world and crowds out our wage earners” (Williams 15). Such was the
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opinion of many affluent Americans which led to the Quota Act of 1921. As reported by
Williams, after the stringent Quota Act of 1921, the influx of immigrants once again began when
Congress passed the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 (11). It set a new immigration cap
and also established the family preference rule. Williams reported that this rule allowed relatives
of immigrants already living in the United States to be exempt from the cap (53) When Congress
passed the Immigration Reform and Control Act in 1986, it provided amnesty to illegal
immigrants who could prove they met certain requirements for living and working in the United
States and thereby, increased the number of illegal immigrants. Under the Obama
Administration, the Department of Homeland Security scaled back successful immigration
enforcement programs. ("An Immigration Reform Agenda for the 112th Congress" 2) The
United States immigration policy has lead several states to enact stricter state laws against
immigrants. An article by Dordeski & Steffens reported the Arizona state law, for example,
passed April 20, 2010 gives law enforcement officers the ability to question any individual they
suspect as being unlawfully present (1). The recent Alabama law makes it a crime to drive an
illegal immigrant anywhere even if it is a medical emergency.
According to Passel, these laws have arisen over the fact that there are possibly 12
million illegal immigrants in United States (1). Most of these immigrants live in six states:
California, Texas, Florida, New York, New Jersey, and Arizona. The number of children who are
unauthorized immigrants is close to 1.5 million. The PEW Hispanic Center estimates that 82
percent of the United States population growth is due to immigration ("An Immigration Reform
Agenda for the 112th Congress" 7). Garling indicates that legal immigration has risen to an
average of 1 million a year with an estimated 700,000 illegal aliens bringing a total immigration
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to 1.5 million annually (4). State officials see immigration growth as a threat to their local
economy.
Economic, social, ethical, and political issues have appeared as a result of the influx of
immigrants. As Sonia Nazario (Enrique’s Journey) explained in her lecture, it is not an easy
issue to discuss. Most people do not want to know about the social issues when they are
depressing and disheartening. When people hear of jobs being threatened and welfare being
used, they are against immigrants regardless of the hardships they endured to get here.
When viewing governmental statistics, it is easy to see why many people are against
illegal immigration and amnesty in an economic sense. The Center for Immigration Studies
estimates the cost to the government by illegal aliens not paying taxes is $10.4 billion per year.
(Lopez 4) The U.S. Department of Labor reports that illegal immigrants take jobs that would be
filled by American citizens and legal immigrants. Money sent to illegal immigrants’ families in
other countries also negatively impacts the economy. In 2005, Mexico’s central bank reported
that $20 billion was sent from the United States to Mexicans. (Lopez 5) Health care is another
issue. In the United States, law requires hospitals to treat anyone who needs emergency care. In
Texas and Arizona, hospitals have reported over $75 million in uncompensated costs. (Lopez 7)
Some opponents to immigration contend that it changes our American culture. They
propose that immigrants will challenge the laws and change the culture of the American people.
They cite examples such as the town in El Cenizo, Texas that adopted Spanish as it official
language rather than English and that fact that schools have been forced to hire many more ESL
teachers than in the past. President Bush saw this issue as the face of a New America. He had his
speeches translated to Spanish and published on the White House website. Others see
immigration as a positive trend for the United States. As immigrants move to the United States
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and report back to their native countries the positives of the United States, it helps elevate the
United States’ reputation among other countries.
On the ethical side, issues of racism are abundant. Some opponents point to the
September 11th terrorist attack as a major reason to restrict immigrants of Muslim descent. In
California where Proposition 187 was passed (and later repealed), the Latino voters had
supported the measures towards illegal immigrants. They felt the illegals had “heightened job
competition, depressed wages, overcrowded government services, and reduced the quality of
life” (Navario 256). The Border Program was formed as the result of the influx of Hispanic
immigrants. Illegal immigration is seen as a security issue. Even though most of these
immigrants pose no direct or immediate security threat, their method of entering the country
“distorts the law, distracts resources, and effectively creates a cover for terrorists and criminals”
(Kane and Johnson 2). As Nazario (Enrique’s Journey) explained during her lecture, the trip
was a dangerous one filled with hazards from guards, bandits, gangstas, corrupt cops, and
weather conditions. This journey emphasizes the issue of racism and border control.
Due to these negative impacts on the United States, it easy to see the need to change the
immigration laws. However, when working on changing the policy to a stricter one, the
humanitarian issues must be addressed. Nazario makes a very compelling argument to find a way
to help these immigrants. In her book, Enrique’s Journey, she provides a look into the atrocities
many immigrants go through to come to the United States. As Nazario reports, once the children
are here, they have resentment of their mothers who left them behind. Many of the young girls
are molested by a male relative and the young boys join gangs. (Nazario 250) As the young lady
said during the Matriculation speech, “I am a human.” When we look at immigration in the light
of humanity rather than dollars and cents, then we need to evaluation the immigration policies to
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see how these oppressed people can be helped. The process for obtaining United States
citizenship is complicated and expensive. The process can also take years. Naturalization is the
process in which a person can obtain U.S. citizenship. The immigration policy requirements
vary depending on the characteristics of the applicant. Most applicants have to have been here
for five years with physical presence from 18-30 months. ("Immigration Policy in the United
States" 18)
As indicated by Nazario, many of the immigrants are women and children. Women from
Latin American countries see no other way to provide for their children than to try to enter the
United States in order to send money back. When their mothers leave, the children then began
the illegal entrance into the United States in search of their mothers. As indicated by Enrique’s
story and many others, deportation is not the answer. They will continue to try until they are
either killed or successful. The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM)
Act was developed to address the approximately 65,000 undocumented students in the United
States. Many of these students were brought to the country as small children have not known any
country other than the United States. Most are bilingual and did not know they were not legal
residents until they began applying for driver’s licenses or for college admissions. The DREAM
Act would be a positive move for the United States by reducing drop-out rate, increasing taxable
income, and increasing educational opportunities for illegal adolescents. (“The DREAM Act” 2)
Some ways to help these immigrants as listed by Nazario are to create jobs in the
countries where the most immigrants are originating. By creating jobs, these immigrants would
have a livelihood to support their families and would not be trying to enter the United States in
order to get a job. The communities would be self-supporting and future generations would have
hope for being able to have a job. Also, providing loans, promoting education, and providing
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family planning would also help these communities. They would provide ways for the people to
provide for their families and have a good outlook for the future.
Illegal immigrants cause problems socially, economically, ethically, and politically.
These immigrants place undue burden on the United States citizens to care for them because
immigrants are fifty times more likely to use welfare than citizens. The immigrants cause
population growth which causes “problems of traffic congestion, urban sprawl, environmental
degradation, overburdened health care systems, overwhelmed public schools, and debt-ridden
state and municipal governments” ("An Immigration Reform Agenda for the 112th Congress" 1).
After considering all of these arguments, the United States Immigration Policy needs to
be changed. The rationale for an American Immigration policy should be discussed in the spirit
of this quote from Ronald Reagan.
“America is really many Americans. We call ourselves a
nation of immigrants, that’s what we are. We have drawn people from
every corner of the Earth…We have a statue in New York Harbor that
speaks of this-a statue of a woman holding a torch of welcome to those
who enter our country to become Americans…She welcomes them still.
She represents our open door.
All of the immigrants who came to us brought their own
music, literature, customs, and ideas. And the marvelous thing, a thing of
which we’re proud, is they did not have to relinquish these things in order
to fit in. In fact, what they brought to America became American. And this
diversity has more than enriched us; it has literally shaped us.” (Riley)
America is truly a melting pot of all nationality. By depriving others of the freedoms and
riches enjoyed in America, America is deprived of other culture’s diversities. When changing the
immigration policy, we need to not only look at the economic side but also to the humanitarian
side of the issue. Something has to be done to help those who have been caught by the system.
It also has to do something about the large number of illegal immigrants who cross the border
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daily. It will take a committee of people on both sides looking at the best solutions for each of
these issues and taking the step to do something in a positive manner. Not everyone is going to
agree with the policy but it needs changes to help the immigrants who want to come to the
United States and to help with those who are here illegally who want to stay. As Nazario stated
immigrants bring “new blood, new ideas, and new ways of looking at things that drive creativity
and spur advances” (253).
More than two-thirds of Americans think the government should reduce immigration
from the current level as reported by Nazario (258). The Immigration Policy Center indicates
that comprehensive immigration reform would actually stimulate the economy. (Hinojosa-Ojeda
1) It indicates that reform would allow unauthorized immigrants to become citizens and would
lead to increases in tax revenues, increase in consumer spending, increase in home buying and an
increase in new businesses. (Hinojosa-Ojeda 1)
Some solutions offered by Kane and Johnson are worth considering. They advocate a
guest worker program. They support a biometric identification (fingerprints, retina scans) for
guest workers that can be accessed nationwide. They maintain incentives for compliance with the
guest worker program and an incentive for unauthorized workers to sign up rather than the
punitive deportation threat. Immigration reform would need to include less red tape for
companies and individuals who need guest workers.(Kane and Johnson 3-6) Riley wrote that
officials at Department of Homeland Security feel it would help to nationalize the illegal aliens
that are already here so that they could track their activities. The officials also indicated that
increased security should be paired with a plan for more lawful ways for migrants to enter and
get legitimate jobs. (Riley 202-205) Nazario (Enrique’s Journey) had suggestions for improving
the countries from which most immigrants migrate. She included ideas for providing loans,
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developing trade policies, promoting education, developing democratic governments, and
implementing family planning. By strengthening these poorer countries, it would lessen their
desire to come to America because they would have a livelihood to provide for their children.
These solutions and ideas could be part of the reformed immigration policy.
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Works Cited
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coverage. The Health Lawyer, 23(2), 35-35-43. Retrieved from
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"The DREAM Act." Immigration Policy Center. Web. 08 Oct. 2011.
<http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/just-facts/dream-act>.
Enrique's Journey. By Sonia Nazario. Terry Concert Hall, Jacksonville. 30 Sept. 2011.
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