Immigration Issues In America Essay

498 Words2 Pages
The strangest aspect of America’s immigration debate is the intense opposition among right-wing hardliners to allowing more immigrants into the country. Most opposition to illegal immigrants stems from an admirable respect for the law, but there is a curious belief among the far right that being on the wrong side of the border—purely through an accident of birth—makes you undeserving of equal rights. They wish to deny citizenship to those who are willing to work for it, when they themselves acquired it through no effort save that of having been born on the right side of the border. These same people, curiously enough, are also of the following opinions: no one is entitled to anything, people who work harder than others deserve more, and the economy should be free from government regulation. This much the amusingly named teabaggers have made clear in hundreds of “tea parties” organized to protest government policies they view as “socialistic”. Yet these same…show more content…
By denying immigrants the means to arrive in the country legally, conservative immigration policies have created unmonitored channels of travel that are open not only to immigrants, but terrorists as well. Smuggling people across the border for a fee is a lucrative business, and the punishment if caught is less harsh than that for smuggling drugs. Ironically, this problem of their own making has only increased hatred for illegal immigrants, who are blamed for compromising border security. Typically, the conservative response has been to advocate for policies that would only treat the symptoms of the problem rather than solving it, by funneling money into increasing border patrols and constructing a wall along the border with Mexico. Somehow, this costly and wholly unnecessary program is preferable to the simple solution of allowing immigrants to come in legally, allowing us to better monitor and control who enters the
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