Immigration Legalization
I believe it is the duty of the federal government to set realistic, comprehensive immigration laws that can then be enforced and/or expanded upon by state and local government. The process of legalization should be streamlined so those immigrants living here or wanting citizenship can obtain it quickly and efficiently. This will allow for them to legally work and pay the appropriate taxes. If congress is unwilling to address this issue that affects a majority of states then I believe it should be within the states’ power to set a standard that is in accordance with the views of the citizens living within those states, even if I don’t agree with those views.
Personally, I find most of my political views can be summed up by saying I am …show more content…
I think if immigrants want to be here illegally because they think they can have a better life so be it, but they do so at their own risk. There should be risk involved with being somewhere you’re not supposed to be. States should not be embracing them with a welcome bag full of goodies. At the same time laws like Arizona’s SB 1070 are too aggressive in my view. It goes too far to give law enforcement officials the right to “check the immigration status of anyone they suspect of being in the country without authorization” as Karthick Ramakrishnan and Pratheepan Gulasekaram phrase it in their article. There is too much room left for harassment and personal prejudice with that situation. We should not be patrolling the streets looking for Latino people to check on their status. But we shouldn’t make it too easy for them to remain here illegally. It should be difficult for them to find work and living accommodations while they are illegal. If it’s so easy to live here and thrive while illegal why would they go through the trouble of becoming legal? Why start paying taxes if you don’t have to? There would be no incentive for them to change.
As to the question of if it is constitutional for the states to pass laws on immigration I referred to FindLaw.com. According to this, “The U.S. Congress has control over all immigration-related regulations, while the White House is in charge of enforcing immigration laws.” A DOJ brief was also released saying, “Setting immigration policy and enforcing immigration laws is a national responsibility. Seeking to address the issue through a patchwork of state laws will only create more problems than it
Personally, I find most of my political views can be summed up by saying I am …show more content…
I think if immigrants want to be here illegally because they think they can have a better life so be it, but they do so at their own risk. There should be risk involved with being somewhere you’re not supposed to be. States should not be embracing them with a welcome bag full of goodies. At the same time laws like Arizona’s SB 1070 are too aggressive in my view. It goes too far to give law enforcement officials the right to “check the immigration status of anyone they suspect of being in the country without authorization” as Karthick Ramakrishnan and Pratheepan Gulasekaram phrase it in their article. There is too much room left for harassment and personal prejudice with that situation. We should not be patrolling the streets looking for Latino people to check on their status. But we shouldn’t make it too easy for them to remain here illegally. It should be difficult for them to find work and living accommodations while they are illegal. If it’s so easy to live here and thrive while illegal why would they go through the trouble of becoming legal? Why start paying taxes if you don’t have to? There would be no incentive for them to change.
As to the question of if it is constitutional for the states to pass laws on immigration I referred to FindLaw.com. According to this, “The U.S. Congress has control over all immigration-related regulations, while the White House is in charge of enforcing immigration laws.” A DOJ brief was also released saying, “Setting immigration policy and enforcing immigration laws is a national responsibility. Seeking to address the issue through a patchwork of state laws will only create more problems than it