Immigration Reform Research Paper

Caralee Layne
Al Maginnes
English 112
April 18, 2015
The United States Is In Desperate Need Of An Immigration Reform Illegal immigration into the United States has drastically increased throughout the twentieth century. There are millions of immigrants in our country who are currently living under the threat of deportation because of their undocumented status. The most considerable challenge for policymakers is distinguishing apparent immigration problems from authentic problems. Congressional members have taken an approach that focuses exclusively on border security, which has not been successful thus far. If Congress continues to pass laws without taking into consideration the fundamental contradictions of existing state affairs, then
People come here for the promise of freedom and opportunity. However, immigrant workers are exploited and discriminated against. These so called “illegal aliens” happen to contribute to the development of our nation in many ways, such as paying taxes, creating new jobs by opening businesses, and making scientific discoveries that transform entire industries. For example, as of 2010, nearly five hundred companies had at least one founder who was an immigrant. These companies include AT&T, Verizon, Kraft, Comcast, Intel, Google, Sun Microsystems, United States Steel, Qualcomm, eBay, Nordstrom, and Yahoo (“Immigration Reform” 1). Although it is true that immigrants do more contributing than anything else, many Americans refuse to believe in this fact. Usually, those seeking to reside in the United States are part of racial or ethnic groups that are minorities in this country. Therefore, anti-immigration views and behaviors are often affiliated with racism. This effect is partially due to the fact that previous attempts to regulate immigration were based on racism or nativism. Procuring the participation of previously excluded groups is the key ending
Due to our current immigration system, family members can sometimes wait ten to twenty years to be reunited with loved ones (Bruno 5). Our American values teach us that families are sacred and serve as the building block of our communities. Separating husbands from wives, sisters from brothers, and children from parents creates worthless suffering that negatively affects the prosperity of our communities. Immigrants who are waiting for the approval to come to the United States are not allowed to visit in the mean time, which means they cannot legally visit their family members who reside in the U.S. for many years. Lili Farhang, the co-director of Human Impact Partners, explains the importance of keeping families united with this statement: “The lives of children with undocumented immigrant parents or guardians in the United States are saturated with fear, fear that the people they love and depend on will be arrested and taken away from them at any moment without warning. Many of these children were born here and are U.S. citizens. But under current immigration policy, their families can be torn apart with an arrest and deportation with little regard for their wellbeing or futures” (Farhang 1). With that being said, it is clear that our country needs an immigration reform that maintains and protects family unity to reverse the damage caused by the current American