America’s Broken Immigration System

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There has been lots of controversy on the issues concerning a solution to America’s broken immigration system. Democratic and republican parties can’t seem to agree with one another, leaving reform at a stand-still. Democrats are focused on giving illegal immigrants a path to citizenship while Republicans are focused on border security. The fact is both of these approaches should work in unison with each other to provide the most efficient route in fixing immigration.
Providing a path to citizenship has been labeled as granting amnesty. In 1986, President Ronald Reagan introduced an amnesty plan similar to the one being proposed as a solution for America’s current immigration problems. The 1986 bill required immigrants to prove they were not guilty of crimes, enforced stricter employment laws, and only applied to those who were here before 1982. Unfortunately, this bill failed. Fraudulent documents circulated throughout the system and nearly 90% of the 1.3 million agricultural applications were approved even though fraud had been detected in nearly one third of the applications (Swarns). Because of this failure, Republicans are reluctant to vote for amnesty today. Today’s immigration reforms however, have a much better chance than they did twenty seven years ago. Technology improvements will allow officials to more closely monitor and filter the legitimate applications. Electronic computer systems such as E-Verify will be put in place to help employers confirm legal status. E-Verify is an online program that compares mandatory I-9 work forms to the records of those that the Department of Homeland Security and Social Security have on the employees (“What is E-Verify?”). The program will provide employers with instant, secure, an...

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...08 Dec. 2013.
Matthews, David. "How To Prevent Businesses from Hiring Illegal Immigrants." The Washington Post, 30 Jan. 2013. Web. 07 Dec. 2013.
O'Keefe, Ed. "A Narrow Border-security Agreement Could Pave the Way for Broad Immigration Reform." Washington Post. Washington Post, 29 July 2013. Web. 07 Dec. 2013.
"Outline of the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013." Scribd. Scribd, n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2013.
Press, Associated. "Senate Immigration Plan Would Stiffen Border Security, Increase Surveillance." Fox News. FOX News Network, 10 Apr. 2013. Web. 08 Dec. 2013.
Swarns, Rachel L. "Failed Amnesty Legislation of 1986 Haunts the Current Immigration Bills in Congress." The New York Times. The New York Times, 23 May 2006. Web. 08 Dec. 2013.
"What Is E-Verify?" Homepage. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, n.d. Web. 08 Dec. 2013.

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