Immigration Reform Essay

Immigration Reform
Throughout history, and even today, people around the world have been taught that the United States is a melting pot of different ethnicities, belief systems, and cultures. America has had many attempts at immigration reform, with policies such as the DREAM Act or President Obama’s immigration executive orders. While these policies had excellent intentions, many of them have fallen short in providing the proper reformation this country needs. Borders are important, and it should be required for everyone in the country to pay taxes, but immigration reform is necessary if the United States is to continue being the great power it has always been. Immigration reform needs to be pushed through Congress to the President’s desk.

The actions of these executive orders are not overreaching. President Obama aimed to allow hardworking immigrants such as the recipients of the DREAM Act and their parents to begin the journey down the pathway to citizenship. These immigration orders were intended for families, not all immigrants. Criminals would be deported, and strict background checks would be enforced in order to be eligible. A person has to have been in the country for at least five years, they must register with the government, and border security would have also increased. The same “high moral standing required of DREAM Act students” would have “been required for all immigrants in order to fall within the parameters of these executive orders” (Transcript). This is not overreaching, it is a compromise for both democrats and republicans. Increased deportations and border security appeal to the Republican Party, while Democratic planks such as the legalization of immigrants are met. These are the people who have been in the country for half a decade, enough time to put down roots, make friends, and become a part of life here in America. The country would not be what it is today without immigrants, and treating them poorly gets the nation nowhere. Unfortunately, the president’s immigration reforms are tied up in the Supreme Court, as politicians in Washington cannot remove themselves from the gridlock long enough to observe what is best for the nation. Claims of illegality will keep the executive orders paused, and “Washington would have to pour even more resources into already dysfunctional immigration bureaucracies”