Why America Needs Immigration Reform by James Seigh

 As you probably know, illegal immigration is a major problem in modern American society, and you probably agree with me that we should find a solution. I feel that the main reason that some people attempt to illegally immigrate to the United States is because the opportunities for legal immigration have become limited. People are motivated to immigrate to the United States for a variety of reasons such as economic opportunities, political and religious freedom, educational opportunities for their children, health care and a better quality of life that are not available to them in their native countries. Some immigrants may be fleeing their country due to war or famine or natural disaster.  Some people may be immigrating to be reunited with their families or loved ones. People's reasons for immigration may vary, however for many it is so important that they will risk everything they have, including their lives to get to America legally or not. "A gallop poll surveyed 135 countries between 2007 and 2009 finds about 16% of the world's adults would like to move to another country if they had the chance, which roughly translates to 700 million people worldwide. Of that 700 million nearly one-quarter (24%) of these respondents, which translates to more than 165 million adults worldwide, named the United States as their desired country to immigrate to." (Esipova)

 One of the biggest barriers blocking immigrants from achieving legal citizenship is the scarcity of green cards. "Family-based immigration is limited by statute to 480,000 persons per year." (U.S. Immigration) "Employment-based immigration is limited by statute to 140,000 persons per year." (U.S. Immigration) Those are really small numbers relative to the world population.  For most people this is a very long process. For those Immigrants fortunate enough to obtain a green card and then meet the criteria to apply for citizenship, there is tremendous amount of paperwork an  Immigrants also have to face a very difficult citizenship test. If you don't think that's much of a big issue, just listen to some to some of the questions! "25. Why do some states have more Representatives than other states?"the criteria to (100 Questions) "50. Name one right only for United States citizens." (100 Questions) "82. Before he was President, Eisenhower was a general. What war was he in?" (100 Questions) Honestly, can you answer two of these questions without looking up the answers? If Americans can't answer questions about their own nation, how do we expect somebody from an entirely different country to know the answers?

 The answers to our immigration problems are not clear. Many people blame the illegal immigrant for many of America's economic problems. Some people claim that Illegal immigrants are taking jobs away from American workers, but illegal immigrants often work for substandard wages and work under conditions that are not legal. Many immigrants tolerate these conditions in fear of deportation and many US companies and employers are willing to take advantage of this situation because  if they do not have to pay fair wages then they have higher profits. If companies were penalized for the hiring of illegal immigrants, it would discourage illegal immigration. People would not come if there were not so many American companies willing to hire them even when they know they are not legal immigrants or have green cards. There have been some immigration bills to provide more legal opportunities for immigration, like the one by Senator Menendez. "New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez plans to reach out to a South Carolina Republican to craft a bipartisan immigration reform bill in the next Congress." (Chebium 1) "There are many other immigration reform bills that address illegal immigration and create more opportunities for legal immigration." (CIR)

 The answer to our immigration problems is policy reform. Punishing the immigrant for wanting a better life is not the answer. How can you blame somebody for wanting a safe place for their kids to grow up and go to school. In New Jersey we already have approximately 221,000 illegal immigrants that already live and work here. Some of them have lived here for many years and their kids were all born here and they have businesses in  New Jersey towns but never had the opportunity to get a green card or become citizens. Deporting them now because the current laws says that's what has to happen because they are not legal makes no sense, because  the kids are American and they would lose their parent and probably their home because there would be no one to financially support them. The family would be forced to live off of welfare. These kinds of situations are why immigration policy needs to be made less difficult for immigrants to become U.S. citizens.

  "Many immigrants are denied citizenship due to to immigration policy.  Since 1996, when the immigration law reform was first performed, there were more and more naturalization applications denied, at least 85,000 rejections per year.  In  2000,  399,670 applications were rejected. In 2007, there were 89,683 applications denied." (Become U.S. Citizen)

  Our nation was built on immigration, so I don't see why we should make things difficult for other immigrants. If we could streamline our immigration policy with common sense, we could allow more people to immigrate here legally, while discouraging people from coming here illegally.
 

                                                                                                                                            

CITATIONS:

 "U.S. Immigration: How Many Green Cards Are Allotted Each Year?" H1B  K1 Fiancee  NIW  PERM and Labor Certification Immigration Information by H1B Law Firm. Web. 04 Jan. 2011. <http://www.myvisa.com/Visasage/PRnumber.htm>.

"100 Questions for the New U.S. Citizenship Test 2010 :Citizenship Test Tips." Citizenship Test Tips. 1 July 2010. Web. 04 Jan. 2011. <http://citizenshiptesttips.com/100-questions-for-the-new-u-s-citizenship-test-2010>.

 Esipova, Neli, and Julie Ray. "700 Million Worldwide Desire to Migrate Permanently." Gallup.Com - Daily News, Polls, Public Opinion on Government, Politics, Economics, Management. 2 Nov. 2009. Web. 04 Jan. 2011. <http://www.gallup.com/poll/124028/700-Million-Worldwide-Desire-Migrate-Permanently.aspx>.

 Chebium, Raju. "Menendez Hopes for Bipartisan Immigration Reform Bill | Courierpostonline.com | Courier-Post." Courierpostonline.com | Courier-Post | Burlington, Camden and Gloucester Counties News, Community, Entertainment, Yellow Pages and Classifieds. Serving Burlington, Camden and Gloucester Counties, New Jersey. 2 Jan. 2011. Web. 04 Jan. 2011. <http://www.courierpostonline.com/article/20110102/NEWS01/101020334/Menendez-hopes-for-bipartisan-immigration-reform-bill>.

 "Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR)." NILC Home. Web. 04 Jan. 2011. <http://www.nilc.org/immlawpolicy/cir/index.htm>.

 "Become U.S. Citizen | HowTo-Be.com." How To Become - The Excellent Resource about How to Be. 20 Jan. 2010. Web. 04 Jan. 2011. <http://www.howto-be.com/tag/become-u-s-citizen/>.