Illegal Immigration

Illegal Immigration

Immigration, legal or otherwise, is a huge issue right now.

Debates rage about how many immigrants should be allowed into the

country and how zealously we should guard out border from illegal

intruders. To a point, these people are correct, illegal

immigration is something that should be stopped. People should

not cross the border illegally or overstay on visits. The

important question is, however, does illegal immigration deserve

the massive amount of attention it receives? No, it does not.

By looking at the respected immigrants of the past and thinking

about the issues in a clear and objective way, it becomes

apparent that illegal immigration (and legal immigration, for

that matter) is not as vital an issue as many consider it to be.

A key point in this discussion is that many of those who are

vehemently opposed to illegal immigration are also opposed to

large amounts of legal immigration as well.

English: Bangladeshi illegals in India.

English: Poster of Hannah Senesh ship illegal immi...

Immigration Debate at The Weissberg Forum For Disc...

These thinly hidden

agendas mean that often the debate on illegal immigration cannot

be separated from the debate on legal immigration.

According to Negative Population Growth (which is a suspect

source), Americans are firmly believe in tough laws against

illegal immigrants and that 70% of Americans want no more than

300,000 legal immigrants to enter the U.S. per year. In fact,

N.P.G. says that 20% of Americans want immigration completely

stopped. Taking these numbers as the truth, it is clear that

America thinks that we have too many immigrants.

Such a dislike of immigration is interesting considering the

success of past immigration. Many people would say that today's

immigrants are somehow different than those of the past.

However, the truth is that the similarities between the

immigrants of today and those of the past are numerous. Their

reasons for coming to this country are often similar.