Issue 2013: Immigration Reform

by Jasmine Smith

When President Obama ran for office in 2008, one of the main priorities on his agenda was to reform the immigration policy. But with the fiscal cliff, high unemployment rates, and debates about gun control, the topic of immigration has been put on the back burner during his first term. Last year, over 400,000 illegal immigrants have been deported, and with an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States, the problem of immigration can no longer be ignored.

Immigrants that were brought to this country illegally as young children should not be subject to arrest or deportation. These children were brought here by their parents, not through their own will, and brought up through the American school system, so therefore they consider themselves to be American. All the parents wanted is a better opportunity for their children, an opportunity that may not be available to them in their own country. Why should the children have to suffer because of the crimes that their parents committed? Under the Dream Act, undocumented young immigrants can achieve legal status in this country through a six year long plan. As long as they plan to work, go to school, or serve in our military and have a clean criminal record, immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally as children should be allowed to fulfill the American dream.

Critics of the Dream Act argue that allowing illegal immigrants to have the same opportunities as American born citizens disadvantages those who were actually born here. They believe that since they especially have an advantage because of affirmative action, the illegals are taking job opportunities and college slots that were rightfully ours. But they fail to realize that we all, at one point in our ancestry, were immigrants to this country. In 1492, Christopher Columbus and his crew “discovered” an already inhabited land, kicked the natives out of their own homes, settled on a land that wasn’t theirs, and renamed it “America”. This nation was founded on the basis of being a land of opportunity, and hopefully in the future the Dream Act will be edited in a way such that every opportunity can be equally attained by all.