Immigration reform

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Immigration Reform
Developed nations such as US, Canada, UK, and Australia among others will always attract immigrants who are who are searching for better lives. The major problem has been the point that many of the immigrants normally don’t follow the proper channels of immigration. The US has always had the problem of illegal immigration as immigrants get into the country through the border, more so between Mexico and the US. Most of them enter legally but decides to overstay their visas. The immigration issue had always been a contentious issue where Republicans and Democrats never agree on the matter. Currently, more than 11 million immigrants already live in the US illegally after illegally crossing the border or overstaying even after their visas had been expired. On January 9th, 2018, President Trump had a public meeting with various lawmakers where he intended to enact a bipartisan immigration reform that he termed as “the bill of love” (Mark N.p).
The bill is to secure the border and resolve the fate of young illegal immigrants whose “temporary protection” from deportation is soon expiring. They were shielded temporarily from deportation under the “Obama-era DACA program,” which President Trump intends to terminate starting from March 5th. Such immigration reform would help end the diversity of visa lottery programs that selects randomly about 50,000 immigration applicants every year from nations with low rates of immigration to the US (Hunter 1).

The reforms would affect both highly skilled immigrants as well as international students. The current administration has pointed out that it’s considering certain administrative changes that would make it more difficult for high-skilled immigrants to stay in the US under “the tech-focused H1-B program.” Similarly, it will make it harder for international students to stay and work in the US temporary after graduation. Part of the regulatory objective is to have fewer high-skilled individuals working country, more so in the long term.
The issue of immigration reform is not just a new issue. It is a problem that has been addressed in the past by various government regimes. Ronal Reagan for instance, was the last head of state to win the passage of major immigration reforms earlier in 1986. In 2007, President Bush pushed for a bill that would tighten the security of the US borders while opening a path to citizenship for those illegal immigrants who would have paid fines and also met other conditions. However, the bill was opposed and killed by conservatives. Republican candidates in 2012 focused on deporting the illegal immigrants but the presidential candidate of the party, Mitt Romney was against the move. In November 2012, Hispanic voters cast 71% for President Obama. The following year, bipartisan measures similar to that of Bush was passed by the Senate. However, the Republicans who were the majority refused to pass the bill. President Obama in 2014 issued executive orders that appeared to shield as four million illegal immigrants from being deported. However, the court blocked these orders from taking effect (Hunter 2). Trump later ended the “Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals order” in September. In a nutshell, the immigration has been a contentious issue which has been addressed by various regimes in the past.
With the effort to adopt a bipartisan approach to address the reform, there are still people who are against the Trump’s immigration reform and also those for the reform. The Democrats have been more united on the immigration reform while Republicans have split take on the immigration reform. The border security has been the hard-liner. The price tag for constructing a wall along the whole 1,933 miles, perhaps over 67 billion dollars has some Republican representatives questioning whether the barrier is needed (Hunter 3). They argue that illegal entry can be curbed by border patrol agents, more fencing, and drones among other resources. Based on illegal immigrants already living in the country, some Republicans are in favor of the 2013 Senate Bill, which reflects the interest of the business community. Pollsters have since noted that the anti-immigrant rhetoric of the Republicans has influenced more Hispanics to voting back Democratic candidates. Therefore, some fear it could lead to election losses this year. The economists also warn that deporting illegal immigrants who are already in the workforce may cost the economy up to $5 trillion over ten years (Hunter 3).
Based on my position, it is a reality that the US cannot allow everyone to come to the US because it is unsustainable. Consequently, illegal immigration may also compromise the national security considering the issue of terrorism. However, it should be noted that some people also move to make better lives for their families and themselves. There is the need for immigration system which acknowledges the hardships as well as contributions of individuals moving in the country. It does not mean that the government should relent on illegal immigration. Proper immigration system may do more instead of impractical and expensive strategies like building a 2000-mile wall border or trying to deport millions of people.
Work Cited
Hunter, Kathleen. “Why Debate Over U.S. Immigration Reform Is So Heated.” The Washington Post 1.1 (2018): 3. Print.
Mark, Michelle. “Politics: Trump Just Held An Extraordinary Public Negotiation With Congress On Immigration.” Pulselive.co.ke. N.p., 2018. Web. 18 Jan. 2018.