Thursday, February 11, 2016

Reestablishing the American Dream

For over half a century, the United States has been the country with the highest international migrant population in the world.  As of 2013, there are over 45 million immigrants living in America (14.3% of the population).  In addition to those 45 million, there are approximately 11.3 million unauthorized immigrants living in the United States.  Because of this, there is an ongoing debate in America over immigration policies. This debate predominantly focuses on illegal immigrants from Mexico, of which there are 5.6 million living in the U.S. as of 2014 (49% of illegal immigrants).  

Immigration has been especially pertinent in the 2016 presidential election.  Some candidates take firm stances that denounce the current standing of immigration policy in the U.S. and look to decrease our immigrant population drastically while other candidates want to help the millions of immigrants living in our country by granting them some form of citizenship.  In my eyes, given the current immigrant population of the U.S. it would be too difficult and messy to deport all the illegal immigrants in the United States.  A possible solution would be to allow unauthorized immigrants currently working in the U.S. to be given a work visa that allows them to stay in the country as long as they have a stable job, and could even be upgraded to full citizenship in the long-run.  This would create stability in many families that rely on a family member who is in the U.S. illegally.  Most importantly, it would reestablish the American dream for all the people that want to live in o great country. 

1 comment:

  1. I agree with your argument. However, what do you think should be done about people who leave their families behind to come to America? Should their families be allowed to come to the United States? I like how you mention the American Dream, because I agree that people come here to start a new and better life for themselves, and that that is what America should be all about.

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