Immigration+8

“American Wars: The Attack Of The Immigrants” America has forever been known as the land of opportunity; the same way Muhammed Ali has always been known as the greatest fighter that ever lived. With all due respect to Ali, due to old age, he is no longer the great fighter that he was back in the day. America is very quickly losing the prestigious title of “The land of opportunity” and it has nothing to do with old age. The foundation of the United States was laid out and built from the ground up by immigrants. Much like everyone else, immigrants come to the United States, looking for a fresh start and looking to advance through the social classes, paving way for a better life. For many, pursuing the American dream has lead them to an all out nightmare. **Instead of focusing on preventing immigrants from coming over here illegally, illegal immigrants that are already here are now being detained in overcrowded jails and suited with electronic ankle bracelets as a punishment for chasing the American dream**

If illegal immigrants are so harmful to the United States, then the best way to look at it is this way: Suppose the United States was a huge building with a computer network, and one portion of the building happened to receive a vicious computer virus. The clever thing to do is track the virus, and make sure it doesn’t attack every other computer in the network before worrying about the already infected computers. The analogy correlates perfectly with the immigration issue in the United States. Concerning the US-Mexico border, Terence P. Jeffrey of CNS News writes “Even though the Border Patrol now reports that almost 1,300 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border is not under effective control, and the Department of Justice says that vast stretches of the border are “easily breached,” and the Government Accountability Office has revealed that three persons “linked to terrorism” and 530 aliens from “special interest countries” were intercepted at Border Patrol checkpoints last year, the administration is nonetheless now planning to decrease the number of Border Patrol agents deployed on the U.S.-Mexico border.” Decreasing the number of Border Patrol agents deployed on the border doesn’t make any sense when there is constant bickering about the millions of illegal immigrants that are already in the country. It’s as if a little game is being played and the government enjoys detaining and making every immigrant’s life a living hell.

While the border is becoming less secure, the immigrants that are already here are facing immoral punishment. Placing them in detainment centers, mixing them with American prisoners and forcing them to wear electric ankle bracelets are just few of many “solutions” being put into place. In a Washington Post article by Suzanne Gamboa, she writes about Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and the continuation of promised immigration enforcement. “She said Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the part of the Homeland Security Department overseeing detention, would submit to Congress by this fall a plan for detention alternatives, including electronic ankle bracelets.” All that’s left is to open up the facilities to American families for viewing and you have yourself a human zoo.

Americans that are subject to deportation could face the same consequences as Illegal immigrants that are prone to deportation. An American citizenship has been a temporary asset for a long time now and can be revoked under the right circumstances. As of right now, it isn’t clear how Americans with citizenships will be handled and that is something to be worried about. Immigrants aren’t the only ones targeted by this immoral campaign against humanity. “ICE does not have authority over U.S. citizens, even though some U.S. citizens are held for possible deportation. ICE declined to say how the reforms might affect detainees who claim U.S. citizenship” says Suzanne Gamboa. Let’s not forget that detention centers and jail facilities aren’t magically placed on the earth without cost or labor. Hard earned American tax dollars pay for these facilities and it seems like Americans don’t even have a say as to where there dollar goes anymore. I’m sure Americans wouldn’t mind tackling the problem at the source, which is without a doubt, the unsecure borders. The US is spending tax dollars to place immigrants in jail-like detention centers every single day. According to BBC, “During 2008, a total of nearly 380,000 people were in custody or supervised by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which is part of the Department of Homeland Security.” The tremendous amount of effort is directed in the wrong direction, away from the open borders, and it’s a costly mistake being made by the United States.

Like every other major crisis in the United States, the media plays a big role in helping the government move forward with harsh reforms against immigrants. Immigrants are made out to be criminals. Sure, it is against law to cross the border illegally and live amongst American citizens In an article for the New York Times, Randal C. Archibold quotes the Maricopa County Sherrif, Joe Apaio who says ““It has to do with public perception,” he said, noting reports that some illegal immigrants are leaving the area in part because of his deputies. “I think the bad guys apparently are leaving because they know they are here illegally. This is a crime deterrent program, too.””. But why hold them against their will and convince Americans that they are our enemy? It seems like America uses the same page from their book for every major situation. They use the media to create a crisis and blame a certain group of people for it to gain the public’s approval.

Instead of being dramatic and pulling hair over the countless number of illegal immigrants in the country, America should do what it does best, and that is to utilize every single person in this country to feed the capitalistic system. Although many might be completely against the system in general, it would be wise for The US to legalize the illegal immigrants that are here and make efforts to financially benefit from the increase in American citizens. If you have more people in the system, that’s more people paying taxes, less reforms being passed around and less prison facilities the US has to worry about maintaining.