Immigration Policy

The United States is a nation of immigrants whose citizens are battling with each other over immigration policy. Immigration is an active political topic today, and arguably one of the strongest topics in many elections over the past decades. Some want to close the borders and deport as many as possible, while others want to open the borders and give immigrants the same rights and benefits as citizens. As with most political topics though, there isn’t one clearly defined act that could solve the problem. The steps that should be taken to help the immigration problem are to reduce border control, implement a more open legal immigration process, and enforce harsher penalties on the employers of illegal immigrants. Border control is an issue pushed heavily by the Republicans, ironically the same party that pushed for the removal of the Berlin Wall. “There are three reasons for a border wall: to establish sovereignty over unruly lands, protect the wealth of the population, and to protect cultural practices from the influence of other value systems” (Jones 70).The United States border control is primarily for the latter two reasons, even though it is quite often misrepresented as a response to terrorism. It aims to protect the wealth of the country by keeping immigrants out and to protect the cultural practices from other countries. It fails in these areas as the cost involved in controlling our borders is “over 14 billion yearly,”(Mendoza) and the cultural practices of the United States are previously from other countries. Too much time and money is wasted by former immigrants of this country to defend a border from immigrants “that the Border Patrol estimates is only 35% effective” (qtd in Jones 70). A more open immigration process should be implemented in the United States. While most people think becoming legal is easy, in reality it is quite difficult. “Illegal immigrants can become legal in one of three ways; humanitarian grounds, having a family member who