Friday, March 16, 2007

Hot Topic

In Dennis Baron’s essay “Don’t Make English Official- Ban It Instead” he gives some logical falsities for banning English. However, underneath his satirical approach Baron addresses a major political issue: immigration.

If you have read any major (or rural) newspaper lately then you have most likely seen an article dealing with immigration. Whether the article addresses language barriers or a presidential candidate’s stance on the immigration policy, the fact remains that immigration is becoming a serious issue we are going to have to face.

Today hundreds of people immigrate to America. Some come because of the American dream, others because their families live here, still others come to escape a harsh government. For whatever reasons people do come- and in large numbers. It is this explosion of immigrants that has many Americans ‘up in arms’.

Over the past ten years America has seen a large increase in illegal immigrants. Some people argue that these ‘illegals’, as they have been labeled, are a drain on taxpayers dollars. Many people worry about overpopulation of America. Another big concern is the number of offspring from illegal aliens filling the public school system. And of course there is the language barrier.

However, there is another side to this argument: the immigrants. There are some justified and often unvoiced reasons behind illegal immigration. Imagine that you were living without running water, plumbing or electricity. Also imagine that your daily wage was only a few dollars and that just 50 miles away people were making four times what you did working the same job. This is a valid situation. Granted not every illegal immigrant has this situation; some enter illegally because they simply do not want to wait.

What are your views on this ‘hot topic'? Can you see both sides of the story? Or do you take a rigid stance on a particular view?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, I think that if someone wants to come live here they should do it legally. Then, if they needed help, the government could help them.

It would also take some stress off of them. They wouldn't have to worry about being found out and deported.

Also, it isn't like we sneak into their countries. We have to go into their country legally.

Anonymous said...

Jordan I agree with you. I would like to go into more depth though about the immigrents coming in legally. I think when they apply for citizenship the test should be harder to weed out the immigrents that are just coming here for the heck of it to live here. I don't have a problem with immigrents coming and living here if they have a decent job and they are US citizens.

Anonymous said...

You said it Jordan! I have always believed that if immigrants want to come to America, then by all means come, but come legally.

However, I will never side with illegal aliens no matter what there story is. Furthermore, I believe that the United States should tighten up border control. If they want to break the law, I'm all for shooting them. Sure it is more convenient for them to simply jump the fence instead of doing it legally, but it creates a strain on our government that doesn't need to be there.

However, I believe that there will come a day when the United States will no longer be able to take in immigrants. There is only so much space, and as far as I am concerned, it is first come-first served.

Anonymous said...

I agree with Matt. If you can come to this country and get all the proper things done then i welcome you. What I don't like is the number of illegal aliens coming in our country by the thousands each day. But there's basically nothing we can do about it as of right now.

Anonymous said...

In response to Jordan’s comment, I agree that people should legally try to get citizenship in America, but some people migrating from poor countries don’t have a choice. Think about the horrible situations they faced back in their own country. I know I would try to migrate to a different country if I faced them horrific situations.

Anonymous said...

Jordan I agree with you also. I believe is someone wants to live a free life they should migrate to a free country, such as the U.S. I also believe if the immigrants wants to become a citizen of the United State they should go through all the task to become a legal alien.Because in the long run if you are found to be an illegal that's more problems you have to deal with.