By Sam Walter
Class of 2019
Illegal immigration. I’m sure that some thoughts came to mind upon reading those words. You probably think that this is a serious issue, or you think that it is an exaggerated problem. If you are the second type of person, I’m going to try and convince you otherwise.
Some people will point out the economic benefits of illegal immigrants remaining in the country in the form of cheap labor. But these economic benefits come at the expense of American citizens employment and the exploitation of illegal immigrants. Illegal immigrants are often exploited by their employers. They are often underpaid and overworked. Even if these problems were resolved with labors laws and regulations, the cheap labor that illegal immigrants provide would be no more, defeating their benefit to the U.S. economy.
Every job held by an illegal immigrant is a job that an American citizen doesn’t have. Since there are millions (12.5 million according to the Federation For American Immigration Reform) of illegal immigrants in the country, that means that there are millions of job opportunities being taken from American citizens. The U.S. government has a duty to protect the best interests of the American people. This duty is being neglected as long as massive amounts illegal immigrants remain the country.
Let’s address nationhood and national sovereignty. Every nation has borders. Every nation regulates who can and can’t enter. No nation can remain a nation if it allows millions of people to illegally enter. Anyone who illegally enters the country must be forced to leave. Our government is not taking enough action to make them leave. The U.S. federal government’s inability to solve this problem makes it look weak.
Some individuals will say that we are a nation of immigrants. It is true that America is a country founded and built by foreigners. However, violating a nation’s immigration laws and entering it illegally is not justified just because it was built by immigrants.
Another concern I have deals with assimilation. The problem with illegal immigrants isn’t just that they are breaking the law. Large numbers of illegal immigrants don’t adopt American culture. They speak the language and practice the culture of their home country. If we continue to allow millions of people who entered it illegally to stay in America; if we allow people to come in and provide more competition for our already struggling working class; if we allow people who don’t care about our culture and traditions, then America as we know it will cease to be.
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