“No one is illegal on stolen land.”
It’s funny how this argument is primarily unique to the United States, given that every nation exists on land that was once taken from someone else.
In no way am I justifying genocide, but what I am doing is pointing out the absurdity of an argument that suggests that every country is in the wrong for the way that they acquired their territory.
There are no countries in the world with truly open borders.
Some regional agreements, like the European Union’s Schengen Area and the Common Travel Area between the UK and Ireland, allow for free movement without passport or visa checks between member states. But still, even these “open-border areas” are limited to residents of specific states.
I sympathize with those who seek refuge from persecution and new opportunities in America. But unfortunately, the safety that immigrants are searching for is compromised when millions of immigrants lacking legal status, some who are dangerous with criminal backgrounds, come into America undocumented.
As illegal immigration has increased, so has the trafficking of drugs such as fentanyl, with drug overdoses killing around 100,000 Americans a year.
According to the Policing Institute, an estimated 12 million immigrants, or 30 percent of the foreign-born population, are unauthorized. The number of undocumented immigrants has quadrupled since 1994.
On the other hand, there are millions more who have spent years waiting for one of the numerically limited visas to become available. Those who choose the legal process undergo numerous obstacles to ensure that their application is accepted: application fees, medical screenings, interviews and hours of studying.
A common argument by those who are against the deportation of immigrants is that they’re immigrating for good reasons. And though it may come as a surprise, I don’t disagree that the majority of their intentions are pure.
But take a look at it this way.
The homeless epidemic in America is absolutely heart-wrenching. According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, homelessness has increased over 18% in the last several years.
An easy solution for an individual to escape homelessness, assuming there were no legal consequences, would be to reside in a random person’s home.
Of course, trespassing is illegal. Just because the intentions behind a crime are pure of heart doesn’t mean that the crime itself is okay. The same expectation should be set for immigrants who did not come here legally.
The economy is another factor to look at when deliberating the effect that immigrants without legal status have.
As explained by the director of research for the Center of Immigration Studies, these immigrants are a net fiscal drain. That means that when weighing the gains versus losses that they have on the economy, there is a greater loss overall.
The fundamental reason why they are a net drain is that they have a low average education level, which results in low average earnings and tax payments. It also means a large share qualify for welfare programs, often receiving benefits on behalf of their U.S. born children.
Overwhelmingly, the tax payments of these immigrants do not come close to covering the cost they create.
Immigration, when done legally, is a wonderful aspect of American culture. Jimmy Carter once said that “we are not a melting pot, but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, (and) different dreams.”
The immigration process is not easy. No one ever said it was. But instead of allowing people to bypass said process completely, the focus should be on providing the best possible resources to allow people to immigrate the legal way.