The United States of America is a nation that was founded by immigrants. There is not a single belief or religion that unified its people; rather, diversity is at the very foundation of American culture. As the 2016 presidential election draws nearer, candidates are discussing the issue of immigration thoroughly. The estimated number of undocumented immigrants within the United States is roughly 11.4 million people, which is approximately four times the population of Connecticut. The immigration situation is a looming problem, but few have devised an effective plan to address it.
Republican candidate Donald Trump has been very vocal on his stance on immigration. Mr. Trump specifically objects to birthright citizenship, which states that once illegal immigrants give birth on U.S. soil, their child automatically gains the rights of a United States citizen. Trump believes a system should be implemented to deport all illegal immigrants. He proposes the construction of a wall between the United States and Mexico to deter undocumented immigrants from attempting to enter the United States. His plan is to make Mexico pay for the wall’s installation as compensation for Mexico sending their “criminals, drug dealers, and rapists” over the border. Carly Fiorina, another Republican candidate, disagrees with many of Donald Trump’s ideas. She is in favor of birth-right citizenship because she believes that children should not be punished for the choices of their parents. Moreover, Fiorina thinks that a wall would be largely ineffective and instead emphasizes the importance of increased border security. She advocates for the use of technology to control the numbers of immigrants coming into the country.
Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton has had multiple positions on the issue over the past several decades. Her most recent belief is that everyone deserves the right to citizenship. She criticizes candidates like Donald Trump for their rigid stance. Clinton repudiates the deportation of immigrants; she supports President Barack Obama, who has implemented programs that protect unauthorized individual’s rights. Hillary Clinton has stated that “not one” Republican candidate supports a path to citizenship. In response, Republican candidate Jeb Bush has called Clinton out for flip-flopping between stances. He mentioned that Clinton had initially supported sending “unaccompanied minors” back to their home countries and voted for an amendment that stopped immigration reform while she was a senator. Thus, it is clear that the candidates’ stances on immigration vary, suggesting that it is not a partisan issue.
As a member of a country created by immigrants and governed by immigrants, I profoundly object to those who discourage immigration to the United States. The creation of a wall is one of the worst symbols a politician could use, closing a country’s doors on the rest of the world. The United States would disavow a message that it once wholeheartedly embraced: that every person, no matter creed, race, nor religion, has the right to become a United States citizen. However, I do think that it is unfair to people who have worked hard to earn citizenship to allow illegal immigrants to have an automatic right to citizenship. Children should not be held accountable for their parents’ actions, but I believe that increased border patrol would largely prevent these occurrences from happening. At the same time, the federal government needs to design a more comprehensive way for immigrants to gain citizenship. The United States, long defined by its approach to immigration, should continue to offer a route to citizenship so that it will remain, to paraphrase the 18th-century, French-American writer Crèvecœur, the world’s great asylum.
