Immigration Law – Pros and Cons

Introduction

Immigration law is a government’s national policy that controls the process of immigration to the country. Of course, immigration laws vary from country to country. The problem is that nowadays certain countries provide rather strict laws that regulate the right of entry and internal rights of a particular citizen.

The internal rights of a citizen include the right to participate in government elections. The laws also set up the duration of stay in the country. Since the colonial times, the immigration laws experienced great progress.

History of Immigration Law and its Progress

First immigration laws were created during the colonial times by independent colonies. In order to naturalize foreigners the government issued the Naturalization Act of 1790. However, it was not efficient and a few years later the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed to stop the immigration of Asian people. This act allowed the U.S. to stop the process of immigration. Such restriction was made for a term of 10 years (Proper, Emberson, 2003).

Later the number of immigrants that were permitted to enter the country was taken under control and the so-called quota was put on immigrants by the following acts: the Emergency Quota Act (1921) and the Immigration Act of 1924. This made the process of naturalization more complicated and a huge number of acts led to the creation of the Immigration and Naturalization Service in 1952.

Nowadays the problem of immigration is one the most complicated problems in the American society. There are plenty of thoughts concerning this problem. The experts consider that the future of national economy and political life in general is in a dangerous situation. It is caused by a huge number of immigrants, especially illegal ones (USCIS, 2012)

People immigrate because many reasons. Some immigrate in a search of better living conditions, others are looking for a business growth. Businesspersons often visit new countries to set up their business and to earn more money. We cannot say that the process of immigration has only positive sides but there are some disadvantages as well.

The immigration laws include numerous issues concerning borders’ militarization, economic burden, deportation, amnesty and others. Every problem has two sides or so-called pros and cons. Talking in general, disadvantages are far more serious than positive sides. So does immigration bring with it? Cultural exchange, new avenues in career and education, economic growth and distribution of population are some of the advantages that immigration presents.

When we immigrate, we exchange cultural values and traditions. Of course, as a result we get particular knowledge and experience. Experts consider this as a way of communication with other countries.

On the other side, some years ago, the mass media were concerned with the number of immigrants and they called them ‘illegal’. The National Association of Hispanic Journalists expressed their point of view. They asked the media to never use such kind of words or terms, and suggested using the term ‘undocumented workers’.

Among the disadvantages of immigration there are: transfer of diseases, unfair distribution of national wealth, financial burden, brain drain etc. The authority is concerned with violence and diseases transferred by immigrants as well as distribution of national wealth.

The problem of diseases has become one of the most important issues. It is so important that some countries are checking immigrants after their arrival to detect any diseases. It is well known that in 1969 one of the most serious diseases, called AIDS, was brought to the USA. Therefore, we can say that immigration has more cons rather than pros (Web).

Students may have some background knowledge about immigration from such popular novels as ‘Esperanza Rising’ or ‘Small Goodness’. The novels show the reasons of immigration that started in the early 1900s. These were the times of unemployment, low salary and growing tension between countries.

However, can patriotism be transferred through the immigration? This question became of a vital importance during the last few years. There are many forums where immigrants share different information and it can be seen that there are still people, who know what it is to be a patriot. One of the guests left an interesting comment. He notices that sometimes there is an overuse of patriotism and it is not good at all. As an example is a transfer from a nation into one person. It happened in Germany, China in 1930 and now we can see this in the North Korea. However, to be proud of the country that brought you up and gave you everything is a kind of duty, I think (Web).

Another misconception is caused by misunderstanding when using the term called ‘amnesty’. There is a conversation concerning this question. First, Nathan Thornburgh, Time Magazine contributing writer, expressed his opinion on amnesty in an article called “A Case for Amnesty”.

He suggests that illegal aliens should be allowed to become citizens despite the fact that the country fine them and make them attend English classes. It is known that the process of globalization has already depressed the wages so the amnesty won’t do this and will undermine the rule of law.

However, there was another suggestion that can be easily misunderstood or it may sound outrageous. A reporter says that through the immigration we can forgive crimes committed by immigrants in order to restore an order and to offer millions of immigrants a social mobility.

The “Heritage Foundation” in the article called “Immigration” expressed the counterargument. They strongly insist not to give amnesty to illegal aliens. The fact that they are unlawfully present in the country doesn’t give them chance to get a grant because that’s unfair to those people who have legal rights for being in the country. Heritage Foundation believes that people who obey national laws and follow all administrative requirements for legal entrance cannot have the same rights as those who just got into the country in any illegal way. Such illegal immigrants cannot be awarded any benefits as well as the permanent right to stay in the country. They have to be left without any chance for getting citizenship. Those who stay in the country illegally are violating the national law and in such way they encourage people to do the same.

Conclusion

The problem of illegal and legal immigration is one of the issues that will never be solved. There are numerous thoughts and suggestions concerning the immigration process. A lot of journals as well as media highlight different pros and cons. Still immigration can create some basic requirements for exchange of knowledge and culture.

On the other side, it can cause imbalance in society. The human resources and national wealth are in a dangerous situation. It seems that Immigration Law has solution to all the situations. Deportation and amnesty are good ways to solve the immigration issues but they can be unfair to some people. Besides, millions of dollars are spent on deportation each year.

The Immigration Law needs to be re-estimated and changed in order to meet the wishes and requirements of all citizens without any difference. It has to be society friendly.