Immigration: What is to be Done - Essay Example

The laws certainly apply to all when they are broken. The federal government, to no one’s surprise, has been no help. For example, the former Bush administration had long supported some form of amnesty which has enraged those that are opposed to illegal aliens living, working or going to school in the U.S. On the other hand, the former administration also endorsed the PATRIOT Act which denies constitutionally guaranteed rights to all people and further punishes immigrants in the effort to win the ‘war on terror.

’ The Obama administration has offered only vague parameters to date. The ‘right’ answer seems to have escaped the government and many individuals as well because of the issue’s many complexities. Numerous polls indicate that a majority of Americans, including Mexican-Americans, want the government to prevent the tidal wave of illegal aliens cascading over the border. Congress is under tremendous public pressure and has recently attempted to undertake the most extensive renovation of the country’s immigration laws in four generations.

Those that support amnesty of illegal aliens currently in the U.S. argue that deportations would result in the splitting of families. Children born in this country could stay but their illegal parents would have to leave. They also express that it would be unfair for a child that has lived in the U.S. all their life to be suddenly thrust into the conditions of a third world country. The guest worker program is a fair, viable plan. A country of immigrants, it is unthinkable that the U.S. would allow children that were born here to stay while deporting their parents.

Offering them citizenship through strict guidelines is the only decent, ‘American’ thing to do. The guest worker program also aids the economy. The program appeals predominantly to low income persons who presently build houses and roads, pick fruit and