“We need to build a wall!” “We need to stop people from crossing the southern Mexican border!” “There are children being put in cages, this is devastating and heartbreaking!” “The immigration system is messed up!” These are statements that are often highlighted in the media of the current immigration situation. There is a wide spectrum of those who are for and against immigration. The controversy has been going on for years however the news highlight the Trump administration creation of new ideas and policies to stop the flow of illegal immigration from the southern border. However, what does this do to current illegal immigrants in the United States trying to become legal? Although illegal immigration should be resitrcted due to population and economic reasoning, the soultion should not be to completely disregard immigrants, who have been present for years, and ignore their situations and treatment.
Georgia is home to over one million immigrants. As of 2017, 10.71% of Georgia’s population are immigrants. This is according to the Migration Policy Institution but there are many immigrants who go not unnoticed. This means a lot of people are a part of the communities and contribute to the Georgia economy and life. Many have interest in citizenship in order to move up in society and contribute much more but often are found in extreme difficulties to do so. In Jeremy Redmon’s, a well known Atlanta Journal-Constitution writer on politics, immigrations, and refugees and military affairs, an article called “Georgia’s immigration court judges among toughest in the nation for asylum,” he highlights how often people are denied asylum in Georgia. According to Redmon’s article, two of Georgia’s immigration courts have the second and third highest average asylum denial rates in the nation. The national average is 58% yet the two surpass this percentage at 94% and 95%. This reflects a great difficulty in winning a case in the state of Georgia in immigration matters. Redmon states, “Winning asylum in the United States can be a matter of life and death for people fleeing terrorists, brutal governments and religious and political persecution in their home countries. But the Trump administration says many newcomers are clogging the system with meritless or fraudulent claims.” This quote states the difficulties many immigrants face.
Many immigrants are escaping danger in hopes of a secure home for their families. Personally, I know many people who escaped their countries for the matter of living. My family escaped El Salvador because of war and poverty. One of my best friends escaped Colombia because of political persecution. The stories are endless. It shouldn’t be disregarded because of where they come from or prior judgement. Many immigrants have the potential to contribute millions to the the government. However they’re being ignored. Redmon claims that Georgia judges are failing to assist those in need. The article specifically focuses on Judge Wilson who happens to typically lean in his chair, had his eyes closed, and would have his head turned away from the people in court. This demonstrates a mistreatment of immigrants because he does not care enough to do his job properly and respectfully.
Jennifer Rubin, a politics and policy writer for the Washington Post, wrote an article called, “Trump has no excuse for mistreatment of children.” Rubin is not in favor of Trump’s administration. She states, “President as usual refuses to accept responsibility for his administration’s ineptness and cruelty. He insists the Obama administration was the one to start separating children from their families. But, once more, the Obama administration did not create a zero-tolerance policy that resulted in the detention of thousands of children, a situation the administration has never sufficiently prepared for.” The zero-tolerance is a policy that was placed to criminally prosecute all suspected immigrants who crossed the border illegally even the ones who crossed beforehand. Rubin argues that Trump has blamed the mistreatment of immigrants on everyone but himself. Hundreds of migrant children have been placed in terrible conditions. These children are getting sick and dirty. They are separated from their parents. She claims that Trump has invested in a “useless” wall and spent months on a government shutdown, refusing to give aid to Latin American countries in which people are escaping from, and threatening raids to illegal immigrants. I cannot help but agree with the author here. Why not start the root of the problem? Why are people leaving their homes in the first place? There are powerful reasons that could be fixed in order to have the flow of immigration decrease. Although there are multiple issues to why someone would leave their country, there is a common thread. War, poverty, and crime are often similar reasoning to why people leave their country. Personally becoming better allies with many countries in Latin America could be way more useful than a wall in both social and economic terms. Trump’s administration has seemed to disregard good ideas that could actually establish good change in the immigration reform that is safer and does not violate basic human rights. Rubin explains, “Had the administration put such nonsense aside and requested a stand-alone bill to greatly increase the number of immigration judges (thereby speeding up the process of asylum requests) and expand facilities- or simply discontinue automatic incarceration of innocent women and children- we would be faced a human rights disaster of Trump’s own making.” It is evident that a change needs to be done in the immigration process. Although I cannot pin Trump as a complete villain, his choice in actions have been interesting. Like Rubin, I agree there is a clear violation of human rights and a shift in priorities is needed.
People often ignore the fact that the immigration system is not easy. The system is complicated and often takes years for undocumented immigrants to become documented. It’s not that people choose to be without papers but it’s difficult to progress in the system. After thirty years of being in the United States, my parents finally managed to become citizens. They invested over fifty thousand dollars in getting citizenship. Immigrants are human beings. They are not from here but it does mean they deserve to be violated and ignored. The United States is one of the countries with the highest amount of immigrants. This country was built off the labor and efforts of immigrants. However, it is unreasonable to argue that we should grant citizenship to every single immigrant in the United States or that we should have our borders open to everyone. The needs of the American citizen should be the priority such as safety, economic security, and stable laws. The current immigration situation is out of control and should be reinforced. The solution should not be to throw everyone out. There are so many misconceptions surrounding immigrants such as they don’t pay taxes or have not contributed to America. They have contributed billions to the country’s GDP in taxes and creations of jobs. This creates positive results in the overall American economy.
Citations:
Redmon, Jeremy. “Georgia’s Immigration Court Judges among Toughest in Nation for Asylum.” Ajc, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 26 July 2019, www.ajc.com/news/breaking-news/georgia-immigration-court-judges-among-toughest-nation-for-asylum/svQ2CmRGXS5Hgi2utVTmrO/.
Rubin, Jennifer. “Opinion | Trump Has No Excuse for Mistreatment of Children.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 25 June 2019, http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/06/25/trump-has-no-excuse-mistreatment-children/.
“State Demographics Data – GA.” Migrationpolicy.org, 1 Feb. 2020, www.migrationpolicy.org/data/state-profiles/state/demographics/GA.
Social Justice 