There are many issues and controversies regarding Immigration into the U.S. The main issue is that the U.S. does not have a comprehensive Immigration policy that addresses illegal immigration and border security. There have been different legislation introduced such as the Dream Act which addresses the Illegal immigrants brought into the U.S., under the age of 16 years old and that are students in the U.S. University system. If the Dream Act passed, it would have allowed these young immigrants to remain in the US as students or as potential military personnel. This law would have allowed these immigrants to remain in the US , if they enlisted in the US military or attended university.

Division of political positions

There are two positions regarding the controversy over immigration. Illegal immigration is a hot button issue that many Americans have varying opinions which include allowing illegal immigrants remain by paying a fine or by deporting over 12 million already in the U.S.

The two major political groups have taken differing positions over Immigration, both legal and illegal and therefore politicizing this issue for their own agendas. The Democrats have advocated amnesty arguing that deporting over 12 million illegal immigrants would harm the U.S. economy because of the sheer number and the expense of deporting these people back to their countries. The Republican party has taken the position that no immigration reform should be considered until the issue of border control and security be addressed along the Mexican border. This issue has been a problem for decades because both political parties can not find bipartisan solutions and have continued to play to their constituents for political gains. The federal government has failed to create a coordinated and comprehensive immigration system allowing for individual states to step in and make their own laws dealing with the illegal immigration issue, such as Arizona’s controversial SB 1070 law that allows the police to stop and ask for identification, if considered possibly illegal. The Hispanic community has raised issues that will arise with this law including racial profiling and discrimination because fellow Americans can sue the police , if they consider that they are not performing their job of identifying illegal immigrants. Many in the law enforcement community fear that they will have less leads and tips from the Hispanic community when solving local crime within the community.

Now what?

The two differing opinions on the controversy of immigration both make good substantial arguments to their defense, but instead of continuing the same arguments why not attempt to find a solution to this ongoing problem. The immigration issue is not going away because the politicians choose to talk about; what each side wants, instead it will cause individual states such as Arizona , which do not want illegal immigrants in their state to create questionable laws. The law may follow the federal law that is not enforced , currently but there is no way of distinguishing between a legal and a illegal person of Hispanic descent, instead of focusing on only Hispanics this law should be expanded or follow the federal law already on the books that requires that any person who commits a crime be asked for their id, not just Hispanics. This is the main issue because Arizona has had a history of not being receptive to minorities, an example would be Arizona’s opposition to declaring Martin Luther King Jr. Day a national holiday, in fact McCain was staunchly opposed and voted against it, but the law passed anyway. The Hispanic community in Arizona are not all illegal immigrants, there is a strong Latino community of legal American citizens, in many cases of generations that live and call Arizona their home, is it fair to target only one group, that is a question all Americans should honestly answer?

Immigration Solution

The immigration legislation should be addressed by the federal government and it should have the ideas and concerns of both political groups to both protect American border and encourage legal positive results of Immigration as America is known to be a beacon of hope, and dreams for many around the world. America is a land of immigrants and it should not be forgotten how immigration has positively affected the US economy.