Should Undocumented Immigrants Who Have Lived, Worked and Raised Kids in US Stay?

During these past weeks there has been a lot of controversy about allowing illegal immigrants who have been working in the United States for many years to legally stay and raise their children in the USA. As discussed during our last class meeting, Obama is currently taking a standing against the Republicans and creating a possible “memorandum” that could allow millions of undocumented immigrants to stay and obtain the documents they need to work legally in this country.

Obama’s memorandum could affect around 3.3 million people who have been living in the United States for at least five years. At the same time, it would affect around 2.5 million people who have lived in this country for at least 10 years. If considering undocumented immigrants who came as children, it could affect around 1 million people. Finally, if considering undocumented farm workers, the memorandum could affect hundreds of thousands of people.

At the same time, President Obama is working on a memorandum that would still have the right to deport undocumented immigrants, who have been convicted for a crime, who may pose national security risks, and immigrants who have recently passed the borders.

This issue, despite of being very important to resolve, is creating great tension between Obama’s party and the Republicans. According to some, the president should not change the legal structure, if so; he should consult first the Congress rather than just acting on his own. At the same time, some are arguing that, rather than bringing cooperation, this issue is leading to defiance between the White House and the now elected majority of Republicans.

This controversy is a very important and hot issue in our society. For many years, problems regarding illegal immigration have been highly ignored, rather than faced. Despite the great efforts to increase security at the borders, illegal immigration has not stopped but increased. Immigrants and, as some would say, “illegal aliens” have always faced racism, discrimination, and hostility from the American Dominant group. However, fear of illegal immigration has increased aft 9/11 as many have argued that, if undocumented immigrants are able to cross the borders unchecked, possible threatening people could too. At the same time, this topic has always been a very important issue as many Americans have often argued about the threats that immigrants could bring to American society in terms of job opportunities. In fact, many have argued that immigrants are a threat to the possible job opportunities that White Americans could have too. Connected to the last book that we are reading, Brokered Boundaries, what would happen if undocumented immigrants have an opportunity to legally live in the United States?

Many illegal immigrants, because they are not legally able to live in the United States, are often forced to be part of the secondary labor market. The secondary labor market includes low paid, part-time or temporary work that often does not require certain skills. On the other hand, documented immigrants, who are legally living in the country, have greater chances to be part of the primary labor market, integrate in the American society, and have the same opportunities that most Americans have. As a consequence, one of the results that Obama’s memorandum could lead is fear of US Citizens over job opportunities, competition, and questions about privilege.

I believe that the government should further explore this topic because, despite the interesting ideas brought up by Obama, it still remains a highly hot topic full of pros and cons. 

 Reference List

http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2014/11/obama_will_release_new_memorandum_that_protects_undocumented_immigrants.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/14/us/obama-immigration.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=1