Is Any Person Actually Illegal? | The Odyssey Online
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Politics and Activism

Is Anyone Actually Illegal?

Birthright citizenship has been the norm since 1868, so shouldn't it stay that way?

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Is Anyone Actually Illegal?
Allie Gilbert

On October 29th, 2018, Donald Trump mentioned in an interview with 'Axios on HBO' that he is planning to end birthright citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants, stating that we are the only country that allows these kinds of shenanigans to occur. To his surprise, we are 1 of 30 countries in the world that has this law in place, but I digress.

Illegal immigration has been the hot topic of debate since Trump was elected back in 2016, but it was a controversial topic long before that. Immigration was always understood as necessary to the people that wanted a diverse country, but adding the word 'illegal' into the mix has changed things quite a bit.

Let's take a step back for a second. What does illegal immigration actually mean? The process of immigrating to America is hard, even with DACA somewhat still intact, but coming to the country 'illegally' means that a person doesn't go through customs in order to become documented with the United States of America. A lot of Americans can't understand why illegal immigration is even a thing, but when looking at the reasons why immigrants are leaving their own countries for America, it's obvious they aren't coming here to steal our jobs or to get on welfare.

Thinking on a much less political level, it is unfathomable how we have come to the point where we can mark someone as 'illegal' on a state of land that was not even ours, to begin with. Taking all the government out of the picture, land is just land, and we should be able to come and go as we please.

I do, however, understand that would never happen with our current political system, because countries need security and regulations; but at what risk? At the end of the day, people are people, so acting like immigrants are humans with bad intentions without emotions is dangerous to our society. Understandably, we are talking about undocumented immigrants, but they are people too that more often than not are escaping violence, drug cartels, and human trafficking from back home.

We have to be more considerate.

That's why Trump's statement is more concerning than ever. With our recent gun violence issues, there has been plenty of talk about the 2nd amendment and possibly adapting it in order to match our ever-changing societal issues; however, no actual conversation has taken place revolving it. Yet when it comes to immigration, it seems as though the Constitution can be changed with just the sign of a paper.

In all actuality, the Constitution has been upheld for a very long time now, so it is very unlikely that our government is going to end birthright citizenship. However, like most things regarding our president nowadays, it's the prophecy of the thing. False, blanket statements that are used as scare tactics are one thing when they come from an average person, but when they come from a person who is running the country, there's a definite issue on our hands.

Don't get me wrong, our country definitely needs immigration reform, but we need a new and improved process that encourages diversity in a safe and desegregated way for both parties involved. It is a tricky issue, since promoting illegal immigration can, in turn, create more, but our current immigration program doesn't take into account why these people feel the need to come illegally in the first place, which involves thinking about the more humane side of the problem.

Without immigration, I wouldn't be here today, and neither would nearly any other American. Kids shouldn't be responsible for their parents' decisions, good or bad, and ending their inherent right to citizenship in the United States can create unsure futures for all of them.

Yes, immigrants can be undocumented, but considering them as illegal aliens who want to corrupt our country does nothing more than foster untrue stereotypes. The United States has continuously prospered under the idea of the 'American Dream', and that is what has drawn in so many people, nothing more and nothing less.

There will always be outliers in every political situation, but our thoughts on immigrants cannot be based on them. Rather, we need to think about the reality that all people are humans, no matter what country they come from.

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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