Illegal Immigration (Controversial Essay)
“A nation penetrated every year by some 300,000 illegal aliens…is not a nation experiencing ‘immigration.’ It is a nation experiencing invasion.” (Haerens 109). For centuries, our nation has been a safe haven for people of different cultures and nationalities to inhabit. Since the beginning of America as we know it, our society has been considered a “melting pot” for all ethical backgrounds. At the beginning of the seventeenth century, Europeans flocked to the “New World” in hopes of a more prosperous life. Since then, immigration to the United States has exponentially increased. During the times of the California Gold Rush in the 1800’s, and Ellis island in the early 1900’s, an even larger mass of migrants bombarded into our country in hopes that they would strike a new life. Ellis island immigrants arrived in the United States legally, but this was not necessarily true in the West. Asians were one of the first groups of people to join in on the search for gold. People of Mexico were soon to follow, and large groups of them were looking for a quick way to get access to take part in the Rush. Illegally crossing the Mexican-American border was the quickest alternative. As time has progressed, Mexicans have continued to migrate into America, even after the gold frenzy. However, great deals of them never obtained their citizenship before stepping foot onto our land. More than half of the illegal immigrants entering and already here are natives of Mexico (Haerens 12). Innumerable masses of immigrants have illegally ventured into our lives, and camouflaged into communities. This trend is continuing today, but on an exceedingly immense scale. In order to thoroughly understand the illegal immigration disaster that is occurring, we must examine why and how it is happening, what problems it is causing, and what actions are being taken to prevent it. Although Canada, like Mexico, is a bordering country of the United States, Canadian natives rarely enter
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