Immigration remains to be a hotly debated issue in most developed countries including the United States. Policymakers have, on several occasions, not been able to strike a balance on the issue due to the economic, security, and humanitarian concerns associated with it. As evidenced in the four articles, the key challenges of immigration revolve around high unemployment, border militarization, and legality of DACA. Firstly, the challenge of unemployment forces many people to leave their countries in search of better living conditions. For example, Syria has an unemployment rate of 50% which compels immigrants to escape poverty (“Why do people immigrate”, 2021). Secondly, DACA which triggered a surge of illegal immigration continues to face a legal battle (Stein, 2017) – the Fifth Circuit agreed with the district court that DACA is unlawful. As it stands, people with pending first-time DACA applications are yet to receive extension from the court.
Lastly, militarization of immigration has been associated with more violence, corruption and even death. The border agents, as explicated in the Carroll’s (2015) article, have doubled to 23,000 for the past 7 years. The migrant deaths on the Mexico–United States border have been increasing steadily for the past 5 years. As evidenced in the article, those who elude patrol are forced to trek through arid scrub and freeze by night.
How the Dominant Story Has Changed the Narrative
The dominant story currently is that millions of undocumented immigrants are essential to America’s recovery. According to the report released by the Center for American Progress, about 5 million undocumented essential workers played an important role in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic (“Millions of undocumented Immigrants”, 2020). Since the start of 21st century, the U.S has increasingly become open to diversity and equality. The debate is now shifting towards providing immigrants permanent legal protections.
References
Carroll, R. (2015). Bodies at the border: “Many Mexicans have no option. This flow will not cease”. The Guardian.
Millions of undocumented Immigrants are essential to America’s recovery. (2020). Center for American Progress. Web.
Stein, D. (2017). Let DACA program lapse: Opposing view.USA Today.
Why do people immigrate? – The different causes of immigration (2021). LIRS.