Claiming Citizenship

It's almost damming to think that individuals in the race for the most coveted title in the United States of American, the position of president has been built under the foundation of falsehoods and even worse, unachievable promises. The polarizing issue that every hopeful presidential candidate promises their people to reform or eradicate is that of illegal immigration. Illegal immigration is the migration of people from a different a country whom through illegal means, gain entry to the country of their choosing.

Now with over 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States, the issue of weather illegal immigration should be allowed seems to continuously dived Americans. Although as a nation how can we condemn people who endure unimaginable challenges to arrive to United States just to have the opportunity at the ""American Dream"". Without a reform for illegal immigration the United States is depriving the country of economic growth, its negating families the opportunity at the American Dream, and shattering undocumented children's hopes and dreams of perusing a higher education.

In order to fully grasp the divide between America when addressing the issue of illegal immigration, we must first understand the history behind it. Until the late 19th century the idea of ""illegal"" or ""legal"" immigration to the United States did not exists. The reason behind that was because at the point the United States and its policy makers did have a law that focused on migrating people. American immigration didn't begin until the 1700s, when the United States became and independent nation. However, prior to that, the enslaving of Africans brought unwillingly from their native homelands entered as an enslaved people. At the same that Africans entered as slaves the Europeans entered as settlers which it diametrically different.

In her article ""The Birth of Illegal Immigration"" written by Becky Little explains that once the U.S drafted their constitution which became the law that will dictate the future of the land, immigrants converged to the country that had little to no restrictions. But like with every current immigration issue, at that time the constitution wasn't meant to welcome immigrants in the ""New world"". Immigrants who migrated from northern and western Europe, encountered anti-Irish and anti-Catholic hateful rhetoric from those native to the U.S. The number of immigrants continue to grow, expanding from southern and eastern Europe and some parts of china. Though some states like California began to show a more progressive mindset by passing local immigration laws during this time, these laws had loop holes and weren't properly enforced.

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