Tyler 1

Tyler Crow

Professor Provine

Comp 1

6 May 2017

Immigration Laws

Many people across the world seek the United State’s borders to live out the American

dream, but is this philosophy really in the best interests for the US? Analysts estimate that

millions of legal and illegal immigrants come into the US every year. Some believe that the

country needs to strengthen its borders and tighten up its immigration laws. Although many

stand by the American dream concept that the US was founded on and want loose immigration

laws, others claim that the laws should be strengthened due to increased terrorism threats and the

effects of overpopulation.

Since the beginning of the US, immigration has been a hot topic. From about 1880

through the mid-1920s, America experi-enced an immigration boom, the Great Wave, during

which immigration averaged 600,000 annually (Wilson). This caused many problems in the early

1900’s which the US is still experiencing today. The issue of immigration still arises today as a

recent supreme court ruling regarding immigration was decided. On June 23, 2016 the Supreme

Court announced a 4-4 decision in a case challenging President Obama’s plan to shield as many

as five million unauthorized immigrants from deportation and to allow them to work in the

United States. The decision leaves in place an appeals court ruling blocking the president’s plan.

An estimated five million immigrants may be affects by this ruling. (Park). This decision took a

step in the direction towards tightening up the countries’ immigration laws. The US’s lax view

on immigration has lead to an abundance of illegal aliens. The only way to stop the high number
 Tyler 2

of illegal immigrants is to strengthen up the immigration laws.

First, immigration laws need to be strengthened because the increase in terrorist threats.

There is a new enemy that the world is facing known as ISIS. Throughout 2016, ISIS conducted

62 attacks worldwide, injuring 732 people and killing 215 in several countries, including the

United States, France, and Belgium (Singman). America hasn’t faced an enemy like this since

the attack on November 11th, 2001. This threat alone is enough reason the reinforce the borders

and increase the laws. It is too easy for terrorists to sneak into the United States. According to the

National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), individuals with ties to terrorist groups in Syria are

attempting to gain entry to the United States through the U.S. refugee program, which has

resettled nearly 13,000 Syrian refugees across the nation this year (Singman). This is why the

United States government needs to do something about the current immigration problem; the

nation’s national security is severely at risk. Also, the immigration laws need to be increased

because of overpopulation. An estimated 1.7 million immigrants illegal and legal came into the

US in 2015 (Clark) while an actual eleven million immigrants total currently reside in the US

(Swanson). Overpopulation has many adverse effects including increased unemployment,

homelessness, and poverty, but what does that have to do with immigration? That is because new

immigrants and their U.S. born children currently account for 75 to 80 percent of our annual

population growth. And, that share of population growth due to immigration has been rising

along with the rising number of new immigrants. The Pew Hispanic Center researchers estimated

in 2008 that given current trends 82 percent of population growth from 2005 to 2050 will result

from immigrants and their descendants (Duroy). This mean that if the US cracks down on

immigration then there will be less immigrants and, therefore, less overpopulation.

While strengthening the US’s immigration policy would have some positives, it may not
 Tyler 3

be the best thing to do. One reason that increased laws may not be necessary is that terrorist

attacks will happen regardless of the amount of security the US puts into place. Writer for The

Telegraph, Boris Starling, wrote “Our security services are magnificent, but they are also always

seeking more power and control, because that’s what security services do. And even so, they still

couldn’t stop every attacker getting through. Our world is not one of the Thought Police from

Nineteen Eighty-Four or of Minority Report’s precogs, the psychics who predict crimes before

they happen.” (Starling). What Starling is saying is that no matter how advanced our technology

gets or whatever precautions are put into place, terrorism is always going to be a threat we as

Americans should learn to accept it instead of fearing it. However, I believe that this was of

thinking is illogical. I believe that if security measures are put into place and it saves even one

life, then its worth it. For instance, the US borders patrol. Border Patrol agents risk their lives

every day in providing our nation’s front line of defense from those who would cross our borders

to do us harm. Their efforts lead to the saving of lives, stopping the flow of drugs into our

country and cash profits headed out, and protecting American citizens from criminals and sexual

predators who attempt to re-enter this country after being deported for their criminal behavior.

(Price). This security system put into place proves why the US needs immigrations laws to help

protect the borders and the American citizens.

Concluding, it is apparent that the US needs a strong immigration plan to protect the

country. A strong plan would not only help win the war on terrorism, but also assist with the

increasing overpopulation in the US. While only two of the pros have been mentioned, many

more benefits can come from strong immigration policy protecting the US citizens and its

borders.
 Tyler 4

Works Cited

Clark, Jerry. "Immigrant Population Hits Record 42.1 Million in Second Quarter of 2015."

Center for Immigration Studies. Center for Immigration Studies, 27 Mar. 2016. Web. 07

Dec. 2016.

Duroy, Charyl. "The United States Is Already Overpopulated." The United States Is Already

Overpopulated. N.p., 13 Nov. 2014. Web. 07 Dec. 2016.

Park, Haeyoun, and Alicia Parlapiano. "Supreme Court’s Decision on Immigration Case Affects

Millions of Unauthorized Immigrants." The New York Times. The New York Times, 21

June 2016. Web. 06 Dec. 2016.

Price, Bob. "Border Patrol Agents Save Lives, Protect Americans." Breitbart. Breitbart, 07 July

2016. Web. 07 Dec. 2016.

Singman, Brooke. "House Report: US Facing Biggest Islamic Terror Threat since 9/11." Fox

News. FOX News Network, 06 Dec. 2016. Web. 07 Dec. 2016.

Starling, Boris. "We Can't Stop Terrorist Attacks. The Only Sane Response Is to Accept That

They Will Happen." The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 16 Nov. 2015. Web. 07

Dec. 2016.

Swanson, Jenna. "Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United

States." Migrationpolicy.org. MPI, 26 May 2016. Web. 07 Dec. 2016.

Wilson, Frank. "U.S. Immigration History | U.S. Immigration Policy - Environmental Impact

Statement |." U.S. Immigration Policy - Environmental Impact Statement. Immigration

US, 2 Feb. 2012. Web. 06 Dec. 2016.

Tyler 5