On Opening America's Borders to Legal Immigration

Andrew Sherburne

Prof. Nesbitt

December 13, 2012

Open Our Borders to Legal Immigration

The debate regarding immigration in America has never truly ceased; it has simply oscillated between headline news and a more modest role in popular politics. Starting as early as 1798, the Alien and Sedition Act revealed deep-seated American distrust of foreign immigrants; in this case, specifically French immigrants. Furthermore, the Immigration Acts of 1917 and 1924 show that this lively debate continued well through the 19th century, into 20th century politics, even to the point of restricting the flow of immigration on a purely racial basis. In 1965 and 1986, the debate was reopened by the restructuring of American immigration policies; now the system was built to be far more equitable to minorities and underprivileged people groups. Having dealt with the problems of legal immigration, the public eye has now shifted to the problem of illegal immigration. While legal immigration is extremely beneficial to America because it expedites cultural and financial exchange, illegal immigration hurts American interests because an inherent lack of controls in place to deal with those entering the U.S. Illegally results in many economic and social problems.

Legal immigration provides benefits to America's economic and cultural interests by introducing a flow of technology, commerce, and ideas into the American public. Oftentimes, “immigrants tend to see things differently rather than following the conventional wisdom, perhaps because as outsiders they are more determined to succeed” (Legraine 2). This international collaboration provides a flow of trade and labor and improves foreign relations. Cooperation between multinational groups results in “most [of the] innovation nowadays... and foreigners with different ideas, perspectives, and experiences add something extra to the mix” (Legraine 2). While it is true that Americans have much to offer the world, it is equally true that the...