The great American experiment (our Constitution) is a work in progress because like all experiments, the scientists of the experiment—politicians continue in their search to find perfect solutions to its many imperfections.
One imperfection that halts a successful progress of the American experiment is the influx of illegal immigrants. Illegal immigration wasn’t a major problem in the 1800s and was easily regulated with people coming overseas, so when a new wave of immigrants, separated from the United States only by a land border, began coming to the U.S. in the 1970s, the “scientists” hurried to seek solutions to deal with illegal immigrants not included in the Constitution. Although illegal immigrants coming from south of the U.S. border struck America by surprise because they didn’t respect and follow the laws set for immigrants, the U.S. attempted many possible solutions to stabilize the authority of the great American experiment.
The first attempt the U.S. made to fix its problem of illegal immigration came when President Reagan gave amnesty to undocumented immigrants already in the U.S. Giving them a chance prevented Southern anger and it kept America from gaining new enemies. However, tighter border control was supposed to be enforced from then on. Not until 2006 when the Secure Fence Act to construct 700 miles of fence on the Southern border was enforced, did the government begin to take the influx of illegal immigration seriously.
In order for the American experiment to work effectively, the U.S. has to oppose illegal persons. The motive that drives this opposition is to decrease the illegal activity in the country. Illegal activity is reduced by penalizing U.S. citizens who shelter illegal immigrants, by penalizing employers who hire illegal workers, and by deporting hard-core law breakers back to their foreign country. With stricter laws, we can assume that the U.S. government strives to someday get a true AMERICAN society (U.S citizens only) to live in peace in absence of illegal immigrants who break laws and that America will continue in its mission to surpass other countries by decreasing the cheap labor most illegal immigrant are subject to work.
This ideal concept is unlikely to happen because illegal immigrants won’t stop coming in. They won’t give up on their pursuit of the American dream even though they aren’t recognized literally as Americans, because once they cross into the U.S. and begin to adjust to American culture; they symbolically become part of the United States.
The great American experiment is failing in respects to acknowledging illegal immigrants as humans. The United States wants to be the example other countries look up to by banning cheap labor and exploitation, leaving everyone to think that America is a humane and just country, but they’re only increasing cheap labor world wide by sending illegal immigrants back to the cheaper labor they did in their poor home country. They aren’t helping stop cheap labor; they’re just pushing it away for other countries to deal with.
The United States damages its own economy by deporting illegal immigrants. When all illegal immigrants leave this country, then Americans will really begin to see that people who do back-breaking work for low pay should be given a chance, considering that those invisible residents of the U.S. are quite productive.
The U.S. will face major social issues in the future if illegal immigrants aren’t here to do the jobs others refuse to do. Will the American experiment begin to force their citizen to do work that’s essential to keep the United States functioning? This suppression contradicts the experiment that so greatly emphasizes liberty, but it’s a possibility.
Seeing that illegal immigration has become unpreventable, the “scientists” of the experiment have conformed to giving some illegal immigrants rights. Illegal youths who have lived in the U.S. most of their lives and have graduated from an American high school have been given the complete hope that they can achieve the American dream. The U.S. has taken responsibility of young, future citizens to keep their country as the #1 nation. The United States has become a bit more open-minded to illegal immigrants by giving minors one benefit--education.
The illegal minors will grow into adults, as well-educated, professional, proud representations of Americans. California passed AB540 in 2001 to give undocumented students the break they need to go to school. They no longer have to pay out-of-state tuition to attend college if they live in California. An amendment, no fully approved by both houses, if passed would further make it easier for undocumented students to complete school at a cheaper rate. Whether Americans strongly oppose the passage of the DREAM Act or not, this would help the experiment work. Maybe amnesty is needed one more time for the great American experiment to move on to fix its other imperfections.
Laws favoring illegal immigrants won’t decrease illegal passage into the U.S., it may actually increase it, but that is why tighter border control has been enforced.
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