Essay On Citizenship In America

Irish, Chinese, Spanish, French, Hispanic, whatever race and background, many people seek citizenship in America for many different reasons. Each one of them must go through a period of time in which they either become citizens or go back to their native country, during their stay each have a visa of some sort whether for work, student or just for visiting. However, once that card expires, they must leave or show that they are attempting to become citizens. The immigration system of the United States, restrictive in some ways, but is open in many others. America has always held the motto that is written on the Statue of Liberty, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” (United States.) From that poem by Emma Lazarus, we can see that America has always been a beacon of hope and new life in our shining nation opening her arms out to those who wish to have the “American Dream” and make a life for themselves here. However, the country must set up guidelines or else there would be chaos and confusion. Compared to the rest of the Western World, American has a more open system with respect to immigrations from different countries and while it takes a long process to become a citizen, many are not afforded the chance nor have the ability to do so. There are many illegal immigrants from many countries that are smuggled across the boarders or that out stay their visas. …show more content…
These people live as undocumented and are relatively unnoticed by the government, and make a living with under the table jobs working for lower than minimum wage. These people often bring over their families, wives, children husbands, parents etc. as they cross over the boarders. In our current system, those born to the immigrants here are legally citizens and soon all the children brought over “against their will” will receive amnesty and a right to become citizens. Particular reforms proposed by the President impose a higher tax on the American people which is predicted to only benefit the country for 3 months. (“Immigration Issues”) A few members of the undocumented community commit crimes against to State or Federal government that would cause for arrest and punishment. However, because they are not part of the judicial system many are not convicted of their crimes even if they are murder or burglary. (Legislation) Though not everyone that come over are here causing trouble and creating problems, many come and work their way up the ladder, some even owning business, own Thousand dollar homes and the only thing against them on their record is that they are here by criminal actions (i.e. Not coming over properly) . (Tierney) Our system is also restrictive in that it has several safe guards in place to insure that the population is who they say they are. The process for obtaining citizenship is a long and drawn out process ensuring that the people are not criminals in their own country or that they are who they say they are. These cases can last months or years depending on the amount of people and the quotas imposed on the amount of their particular race that are allowed into the country. Many new security measures are implemented to ensure the