If your family’s roots in America go back more than a couple generations, it is easy to feel like immigration doesn’t affect you. It is also wrong to feel like immigration doesn’t affect you. In the latest installment of VH1’s Behind the Vote series, Carri Twigg lays out the case for immigration. This election offers candidates with clear cut differences when it comes to immigration. Hillary Clinton has stated that we need comprehensive immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship. Trump, by contrast, wants to tighten restrictions and has placed building a border wall between Mexico and the US at the center of his immigration policy.
Not only is Trump’s stance impractical, Twigg argues, it is also unethical and would be detrimental to our country. She lays out a moral argument for immigration. Our country has a history of taking in displaced refugees from nations like Vietnam and Cuba. Given our military actions in the Middle East, and the desperate situation there, the ethical choice is to do our part. While some countries have taken in millions, we have only taken in thousands. Immigration laws with respect to our Mexican border often tear families apart, separating longtime US residents from their families.
If that argument doesn’t tug at your heartstrings, immigration is also a net economic benefit. Currently, 65% of illegal immigrants work towards a pathway to citizenship. Making that path easier would allow immigrants to contribute more fully to society in their work and in the taxes they pay the government. Immigrants actually don’t drain job opportunities; they boost the economy. They fill jobs at the low and high end of the work spectrum that US citizens often do not want or are not willing to do.
Check out the video below for a deeper explanation on immigration.