Texan Mosaic

In the western world, there is an immigration problem.

In the United States, there are more than 10 million undocumented illegal aliens. On average, 700,000 a year come to the United States from places such as Mexico, El Salvador and other Latin American countries. Most come for work while others are fleeing instability and violence in their country.

After the comments made by President Donald Trump about immigration, there’s been a lot of tension in America about the matter. I agree that we have an immigration problem. Instead of talking about it, we need to do something about it. I don’t think a wall is going to solve the problem. It may slow it down , but if someone wants to get to America badly enough, they will, and it’s just going to cost the American tax payer.  I know that there are some immigrants who only come to cause problems and are criminals, so they should be deported. But that’s a very small percentage.

The majority is hardworking and just want a better life by becoming American citizens. The main complaint I always hear people say about illegal immigrants is that they are taking jobs, which really does bother me because it is not true. You rarely see illegal aliens becoming college graduates and working as doctors, bankers, police officers, or engineers. They work at all the jobs average Americans don’t want, such as janitor, or field worker, or construction worker. I don’t think they are taking anything. If anything, they are helping the economy, because they end up spending their money in America.

Migrants are being exploited and abused, as they are being used to traffic drugs for cartels, which makes the hard-working migrants look bad. Something needs to be done. Politicians need to come to an agreement fast. Otherwise, it’s just going to get worse.

The migration problem is just as bad in Europe, mainly in western Europe. In London, England, 40 percent of the population are immigrants born abroad, and it continues to rise. Migrants are constantly crossing the English Channel illegally. Another country that has problems with immigrants is Italy, mainly from north African people who become very desperate. They are willing to risk everything, even if it costs them their lives. On Oct 4, 2013, a small vessel crammed with 500 migrants from Libya capsized off the coast of the small Italian island of Lampedusa, killing 360 people, a lot of them women and children. By the time the Coast Guard had arrived, there were bodies, live and dead, scattered everywhere. It was so bad they had to recruit local fishermen to help gather up all the people still floating in the water. It was a tragedy that made world headlines, and people realized that something needed to be done about all the migrants migrating to western countries. Most of the immigrants are from war-torn countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and Libya.

A lot of the cities and towns in these countries have been damaged and bombarded by airstrikes. Their infrastructure is destroyed. Everyday life becomes very difficult, as there’s no electricity or running water. Some of these migrants have lost everything, from family members to their homes. You can’t be homeless in a war zone, so of course they feel the need to migrate to a more stable country. These countries that migrants go to, such as France, Germany, and England, are part of the coalition that are doing airstrikes that have destroyed places such as Syria. So, how can we complain? We’re part of the problem. I understand there is a war on terror, but not all wars are won with military action. We need to invest more money and time.

We have to help rebuild what we helped destroy, not only infrastructure but the economy as well. So one day these migrants can go back home. Some really don’t want to be in these foreign countries, but they really don’t have a choice.

We need to be more open-minded. You should never look down upon or degrade someone who’s an immigrant or illegal alien, no matter what your politics are, Republican or Democrat. Just because they crossed a border does not make them less of a human.

We need to build less borders and more bridges. If developed countries around the world helped the less developed, or Third World, countries, financially and economically, it would stop the immigration problem.