The United States of America has been termed as a land of opportunities by people from different nations of the world. Most of these people believe that when one lands in America, he will be rich instantly as there are a lot of opportunities that can enable one to earn a living. As a result, there is a high turn over of people who have sought to gain entry into the United States using different means such as applying for Green Cards, as illegal immigrants while others have sought to gain entry into the United States as asylum seekers. While the United States has been considered as a place of prosperity by immigrants, there are many reforms that have to be formulated by the United States to empower it to have control over the overall movement of immigrants into its areas of jurisdiction.
The United States of America has been able to align itself in such a way that its leadership and the policies they have formulated have focused on presenting it as a land that is full of opportunities. If a survey was carried out throughout the world on the country that one would love to live in, the United States of America would emerge as the most desired country in the world. While holding a superpower status, the United States has not fallen short in its mandate to focus on maintaining the image that it has presented on the global scene as the best country in the world. More so, the championing of the American Dream is one of the factors that have induced in the hearts of many that desire to live and work in the United States. Therefore, every year, this nation has to deal with thousands upon thousands of both legal and illegal immigrant who have come seeking for these opportunities.
While these perceptions have induced an urge in many immigrants to seek entry points into the United States, there are different reforms that have been made on immigration laws and regulations or are in the process of being formulated that have been a stumbling block to easy immigration into the United States. According to Newton (2008), the United States of America has been able to formulate policies that are aimed at restricting certain groups of people who have the desire to immigrate to the United States (137). While there are policies that prohibit discrimination of immigrants based on their race, country of origin and other factors, policymakers have argued out their case that the research that has been carried out reveals that immigrants from certain nation or with a particular racial background need to restricted from gaining entry into the United States. For example, Teixeira (2010) argues that the research that was carried out among the US citizens reveals that 89% supported the increase of security measures on the US-Mexico border to cub the movement of immigrants from this nation to the US. Therefore, reforms would go a long way in guaranteeing the border security of the United States and ensuring that the number of illegal immigrants into its territories is minimal.
There are also laws and regulations that have made it difficult for any immigrant to get the United States citizenship even after living in this nation for some time. This is based on the fact that, for any immigrant to be granted the United States citizenship, one has to prove that he is worth it by meeting certain conditions that are in most cases very challenging. Borjas (2001) asserts that there have been restrictions of non-US citizens to access social benefit and welfare programs. Similarly, subscribing to welfare programs expose immigrants as a liability to the United States rather than assets thus reducing completely the chances of a person being granted this citizenship. As a result, many immigrants have suffered in the United States without stating their problems to the relevant authorities to seek for help, since this would reduce their chances of getting citizenship. As a result, there has been a reduced spending of public funds on people who are not citizens of the United States thus reducing government expenditure responsibilities (Lawrence).
Immigration reforms are important in that they aid in curtailing the continuation of illegal business and activities in the United States and bordering countries. There has been an increase in drug trafficking and terrorist activities, most of it being done by immigrants since there are no clear records that can be used to help in tracing their lifestyle records. As a result, some of these immigrants have used their status as a way of engaging in unlawful activities. However, Immigration reforms can be able to reduce the effects of these activities (Thompson and Lacey 2009). There are also workers who have violated the human rights of their employees by paying out wages that are below the minimum amount of wage which is stated in the labor laws because they are immigrants. Therefore, these reforms would play a critical role in ensuring that such firms do not employ immigrants without legal documents to stay and work in the United States and that those that are employed are paid fairly according to the work they do (Culbreath 2010).
The transfer of knowledge and skills also play an important part in any economy of the world. Different economies need different knowledge and skills that would enable them to expand and forge forward, thus enhancing the lifestyles of their citizen. The immigration reforms in the United States of America are aimed at reducing the number of unskilled workers who immigrate into the US (Briggs 180). This is because, most jobs can be done by the citizens of the United States and there is no need to increase competition for these jobs by US citizens and immigrants by being lenient on immigration labor rules and regulations. Therefore, one will need to meet certain standards of skills and knowledge to be able to be absorbed as a citizen of the United States (Scherer 2009).
There are benefits that the United States as a nation would gain by carrying out intensive immigration reforms. It is important to note that as a nation, immigration reforms can enable this nation to import low-skilled workers who can fill low vacant positions that have been left by American citizens after being promoted due to new knowledge and skills that they have been able to gain. In so doing, the United States labor body can be able to control the labor market through supply and demand factors (Beck 1996). For example, by allowing unskilled workers from outside the United States to gain access to employment opportunities has been found to encourage the native employees to enhance their knowledge and skills and to specialize in certain fields that grant them an opportunity to raise their productivity (Borjas 20).
While the United States has been considered as a place of prosperity by immigrants, there are many reforms that have to be formulated by the United States to empower it to have control over the overall movement of immigrants into its areas of jurisdiction. As a result, the United States has to align its immigration reform laws and regulation in such a way that while it will able to prevent unnecessary immigration into its boundaries, yet refrain from limiting this nation from economic and social gain that results from immigrants.
