What Politics Fail to Address

    It is important to bring to light the politics of the immigration debate. I wish to present Mitt Romney's stance on immigration as well as President Obama's stance and compare the two, but most importantly I wish to present what both these political figures fail to address within the immigration issue. It is important to understand candidates intentions and goals before electing them, but it is also important to educate yourself on the issues as well. Many people have strong opinions about immigration, particularly illegal immigration, however, not many people fully explore the reasons and historical context that leads to illegal immigration.

     Mitt Romney has a strong stance against illegal immigration, he sees it as unfair to those who have been waiting in line to come into this country legally. He states on his website that he “will protect legal immigration and the 4.5 million who are waiting in line to enter the United States legally by taking a strong stand against illegal immigration.” However, he fails to address the bigger issue at hand, not everyone in all countries have the same opportunities to even get in line to come here. It isn't some big clipboard that just anyone can sign. Just as it is in The United States, the wealthy have an upper hand in almost every situation. It is no secret that there is an immense amount of corruption within the country of Mexico, so why would it be impossible to think that there would be corruption within the processes of obtaining U.S. Visas or Green Cards? Before we make sweeping allegations of those who “cut the line” as being unlawful or criminal or unfair people, we must explore reasons as to why some countries have such high tendencies toward illegal immigration activities. We need to realize that usually when there is smoke there is fire, meaning that there is most likely a cause for Mexico’s large amount of illegal immigration.

            Romney also claims that one of his main goals is to “secure the border” by building “a high-tech fence and provide the necessary number of border patrol to finally secure our southern border.” Part of the problem with this statement is that is only addresses the “Southern Border”, it is completely naïve to think that only “bad things” or “criminals” come from the southern border, this is clearly a racial stigma that the U.S. needs to escape. There are historical purposes that have caused the increase of illegal immigration from the southern border that are never addressed within the political atmosphere. This is due to the fact that the U.S. would be forced to admit responsibility for illegal immigration, after all we were the ones who implemented it in the first place with The Bracero Program. This program ran from the 1940’s to the 1960’s, when the U.S. did not have enough workers to farm the land and they trained in thousands of Mexicans to work the land, picking crops. Despite promises to many workers to have a life in this country, when the U.S. no longer needed the workers they “were ousted from their jobs by workers coming out of wartime industries and by returning servicemen” (PBS). Many of these workers were forcibly loaded onto trains and sent back to Mexico.

            There is also the issue of  NAFTA, and the effects it has had on poor agricultural communities in Mexico, many villages lost their land and livelihoods to American companies or the Mexican government working with American companies. These people were left in situations of desperation, either starving or fleeing to the United States to find work. It is unfair for us to make bold statements against illegal immigration without recognizing our role in the issue, and addressing ways in which we can compensate for the havoc we have helped create. 

            The Obama administration has done little to help those who are in this country illegally, and has done little to help resolve the issue as well. I searched through the Obama website and had great difficultly locating his stance on immigration issues, this is particularly troubling to me. If he is not clear and upfront about his stance then we can assume he is going to do little to resolve anything, he is essentially ignoring the issue at hand that affects so many lives. This is astonishing to me considering the depth of the issue and the emotional ties to it, it is clearly a clever way to escape deep criticism from either side. This failure to recognize the issue fully is hurtful to those who are here illegally, especially the youth, we cannot ignore their existence in this country. Although this may seem like the politically easy route to take, it is an unjust route as well, it is a clear demonstration of many politicians’ desire to hold office for lengths of time instead of desiring to make this country better and stronger. We elect politicians to resolve problems, not avoid them, and Obama has clearly been avoiding the problem, which is equivalent to making it worse.

            No matter your personal or emotional ties to the issue, you must recognize that the issue has deep historical and cultural ties, it is something we created and it is something we need to own up to and take responsibility for instead of putting it all on the individuals. We need to make bigger changes and adjustments than “high-tech border fences”, we need to find the root causes and address them , this is the only way to create a true lasting solution.