Chapter 17

Again, we keep getting closer and closer to more recent immigration topics. One of my favorite parts to read about was the distinction between illegal immigrants and those who merely have visas or something to show as proof of their legality in the United States. I learned that there are actually a whole bunch of different reasons for a foreigner to be here (legally) in the United States. Usually, when we think of illegal immigrants, we just clump them all together. And usually, many people stereotypically think of Mexicans that cross the border without permission from the government. We tend to not think of the Canadians that cross the border from the northern part of the United States or those who travel her from other countries. But anyways, what I learned that was most interesting to me was that the majority of illegal immigrants are those who have actually ran out of visa time! So basically, they came here legally with valid visas from the US government and then the visas expired and yet those once legal immigrants continued to stay in the states which now makes it illegal. This fascinated me because it showed that the majority of illegal immigrants are those that once immigrated here legally. But see, once you settle in the US for a while and then your visa expires, it must be difficult to pick up everything and go. This makes me think that we need to consider some kind of immigration reform. Which is what the last chapter talked about in good detail. We still have not found a successful means of reforming immigration policy, but we obviously have to keep working until we find something that benefits both those who are native to the United States and those who would like to try their luck in this country.