Within recent times, the topic of immigration throughout conversations has increased
drastically. We first started to really hear the topic of immigration within news coverage begin
during Donald Trumps presidency throughout the years of 2017 through 2021. During his
election year, he promised Americans “to build a wall on our southern border between the United
States and Mexico,” to which this promise was kept. National Archives, Immigration, The White
House, January 16, 2021. More recently, we have heard the talks of immigration through
President Joe Biden’s term. According to data taken from the office of Homeland Security
Statistics, “The U.S. southern border has witnessed a record of at least 6.3 million migrant
encounters at and between ports of entry since Biden took office in January 2021.” Muzaffar
Chishti, Kathleen Bush-Joseph, and Colleen Putzel-Kavanaugh, Biden at the Three-Year Mark:
The Most Active Immigration Presidency Yet Is Mired in Border Crisis Narrative, Migration
Policy Institute, January 19, 2024. We can understand from these two (2) references that the issue
as well as the conversation on immigration has increased.
On February 22, 2024, Laken Riley, “a [22-year-old] Georgia nursing student,” was
allegedly killed while she was jogging by José Antonio Ibarra. The killing of Ms. Laken Riley
sparked heavy conversations throughout our nation because she was allegedly killed by an illegal
immigrant. This murder showed Americans how easy it is to access our country and go
completely unnoticed. Since this disturbing incident, many have rallied together to fight against
“the lawlessness created by President Biden's border policies.” Representative Collins, Laken
Riley Act Overwhelmingly Passes U.S. House with Bipartisan Support, Press Release, March 7,
2024. Mike Collins, the Georgia Representative, authored a bill that would “give ICE and state
governments more tools in the fight against illegal alien crime.” Id 2024. This proposed law
would “condemn President Joe Biden's border policies, including catch and release, and calls on
him to reinstate "Remain in Mexico,” amend federal law to require Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) to issue detainers and take custody of illegal aliens who commit theft-related
crimes, and allows state Attorneys General to sue the Secretary of Homeland Security for
injunctive relief if immigration actions that state or its citizens.” Id 2024. The second issue this
law would address is relevant to the killing of Laken Riley because her alleged killer, José
Antonio Ibarra, “was cited for shoplifting by the Athens Police Department prior to killing Ms.
Riley.” Id 2024. This bill has ultimately been “passed overwhelmingly, 251-170, with 37
Democrats joining all Republicans in support.” Id 2024. Because of this bill being passed, there
have been many steps taken to prevent a murder with these circumstances to happen again.
One solution I would impose to assist with the amount of illegal immigration is to tighten
security at the border. I live twenty (20) minutes from the Canadian border and when crossing,
you will be asked an extensive number of questions. For example, you will be asked where you
are going, how long you are staying, the reason for your trip, etc. Coming back into America, we
are simply asked why we were in Canada and then we are allowed in. Because we are American
citizens, it will be somewhat easier to come back to our own country. But, there are many areas
where border patrol does not have enough security in order to prevent immigrants from getting
across. Tightening security at every border will help to aid in the prevention of illegal immigrants
crossing into our country. Another solution I would impose to help with the immigration issue
would be to use social media as a way to track certain people down. With technology growing
and many more individuals using social media, there has been an increase of people sharing their
stories. Using social media to track down illegal immigrants will help to establish proof to have
them deported back their homeland as well as establish various ways they are obtaining access
into our country. Because of the increase of violent crimes, we are forced to become stricter with
our immigration laws. In my opinion, if the crime rates would not have gone up, then the
immigrants of our land would go unnoticed and able to live freely. We are told through Scripture,
specifically in Leviticus 19:33-34, ““When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not
wrong him. The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as one of your citizens; you shall
love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” We are to welcome strangers
into our country for we are all children of God. But, when these strangers are hurting and killing
the children of God, rules and boundaries must be set in place.
References
National Archives and Records Administration. (2021, January 16). Immigration . National
Archives and Records Administration.
https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/issues/immigration/
Muzaffar Chishti, K. B.-J. (2024, January 25). Biden at the three-year Mark: The most active
immigration presidency yet is mired in border crisis narrative. migrationpolicy.org.
https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/biden-three-immigration-record
Laken Riley Act overwhelmingly passes U.S. House with bipartisan support. Representative
Collins. (2024, March 7). https://collins.house.gov/media/press-releases/laken-riley-act-
overwhelmingly-passes-us-house-bipartisan-support
Leviticus 19:33-34
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