The So-Called Immigration Border Crisis is Neither

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/07/10/the-so-called-immigration-border-crisis-is-neither.html

Many people in the United States have either taken one of two stances on the immigration crisis. One stance is being opposed to more undocumented immigrants coming to the United States, while the other is allowing them into our country with open arms. This article took the second stance, saying that immigrants are not coming into the United States because of the immigration laws which protect them, but instead because of the push factors in their own countries, including violence, poverty, and economic issues. A new perspective was taken while writing this article, which hasn't proven to be a very common one among citizens of the U.S.

The article was broken down into several sections, the first being that Central American children aren't fleeing their countries as a result of U.S. immigration policy, but instead because of the hardships of their own countries. This section of the article is saying that not only are children seeking asylum in the U.S., but also other countries such as Mexico, Panama, and Nicaragua. Some of these hardships include violence and economical issues, which can lead to poverty. This relates to Reyna's life in the distance between us, whose reason for escaping Mexico was the poverty she was living in.


Secondly, the article states, "The United States/Mexico Border is NOT Broken-this crisis actually shows the border is secure". The question of how this is being proven may came up, which is what the next part of the article proves. While most people look at the 52,000 unaccompanied minors who made it over the border, the people who believe the crisis shows the border is secure look at the 52,000 minors who made it over the border, who were caught. In "The Distance Between Us", it took Reyna and her family three tries to make it over the border successfully, where the border patrol were looking for them.

The next portion of the article is heavily biased against the Republicans. In 2008, George W. Bush created a law, known as the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, which protected families who weren't from contiguous countries, such as those from Central America, for up to 72 hours. Based on the article, the author believes that Republicans agreed with that law, but now, instead of enforcing it, the Republicans want to change it, meaning they want all of the immigrants caught at the border to be immediately deported. While this could be said for some Republicans, the same thing could be said for some Democrats, not making it a viable argument. This relates to the characters in "The Distance Between Us", because if they were currently crossing the border and were caught, they would have been immediately deported back to Mexico, which is what happened to them when they were caught crossing the border.

Finally, the article covers the fact that we should be "solving the crisis, and not standing in the way". The author believes that the immigration border crisis isn't about immigration or the border, but instead about the Republican party not agreeing with the Democrats based on political reasons. The author finishes the article by saying that we could end the crisis if the Republicans would stop giving misinformation on the crisis, and actually cooperate.

While reading the article, it was apparent that the author had a strong bias towards the Republicans, which led him towards believing it was the Republicans fault we are in the "situation" we are in. While it may be a while before the immigration crisis in resolved, a start would be for both political parties to stop pointing fingers at each other, and put their differences behind them. Taking these steps could lead to a solution towards this crisis, which would ultimately lead to a better United States.