"The Preservation of the American Dream" by Abigail Lavergne
My mother once told me a story of how she couldn’t get my oldest brother, Dennis, to stop crying when he was 2. She said he cried so much that he woke up his little brother, Erick, who was an infant at the time. In her failed attempts to get them both back to sleep, and her total exhaustion, she told me that when they cried, she sobbed too. This was her reality until my father was able to immigrate from Honduras nearly two years later.
I am the daughter of two Honduran immigrants. I have heard countless stories of how difficult it was for my mother to nurture two children under two, before my youngest brother and I were born. My father had to wait in Honduras until his legal immigration process was finalized. They understood the difficulties of splitting up their family for over a year, but they also knew it was the right way to approach the situation. I always admired the strength my parents had to make that decision. My aunt also expressed her desire to immigrate to the United States, and with the help of my mother, she started her legal process. This process would take more than 10 years, and unfortunately my aunt did not live to see the end of it. She succumbed to cancer in 2014. Two years after her death, my mother received a letter stating that her sister’s citizenship court date was granted. This is when I knew that there are serious flaws with the legal immigration process, and the most significant factor contributing to this defective system is illegal immigration.
As a first-generation daughter of immigrants, I have a unique perspective that lets me see multiple points of view. I have personally witnessed my parents’ journey towards legal immigration, and my aunt’s unfortunate outcome. Even more so, I have personally encountered individuals who are undocumented immigrants. It is because of this unique perspective that I can say that legal immigration must improve. I can empathize with people who are leaving everything they know for the chance of a better future; people who are willing to put down new roots in a country that will offer them a better life for future generations. Many undocumented immigrants have moved to the United States in pursuit of the “American Dream,” but what does that mean if they cannot relish in the freedoms of citizenship. The United States needs to improve their legal immigration system in order to offer more humane and efficient pathways to citizenship. Often times, undocumented immigrants are driven by desperation when they move to the US illegally. Forced to live invisible lives out of fear of being sent back to a country they were escaping, the US immigration system fails those hungry for citizenship, and without reform, those individuals can resort to dangerous alternatives. There are many benefits to legal immigration; it leads to a boost in the economy, it keeps people safe, and it keeps the integrity of our legal systems intact by not undermining individuals waiting their turn.
With a controlled legal system only comes economic growth that benefits all Americans. One of the driving factors for immigrants coming to the United States is the opportunity for just that. People who are leaving their native countries in search of financial betterment have a chance to find that if done legally. As legal immigrants, these individuals would get paid more, have opportunities and resources to establish their own businesses, hold jobs with benefits and coverage, and pour money back into the economy through taxes. An effort between the Center for American Process, the University of California Davis, and the Global Migration Center showed that applying citizenship to current undocumented immigrants would increase the American GDP by upwards of $1.7 trillion over the course of a decade (Center for American Progress, “Citizenship for Undocumented Immigrants”). With this, the immigrants found increased financial benefits along with avoiding the dangers of border crossing.
It is not uncommon for the average American to be ignorant to the dangers that immigrants face when entering the United States illegally. Besides the obvious dangers of the harsh desert climate that defends the border, immigrants are subject to criminal organizations and human trafficking networks. Acting in desperation, some turn towards the help of smugglers or “mules” to aid them in crossing successfully, unknowingly turning into prey for criminals aiming to capitalize on their vulnerability (Homeland Security Investigations, “Human Smuggling”). Immigrants are willing to risk a great deal to pursue a better life, often up to and beyond their own lives. These immigrants become victims in a system that traps them into submission to criminal organizations that can reasonably assume the victims cannot report to the authorities in fear of self-reporting, adding additional hazards to a mission that is already filled with dangers.
The structure of the American government is appealing to many who chase the “American Dream”. America’s unique free market and democratic republic models of economy and government offer incentives to the disenfranchised of nations with less than desirable opportunities. Upholding the “letter of the law” for the sake of those who attempt to use our legal immigration process is of the utmost importance. The Congressional Research Service reports that 3.6 million court cases were backlogged (“Pending Cases Backlog”). The need to divert resources to towards the enforcement of illegal immigration processes creates a depleted budget and workforce to focus on those who attempt to enter legally. Said more simply, the more illegal immigrants enter the United States and exhaust the resources provided, the worse off it is for those who hope to have their cases heard through the proper channels of legal immigration; often, this can create a wait time exceeding a decade.
My aunt Joheys never got the opportunity to obtain her citizenship and live in the US. Knowing that she received her letter from the immigration offices two years after her death makes it glaringly obvious that reform is needed. Her story mirrors that of many individuals who are equally failed by the current system; one that forces families to put their dreams on hold indefinitely. Just like my aunt was, immigrants from all over the world are in search of opportunity, growth, and freedom, only to be met by backlogs, inconsistent standards, and life-threatening alternatives. Reform to the current immigration process would create a safer and more efficient legal system that would be beneficial to all, preserving the ideals of the American Dream.
Works Cited
Center for American Progress. “Citizenship for Undocumented Immigrants Would Boost U.S. Economic Growth, New Report Finds.” Center for American Progress, n.d., www.americanprogress.org/press/release-citizenship-undocumented-immigra….
Congressional Research Service. U.S. Immigration Courts and the Pending Cases Backlog, 2023, https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R47077.
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). “Human Smuggling.” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, n.d., https://www.ice.gov/about-ice/hsi/investigate/human-smuggling.