With immigration on the rise, steps need to be taken to prevent illegal immigration into the United States without hindering the immigration rights of legal immigrants. Since the early 1800's until the present, immigration has been a hot political topic, today more than ever. There are many reasons why people immigrate into the United States. These may include, seeking better opportunities, education, religious freedom, or to escape government control through dictatorships. Even though there are numerous reasons, there are only two ways. These are legal and illegal. Since the early 1800"s, there have been billions of immigrants entering the United States both legally and illegally. There have also been many laws, treaties, and amendments in order to control the influx of immigrants. Some of these include the Immigration Act of 1917, the Immigration Act of 1924, The Bracero Program of 1942-1964, Operation Wetback, The Oriental Exclusion Act, The McCarren Walter Act, and the Temporary Quota Law of 1921(Plesser 2-3,10-11,13,16,38-42,65). These are only a few of many of the attempts to control immigration. American Citizens, both legal immigrants and natural born citizens, have been and are suffering from the rise in the population of illegal immigrants. It has been estimated that almost 5.1 million (as of January of 1997) of all immigrants are illegal. However, only around half of these are granted amnesty or permanent legal residency. However, the growth is replaced each year with a higher yield of illegal immigrants (Estimate of.). One of the main concerns with illegal immigrants is the fact that the American citizen has to pick up the extra costs that occur from the illegal population of immigrants. Therefore, steps must be taken to prevent illegal immigration without hindering the immigration of legal immigrants. .
Since the founding of James Town in 1607, immigrants have been coming to America.
These issues have been debated on for generation. ... The issues of immigration has three important topics: first, the understanding of the history behind immigration. ... Third and finally, the economic issues associated with immigration today. The history of immigration in the United States is quite interesting. ... On a different level, immigration today is causing many environmental and resource issues. ...