Op-Ed: I'm a Legal Immigrant - Here's Why Biden's Border Crisis Angers Me
As an immigrant and naturalized United States citizen, and as a health care policy analyst, I am deeply concerned about the ongoing crisis that President Joe Biden’s administration has created at the southern border.
The border crisis breeds unfairness in our country’s immigration system, promotes a double standard in public health and endangers the safety of Americans.
Reportedly, a million illegal immigrants have crossed the southern border to enter the United States this fiscal year. Some estimate that by the end of the fiscal year, two million illegal immigrants will have crossed the border to step into the United States. For a sovereign country, such a massive flow of illegal immigrants represents a severe crisis.
After I came to the United States as an immigrant in 2007, I went through the very detailed process of legal immigration, followed all the laws and rules, worked hard, paid taxes and successfully pursued citizenship. The United States, I believe, embraces those who come here legally.
There are voices that accuse the United States of being an anti-immigrant country. In reality, the United States is very pro-immigrant. According to the Yearbook of Immigration Statistics published by the Department of Homeland Security, since 2005, approximately a million people have become lawful permanent residents each year.
Furthermore, hundreds of thousands of people become naturalized United States citizens every year. These data completely debunk the claim that America is anti-immigrant.
America’s immigration system must be fair. There cannot be two parallel pathways — one legal and one illegal — to enter America. Ensuring fairness for those who are coming to the United States legally requires stopping all forms of illegal immigration. Unfortunately, the Biden administration is allowing illegal immigrants to pour into America, which is a slap in the face of law-abiding immigrants.
The Biden administration has engaged in restricting people’s freedom and crushing their right to make their own health care decisions, using COVID-19 as the excuse. President Biden has announced a vaccine mandate for federal workers, which would force these employees to either get vaccinated or be left without a job. The administration has also pushed for the increased use of masks.
At the same time, President Biden has allowed over a million illegal immigrants — many infected with COVID — to come into the United States. According to one Border Patrol union official, many COVID-positive illegal immigrants are being released into the United States.
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Needless to say, the Biden administration’s policies are also promoting a double standard that imposes burdensome COVID mandates on law-abiding Americans while handing a free pass to foreign nationals who are breaking our country’s immigration laws.
It is not just COVID that could spread due to mass illegal immigration. As a health care policy analyst, I am worried that many of the illegal immigrants could be carrying other contagious and life-threatening illnesses such as influenza, tuberculosis, pneumonia, malaria, measles or typhoid. When allowed to come unchecked into the United States, the immigrants would spread these diseases among the American population and endanger public health.
Illegal immigration is making America less safe. Unlike in the case of legal immigrants who follow the immigration process and undergo extensive background checks, there is no documentation to show where illegal immigrants are coming from or who they truly are.
Many violent criminals and gang members are taking advantage of the Biden administration’s policies and are entering the United States, which is resulting in an increase in criminal activities. The dangerous criminals who are entering the country through the southern border would likely travel to various states and cause havoc in cities and towns across the country.
Law enforcement agencies are concerned. Sheriffs from all over the United States have sent a letter to President Biden urging him to secure the southern border. In their letter, the sheriffs wrote that illegal immigration would result in criminal activities such as drug and human trafficking.
For a United States citizen — whether naturalized like myself or American by birth — who wishes to live in peace, work hard and raise a family on American soil, illegal immigration represents a great danger to public health and safety.
For a legal immigrant who wants to pursue a life in America, unchecked illegal immigration represents unfairness because it erodes the foundation of legal immigration. The only winners from the Biden administration’s border policies are those who break the laws.
Americans deserve economic and national security. The Biden administration is clearly not providing that. By allowing illegal immigration, the administration is undermining the process of legal immigration, openly advocating for a double standard in public health and weakening public safety in America.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
