A caravan of immigrants reached the United States- Mexican border they were greeted at our border with the national guard and tear gas in later November. Since then, a debate has raged across the country over building a wall on the Mexican border, with the President and members of Congress going on television to argue their sides and the government being partially shut down because of it.

The group in November included 5,000 Central American and Mexican immigrants, men and women, adults and children. They ranged from elderly people to small babies who were fleeing their countries because their governments are abusing their power. They do public executions and other violent punishments to stop people from disobeying their rules. They wanted to claim asylum in the United States for safety.
The United States, is a country founded on immigrants, and migrant workers. Most of these immigrants will take the jobs that most American don’t think about doing.

“There are a bunch of pros and cons,” says senior Liv Mosher. “They take up a lot of our small jobs, but they also keep those company’s going. Although they do take those jobs from us as well.” They take these jobs and they are taking them with cheaper pay and a work visa

A work visa gets you a green card. You need to have a green card for 5 years to become a citizen of the United States, they can also be received if you are getting married or already married to a citizen of the US. You can also get a green card if you have claimed asylum or refugee status.  Along with a green card there is a citizenship test and lots of paperwork to go with it. According to a study done by Vox only 65% of our country passes the citizen test. These are the regulations to become a citizen the legal way.

However some immigrants don’t have time to wait for 5 years to become a citizen because they are running from the violence that is happening right then. So they end up going around our system and come into the country illegally.  The United States, as of 2016 , had an estimate of 10.7 million illegal immigrant in the country, and the peak of illegal immigrants the United States had was in 2007, with 12.2 million according to Pew research center. Also there are an estimate 7.8 million unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. workforce, that is also a decline from 2007.
Lately our government is pushing for stronger border control. President Donald Trump is really pressuring congress for the funding to build the wall along the border. but the democratic party does not want to give President Trump funding and he is now threatening a government shutdown.

“‘We need to have the wall. We need border security. Whatever it takes to get border security, I will do it,’ Trump says,” according to the Washington Post.

It has been stated on multiple occasions that the United States President, Donald Trump, wants to seal our southern border. When talking to drama teacher Mrs.Riordan she said that she doesn’t believe we could close our borders. She said we need a different plan then what were are doing, but we can’t close out all of the people who want to come and live in our country. Most people who move here from Mexico and move to California end up being farmers or take the labor oriented jobs. There is a movie about a day without any immigrants and it’s so true because we could handle it we rely on them so much.

While some people believe that most immigrants are coming here the right way, there are some people who think otherwise and that they are trying to get the benefit of America .

“Everybody I work with is an immigrant though. I walk into tender crop and no one speaks English. They all have like fake IDs or something,” said junior Jack Crocker.

The immigrants who are trying to keep their families safe and trying to make a new life in America have to fight off a lot of stereotypes that people put on their shoulders. They also have to deal with the bad reputations they get from the other people in their country.

“‘The assault on our country at our Southern Border, including the Criminal elements and DRUGS pouring in, is far more important to me, as President, than Trade or the USMCA,’ said Donald Trump.  ‘Hopefully Mexico will stop this onslaught at their Northern Border.’”   

At the border the United States government is issuing a different order than the usual procedures. He is not closing it down instead the US government is telling the military officers at the US-Mexican border to use teargas as force to keep the immigrants from entering the country. They don’t want the immigrants to be able to claim asylum in the United States.

Also currently the government is separating families at the border they say, according to Vox, that adults who cross the border illegally need to be charged criminally in a court of law. They put the children in the foster care, and that means that the families get separated.

Washington is still in process of trying to figure out a solution to the problems at our southern border. They’re trying to protect our country and help others when they’re in a time of need. They are hoping to find a solution to the problem soon.