The Debate on Solving Illegal Immigration Issues: Ethical VS Constitutional :)

America was once, and still is a country of immigrants. The article "Immigration: Obama vs Congress," by Patricia Smith explains the debate between Obama and Congress on how to deal with the issue of illegal immigration in America. The article begins by explaining that, "There are 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States, living in the shadows, in constant fear of deportation." As you can see, this isn't just an issue for American citizens, but an issue for the immigrants who are coming here illegally, as well. Although Obama has issued the controversial consecutive order that will, for the time being, protect about 5 million people from deportation, many people, including Congress, do not approve of many of his decisions. However, the claim that the author is making in the article is that although Congress does not agree with Obama's order, it has helped and will help many families to reunite and live a life that is free of fear.

Throughout the article, the author presents her opinion through quotes and evidence that portray the main idea: The issue of illegal immigration and the debate on how it should be fixed. She quotes Jorge Jimenez, a man who moved to America from Mexico illegally in 1988. He explained the constant fear that he and his family live in. "Even a small traffic stop could send us to deportation," he explained. Jorge now has four children who are U.S. citizens, therefore the order that was passed by President Obama means a lot to him ad his family. But they're not the only ones. Paola Fernandez was illegally brought to America by her parents at age four, and she has two younger siblings who are U.S citizens. She now has permission to stay in the U.S. because of Obama's other order which allowed people who were brought to America illegally as children, to stay. Her undocumented parents are included in Obama's most recent order. The author of this article quoted Paola saying, "We've been here close to 25 years. On a very personal level, this is a very amazing moment." As you can see, Obama's new order for illegal immigrant has a huge and important impact on immigrant families. It not only reunites and rejoices families, but it enables them to stop living in constant fear of being deported and separated from their loved ones. 

All in all, the claim that the author makes in this article is that although Obama's new order is highly disliked by congress, it is the ethical and right decision because it reunites families and eliminates fear from their lives. Illegal immigration has been an issue in this country for a very long time. However, when it comes to separating parents from their children, it shouldn't matter whether or not these people got their paperwork. Obama's new order grants permission to illegal immigrants who have U.S. citizen children to stay in America because it's the right thing to do. Would you want to see your parents sent back to a country hundreds of miles away?