A family spends years trying to have their uncle come to Canada as a refugee and goes through lots of stress and trouble. After turning in all of their documents, a month before the deadline they are asked for another form. However, then the immigration system had trouble even giving them the form they had to now fill out in a hurry. While they are given a deadline, there is no clear sign for if they will be able to bring their uncle to Canada. It is very heartbreaking to hear stories like this, however, not all of these stories get reported. Many people have the exact same story as this family and they are near helpless to do anything about it. I can only imagine how stressed that family is, as they desperately try and bring their uncle to safety. The process only seems to be against them as they try and follow the process only to be hit with more curveballs. The Uncle, Batto, even requested that his family not tell him if he was rejected because he feels that it’s his last hope. He currently has to sit in Lebanon waiting for approval, with very few personal belongings and away from his now terrorist-ridden home.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/windsor-family-lebanon-refugee-1.4988217

This puts to question if a wall would even be helpful. If people already can cross the existing wall by going underneath them then it shows that spending more than $5 billion is not useful. Part of the issue that’s cannot be fixed is that there is infrastructure underneath that cities use to drain water but are being used to build tunnels as well. On the spot there are many ways to get around the wall, if one were to be built, someone could use a ladder, rope, tunnel, break it, or go through the ocean, and those are on the top of my head. I also read of an instance of people using cannons to throw drugs over the border. With all this said, if the government wants to decrease crime, or undocumented immigration, it is a worthwhile investment to make the immigration process easier or put money towards USCIS as a whole (since they self-generate money). If people were more willing to go through the process then as a whole the number of undocumented immigrants will decrease. However, many are seeking asylum or are desperate to move for a better life for themselves and their family so waiting 20 years is not an option for them. If the parts of the U.S border that do have a wall have shown many instances of not working, then it’s likely that a fully constructed wall won’t work as well. The money could be better spent in any other department.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/border-patrol-agents-have-discovered-at-least-230-cross-border-tunnels-since-1990/

The partial government shutdown has been going on for a long time and the effect’s are spreading every day. From at first impacting the furloughed employees to impacting anyone who provides services for them (Ubers, restaurants, and more). These employees cannot be expected to work without pay, the shutdown needs to end soon. The standoff on immigration shows the true lack of compromise. Both parties are concerned about how others will view them, neither Trump or Democrats want to look like pushovers. Trump promised a wall which, since the beginning, maybe believed would be impossible and is unnecessary, but as president he is trying to fulfill his goals that he stated in day one. I believe that this wall is not worth depriving people of paychecks, especially the one who serve the government and have no influence on government policy. The wall plan should be abandoned in hopes of applying the money to better immigration reform like improving the court system, process, and backlog. These are more apparent issues, and could solve more than a wall could. Especially since most undocumented immigrants come from expired visas. The government needs to reopen soon

In this article, Immigration lawyers show disagreement with Trump’s proposed plan for reopening the government. They find the supposed compromise to be more harmful than helpful. It is believed that it will cause unaccompanied minors to have a harder time to seek asylum.

After reading this article helped me understand some of the complexities of Trump’s plan. While it seems like he tried to make it more helpful for central american children to seek asylum by providing centers to do so, but it bars them from going to the U.S border to do it. Which creates problems for some, along with decreasing the amount of asylum acceptances. Learning about the how unaccompanied minors present themselves in court and in front of border control is frustrating. A child at the border can easily be turned away from the asylum process if the interviewer doesn’t feel like it’s vital enough. Border patrol is also allowed to turn them away before they even apply for asylum, leaving kids at risk of danger returning home.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/immigration-lawyers-decry-trump-gop-bill-to-reopen-government/

We need to help students and parents cherish and preserve the ethnic and cultural diversity that nourishes and strengthens this community – and this nation.                             – Cesar Chavez

Immigration is a personal issue to me. I come from two Mexican immigrant parents, so I’ve always had an interest in the subject. My interest in the subject led me to research more and realize that there are many flaws within the system. The process is extremely backlogged, expensive, and frankly, very confusing. There definitely needs to be changed in how others view immigrants, as I see others view them as both “lazy” yet “stealing jobs”. Immigrants (even undocumented immigrants) provide a lot for America’s economy and are active consumers, their willingness to take lesser desirable jobs helps keep industries like agriculture, food service, and manufacturing alive. The only way we can get sensible immigration reform is by finding a compromise between these two very distinct platforms. Because if not, then politicians will constantly try to make reform, only for the next president to remove it. As shown clearly in the differences in policies of Obama and Trump