The United States Immigration System Needs to Change

In the United States, the issue of immigration has been a controversial topic for a
long period of time. Many problems with the system, such as the cost of citizenship,
processing time, and overstaying immigrants, provide evidence that the system has
undeniable flaws. I believe that these problems must be dealt with because the difficulty
of getting into the United States causes a substantial number of people to enter or stay
illegally.
Immigrants that have a permanent resident status who want to become a citizen of
the United States must pay for it. This seems simple enough, but the price of citizenship
is quite expensive. In fact, the Naturalization form has a filing fee of $680, which
prevents most immigrants living under the poverty line from a chance of citizenship. This
fee discourages current and future immigrants from filing the Naturalization form, which
also negatively affects the rate of naturalization (McDaniel). In a way, the system is
punishing immigrants for coming into the United States. One reason people migrate to
the United States is for economic opportunity, but a large portion of the opportunity is
lost when they dont have the money to pay for the filing fee (West). They lose the
benefits of being a citizen, potentially letting employers exploit their foreign status by
paying them less than minimum wage, or letting employers refuse to hire them in the first
place. This entire dilemma just inhibits workforce productivity, economic growth, and
overall is a hindrance for the United States. I believe that if the U.S. Government lowered
the cost of the filing fee, it would benefit both immigrants and the country.
Another problem with the system is marriage, mainly the amount of time it takes
for an I-130 petition to get approved. As stated by Andy J. Semotiuk, a writer of global
immigration, the whole process is going to take you about a year. That means even
though they are already married to a U.S citizen, an immigrant must wait a year before
gaining citizenship. In addition to that time, there is even the chance of getting their

petition rejected. Its the same for foreign spouses applying from outside of the United
States, taking about the same amount of time or longer for the petition to go through.
Similar to the cost of citizenship, this is a huge inconvenience for both immigrants and
the U.S. as a whole. Delays make the process last significantly longer than intended and
considering how over 100,000 spousal related I-130 petitions are processed each year, a
lot of time is wasted on what could be a fast and easy process.
Lastly, many immigrants are overstaying their welcome. Most immigrants are
granted work visas into the United States, however, many of them stay even though their
visa has expired, making them illegal. This has not gone unnoticed, as president Obama
has removed more immigrants in recent years than when he first became president.
During the time of the Obama administration, the number of immigrants removed from
the United States increased from 388,409 in 2011 to 419,384 in 2012 (York). Those who
are removed from the U.S. cannot legally get back in to the country. whereas those who
are deported are legally allowed entry again if they want to come back. With the number
of deportations going down and the number of removals rising, I think its safe to say that
since the Obama administration, the immigration system has been stricter on immigrants,
regardless of whether or not they were overstaying their visa or if they entered illegally.
While I do think that this strict outlook is justified for those who entered illegally, I think
that there should be some kind of leniency towards those whose visa has expired.
There are plenty of problems that the immigration system of the U.S. holds, but
that doesnt mean that the system is broken; it just means that its not as good as what it
could be. The Obama administration has made efforts to reduce the amount of people
entering the United States illegally by increasing the size of Border Patrol but people still
manage to get through. There have been proposals for a new guest worker program
(Ngai), where they plan to get rid of the H-2 visa because it allows for employers to
abuse the system, but it is just a proposal. Right now, the bad things with the system

outweigh whats good and I think that regardless of what happens in the future, the
problems will forever be thorn in the side of the system.

Works Cited
McDaniel, Paul The Cost of Citizenship is a Barrier for Some Immigrants.
Immigration Impact. Immigration Impact, 9 Jan. 2015. Web. 1 Dec. 2016.
Ngai, Mae M. reforming Immigration for Good. The New York Times. The New York
Times Company, 29 Jan. 2013. Web. 1 Dec. 2016.
Semotiuk, Andy J. Spousal Immigration Processing Times Cause Frustration. Forbes.
Forbes, 11 Mar. 2015. Web. 1 Dec. 2016
West, Darrell M. Inside the Immigration Process. Brookings. The Brookings Institution,
3 April 2015. Web. 1 Dec. 2016
York, Byron No, Our Immigration System Is Not Broken. Washington Examiner. The
Washington Examiner, 27 Aug. 2014. Web. 1 Dec. 2016