"No human being is illegal"

The very founding concepts of this country, and the laws establishing such a system, have been established for a couple centuries. Since the beginning, these laws were based upon the right of people to immigrate to this country to pursue happiness, amidst the security of freedom and liberty. The United States was conceived as a haven for those yearning for liberty. At that juncture, the people coming to the USA were viewed as a great and valuable resource! Should we not appreciate many of these immigrants that made this country successful, in so many aspects, by welcoming their brainpower, the might of their ideas and their work towards making a better life for all in this land?

What has happened to this structure and our motto, which were the founding pillars of the United States of America, as the land of opportunity and freedom? The United States is, unquestionably, a nation of immigrants. It is as much our identity as anything else we can name. The value of immigration , in our history, is clear and need not be belabored.
What must be asked of our politicians and our voting public is, if we are going to claim that we welcome immigrants, why do we make it so difficult for them? The current requirements for immigration are staggering. Most Americans seem to feel any hard-working, law-abiding applicants can become citizens, legally, with a minimum of hassle. This is not the case! We ask all Americans to become educated about these issues. It can require tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees alone and as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars in investments to become a US Citizen, legally. It can also take years. But it’s not the same for all nations. A citizen of the UK, for instance, will have a much easier time than someone from what the government might consider a “less desirable” country, despite how desirable the individual applicant may be. How “desirable” the government considers an immigrant is heavily steeped in politics and the relationship the US Government has with that immigrant's particular nation at the time. This is unfair and bigoted treatment of individuals, their destinies are determined by politics, and not by their individual merits. It is staggering what is required and asked of those seeking to be US Citizens. The USA purports to welcome immigrants, yet makes legal immigration extremely difficult. We have put out the welcome mat – but won’t open the door. Either we need to welcome immigrants and help them attain citizenship legally, or we need to roll up and remove the welcome mat. If we claim to welcome immigrants, then we must make policies which reflect it. We endorse the ideas of president Obama expressed in his speech of 2011 in TX, to help those who are illegal to become legal provided that they meet certain basic qualifications such as having clean record, speaking English. How many people, we must wonder, would stay illegally, if the right choices were truly open to them?