Dear Next President,

As an immigrant myself, I understand the reasons to aiding the support and the advocation of regulations on immigrants, but these rules sometimes are too strict and discriminate people like me from certain activities.The way this can be changed is by reforming the rules to state that there are equal chances for people who share the same stories as me compared to the opportunities the majority race does. I realize that these rules are necessary to be put in place because of the current events occurring, like terrorism and all the shootings, but families like me, who have lived in the U.S. for more than twelve years without causing any concerns for other families, are sometimes affected more than the families who have caused inconveniences for this nation. The current systems in place make it very difficult to arrive to this country legally, work in the U.S legally, and difficult to gain citizenship, which has caused an increase in illegal immigration and violent crimes.

Having lived in the U.S. for twelve years without a green card or citizenship, I can deeply relate to other immigrants who have been discriminated, or always considered as the second choice. For example, my family and I had visited India this summer, and when we return, we are always required to stand in a line that is mixed with all types of people: legal immigrants, visiting immigrants, green holders, and illegal immigrants. There was a family of illegal immigrants, and when they went up to the counter to check in, there were some problems, so my family and I had to wait in the line for four hours. We asked one of the security guards if we could move to another line but the guard did not accept our request. In the next ten minutes, a white couple asked if they could be moved, and immediately, the guard took their request into consideration and moved them to the front of the line. At that moment, I realized how being an immigrant has affected me my entire life, from being excluded from friend groups to being looked as a secondary option for bigger activities. It caused anger in me, but I was too scared to question the actions of the guard because I knew that there would be grave consequences for my actions. My only request to you is to change these types of actions towards immigrants and let them have equal chances as citizens and the majority race.

According to whitehouse.gov, “America’s immigration system is broken. There are 11 million people living in the shadows. And about 95% of those people are immigrants.This is not good for the economy or the country.” 11 million people are living in fear in this country. They could be the criminals who are afraid that they will get caught for their illegal actions, or the innocent families who try to live their life to the fullest, only to be bombarded with limits that might affect them more than they would for criminals. I think these families would agree with me when I say that this needs to be changed. The laws that have been passed can be reformed to state that recent immigrants and criminals should have more monitoring than immigrants who have lived in this country for more than ten years and have not caused any trouble. This will allow immigrants more chances to be and do what they want without feeling that they are restricted from committing to certain activities. A Migration Policy Institute report tells us that, “A half-million parents of roughly the same number of children who are citizens, but were immigrants, may have been deported.” This quote shows how even if people are naturalized, they are still discriminated just because they were immigrants. Just think about if naturalized people are treated like this, how non citizens are treated.

My only request for you is to push for immigration reform. As an immigrant, I know that many immigrants move here for a better life for themselves and their children. Immigrants deserve to have an equal chance to gain citizenship. People move to this country because across the world it is seen as the land of opportunity, and political freedom, because they need a better life, because they are not safe. They do not move here to be treated with less respect.

Sincerely,

Deekshitha Balaji