Dear Mr. President,

I implore you to repeal the caps placed on immigrants allowed inside the country's borders for permanent residence. The Immigration and Naturalization Act (INA), which manages immigration policy, places the annual limit to 675,000 immigrants allowed inside the nation. This act focuses on the discrimination of immigrants who are unlawful, immoral, diseased, and politically radical. In addition, certain criteria is used to determine who is admitted into America including family, working skill that benefits the United States, protection of refugees, and promotion of diversity. Although the Immigration and Naturalization Act has been amended many times over, it is still the foundation of current immigration laws.

Under your nose, Mr. President, today’s government abuses the INA, by limiting the number of immigrants in the United States for personal motives rather than the health and safety of the everyday American. It is not unusual for Americans to discriminate upon race, ethnicity, and religion. People in America even go as far as blaming the country’s problems on the murderers and the rapists who illegally cross the border from Mexico. When in reality, we just feel threatened by their capabilities in the workforce so much so that we think we need to ostracize them in order to keep them from “stealing” all of the jobs that we, as Americans, feel entitled to have.

Perhaps, Americans should think about the well-beings of others for once, especially the refugees and asylees who flee their homeland with the inability to return. The United States only allows 70,000 refugees and asylees within its borders every year. I believe that America, a nation founded on the principles of liberty and justice for all, should not put a number on the amount of people we permit inside this country. As a citizen of the United States, I cannot stand by and watch while people are turned away because someone else was deemed a better candidate to cross the border. I believe immigration should be free flowing in the sense that anyone should be able to come and go as they please. America, the beautiful, was created for everyone, not just its entitled citizens. America, supposedly the home of the brave, fears what it does not know or understand. 

In conclusion, Mr. President, crush America's prejudice and fear of immigrants, restore bravery to the American people and let everyone who wishes to be a part of our society feel our nation's pride. Unscrew the caps put on immigration or at least increase the number of those permitted to enter our borders, and if you can, please do away with bigoted restrictions on immigrants. They have just as much a right to live in America as we do because once upon a time weren't we immigrants too?

Sincerely,

Evelyn H.

A special thanks to the following sources:

“How the United States Immigration System Works: A Fact Sheet”. American Immigration Council. 1 March 2014. Web. 24 October 2016.

“Immigration and Nationality Act”. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. 10 September 2013. Web. 24 October 2016.

Johnson, Wade. “U.S. Immigration Legislation Online”. The University of Washington-Bothell Library. Web. 24 October 2016.