A Call To End Immigration Reform Delays

            An article released by the New York Times on August 29^th by Michael D. Shear stated that a delay in immigration reform by the Obama administration is highly likely due to the upcoming midterm elections. With November closing in it appears as though the President is acutely aware of the threat of Republicans taking both chambers. He has begun acting carefully so as not to harm the chances of democratic candidates with his hope being to maintain a majority Democratic senate. President Obama promised immigration reform in the mid-summer after he expressed extreme frustration with the gridlock in congress and their apparent inability to solve this pressing issue. Naming the cause of the lack of legislation to be the fault of Republican house leaders and their refusal to compromise to get anything done, the president assured the American people that reform would occur even if he had to take executive action by acting alone. Given current global instability and the growing threat of the Islamic State, the United States must act hastily to secure its borders and avoid any chance of economic or violent repercussions.
            There remains a growing domestic issue with illegal immigrants taking advantage of the broken immigration system by exploiting the countries sympathy and high moral conviction to do what is right for their own gain. Floods of people have stormed the border to escape dangerous conditions and poverty that plagues many Central and South American countries, leaving the United States forced to find a way to deal with them. The illegal immigrants have been placed in the hands of federal authorities that are in turn relying on state resources to handle this national issue. With the probability of a delay in immigration reform from the administration, the country faces further challenges of dealing with the recent surge of illegal immigrants with its own money and its own resources. It is clear that the nation can wait no longer and must secure the border immediately before dealing with those who have already entered the country.

            Along with the growing economic threat of illegal immigration by citizens of Central and South American countries, there is a substantial threat of Islamic State jihadist extremists taking advantage of our unprotected borders to conduct terror attacks against the country. It has been suggested by law enforcement officials in recent weeks that leaders of the Islamic State are looking at the Mexican-American border to enter the United States and cause widespread harm to its citizens in protest of its recent airstrikes against IS fighters. Last week a laptop belonging to a member of the IS was recovered and found to contain several methods of how to conduct terror attacks on urban cities. The laptop included a wide variety of methods including traditional bombing attacks as well as biological warfare tactics. The world is currently the most unstable it has been in the since the cold war and domestic terror threats are probable to say the least.

            While the administration is smart to be cautious about upsetting voters through controversial legislation, the need for immediate reform to our broken immigration system is a national security necessity. Partisan politics have clearly outweighed the consequences of delaying the promised reforms, which has upset many immigration advocacy groups and potentially put American citizens in danger. I believe that this country would be thoroughly devastated if a terror attack occurs due to this delay, or if more waves of illegal immigrants continue to cross the border in mass numbers. This country has far too much to lose and nothing to gain by a continued delay but unfortunately we will likely be forced to wait until after November 4^th before we see any extensive and thorough changes made to the broken immigration system that disservices the American people.

Shear, Michael. "Obama Weighing Delay in Action on Immigration." The New York Times. The New York Times, 29 Aug. 2014. Web. 3 Sept. 2014.