People immigrate in search of a better life and opportunities. The definition of a better life varies for each person, as does their approach to achieving it. Imagine a realistic hill representing life as an immigrant. A round boulder is given to a person, and the boulder symbolizes the immigrant’s life, and the effort to roll it up the hill is the investment made to achieve the goal of getting a better life. The top of the hill signifies the beginning of ‘the better life.’ At the top of the hill is a café that allows one to relax and carefully choose their path before setting off down the hill. Rolling the boulder down becomes easier once the top is reached, indicating that life becomes significantly easier—though not 100%, it’s over 50% easier than at the bottom. Numerous paths exist for pushing the boulder up the hill and so is it on the other side too, varying for each person.
Immigrating to a new country legally is expensive. Depending on the visa type, a significant sum is needed to support oneself until one is able to earn. For example, international students must pay tuition until graduation before they can begin earning money as either a full time or part time worker, marking the start of their better life. The financial burden depends on the exchange rate of their home country and the financial situation of their sponsor, and it is always a significant investment some sponsors end up backing out after a few semesters of sponsoring the student’s tuition. Take Lake Land College for example, International Students pay four times the tuition per credit hour compared to that of domestic students.
While legal immigration is costly in terms of money and time, illegal immigration is risky and requires courage, sacrifices, desperation, hope and resilience. Illegal immigrants often take ‘under-the-table’ jobs to survive if they are successful in making it into the new country. These jobs are off the books, with no taxes paid on the income. Despite this, undocumented immigrants contributed over $96 billion in federal, state and local taxes in 2022. Although they don’t have to pay taxes on their income—except for sales and property taxes—many obtain an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) to pay income taxes, contributing to the country as a way of showing gratitude, despite being able to avoid paying taxes.
A world without corrupt and bad people cannot exist; good and bad must coexist. On the sides of the immigrant’s path are tunnels representing shortcuts that forsake the legal path. However, this method misses the café at the top, meaning they cannot choose their paths and must stick with whatever lies at the end. Some immigrants enter legally but take these tunnels, becoming illegal or undocumented. Some do it because their sponsors are no longer able to afford their sponsorship while some do because they are too greedy and, in a hurry, to start making a living.
As an immigrant myself, I find it difficult to empathize with certain actions that some immigrants take out of desperation, despite my best efforts to see the situation from their perspective. One such action is having a baby after entering the country illegally, not out of a desire to have children, but to exploit the Birthright Citizenship law. This can be detrimental to the child’s life. Babies are a blessing, but not everyone deserves to have a child. If a parent’s primary concern is not the child’s well-being but rather using the child as a means to exploit the system, then they are not prioritizing the child’s health or future. Instead, they are focused on securing their own future through the child, which I believe is not a valid reason to have a baby.
Another such action is getting married to exploit Citizenship by Marriage law. Some immigrants pretend to love and marry someone solely to obtain citizenship. Marriage should be based on love, not exploitation, and this is a form of manipulation in my perspective. While not all immigrants engage in these actions, a significant number do, and it is heartbreaking to see these behaviors generalized to all immigrants. It pains me to see that some people get hurt because of others’ desperation.
The journey of an immigrant is filled with challenges and complexities, whether they pursue legal or illegal pathways. While some immigrants take actions out of desperation that can be difficult to empathize with, such as exploiting Birthright Citizenship or Citizenship by Marriage laws, it is important to recognize that these actions are not representative of all immigrants. Are all immigrants bad? No. Is there a particular way to weed out all the bad ones? No.
It is essential to acknowledge the diverse experiences and sacrifices made by immigrants in search of a better life. By fostering empathy and compassion, we can better appreciate the contributions immigrants make to society and support their pursuit of the American Dream, while also addressing the issues that arise from desperation and exploitation in a constructive manner.
