All humans have inalienable rights

We don’t all have to be Immigration and Naturalization Service agents, or economists, or even philosophers, to see that there are some problems with immigration law.

Modern statutes simply fly in the face of traditional American values. Although the phrase may have lost some meaning from overuse, America truly is “a nation of immigrants.” It is historically evident that vibrant immigrant communities create a cultural tide that gives the country its character, yet the powers that be are concerned only with holding onto outdated demographics and stereotypes.

It’s important to remember that we live in a country founded not on American rights or Caucasian rights, but on human rights. The nation is peppered with officials who have sworn to uphold America’s expressed commitment to freedom – a belief that all people are created equal – but who would ignore the basic rights of the more than 5 million undocumented workers in the United States, creating a permanent, subservient underclass with no access to medical care or due process of law.

I can’t understand what it is about the nature of freedom that means an American baby deserves to eat twice its body weight in strained vegetables every evening while a Mexican baby learns to beg and steal and go for days without food. I can’t understand what’s patriotic about separating husband and wife, brother and sister, parent and child through immigration processes that can take as long as two years to complete.

The Democratic Party does not believe that every criminal and drug dealer who crosses the borders should be given 40 acres and a mule, only that every human has inalienable rights, and that by acknowledging the humanity of undocumented migrant workers, we actually affirm the very American values of freedom and opportunity for all.

– Xander Casad is a member of the Young Democrats at Lawrence High School.

Migrants welcome, if here legally

The Republican Party supports immigration in full, permitting that the immigration is done legally.

The GOP understands that more and more workers are going to be needed. The immigrants who are willing to go through the process of legally entering our country will have jobs that are open for them, and we are willing to take those immigrants in as our economy demands it. Like President Bush has proposed, immigrants currently holding jobs should be allowed to keep those jobs and should be able to find a way to hold those jobs legally.

The party also would like to punish the employers in the United States who are hiring illegal immigrants to work for them. In addition, the border patrol agents have been given the authority to deport immigrants caught entering the United States illegally without giving them due process before an immigration judge, which will cut back on the court’s load.

Along with these initiatives, we have stepped up on border control itself. We now have cameras that allow for facial recognition, unmanned air planes and an increased number of border patrol agents. These increases in border control hopefully will help keep immigrants from entering the United States illegally.

The Republican Party hopes that all of these initiatives will decrease the number of immigrants entering through illegal means while allowing more immigrants to enter the United States through legal processes.

– Samuel David Wessels is a member of the Young Republicans at Lawrence High School.