Many 1st generation Americans like myself know that it is a lot more difficult today than it was for our parents to come here, get to work quickly and easily integrate into society.

September 11^th and the Global War on Terror began a trend of criminalizing immigration by making it so difficult to enter through the immigration system that it made more sense for millions to break the law rather than “wait in line”. States were banned from providing driver’s licenses and other documents that would allow immigrants to integrate quickly into society. The federal prohibition on undocumented labor caused millions of people to live in the shadows and like the prohibition era ban on alcohol has caused an increase in violence and a decline in the quality of life for everyone else.

To make matters worse, the government response to the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted economies around the world resulting in a new wave of migration here that was met with more regulations. The Trump Administration enacted Title 42 allowing the border patrol to turn away immigrants at the border and does not allow them to claim asylum even if they are fleeing socialist countries listed by the State Department as sponsors of terror.

In the present, the Biden Administration has announced that it is reversed its promise to end Title 42 and instead plans to expand the program. This decision is a direct attack on the right to asylum which has been respected by countries around the world after the Holocaust to give future groups the hope of escaping genocides at home which was not provided to European Jews and other groups during World War II.

It is a fundamental right for people to vote with the feet and move to anywhere they believe can provide them opportunities for a better life. America was founded on this very promise and it is time that America returns to respecting this fundamental and self-evident human value.