The United States is considered the greatest country in the world by a lot of people around the world. We have one of the freest countries while boasting the second-largest economy. In light of this, 13.7% of our population comprises foreign-born individuals. We have always embraced people of differing national dissent as a part of our country if they wish to be so. Yet the interests of our country are broader than just expansion. Public safety is a basic function of any society, not only an interest of the initial society, but also of those who which to join said society.
Unfortunately, not all immigrants embrace the role of public safety. Since Joe Biden took office, the number of crimes committed by illegal immigrants has skyrocketed. Conservatives look towards Donald Trump's wall and deportation efforts as a possible solution, though Democrats view the wall as a barrier between asylum seekers and their freedom. While both sides of the aisle continuously bicker over their political ideologies, the problem at hand has yet been forgotten. How do we ensure the rights of asylum seekers while protecting our children from foreign criminals?
The answer is not that we change our process of legal immigration; rather, we should change our method of containment. For years now, the federal government has been corralling immigrants at the border and placing them in cages. They separated families and treated asylum seekers like scum. While I do believe that immigrants need to go to ports of entry, the federal government needs to do much more to prevent this sort of treatment towards immigrants. Fighting over it solves nothing.
What the United States needs are welcome centers that surround the United States border. Places where foreign nationals who wish to enter the United States may stay for a week while we run criminal background checks on them. These are not prisons; rather they act as barriers of entry. The door to their homeland is always open if they change their mind, but the door to our homeland will be closed until they get approval. This is a very complicated idea, so I'll spread it out into three sections.
Step 1: More Points of Entry
Currently, there are only 27 ports of entry on the U.S. southern border. When you factor in that the border is 1,951 miles long, you're looking at 72-1/4 miles in between ports of entry. That's a long distance between entry points to the United States. We need more than that.
Immigrants deserve easier access into our country, but the easiest paths need to have welcoming points there. What we're doing is spreading out immigrants to the point that they do not have a legal way into the country without risk of death. You can't walk into a supermarket when there is danger afoot, so why would we make legitimate immigrants walk through danger to come into our country?
I would like to have a welcome center at every 10 miles across the border. That gives us just under 200 entry points across the United States. These will be more than accessible to those on the southern border who wish to immigrate to our country.
Step 2: The Welcome Center
The welcome centers themselves will be more than just a reception desk and a waiting room. They will be activity malls with lodging centers and attractions for immigrants to enjoy for a week while they wait for a decision on entry to our country. This will give them a substantial amount of an introduction into United States culture before entering the United States.
Although, it won't just be a regular mall. The activities and food will be paid for on a limited daily credit provided by the government, but it's not a complete dump from taxpayer dollars. The food, activities, and shopping will be paid for by interested United States businesses. The welcome centers will have their own economic opportunities, and will have their own principles of supply and demand.
There could be fast food, restaurant chains, pizza places, mini golf, bowling, roller coasters, movie theaters, popular clothing stores, and some famous brands that are recognized from all over the world. Imagine that someone's very first American toy is a Barbie doll or a baseball glove from a toy store at the border. One contingency that I will mention is that contracts for welcome center stores and restaurants will be across the board. That means all welcome centers will have the same stuff all the time. It's completely inefficient for immigrants to flock to one specific welcome center because word got out about the differences between them. We need to avoid that as much as possible.
We could also have American exhibits that teach all about our history and the greatness that America has built over the years. More exhibits could demonstrate everyday American home life and the traditions that we fight for every day. All these and more could excite immigrants about entry into our country and would demonstrate who we are as a nation to the rest of the world.
Step 3: The Background Checks
With all of that being said, not everyone will pass the test. There are going to be a number of security measures that are taken to ensure that Americans are not being subjected to terrorists or foreign criminals. For starters, before we even get into the welcome center's main floor where all the attractions are, we'll run the immigrants through a known terrorist database. If we catch any terrorists, we arrest them immediately. However, we do it in a way that is non-disruptive to the rest of the facility and does not endanger anyone there. We will also scan for repeat visitors who have been denied entry before. Unless a special case is granted by an independent commission, according to the law, only one visit to a welcome center is allowed.
Secondly, we will provide a substantial amount of security on the floor. These officers should not be confrontational, but should prevent troublesome behavior and preserve the peace inside the welcome center. Their job is to break up fights, prevent attacks of other immigrants, and be great ambassadors to the outside world.
Finally, after the week is over, security will bring the immigrant families to a specific room and border agents will deliver the news as to whether they will be allowed to enter our country or not. It is possible that different decisions can be made for different family members, but if the families would rather stay together, the entire family can forgo a life in America if only some of them are allowed in. That is their decision, and not our concern.
The decision is based off of a criminal background check or a record of previous deportation. In order to reenter after previously being deported, special permission must be granted by an independent commission, according to the laws of our country. If accepted, the families are to choose a destination to move to, provided a small government loan which will need to be repaid in ten years, and provided opportunity referrals in order to get them started on their journey as American citizens. They will also be required to complete a United States citizenship test within three months of being in our country. The test will be different for adults and children.
America wants to welcome all immigrants seeking asylum as long as they are not threats to our society. The border is a place where the American melting pot is supposed to be created, but it's doing more melting or our country's soul than melting people together. Welcome centers could be the key to ensuring a safe and friendly immigration to America while securing the border at the same time. It may be time to introduce immigrants to the American way of doing things. This is how we should say, "Welcome to the United States of America."
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