Immigrants and Voting

I am a citizen of the United States of America. I was born and raised in this country my entire life. Both of my parents are immigrants from Mexico to this country. They are the ones who raised me in this country and it is with them that my journey in civic engagement began. My parents had always taught me that it was important to be well-informed of the politics of the country and understand how our government and legal system works. I am positive that most immigrants living within this country are apt to feel the same way about the civic duties. As for those who do not, it is important that we make an effort to ensure that they come to understand the importance of civic engagement for their new country.

I really do believe that immigration is the essence of the United States of America. Without immigrants this country could not happen. I am, personally, in favor of immigration reform to help in making the process of naturalization more accessible to impoverished individuals who wish to immigrate to the country but are incapable due to their lack of knowledge, documents, and/or sometimes grasp of the English language. However, until that day comes, I firmly believe that all those who wish to come to America must go through the process legally and follow all instructions given to them. It is unfortunate that some immigrants do not have the option to do so and must find other means of arriving in America.

There are two types of immigrants who arrive in the United States of America, those who arrive legally and those who do not. I truly believe that immigrants who arrive in the United States illegally should not have the right to take part in elections for the country. Like convicted felons, illegal immigrants have committed a serious crime and, in doing so, have forgone their privilege of participating in American society and the responsibilities that come attached with citizenship of the country. However those immigrants who arrive legally and insist on residing in this country for an extended period of time should be allowed to vote and be assisted in the opportunity to do so. The ability in providing resources for immigrants to learn English in order to become more civically engaged is a very important part of this. We all know that language truly does have an impact on voter participation. Recent legislative efforts that have taken place at immigration reform will demand greater levels of proficiency in English, yet the government is only currently providing a small fraction of the resources that are absolutely necessary to allow new immigrants to learn English.

With our education of immigrants, they can properly participate in their civic engagement for the country. Their constant civic engagement is what will help them in their struggles by voting for what they believe in and for candidates that offer them the assistance that they need. It will be through our help to those who move to our great country that they can learn to help themselves.