Topic > A Problem of Legal and Illegal Citizenship

This essay is intended to provide strong arguments in favor of granting legal citizenship to children whose parents entered the country in which they are growing up illegally. This citizenship, however, should not be given to everyone, but only to those who are capable of obtaining a university degree or performing military service. The United States and the United Kingdom will be used as examples, given that there are a high number of immigrants among their populations. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayThe DREAM Act introduced by former US President Barack Obama could have allowed undocumented immigrants to obtain temporary citizenship, which could help improve the country in many ways. New York State's DREAM Act bill was first introduced in 2011 and called for an end to deportations and work permits for undocumented immigrants under the age of 30 who had traveled to the United States. United before turning 16 and who had been in the country for at least five years. They could not have a criminal record and had to be a high school graduate or have a GED, be in school or have served in the military. However, critics argue that it is nothing more than a clandestine amnesty for approximately two million illegal immigrants. However, the passage of the DREAM Act would give hope to young undocumented immigrants who only know the United States as their home, since they have not spent much of their lives in their home country, deporting them will therefore seem cruel. Furthermore, this would go against the basic American sense of fairness when children are punished because of their parents' choices. Although the law would allow for improvements in economic, tax revenue, and military recruiting efforts, it failed to pass. The naturalization process in the US and UK would be more effective if it were simplified. First, immigrants must go through a long and complicated process to acquire natural citizenship. In the United States, for example, some of the requirements are to be a permanent resident and to have lived there for more than five years. Secondly, not having citizenship hinders getting good jobs. According to the Forbes company, most of the jobs available to immigrants are low-paid and the person's previous education is completely overlooked. For this reason, the process should be simplified by lowering the number of years needed to submit an application. However, Life in the UK and US tests should still be mandatory to obtain citizenship. There are an estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants currently residing in the United States and the United Kingdom. It is unrealistic and inhumane to deport these individuals from their families and lives in these nations. Therefore, these immigrants should be offered a path to legal status and ultimately citizenship. This path to citizenship should be realistic, rather than being so burdensome that it prevents integration. Allowing these immigrants to regularize their status would not only strengthen the countries' national security, but also stimulate the economy and enhance their rich, vibrant, and diverse cultures. Esther Yu-Hsi Lee, an immigration reporter for ThinkProgress, said: "In another scenario where undocumented immigrants are granted legal status and citizenship after five years, GDP would grow by $1.1 trillion dollars, there would be another 159,000 jobs per year and $144 would be added..”