Striving for National Unification as the New Solution to Correct Failed Immigration Policies
By Kim Wright
Immigration is a very controversial yet crucial topic to discuss within society. People in the United States have very polarized opinions about immigration and this can lead to a societal clash.
Americans tend to forget that they are immigrants themselves. For many US citizens, it was their grandparents or even great-parents who migrated to the United States in search for a better life with greater opportunities. For others, their families arrived in the New World long before the US was even a country. Any way you look at it, Americans arrived on the land they stand on from someplace else.
In 2015, Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a press conference that immigrants who live under threatening circumstances and are striving for a better life are welcome in Germany. Shortly after, immigrants arrived in masses from Middle Eastern and African countries to do exactly that. Around 2 million immigrants have migrated to Germany since 2015, increasing the overall population to about 82.5 million people.
Merkel didn’t expect the overflow of immigration and tried to reverse the effects she had caused. However, soon millions of immigrants swept the country, which caused chaos throughout Germany.
Small towns, like Schwalbach am Taunus with its 14,000 residents, became grossly overpopulated. This has been my hometown for about 12 years and I couldn’t believe the huge change Schwalbach went through. Sometimes, I had to give up my practices in tennis in the winter since the inside tennis courts were used for shelter for incoming immigrants. Parking lots turned into tents for immigrants’ families to live in, and government money went to language courses and food and water supply for even more immigrants.
Many of these new arrivals were grateful and aware of their luck to be accepted into the wealthy European country that Germany is. Nevertheless, the town that was promised mostly immigrant families got a huge surprise when it was mainly young males who arrived. All of a sudden, crimes like rape and assault increased in what had previously been a small, safe area.
The mass migration spurred increased tensions throughout the country and the anti-immigration party AfD, whose full name means “Alternative for Germany” in English, saw a large spike in paricpants. This party is a far right party that calls for extreme measures to get rid of immigrants. Some might say the party resembles Nazi norms and values, since the party has become the most far right party in Parliament in since World War II. The AfD wants to deport every immigrant that entered Germany since 2015, consider 12-year-old immigrants as adults when charging them with crimes, and make no compromise to left wing parties.
Björn Höcke, a member of AfD, has used metaphors similar to those of Paul J. Goebbels, Adolf Hitler’s chief propagandist, stating that Germans need to be wolves instead of sheep. He also stated concepts promoted by Hitler himself, such as a “decaying state”, “cultural Bolshevism” and “racial suicide.”
Mass migration creates a lot of hate toward immigrants and allows for parties like AfD to rise and develop. Instead of merging together and finding common ground, people fight against each other and neglect tackling other issues the country faces.
Due to the influx of people into Germany, the government started closing borders, which forced immigrants to settle in nearby countries. Sweden accepted millions of immigrants that are mainly Muslim. Because of this, Sweden’s population could be occupied by 20 to 30 percent of Muslims by 2050, according to Pew Research projections.
However, immigrants are not the problem. It is the way the governments of countries are organized and structured. They rely on a common viewpoint on social and institutional issues unify the country. If the immigration policy for something like the total number immigrants allowed isn’t intact, how can the country be? If one party actually stays consistent regarding immigration policies, but others decide it’s not in line with their political agenda, it’s no one’s fault but the government. No immigrant is responsible for that chaos.
On the other side of the world, the United States is struggling with immigrants entering the country from the U.S.-Mexico border. It is hard come to an agreement on solutions when country can’t agree on a common strategy and viewpoint about how much immigration is tolerable and where to draw the line.
The treatment of immigrants at the U.S — Mexico border is the opposite of humane. Families are separated which leaves children without their parents in detention centers where many go hungry. Every immigrant, whether they are a toddler or a teenager, receives the same tray of food, with no vegetables or fruit provided.
When they go to court and face a judge they don’t even receive proper representation. They must walk into a tent that is full of other immigrants and stand in a line-up where they are asked questions that classify them into certain categories.
Even 3-year-old kids, who are not yet able to express themselves in their native tongue, let alone a foreign language, must represent themselves in court. There is virtually no chance to persuade the judge of their case in that manner. Is that justifiable?
There have been reports of children being sprayed with tear gas when they come close to the border with their mothers. President Donald Trump intends to build a river filled with alligators and snakes to keep immigrants away. Trump even suggested shooting immigrants in the legs to avoid them crossing the border.
When did this country turn to such inhumane treatment of humanity? When did it forget that immigrants are also people? When did it start to think that Americans are better than immigrants desperately seeking a better life, when privileged Americans grow up in a middle class or wealthy family after their own relatives immigrated to the United States decades before? How is disrespectful treatment righteous? How can you look yourself in the mirror if you support these beliefs?
The different countries affected by immigration need to find a common ground regarding immigration policies and need to implement them accordingly.
Clinging strongly to a conservative or liberal view isn’t the solution.
Instead, understanding the opposite of your viewpoint, as well as ensuring humane and respectful treatment of immigrants and revising questionable immigration policies, is the real solution.
That is the solution everyone should strive for. This is the solution everyone should fight for — a united front within your own country.
