Immigration centerspread

Ashton Moreland, Managing Editor

As the final ballots are counted and President-elect, Donald Trump, reaps the benefits of becoming one of the most influential people in the country as of now, his platforms on issues such as immigration are laying in waiting to be thrown to Congress to discuss. Trump has not been discreet about his thoughts on the topic, and has revealed that he stands at the polar opposite end of the spectrum from current president, Barack Obama. His potential policies could increase fees at ports of entry to the United States and border crossing cards to make it harder to enter the country.

While the results of the election and ultimately the way Trump enforces hisimmigration policies will affect the entire nation, it will specifically affect those who rely on such policies to begin new lives in this country.

“Being Latino, I recognize that the way this government works is not always in favor of those who actually need help, so it’s important to me that immigration policies are put in place that won’t be biased towards a certain group,” said senior Erik Valesquez. “My parents left their country because of a civil war, and they couldn’t go to school, so they came here to start a new life, and obviously had to go through the government.”

Demographically, the Republican party consists of white people as the majority 89 percent, while minorities only make up 9 percent of the party. However, in the Democratic party, minorities comprise 37 percent of the party, and white people still maintain the majority at 60 percent. These statistics seem to correlate to the opinions of the general public on the platforms of the candidates. Senior Cahl Chastain identifies himself with the Republican party, and agrees with Trump’s ideology.

“I believe our [America’s] immigration policies are a joke as of right now because there’s nothing keeping people from coming in here and doing what they want,” Chastain said. “We should reinforce our borders by increasing manpower across our southern border and reconstructing the fence that we have there so it won’t be so easily broken into.”

However, those who identify with the minority population tend to lean towards a more non-partisan or undefined political standpoint.

“I don’t know about that [building a wall]. It’s okay to build a wall but I don’t think it’s right for Mexico to pay for it. It’s our decision to make the wall, not theirs. If we want to build a wall and make Mexico pay for it, we should talk about it to each other,” said sophomore Israel Olvera.

Others believe America should follow the example of other countries trying to deal with their own immigration policies as of now. In Germany, Syrian refugees are taken in by the United Nations and placed in schools to assimilate them into the German culture until further notice by the government.

“When I went to Germany, I met refugees. I got to sit in their class and talk to them, and it was super interesting. They were all really nice, and mostly kids,” said senior Hailey Petit. “It was amazing because Germany really helped them out, and it was eye-opening to see how much influence a program can have on someone’s life.”