When turning on the television, going to a news website, or opening the newspaper, it is very easy to find out what the major political arguments are currently. National security (because of the Boston Marathon Bombing) and gun control are two of the biggest topics out there, but there is a third that is very important that I would like to discuss. Immigration reform is what has been on my mind for the past couple years. I hold a strong opinion on immigration reform and to be perfectly honest, it has nothing to do with being affiliated with one party or another. I am an independent voter that has witnessed the faults in our immigration system.

Right now, immigration in our country is very messed up. Our politicians focus on the illegal immigrant problem that occurs on a daily basis. One party wants to grant them freedom to be here and the other party wants to keep them in their home country. This is a topic that is debated constantly and it seems like there are only the two aforementioned solutions since nobody wants to give in. The problem with this debate is that it goes further than trying to find a solution for immigrants that have come here illegally. We have a problem of not retaining the immigrants that have come here legally and have contributed to society.

I am fortunate enough to work in a field where I get to meet people from all over the world. I coach soccer and I have met people from most every single state, from Brazil, Scotland, England, Australia, New Zealand, Romania, Bulgaria, and the list can go on and on. My closest relationships have been with the people Britain. I have met a lot of people that have to come to the United States legally to play soccer and go to school. Once these people are done with school, unless they are fortunate enough to get married, they have to leave our country. These are the people who have been educated by our country, have put in thousands upon thousands of dollars into our economy (tuition, plus any other money spent while here), and have contributed to our society in a positive way. Many have coached soccer in the local communities and have been able to help kids become better soccer players. The fact that we are asking these people to leave is absolutely insane. Our country i s more concerned with make sure people who have not gone through the correct legal procedure can stay, but the people who abide by the rules and try to do everything correctly by the book must leave right away. It does not make sense; it is very backwards.

I also know people that have come to our country illegally. Most of the have kids here (some of them I am related to), and it would be a travesty if they had to leave, being split up from their families. These people that I know that have come to the United States illegally, have stolen identities (which is a whole other topic), work for money under the table, and they do not pay taxes. Everything that I have listed is illegal in one way or another. Not only have they not gone through the proper channels to enter the country, but they are continuing to break rules while they are here. All of that being said, these are the people our politicians want to stay here? These are the people we need to devote our time and resources to, so they can stay?

The answer is no. We need to start doing everything we can to help the people that have gone through the proper channels to get here. We need to start doing everything we can to the help the people that we as a society have educated, and keep our resources. We need to start doing everything we can to help those that have put money into our economy. Year after year I have seen people leave that want to stay, but unfortunately they cannot stay. Next time the idea of immigration reform gets brought up, remember it is about more than one group of people and remember that we should help those that deserve it.