America Needs an Immigration System That Works—for the Nation and for Those Who Have Earned Their Place

By: Ellie Burgueño, Journalist and Writer.

For decades, the United States has debated immigration without solving it. Every election cycle brings renewed promises, yet meaningful reform remains elusive. Meanwhile, millions of people continue living in uncertainty, businesses struggle to fill essential jobs, communities become increasingly divided, and a broken system benefits no one except those who exploit its weaknesses.

America deserves secure borders. It also deserves an immigration system that is fair, efficient, economically sound, and reflective of the nation’s values. Those goals are not mutually exclusive.

The reality is that immigration is not a simple issue of law enforcement. It is a complex combination of economics, humanitarian concerns, labor shortages, national security, and human aspiration. Any lasting solution must recognize each of these dimensions rather than reducing the debate to political slogans.

For generations, people from every corner of the world have dreamed of coming to the United States. Some arrive through legal channels. Others, driven by desperation rather than opportunity, risk everything simply for the chance to build a better life.

For highly educated professionals, entrepreneurs, investors, researchers, physicians, nurses, engineers, and other skilled workers, the United States offers numerous legal immigration pathways. Employment-based immigrant visas, temporary work visas such as H-1B for specialty occupations, L-1 visas for intracompany transfers, O-1 visas for individuals with extraordinary ability, E-2 Treaty Investor visas for qualifying nationals who invest substantial capital in American businesses, EB-5 immigrant investor visas, and family-sponsored immigration all represent lawful avenues to permanent residence or temporary employment.

These processes are administered primarily by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) https://www.uscis.gov/, while many cases also involve the Department of State and the Department of Labor. Depending on the category, applications may take months or several years to complete. Immigration law is also constantly evolving through congressional legislation, executive actions, federal regulations, and court decisions, meaning eligibility and procedures can change over time.

Yet not everyone has access to these opportunities.

Millions of people are born into circumstances where higher education, financial resources, or legal pathways simply do not exist. Many come from countries struggling with chronic poverty, corruption, organized crime, political instability, or limited economic opportunity. For these individuals, migration is often less about chasing wealth than about escaping hopelessness.

The United States has long represented possibility. For more than a century, American innovation, economic opportunity, democratic institutions, Hollywood films, television, music, sports, and global media have projected an image of a nation where hard work can transform lives.

That vision has inspired generations.

Like millions before them—including immigrants who helped build the nation throughout its history—many migrants leave behind everything they know, believing that if they can reach America, they may finally provide their children with opportunities unavailable in their home countries.

The journey itself is often devastating.

Many families spend years saving every dollar they can before paying thousands to human smugglers—known in Mexico as polleros or coyotes—who frequently operate as part of sophisticated transnational criminal organizations. These smugglers often deceive migrants, abandon them in deserts, expose them to violence, extortion, trafficking, kidnapping, or sexual assault, and sometimes leave them to die. Despite these dangers, thousands continue attempting the journey because they believe the alternative is a lifetime without hope.

Those who successfully arrive frequently accept jobs that few others are willing to perform. They harvest crops under extreme heat, work construction sites, clean hotels, wash dishes, process meat, landscape neighborhoods, care for children and the elderly, and perform physically demanding labor that supports entire industries.

Because many lack legal status, they are particularly vulnerable to exploitation. Unscrupulous employers may pay below-market wages, deny overtime, ignore workplace safety, threaten deportation, or discourage workers from reporting abuse. At the same time, many undocumented immigrants pay payroll taxes, sales taxes, and property taxes indirectly through rent, and contribute billions annually to Social Security and Medicare despite often being ineligible to receive many federal benefits.

Economically, immigrants—both documented and undocumented—play a significant role in the American economy. According to numerous studies by the Congressional Budget Office, the American Immigration Council, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, and other research institutions, immigrants expand the labor force, increase consumer demand, start businesses at disproportionately high rates, strengthen innovation, and contribute hundreds of billions of dollars in tax revenue every year. Immigrant-owned businesses employ millions of Americans, while immigrant workers remain essential in agriculture, health care, hospitality, construction, transportation, manufacturing, and technology.

Many economists argue that thoughtful immigration reform would produce even greater economic benefits. Providing earned legal status to long-term residents who have demonstrated good moral character, maintained employment, paid taxes, and committed no serious crimes could increase productivity, raise wages through greater labor mobility, generate additional tax revenue, reduce labor exploitation, and improve national security by bringing more individuals into a fully documented system.

Such reforms cannot be accomplished by executive action alone. Under the U.S. Constitution, Congress holds primary authority to establish immigration law. Comprehensive reform would require legislation defining eligibility standards, security requirements, background investigations, tax compliance, English-language expectations where appropriate, payment of applicable fees, and an earned pathway toward lawful permanent residence or citizenship for qualifying individuals.

A nation has every right to enforce its immigration laws. Border security matters. Public safety matters. The rule of law matters.

Human dignity matters as well.

Recent immigration enforcement operations have renewed public concern following the death of Mexican national Lorenzo Salgado during an attempted ICE arrest in Houston. According to his children, who appeared heartbroken at a press conference following the tragedy, Salgado was a hardworking father whose primary focus was providing for his children and building a better future for his family. They have questioned the use of deadly force and called for accountability. Regardless of the final findings, every case involving the loss of human life during a government operation demands serious scrutiny, because public trust depends on transparency, due process, and confidence that the authority granted to law enforcement is exercised with the highest level of responsibility.

The concerns surrounding Salgado’s death are part of a broader national debate over immigration enforcement practices following other fatal encounters, including the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota. These cases have raised difficult questions about the use of force, training, oversight, and the balance between enforcing immigration laws and protecting human dignity.

While federal officers face challenging situations and deserve the resources and support necessary to perform their duties safely, the power to detain individuals and use force carries an extraordinary responsibility. A nation governed by the rule of law must protect both its borders and the constitutional principles that define it. Accountability and effective enforcement should not be viewed as opposing goals; they are essential components of a fair and functioning immigration system.

Whenever someone dies during a law enforcement encounter, the public deserves an independent, thorough, and transparent investigation. Accountability protects not only families but also the integrity of law enforcement officers who perform their duties professionally.

It is equally important to recognize that the overwhelming majority of federal law enforcement officers serve honorably under difficult circumstances. Many ICE officers dedicate themselves to enforcing immigration law professionally while respecting constitutional rights. At the same time, concerns raised by civil rights organizations, legal advocates, inspectors general, and members of Congress regarding training, oversight, detention conditions, and use-of-force policies deserve serious attention. Public trust depends upon transparency, professionalism, and accountability.

Surrounding these situations, the Mexican government has announced additional legal and diplomatic efforts following the deaths of Mexican nationals connected to immigration enforcement operations. President Claudia Sheinbaum stated that Mexico will continue pursuing consular assistance, legal support, and accountability for affected families, while emphasizing her administration’s responsibility to protect the rights and well-being of Mexican citizens abroad.

“Immigration should never be framed as a choice between compassion and security. America has the capacity—and the responsibility—to achieve both,” she stated.

The nation needs secure borders, efficient legal immigration, modern technology, faster visa processing, stronger action against human trafficking organizations, protection for lawful workers, accountability for employers who knowingly exploit undocumented labor, and an earned opportunity for long-term residents who have demonstrated that they contribute positively to American society.

Lives should never be reduced to political talking points.

Every human being possesses inherent dignity.

As Scripture reminds us in Exodus 22:21, we are commanded not to mistreat foreigners or oppress them, but to show them compassion and dignity.

At the same time, more than half a century ago, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. shared words that remain profoundly relevant today: “We have learned to fly the air like birds and swim the sea like fish, but we have not learned the simple art of living together as brothers and sisters.”

Perhaps America’s greatest immigration reform will not simply be changing laws. Perhaps it will be rediscovering our shared humanity while building an immigration system that is secure, fair, lawful, compassionate, and worthy of the ideals upon which this nation was founded.