Terrorism

3 Pages 683 Words

“Bring us your poor, your sick….,” that is what the sign reads at Ellis Island; the very place that had to be evacuated during the horrors of September 11, 2001. Now, Americans may need to revise their ideals in order to ensure our safety. Since our enemies no longer ally themselves with a specific country, but a cause, we need to pose the question of what to do with our immigration poly. More specifically, should the United States put restrictions on immigration now that we’re not sure of exactly who the enemy is?
“How much freedom are you willing to give up to protect America from terrorists? In the year since September 11th, with the talk of national ID cards, face recognition technology and racial profiling, some experts say law enforcement has gone too far, others say authorities haven’t gone far enough”(Dershowitz, 1). America is traditionally known as the land of the free. Our borders are open to anyone seeking freedom of persecution, violence, or poor living conditions; after all, our country was founded by Protestants seeking freedom from religious persecution. However, since the tragic events of September 11, 2001, American citizens and administrators alike have been reconsidering our, “open door policy” towards immigration.
Some arguments in favor of closing our borders to immigrants are strong and persuasive. It is argued that a primary way of protecting American citizens is to restrict anyone else into our country. It is hard and almost impossible to find out exactly who has Al Qaeda links since it is a cause instead of a nationality. Therefore, the only way to protect our citizens is to close our borders to all people in an attempt to, “root out terrorism and assure our homeland security” (Cahill, 2). For example, in December 2001, a man named Richard Reid, a British citizen with Al Qaeda ties, boarded a transatlantic flight headed for Miami with explosives in his shoes. Reid pled guilty to all ...