There is a lot of talk lately about immigration. I can hardly pick up a copy of the news without reading some headline story about the latest government position on the immigration issues our country is dealing with. Every political leader has a different perspective on how our country should be handling the issues ahead of us.

I, for one, have a hard time seeing our country become so divided over things that clearly do not matter when there are much more significant things happening in the world. I get frustrated seeing our nation divided about immigration when there are hundreds of thousands of people starving and dying of preventable diseases in many countries of the world. We like our American society just so and no one from the outside is allowed to come in and interrupt how we like it.

As a columnist for my local newspaper, many people have been asking me to write a column on my opinion about the immigration controversy that has been happening lately. I have been hesitant to write on the issue simply because I have had a hard time entering a debate that I am not sure qualifies as a real debate. On the one hand I can see why immigration is an issue we need to deal with. I am in full agreement that we must do all we can to protect the citizens of America. On the other hand, I think we would do well to remember that at one point or another, all of the families that call themselves American were at some point immigrants to our land.

How then, can we take a nation that is relatively so young and one whose citizens all originated from other lands and all of a sudden put a standard upon who can and cannot enter and live in our lands? When did we, as American citizens and even the American government, earn the right to choose who should be allowed to become part of our nation and who cannot?

If we take a serious look at the effects of immigration on our current society, we will likely see just as many benefits of immigration as we see problems. There is no doubt that people who come to America through immigration perform jobs that many Americans are unwilling to do. These jobs are vital to our national economy and well being, and therefore we need to think before we act to strictly on immigration.

The bottom line for me is that people have value. We need to care more about the health and lives of people than we care about whether or not they are disturbing us. We need to give everyone, whether through immigration or not, an equal chance to enjoy the freedoms we love.