Immigration reform has been deeply ingrained within the hearts of many Americans; whether it is a close to home situation, or the loss of a job to an illegal immigrant, the opinions of support or opposition of immigration is still on the mind of the United States. Essentially, America started as a nation of immigrants coming from North, South, East and West, all converging in hopes of one dream—freedom. Even today, most of the immigrants make their pilgrimage to America to find some sort of freedom, whether to gain a better job, to send their children to school or to join their families. Although sometimes reluctant to give up their own nationalism, the immigrants enter into another world and most of the time must assimilate. It is obvious that over time, populations have migrated and given up certain customs and nationalities as they evolve; changing location, religion, culture and ideologies. It is increasingly rare for a person in America to be living in the nation where their ancestors originated. Supporters of the Immigration reform feel that the illegal immigrants should be deported, because of the multiple inconveniences that they bring to the lives of American citizens. Being able to track down the 12 million undocumented illegal immigrants would be nearly impossible, which is why in 1980 the Kennedy-McCain immigration reform bill was popular for its simple method of granting amnesty, and fines for the illegal immigrants to become citizens. But strict immigration reform supporters felt like this solutions was letting the immigrants get away without punishment. Although some of the hostility can be unjust, a lot of the opinions are based on reliable facts. For instance, 40 percent of federal court offenders are Hispanic, compared to 27 percent white, and 23 percent black offenders. These percentages show an increase in violence with the increase in illegal immigrants. In light of recent events, Indiana recently got a bill passed to revoke the business licenses of business that employ illegal immigrants. This is the kind of gradual action that is happening within small communities, even though the national government isn’t currently concerned over this issue. Those who oppose such a strict immigration reform, like the opinions stated within this article, believe that immigrants should be brought to the light so they can fully become citizens and improve our nation. They believe that as the article states “undocumented immigrants are first and foremost human beings whose lives are as sacred as that of any other being;” this is a severely important thing to remember when some talk disrespectfully about “those illegals”. The most significant problem with immigration reform is that the people are forgetting that these ‘illegal immigrants’ are human beings; these are human beings that are trying to escape or move to improve their lives. As the immigration reform continues to be pushed along, immigrants are facing hate crimes, and terrorization—simply based on the fact that they are immigrants. How does this change our nation? Is it for good or bad? Will it dilute our country’s national identity? There are 45.5 million Hispanic Americans living in the United States---accounting for 15.1 percent of our population. According to these statistics, I can safely say that they are part of the spirit of our nation. Although some of our national roots are intertwined with diversities like Mexican restaurants, china town, and little Italy—our country is a mixture of many diverse nationalities, and that is what makes us the United States of America. What does this reveal about our nation? Nationalism can be expressed along civic, religious, ethnic or ideological basis. So American’s aren’t ethnically or religiously similar—but they are connected by many similar ideals. By accepting people of all diversities into this country, America is a nation-state that governs beyond race and religion, and seeks to treat its people with equality and justice. Through these ideals, the future of America depends on how we treat our fellow mankind. Gerson, Daniela. (2005). Kennedy, McCain Immigration Bill Is Built on President Bush's Proposal. Retrieved February 19, 2009, From New York, The Sun Website: http://www.nysun.com/national/kennedy-mccain-immigration-bill-is-built/13767/ Immigration Reform Debate Must Regain a Moral Compass. (2009). Retrieved February 19, 2009, from New America Media: http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/ view_article.html?article_id=f4c6687 549e8418e3343581de62b3ecd Martin, Deanna. (2009). Indiana's illegal hiring measure gets Senate committee OK. Retrieved February 19, 2009, from South Bend Tribune: http://www.southbendtribune. com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090219/News01/902190318 Most Federal Courts Offenders Now Hispanic. (2009). Retrieved February 19, 2009, from WGAL: http://www.wgal.com/news/18744762/detail.html U.S. Census Bureau. (2008). U.S. Hispanic Population Surpasses 45 Million Now 15 Percent of Total. Retrieved February 19, 2009, from U.S. Census Bureau: Newsroom: http://www.census.gov/Press- Release/www/releases/ archives/ population/ 011910.html