Is the United States the Land of the Free, or the land of “No Vacancy?” In recent years, the U.S. has been flooded with immigrants, legal and illegal to the point that it is a major issue for everyone.

Locally, towns such as Hazleton have made it a priority to keep out illegal immigrants. Business owners in some areas can incur major fines, and possibly be shut down if they are caught employing illegal aliens.

Bucks students are on the fence concerning this issue. John Coyne, a science major from Fort Indiana says, “If they can contribute to society they should be allowed to stay.”
While Brian Curricio, a business major from Levittown says, “They are able to exercise rights of American people that they don’t deserve.” There seems to be no end to the debate.

Recently Geno’s Steaks in Philadelphia has been in the news for their “English only” policy. They have stated that if you cannot order your food in English, then you better find another place for a cheese steak. “Geno’s is right for what they are doing,” said Curricio. Coyne thinks, “They should hire Spanish-speaking employees to take orders.”

Recently, communities such as Hazleton and Allentown have come up with laws punishing business owners and landlords for doing business with illegal aliens.

According to the illegal immigration relief act ordinance of Hazelton landlords can face up to a $1,000 fine for renting to illegal immigrants. Business owners can be barred from approval of business permits including renewals and city grants for up to five years.

Brian Curricio agrees with these laws, “The government should penalize business owners for hiring illegals.” Some business owners would disagree, since they can hire illegal immigrants for much less then they would a legal U.S. citizen. Curricio concedes, “You can’t compete with cheap labor,” and that they should, “Pay legal citizens more for the work that illegals would do for less.” This could help dissuade more illegal aliens from coming to the U.S. in the first place.

While there is no debating that the U.S. is a diverse melting pot, when is enough enough? It is tough for us to say that we should close our borders when most of our ancestors immigrated here through Ellis Island. Yet problems from mass immigration remain.

There will be no end to the debate on this difficult subject, and with more and more immigrants coming to America, there is no end in sight.