Don’t be confused. US immigration policy is necessary

Protesters in front of the White House in Washington, on Sunday, March 30, 2025. “The annual budget and national security are destabilized without an immigration control policy,” contributing columnist Gregorio Igartúa writes. (Eric Lee/The New York Times)

By GREGORIO IGARTÚA

Special to The STAR

The federal government supervises and regulates immigration to the United States and U.S. citizenship through the authority it has under the Constitution (Art. I; see also Amendment XIV).

The United States Congress has authority over immigration policy and naturalization matters and delegates its administration to the Department of Homeland Security. Policy areas related to the immigration process include visa policy, asylum policy and naturalization policy. Policy areas related to illegal immigration include deferral policy and deportation policy.

Article I of the U.S. Constitution directly empowers Congress to enact laws regarding naturalization. Supreme Court decisions, such as Chae Chan Ping v. United States in 1889 and Fong Yue Ting v. U.S. in 1893, hold that Congress’ foreign policy powers extend to immigration legislation. The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution grants birthright citizenship. Consequently, Congress delegates the administration of immigration laws to the executive branch, and the president administers the operation of immigration laws and issues executive orders for that purpose.

Since 2003, the Department of Homeland Security has been responsible for implementing immigration policy in the United States and has three agencies overseeing immigration. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is responsible for border control.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is responsible for domestic border enforcement and enforcement of laws against illegal immigration. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) is responsible for processing legal immigration and naturalization. Other federal agencies involved in immigration policy include the Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review and the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement.

Many good citizens from other countries want to move to the United States to improve their quality of life. Unlimited and/or illegal immigration to the United States is not viable. In fact, no country can allow an uncontrolled open borders policy, and not one does. People participating in protests against the present administration should explain how an open border policy can be economically and socially viable. Is there a limit to open border policy? What then is the limit they are calling for? The officials responsible for allowing illegal immigration should be held accountable for allowing violations of immigration laws.

The annual budget and national security are destabilized without an immigration control policy. This is not a matter of simple human charity. To propose, as some have done, opening the bordergates to the nation is to resolve the illegal with the illegal; it is to resolve the unreasonable with “unreason.” The previous Biden administration allowed millions of foreigners to enter the nation illegally. The budget system and national security have been destabilized. As the song says, “there’s not enough beds for so many people.”

We have a system for legal entry of foreigners into the nation. In fiscal year 2023, approximately 1.2 million immigrants became legal permanent residents, also known as green card holders, in the United States. This figure was 15.2% higher than the previous year. The U.S. immigration system sets a limit of 675,000 permanent immigrants per year, but this does not apply to spouses, unmarried minor children, or parents of U.S. citizens. Additional visas are granted for families and people for employment purposes. Let us support the rationale behind the current immigration laws.

Let us allow outsiders to enter for Christian reasons, but for national security reasons, let them enter under existing legal controls.

Gregorio Igartúa is an attorney and longtime advocate of statehood for Puerto Rico.