To many, the United States is seen as a safe haven, the land of the free and opportunity. The millions of people fleeing nations with dictatorial governments, unsafe homes, war and poverty look to the U.S. as an escape from their dangerous living conditions. Security is always a concern when allowing new people into the nation however, the security process is long, outdated and systematically disfavors people of color. When a system so important to a nation that was built by immigrants isn’t allowing more immigrants into the nation, there is clearly a concern with the way in which that system is being run. According to Charles Kamasaki, a senior advisor at Brookings, white Europeans face much easier consequences for the same offense as Latino immigrants (such as unauthorized entry). According to the Pew Research Center, there has only been a 13 percent change in the amount of Mexican people in the U.S. since 2010. This proves that the system is outdated and needs to be adjusted to a modern world. Latino immigrants have been stereotyped within the media to all be involved in gangs and drug cartels, this being completely untrue and not the main reason people are being deported. In 2018, the Trump administration deported 337,000 people while 188,000 (55.8 percent) were for non-criminal offenses. Not to say that the Trump administration was the only one doing this, every year since 2001, more non-criminals have been deported than criminals, according to the Pew Research Center. Therefore, ICE and border security are not protecting Americans from harmful people but kicking out harmless individuals. 

  While upholding a completely racist and backwards system, the border patrol is also unreasonably harsh to families and people at the border. For example, according to the American Bar Association, 2000 children were separated from their parents during 2018 from the months April to June. The so-called security is separating children from their parents in the idea of keeping Americans “safe.” This completely disregards the value of family that the U.S. states they hold so dear to its core. Increasing security at the border will not protect the homeland from dangerous criminals, but it will continue to ruin lives and destroy families. Once again, the U.S. was built on immigration. Its founding values are freedom and the ability for one to pursue the American dream. However, increased border control does the exact opposite. If the U.S. wishes to keep its label as a safe place for dreams to grow and lives to improve, it will not only not increase border security but allow for an immigrantion system that is no longer discriminatory and made for people to fail. Finally, border security does not keep Amercians safer, it endangers people who have left their homes and families in order to seek freedom and opportunity in a place those things are said to be guaranteed.