This land is your land, this land is my land….

Over the past few weeks Senators have been trying to get a bill regarding immigration to take a second pass before the Senate. The bill would allow millions of currently illegal immigrants a lawful status during the tightening of border security as well as create new procedures for eliminating illegal workers in the United States. The bill currently includes amendments such as $4.4 billion into border security, barring illegal immigrants from gaining lawful status until border security and workplace enforcement measures are created, requiring all illegal immigrants to go home within two years in order to receive a Z visa to live and work lawfully in the U.S. and many other issues that are still to be voted on.

Even as these debates and votes go on, work on a border fence is taking place. Yet ironically, in December of last year, one of the companies working on the fence was fined $4.7 million for knowingly hiring illegal immigrants.

In a country founded by immigrants, it seems almost anti-American to create laws that make immigration harder for those who want to live the “American Dream,” but the idea of immigration laws is not a new one. On this day, June 18, in 1798, President John Adams passed the Naturalization Act which was the first of the Alien and Sedition Acts. These acts were created to give to the federal government the ability to deal with suspicious persons while America was threatened by war with France. The Naturalization Act changed the requirement of time spent living in the U.S. before applying for citizenship from 5 years to 14 years.

Many at this early point in the United States’ history were opposed to Adams’ imposed act, such as Thomas Jefferson who thought it to be unconstitutional, yet others, such as George Washington who fully supported Adams.

So as we consider these new immigration acts and the policies in which will be put in place, we must ask ourselves if we think they are constitutional. Further more, we should also ask if the freedom and equality which has been battled throughout the short history of our nation has been defined only for those who were born within this nation. Should the “American Dream” be only available to those who are “native Americans”? (And if so, how does that affect you, an immigrant or a descendant of an immigrant?)

The video below shows a parody of the meeting of the Native Americans and the British in reference to the current Immigration Debate (if you choose to watch the video, please pardon the buffalo's language)