In 2022, I came to the United States on an F-1 student visa from Taiwan. Though it was certainly a laborious process to get my paperwork in order and complete the many required interviews, I did things the right way. Like me, millions of other legal immigrants have too, respecting the laws of the U.S. and waiting in line for approval to enter the country because they believe that the rules of the system matter. And they do.
This is why the crisis of illegal immigration is not an abstract political talking point for me; it’s personal. Legal immigration gives students, researchers, and skilled workers a legitimate path towards contributing to the country. Illegal immigration, in sharp contrast, fundamentally disregards the rule of law that legal immigrants have often followed to excruciating lengths. By being permitted to “cut in line” in front of legal immigrants, illegal immigration signals to those who have followed the rules, or were planning to do so in the future, that the rules don’t actually matter. When legal immigrants wanting to make unique contributions to America are forced to watch as illegal immigrants with zero vetting are able to enter the country while they’re stuck waiting in line, it signals the value legal immigrants hoped to bring to America is grossly underappreciated.
My argument is simple: respect the process, enforce the law, and keep immigration fair for the people who are actually doing it the right way.
Legal Immigration
Legal immigration is not just a stack of forms; it is a contract that facilitates the merging of once-foreigners into a new homeland. Systems like F-1, H1-B, and permanent residency programs allow for America to select, vet, and keep people it deems beneficial to the nation’s interests in a clear and accountable process. One can see the impact of legal migration across campuses and industries. International students support universities and surrounding communities while contributing to labs, hospitals, tech firms, and other sectors where the U.S. needs talent. Legal immigrants pay taxes and follow the law because their status to remain in the country depends on it; a framework of accountability that pushes immigrants to reach their potentials and contribute to the country. This was exemplified when the federal government recently added a $100,000 fee to new H-1B petitions, but notably exempted F-1 students who transitioned into the H-1B pathway. Whether one supports this broader rule or not, the message was obvious: the U.S. wants to protect people who enter legally and invest years into their education. As an F-1 student, I understood the intentions of this policy deeply. The system recognized people like me as contributors, not burdens.
Illegal Immigration
Illegal immigration is not a minor paperwork issue. It violates the basic agreement that underlies the American immigration system: that the government chooses the immigrants it accepts to advance the government’s interests. When someone violates this pretense and enters the country without authorization or overstays a visa deadline, they deny the ability of the government to consent to immigration based on its own interests.
Chicago has seen the results of this up close. When Wadsworth Elementary School in Woodlawn, Chicago was converted into a large shelter to house illegal immigrants, neighbors reported constant noise, loitering, and the drainage of their local resources, clearly detrimental circumstances inflicted onto a community without their consent. When the Best Western Hotel on Lake Shore, a once budget-friendly hotel option in Hyde Park near the University of Chicago, was converted into another migrant shelter to house illegal immigrants, UChicago students, their families, and the broader community suffered as a result. This is not sustainable, especially in a city already dealing with strained budgets and rising public-safety concerns.
The solution to this crisis is simple: if someone is here illegally, they must be removed. This is not a radical position. A country cannot function if the law only applies to people who choose to obey it. When illegal immigration is ignored or tolerated, it undermines fairness to every person who followed the legal path, encourages more unauthorized entries into communities that don’t consent to it, and erodes trust in the rule of law. Because of this, the U.S. has every right to enforce its borders and protect the integrity of its own legal process. Because of this urgency to end illegal immigration, real enforcement of immigration law is required not just at the border, but also in the nation’s interior.
Enforcement and ICE
If the U.S. is serious about protecting legal immigration, which it absolutely should be, then enforcement of the law has to mean something. This is why I’ve never understood the reflexive hatred toward the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE). ICE is essential. Without an agency to enforce immigration law inside a country, borders become symbolic, and the entire system collapses. Someone has to remove people who have no legal right to stay here. Otherwise, “illegal immigration” becomes a polite phrase for “nothing happens.”
That said, enforcement still needs common sense. ICE must focus on meaningful cases, not headline-hunting mistakes. Last month, federal agents erroneously detained a UChicago international student near campus briefly, with the University later describing it as a bureaucratic mix-up. Incidents like this help no one and hurt the cause to stop illegal immigration; they only fuel panic and distract the agency from its real job.
ICE is at its best when it protects the structure that both legal immigrants and the entire country depend on, the rule of law itself. One can support the firm removal of illegal immigrants while still expecting the agency to act legally and intelligently. Otherwise, we risk punishing the people who followed the rules while allowing the people who didn’t to slip through.
Conclusion
I came here legally, and I’m grateful for the opportunities that process opened for me. Legal immigration works because it’s clear, structured, and fair. Illegal immigration, and cultural attitudes permissive of it, do the opposite. They undercut the system that students, workers, and families rely on while punishing the people who followed the rules.
America can welcome newcomers, but only if it draws a real line between legal and illegal entry. Supporting legal immigration and rejecting illegal immigration isn’t contradictory. It’s common sense. If we want a system that people can trust, then the rules have to matter—and they have to be enforced.