The bombing at the Boston Marathon impacted the already ongoing Immigration-Reform debate, as the Tzarnaev brothers were originally thought to have obtained citizenship illegally, but were in fact American citizens. As the legality came to light, the ease of obtaining citizenship sparked new discussion.

There are 12 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. Although not all undocument immigrants are threats to the nation’s security, they can be threats to the country’s economic well-being. This sparked members of the “Gang of Eight,” leaders of the U.S. Congress, to come up with a plan to reform immigration laws.

“On the one hand, immigrants throughout the 17th and 18th century essentially made the United States. However, as we entered the 19th and 20th centuries, immigration represented a threat to certain, more established groups. Fear of competition was one issue, but so was the newness and foreignness of many of the new groups that came,” history teacher Stephen Fitzpatrick said.

History Department Chair William Davies believes that terrorism doesn’t only come from people outside the nation. “If one perceives terrorism purely in terms of threats from forces and people outside the U.S., there might certainly be an impulse to control immigration tightly.  The two brothers allegedly guilty of the attack, however, were a perfectly legal immigrants and citizens. Some terrorism is very much a domestic matter,” said Mr. Davies.

“I feel that there are just so many immigrants in this country that it’s impossible to keep track of every single one, though it should be a priority to protect innocent American citizens from any threat,” sophomore Ashley McGrath said.

Undocumented immigrants work for personal income, yet do not necessarily pay all taxes like U.S. Citizens and are able to use American hospitals. Some possible ways of preventing illegal immigration are to punish companies that hire them for cheap labor or to strengthen the barier system on the border. “I believe that double-fencing in the right places has been highly effective,” said Florida Senator Marco Rubio.

Another issue is how to treat children that are illegally brought here by their parents or who have escaped their home countries. “We cannot, as a nation, allow children to appear alone in court. It undermines the values upon which this country was built,” said Senator Wendy Young.

Most Democrats support amnesty to those who enter the U.S. illegally, and feel they have rights to all educational and health benefits that citizens receive regardless of legal status. The Republican viewpoint is that because they are in violation of U.S. Law, they shouldn’t be eligible to receive the same rights. In order to successfully reform immigration, a compromise must be settled.

“If a child is brought into America by his family, that child should be regarded as a political refugee and registered as a citizen automatically. The family should have to apply for citizenship like any other family, but should be fast tracked through the system due to the already registered child. They should pay into the system, like all Americans do,” said freshman Josh Greenzeig.

“I do think there should be some recognition that some immigrants have entered illegally and that a pathway to legal status should take that into account. I don’t think that there is much downside to finding that pathway.  Generally speaking, America and Americans have benefited from immigration,” said Mr. Davies.