Why I support Trump's immigration policy

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"You are not a real lawyer — University of American Samoa for Christ sake, an online course? What a joke! I worked to get where I am and you take these shortcuts and suddenly you are my peer — I committed my life to this. You don't slide into it like a cheap pair of slippers."

This is a conversation between two brothers in a famous scene from the famed Netflix show Better Call Saul. I am just reminded of that scene every time I read about the debate surrounding Trump's immigration policy. There is one common factor to both Trump and the older brother in that Netflix show: both are hateable characters because of how they say the things that are not actually wrong. In the end of the show, everything that the older brother had opined about his younger brother Saul Goodman turns out to be true actually. He does harm himself and everyone around him because of his tendency to be always on the lookout for shortcuts and never shying away from bending the rules at every corner. Our heart is not with the harsh truth in both the show and Trump's rhetoric about illegal immigrants but our minds know that both are right.

Here in America, I work and interact with Pakistanis, Indians, the Hispanic community, and so forth. Pakistani and Indians come to America after going through a rigourous visa process, which in today's world is no guarantee of entering the United States. At the airport, the immigration officers can easily deny entry to legitimate visa holders and send them back to where they came from. However, that is not the kind of steps followed by a Hispanic person coming into the United States from countries such as Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, Colombia, and so forth. An overwhelming majority of people who come from Central and South America just cross the border illegally and enter the USA. I know it is a dangerous journey that they make but they get to slide into this country without facing the vetting process the rest of us face. We have the patience to stand in line and smile despite being humiliated at the US embassy after following the dictates of consultants for hire who guide us through the convoluted paperwork. The Mexicans, the Hondurans, and others have the knowledge of the convoluted pathways arriving right in Laredo, Texas. Suddenly, we become peers.

I have known so many friends here from various countries such as the ones mentioned above who come and go as they please without ever needing so much as a passport, let alone standing in line to ask for a visa. Don't get me wrong though, as I am all for immigration. The United States is a country of immigrants. And that is where many immigrants should be finding common cause with Trump who says that people should come here legally. That is the key word.

I was once a teacher at a university in Peshawar. I was in the habit of giving all my students A grade at the end of every semester. Every student used to be happy except the ones who had worked hard and paid attention to my lectures. They were not wrong because they had the same question that we immigrants have today, which is this: why did we follow the rules, did everything right, obeyed the process, and so forth when others stand right next to us as equal peers who actually did the opposite of those things? This norm does not create an incentive to drive people to respect the laws and become good citizens. What Trump is saying and what he is doing is actually this country's response to me that the difficulties that I had faced were not for nothing. I am not an equal peer today with those who didn't respect the process. I have every reason to support this policy.