Presidential campaigns

Immigration is a largely debated topic with much of the country being affected. This debate seems to heat up during presidential races. This past race was no exception. John McCain took the typical republican view saying that immigration enforcement needs to be raised and border security needs to be heightened. While current President Obama also, suprisingly, supports immigration reform. Obama beleives we need to have better more secure border, create a new overall system for immigrants to enter legally, remove incentives to enter illegally, and work with Mexico to better improve their economic and social well-being. Although his immigration policy had little if not nothing at all to do with his election, Obama seemed to take the conservative road on this issue. Presidential campaigns in the past such as George W. Bush's re-election campaign had strong policies towards immigration. Because of increasing problems from Mexico in the southwest and the effects of the recent 9/11 attacks Americans greatly supported heightened security along the border, stricter requirements for becoming a citizen, and other policies that will improve the security of a weakened country. This shows how one issue, in this case immigration, can have a large and lasting impact on presidential races.