A look at the U.S. legal immigration system and its flaws

There is little debate that the U.S. immigration system is flawed, but little agreement on how to fix it.

Many believe an overhaul of our system is long overdue.

“I’ve always liked the states. Always. Everything,” says Miguel Chacon.

Chacon told ABC-7 becoming a U.S. citizen was a dream come true although it took

14 years that dream to become a reality.

Chacon’s story isn’t unique.

He came here as a student, got his degree from UTEP, then a work permit and ultimately his citizenship after marrying his girlfriend.

“At times I wanted to quit to be honest with you. I wanted to be just a green card holder, but my wife was the one who was always cheering me up to continue to pursue my dream to be a U.S. citizen,” said Chacon.

Vic Manjarrez is the project director for UTEP’s Center for Law & Human Behavior.

“Comprehensive immigration reform is always thrown out but we haven’t had that since I’ve been alive and I’m 51,” says Manjarrez.

Before working for UTEP, Manjarrez was the Border Patrol sector chief for El Paso and Tucson.

“Going back to my security background the biggest thing is I want to know who is coming in and that’s the biggest thing. And the way you do that is you get them to go through a port of entry or airport and they present themselves and whatever documents the government will accept,” says Manjarrez.

Each of the last four years the U.S. has issued more than 460,000 visas with 531,000 being issued in 2015.

40 percent were issued to people from Asia followed by North America. Mexico had the most visas granted with more than 82,000. That’s more than double the next closest country China.

Richard Dayoub, president of the Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce, fears our economy is suffering due to its dated immigration policies.

“It is very safe to say that our current immigration policies are extremely detrimental to the U.S. economy and American companies. Very much so,” says Dayoub.

In fiscal year 2015 a majority of visas were issued to immediate relatives. Only 4 percent were for employment.

“They are the best and brightest across the globe, but they can’t stay because they can’t get a work visa because of our current policies. So they are sent back to their country of origin and we have lost that opportunity,” Dayoub said.

He also doesn’t believe immigrants are stealing American jobs.

“You start to talk to the farmers and ranchers who are dealing with the challenges of trying to get their products to market they’ll tell you they can’t hire people in the U.S. They don’t want the jobs.”

“We don’t have enough graduates to fill all the positions across the country. The big tech companies are scrambling,” says Dayoub.

The Greater El Paso Chamber is also affiliated with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Texas Association of Businesses.

Dayub says, “We are all pretty much unified in what needs to get done. So, we don’t have an issue. The issue only seems to be in congress.”

Congress, however, appears paralyzed on immigration reform until the border is secured.

How do you define a secure border?

“Border security does not mean zero intrusions or zero tolerance because that’s really crazy. You don’t ask a chief of police or a sheriff to have zero crime. We ask for risk mitigation and bring it down,” says Manjarrez.

Despite the problems with the current system and his long wait for citizenship, Chacon remains proud to call himself a U.S. citizen.

“I have friends from all over the world and they still ask me if the United States is the land of opportunity and I say yes it’s still the land of opportunity. America has always been the land of opportunity. It’s worth it! It is definitely worth it. America has a lot to offer,” says Chacon.

Opponents of increased legal immigration will point toward people overstaying their visa.

A recent government study found that 40% of the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country remained here after their visa expired and currently there is no way to track them.