Our current president, Donald Trump, said that when elected he would construct a border wall between the United States and Mexico in order to stop illegal immigration. His plans include a process to put immigrants on the path to citizenship, but it's long and sketchy. While I agree that illegal immigration needs to end and that a wall may be necessary for that purpose, there also needs to be a much better way to process people coming from Mexico and Central America looking to become a U.S citizen. There needs to be a place, maybe two since it is a large border, but there needs to be a place, much like Ellis Island that can be thought of in a similar fashion. This place should be a structure or a series of structures in a sort of compound just north of the border where immigrants will be housed and processed through.

The path to citizenship will be much shorter than it is now, but it will be a grind. The living conditions will be similar to a jail cell without a locked door. The food they eat will be mostly bread and cheaper meats and vegetables. It will be this way to keep costs low. Most of their housing and food will be paid for by the immigrants in a processing fee they must pay to be allowed entry. They will be checked for criminal history, particularly that with drugs and cartels, examined medically, and be taught basic English. They will be required to fill out forms and questionnaires regarding why they wish to become a U.S citizen, if they have any family or relatives in the United States, etc. If they do have family, the family will be screened briefly to ensure they are not involved in criminal activity. The premise of this amount of screening is to ensure that crime does stay out, because while plenty of good people come across that border, there's plenty of crime that crosses as well. This is simply meant to reduce that crime. On this journey, not everyone will make it. But for many, the day will come when they receive a stamp on their hand, walk down a hallway where a guard opens a door for them, and they walk outside as an American citizen. With contracting, licensing, and everything else that goes into building something it will be approximately ten to fifteen years predictably before the facility will be ready to process immigrants, and will cost several million dollars, respectively.  When it is complete however, the process of becoming a United States citizen will be better than our current system, and it will eliminate one of the larger issues in our society today.