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 WHH Opinions


The Willis Hall Herald welcomes your opinions on any matter concerning the upper school and its students.
​Please send to willishallherald@northcross.org.

The issues of the U.S. immigration policy

2/24/2022

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By Hania Raza '24

America is a nation built by immigrants, but the policies regarding immigration do not often get the attention from lawmakers and administration that they deserve. 

Throughout recent history, people from all around the world have come to America, the “land of opportunity,” looking to make a life for themselves. They often start off doing the jobs that nobody wants to do, and even that is better than the dangers they sometimes face in their own countries. The American government therefore should create a just and quick process of obtaining legal citizenship, provided that the security concerns should not be overlooked. 

The current imigration policy has many issues. It has caused many people to be forced to go back to their previous countries, where it may be extremely dangerous for them to live. 

Currently the United States immigraion system is severely backlogged, making it very difficult to become an American. Undocumented immigrants are considered criminals. Any immigrant unable to show correct documents is liable to be detained and deported. 

The last administration, of President Trump, took a number of steps to make it even more difficult for anyone to enter and live in the United States legally, using the pandemic as an excuse. 

According to an Associated Press article from October 2020, White House officials influenced the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Department of Health and Human Services to stop the flow of immigation in order to protect Americans from the pandemic. The CDC was given this authority in Title 42 of the Public Service Act. 

The Biden Administration has made some progress regarding immigration. The travel ban on many Muslim-majority countries has been lifted. However, against the hopes of many immigrant families at the southern border, Title 42 is still in effect and has expelled over one million people without processing in 2021. 

However, according to a Vox article from August of 2021, “Experts have repeatedly said that migrants can be processed and admitted to the US safely.” The article further says that “In March, the acting head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) told Congress that less than 6 percent of migrants at the border had tested positive for Covid-19, a lower percentage than the Texas positivity rate at that time.”

This problem has personally touched many people, including my family. My cousin has spent many years of his youth trying to obtain citizenship legally. He came to the United States to have more opportunities and be able to live a better life than in Pakistan, but he was forced to put his life on hold in order to keep a legal status. After becoming an accountant, he wants to start his own firm, creating jobs for many. I have witnessed much of my family struggle to stay in America and have lived my whole life aware of this issue. 
​

This global problem should be discussed more often so that more voices can be heard by those in power. The American government needs to begin giving more attention to the United States immigration policy to make it a just process for all immigrants. 
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Overpopulation is a threatening issue

2/24/2022

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By Eason Zhou '24

In 2022, the global population is close to 7.6 billion, and more and more people live on the Earth, which has a great impact on the Earth's ecological environment. Problems come one after another. If they are not solved in time, it will be a great problem for human survival.

Overpopulation can be caused by increased birth rates, reduced mortality, influx of immigrants, unsustainable biota or depletion of resources.
Some research shows that it is predicted that the world population will continue to grow, reaching 9 billion by 2040, and some forecasts believe that the population will reach 11 billion by 2050. By 2100, the population will reach 15 billion. The current residence of human beings is limited. With the growth of population, cities or villages or towns will become more and more crowded. 
In 1800, only 3% of the world's population lived in cities, compared with 47% at the end of the 20th century. In 1950, 83 cities had a resident population of more than 1 million; But by 2007, there were 468 urban agglomerations with more than 1 million people.
As human settlements become more and more crowded, humans will expand their settlements, but the area they can use is also limited. While human beings expand their settlements, they will also occupy the settlements of other creatures.
This is only one of the most direct problems for the world. Other attendant problems include insufficient water supply, accelerated consumption of non-renewable resources, more serious pollution, land desertification, new epidemics and inflation. One of the most serious and well-known problems is global warming caused by changing the composition of the atmosphere.
Education and control is one of the effective ways to limit overpopulation. Worldwide, 40% of pregnancies are unwanted caused by improper contraception. In some countries where sex education is not developed, the lack of knowledge will lead to such things that do not need to affect the body and mind. Therefore, universal sex education is a very important thing. In terms of control, for example, China will have corresponding laws to limit the number of births. Some countries even force families with a certain number of children to sterilize.
With the continuous development, more culture and technology have become people's eyes. Some incredible and even strange behaviors can alleviate overpopulation, such as suicide, homicide, human voluntary extinction movement, family planning, sterilization, self-confinement, and even war, which can lessen the problem of overpopulation in the world. But we do not advocate for or even advertise this kind of thing.
 Space migration has always been a human dream. But so far, no space colony has been established. These behaviors have to face a series of challenges, and alleviating overpopulation is a difficult process.
We should seize the time to let people know the harm caused by overpopulation, so that they can realize the seriousness of the problem.
Overpopulation not only affects human life, but also affects the lives of other organisms, even biodiversity.
 Human beings need to be responsible for themselves and other creatures. 
We can limit the number of families that can have children, reduce unavoidable pollution, and promote measures such as public transportation or planting trees to solve the overpopulation and a series of problems it brings.
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    Helen Hertz '24

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the Willis Hall Herald

Contact: willishallherald@northcross.org 
4254 Colonial Ave.
Roanoke, VA 240189
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Letters to the Editor: willishallherald@northcross.org 

Founded in 2010, and based in the Journalism elective, The Willis Hall Herald is the official student-led publication of the Upper School at North Cross School in Roanoke, VA. The Herald may be published in magazine form three times per year. GeoPrism: The Global Studies Journal may be published in magazine form once or twice per year. The Herald welcomes letters, commentary and submissions of original content that adhere to the Herald's dedication to factual journalism. Letters and other content must be signed and may be edited for length and Herald style. The Herald does not guarantee publication of outside submissions. Please contact Robert Robillard for ads. The Herald won Gold Medals from Columbia Scholastic Press Association in 2012 and 2015. 

The Staff

Editor-in-Chief ........................................................................................................................ Massoki Maka
Managing Editor....................................................................................................................... Eason Zhou
Social Media Editor.................................................................................................................... Eason Zhou
Website Editors...........................................................................................................................Eason Zhou
Opinion Editor.........................................................................................................................Massoki Maka
Graphics Editor................................................................................................................................... Dat Bui
Business Manager.......................................................................................................................Brock Miles
Features Editor......................................................................................................................................Nhi Le
Photography Editor.................................................................................................................. Eason Zhou
Arts Editor...................................................................................................................................Rabia Ferron
Arts and Entertainment Editor.......................................................................................Aadeetri Pandey
Sports Editor............................................................................................................................ Tristan Lange
Staff writers...................................... Rowan Anderson, Anne Bradley Cullen, Didi Dibetle, Lam Do, Antonio Mack, Aadeetri Pandey, Jiale Qin, Veronica Weston.
Graphic Artist .....................................................................................................................Gracean Ratliff
Op-Ed Columnists................................................................................................................... Helen Hertz

Advisor................................................................................................................................ Robert Robillard
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  • Home
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  • GEOPRISM
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    • Scary Stories
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  • Print Issues
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    • Homecoming
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  • Staff
    • Aadeetri Pandey '26
    • Anne Bradley Cullen '26
    • Antonio Mack '26
    • Brock Miles '24
    • Dat Bui '23
    • Didi Dibetle '24
    • Eason Zhou '24
    • Gracean Ratliff '23
    • Hania Raza '24
    • Helen Hertz '24
    • Jiale Qin '26
    • Kenzie Raub '24
    • Lam Do '26
    • Massoki Maka '23
    • Nhi Le '25
    • Rabia Ferron '26
    • Rowan Anderson '26
    • Tristan Lange '26
    • Veronica Weston '26
    • Robert Robillard
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