No, I'm not a racist. No, I'm not a xenophobe. I believe multiculturalism is in many ways beneficial.
Now that that's out of the way, I'd like to share my opinion, which I've distilled to be as objective as I can. I know there is some level of subjectivity that remains, but in large-scale economic/political issues like this one, I find little room for pathos-based arguments.
Let's start with the southern border. First of all, the rallying cry we now know as "The Wall", isn't likely to accomplish much except internal division and burgeoning national debt. I won't get into the details here, however. That seems like it would be common sense, especially considering over two-thirds of illegal immigrants overstay visas and don't hop fences.
However, a crime is a crime. Unfortunately, I don't think the case for looser immigration on the basis of a child holding a sign pleading for his mother to stay in America is a strong one. I wish it didn't have to be that way. It's heartbreaking. We have a system of law, though, and to throw that to the wind on a basis of sheer empathy is unwise, to say nothing of the way it cheapens our existing, legal immigration process.
I think if we can have a more efficient process for screening legal immigrants who wish to become citizens and have ICE more on top of those who break the law, the whole situation would be a lot smoother. I think the financial burden in that sector would be alleviated, crime would likely go down in certain areas, and the American system itself would be less exploited. Realistically, this may be a pipe dream, but it's something to strive for.
Now, the next part is where things get sticky: Muslims. First, I want to properly disassociate myself from the ignorant strawman who shouts, "Every man, woman, and child is a terrorist with a bomb strapped to their chest!" Obviously, that's absurd.
However, there's reasonable evidence to suggest that smuggled in with the masses of refugees from Europe there were operatives with the intent to harm us. Few as they are, they nevertheless exist, and that's something to consider, that makes this issue a separate animal from the southern border problem.
I believe the more real threat, however, is the cultural conflict that mass Muslim immigration can pose. Pew Research cases in 2011 have shown that over half of the world's Muslim population (800 million) supported strict Sharia Law, which entails the execution of homosexuals, mutilation of women, and other legal characteristics which do not share our own.
This was from a variety of different countries among the 49 Muslim majority countries, including Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Turkey, Morocco, and even in more moderate areas such as Great Britain and France, where Muslim immigration has been high, studies have shown that a sizable portion of the Muslim population supports facets of radical Muslim ideology.
And this is to say nothing of the "no-go zones" in London, for instance, where police are either ordered to stand down from or actively will refuse to go, because of the violent nature of Muslim neighborhoods, or of the infamous gang rapes in six cities across Germany on December 31st, 2015, in which approximately 2,000 "men of Arab or North African appearance" (the police's words, not mine) assaulted and raped around 1,200 women, an unparalleled incident for the country.
These are not the ramblings of an archaic xenophobe who still believes the South will rise again. This is hard data. The cultural difference is real, and I believe that if we can think more rationally and less emotionally about these issues, we as a culture can be better prepared to handle this issue and multiculturalism will become an overwhelmingly positive quality of our society.