Expected to take into effect later this month, the Arizona immigration law requires all immigrants to carry alien registration documents and authorizes police officers to question anyone suspected of being illegal immigrants. The contentious bill has major repercussions in the form of protests and anger across the United States. Particularly vexed were many students in Arizona, many of whose parents are illegal immigrants.

Now for the first time, amid the heated immigration debate, President Obama addressed the nation regarding the issue on Thursday at American University.

Rather than introducing any new specific measures to solving the immigration issue, Obama’s speech was a reminder that the current policies are “fundamentally broken” and requires cooperation between both political parties. Though he did sympathize with people unwilling to punish hard-working illegal immigrants trying to work for a better life, Obama still made clear that the eleven million illegal immigrants in the United States must be held accountable.

So what does this have to do with the ideas of sustainability and global challenges? While listening to Obama’s speech, I was reminded of a short speech Jerry made during our reception last week regarding identity. With all this chatter about immigration, I felt that we were trying to create a distinct line between illegal immigrants from Mexico, and legal American citizens. People have for a long time identified themselves with particular nations. I feel the immigration issue embodies this idea, and there probably isn’t anything wrong with a nation trying to control its borders from an influx of foreigners. However, as the world becomes more global, I believe many people tend to forget that the critical challenges we face today isn’t faced solely by one country or even several countries. They are faced by the global community as a whole. Therefore, I feel that countries should remind themselves that approaching global problems cannot be approached in the same way we approach domestic and political problems.

“Obama Seeks Middle Ground on Immigration Reform – CNN.com.” CNN.com – Breaking News, U.S., World, Weather, Entertainment & Video News. CNN, 02 July 2010. Web. 02 July 2010. .