There is no doubt that immigration is one of the primary hot-button issues for the 2016 presidential election -- in particular the influx of those entering illegally or staying beyond their legitimate visas.

But a new Pew Research study calls into question the legitimacy of the concerns. The net numbers of immigrants, both legal and illegal, have dropped.

“Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me: I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”

The above appears on the Statue of Liberty and is part of a larger poem by Emma Lazarus. With its location near Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty became the symbol for new immigrants and refugees entering the United States in search of a better life.

The 113th Congress was rated one of the least productive congresses in history, and the 114th is not shaping up to do much better. Things have gotten so bad that we consider it an achievement when our elected officials just agree to pay the bills instead of shutting down the government.

At the national level, the conversation on energy and climate is usually portrayed as a zero-sum game, where a victory for one side means a defeat for the other. One is either a climate science denier or doesn’t care about environmental hazards associated with energy production.

Since the terrorist attacks in Paris on November 13, the world is once against debating how to understand and respond to such tragedies. French President Francois Hollande has said that the country is now "at war" with ISIS, which claimed responsibility for the attacks, and France has bombed ISIS targets in Syria for consecutive days.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) and supporters have now spent roughly $20 million toward assaulting the airwaves thus far in the 2016 presidential race -- more than twice as much as any other candidate or outside group -- according to data from media and communications agency SMG Delta.

The campaign committee itself has spent $438,000 on TV ads in early primary states Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, dwarfed by the $19.5 million sum spent by the pro-Bush Super PAC, Right to Rise.

Former U.S. Rep. Artur Davis was considering a run for the Montgomery County Commission seat as a Democrat. One might think that a citizen seeking public office has the right to associate with the political party of his or her choice. In Alabama, this is not the case.

The Independent Voter Project (IVP) hosted its 2015 Business and Leadership Policy Conference at the Fairmont Hotel in Maui. The conference brought together California lawmakers from both political parties, industry professionals, and policy experts to discuss issues that greatly affect lawmakers, businesses, and state residents.

As early as January 2015, in interviews with Buzzfeed journalists, an ISIS operative admitted he traveled to Turkey in 2014 and settled there for the express purpose of creating a smuggling operation to sneak jihadis into Europe. Specifically, these operatives were directed to head to Sweden, Germany, and Italy to request asylum.

When we are faced with troubling modern events, it is helpful to turn our lens toward history in an effort to find patterns and precedents that can be applied today. For example, to address our current debate about the allowance of Syrian refugees into the United States, it might help to turn back the page to how Jewish refugees were mistreated prior to World War II.

The Holocaust is often considered the most tragic scar on the history of Western Civilization. Approximately six million Jews were systemically detained, imprisoned, and murdered by Nazi Germany.