Illegal Immigration

1019 Words3 Pages

Many Americans forget that many of our ancestors were once immigrants coming to America looking for new opportunities, as are the immigrants of today. The existing solutions to illegal immigration, some rather extreme, include legalization or amnesty rather than deporting or imprisoning the illegal immigrants. Although the government receives less tax money from undocumented people and some American citizens are displaced from their jobs, illegal immigration is beneficial because businesses thrive; meanwhile, the whole country and each immigrant will benefit from legalization of the entire illegal population.
Illegal aliens can displace uneducated Americans from their jobs, due to cheaper labor (Porter 1). Victims of immigration include people with little education who can not transition into a job market where many low positions are taken by low-paid illegal immigrants (3). This is apparent because while 22 million American citizens are unemployed, 8 million immigrants illegally in the U.S. have jobs (“Illegal Immigration” 2014 1). Other than illegals taking American jobs, the economy suffers from schools and hospitals losing money to servicing illegal immigrants who do not pay taxes (Masters 1). This charity-oriented attitude also encourages illegal immigrants to come to America to have children because any child born in the U.S. is automatically granted citizenship (“Illegal Immigration” 2012 1). While there are many reasons to rid the country of illegal immigrants, there are many benefits to having immigrants take residence in America.
Since there are many exceptions to why a person is in the country illegally, consequences should not be on one level, but have different punishments based on the type of crime committe...

... middle of paper ...

...hem eligible for tax payments, benefitting the economy (Silverman 1). It does so by giving the illegal population a green card, so they may eventually become a full citizen. Obama believes it is best to pardon undocumented immigrants, but meanwhile increase border security and improve immigration laws (“Immigration Amnesty” 1).
“We are not going to ship back 12 million people… We’re going to make them pay a fine, they are going to have to go to the back of the line… but they will have a pathway to citizenship over the course of ten years.” -Obama (“Immigration Amnesty” 1). The U.S. should exhibit this value of keeping immigrants in the country, rather than deporting or imprisoning them. While there are downfalls to having illegal people in the country, there are many benefits to hosting them, and the benefits increase with legalization of the illegal population.

Open Document