Monday, November 19, 2007

Brief

THESIS: Illegal immigrants are far more beneficial to this country than they are given credit for, and laws should be less strict on their immigration.

A large percentage of American citizens have the “kick them out and keep them out” opinion when it comes to illegal immigrants. The thing that these people do not realize is that these immigrants can actually help our economy instead of hurting it, as they are so widely publicized to do. Also, keeping these people out is being very inhumane to them. There are countless reasons why it would be beneficial to all if the immigration laws were relaxed and these immigrants were given a fair chance. Some of these reasons include:

1. The average age of American citizens is rapidly growing. Between improving healthcare for the elderly, and a lower number of children per family, the number of working age citizens is on the decline. If this number decreases too low, our country will be unable to provide for the elderly and children who are unable to work. Allowing more immigrants to cross the border and work on American soil can help to balance out this problem and lessen the stress on American workers.

2. Another number on the decline is the number of people farming in America. As our society becomes more technologically advanced, and as cities grow larger, more and more farmers are leaving the profession. On top of this, the farmers that do stay in business find less people willing to work in their fields. Illegal immigrants are the only thing keeping many of these farmers from going out of business. Also, illegal immigrants help keep our food prices low. Illegal immigrants are very often willing to work at lower salaries than American workers, therefore allowing the farmer to sell his goods at a lower cost.

3. One of the largest complaints about illegal immigration is that these immigrants take jobs from American citizens. While in some cases this may be true, these immigrants usually fill positions that American workers do not want. While this may sound like a very large generalization, it is true. Many farmers and contractors cannot afford to pay out the wages that American workers demand; therefore American workers do not show interest in the position. By immigrants filling these positions, the immigrants are raising the wages that are paid to American citizens. Illegal immigrants are generally hired as low skilled laborers to avoid companies that require legal residency. This opens up the more skilled positions to the current residents; therefore, earning them a greater pay rate.

4. It is often said that illegal immigrants are “stealing the American dream” from American citizens. To those who support this belief, I must ask if it is worth killing these people to avoid this from happening. This is exactly what is happening with added border patrol. Many key sites on the Mexico-United States border have added extra security to ensure that no illegal immigrants enter. Though this may have helped the problem, it is impossible to patrol the entire span of the border. This is leading these immigrants to crawl through the blistering heat of remote desert locations on the border for a chance at making it to America. Many immigrants have died simply trying to get to a place with a job. Have illegal immigrants caused enough harm to us for us to force this fate upon them?

5. My final reason that immigration laws should be relaxed is that the immigration problem is likely to work itself out. The high level of immigration is due to the poverty and unemployment rates in Mexico at this time. Mexico is a developing country. As the country develops, more jobs will open up, and fewer immigrants will be forced to enter the United States to find employment. Many immigrants will return to their home country to be with their family when they are certain to find employment.

These are simply a few reasons that immigration laws need to be relaxed. If it were easier for these immigrants to enter the United States, it would be very beneficial to them as well as our country. Immigrants are not a drain on the American economy, they are a necessity.

"Immigration Policy Issues." News Batch. July 2007. 14 Nov 2007 .

Simon, Julian. "IMMIGRATION." 11 Dec 1995. Cato Institute. 14 Nov 2007 .

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Pro-Immigration

The living conditions of many countries are far from the standards that we hold in the United States. One such country is the country directly to the south of us, Mexico. Illegal immigrants have caught a lot of negative publicity over the past few years as our country grows larger and larger. Many people now protest that these immigrants need to be tracked down and sent back to their home country. This process would be very time consuming, expensive, and in reality, impossible. The better option for taking care of this 'problem' would be to simplify the applicatoin process for citizenship. If these immigrants were given the option of entering this country leagally without a great deal of hassle, then we would not have to waste the time and money that we spend on border control, and we could avoid the task of having to send illegal immigrants back. This country still has plenty of land left to offer to these immigrants. With the use of this land, we could easily care for these new citizens. The American government needs to be more accomadating to people who wish to become citizens of our great country.