Research Paper On Immigration

1246 Words3 Pages

Immigration has been around since the founding of our country. Everyone who isn’t pure native american has immigrants in their lineage. Our entire country is based on immigration and it has shaped our country into what it is today. Going deep into the memory banks I recall from grade school, America being known as “The Melting Pot” due to our diverse cultural background from areas around the world. Immigration has been a hot button issue for politicians for many decades and at the center of their fight for more votes. The problem isn’t with immigration itself, but illegal immigration. According to Danielle Renwick and Brianna Lee in an article for the Council on Foreign Relations, “there are more than forty-one million immigrants living in …show more content…

The problem occurs when undocumented people enter our country illegally. Many of them do this to escape the oppressive conditions and dangers of their very own country. The illegal immigration causes many issues within our country. The illegal immigrants are placing extra demand on our resources such as schooling for their children, welfare, medical costs, and many others. On one side of the argument, some believe that they all need to be deported and sent back to their original countries. Another view is that we grant them all citizenship without any pathway to attain it. I don’t believe either of these choices are the best way to handle the situation. I am in the middle of the road with my stance and I believe that we need to form a pathway to citizenship for those that are illegally in this country, while concurrently securing our borders and making some serious changes to the immigration policy in this …show more content…

I believe the research shows the opposite. According to Pew Research, the illegal immigrant population peaked in 2007 at 12.2 million. It steadily decreased since the recession began, and eventually leveled off in 2009 at 11.2 million. It has been virtually unchanged since 2009 showing that our country can sustain a higher amount of illegal immigrants within our population than we have now (PEW). Pew, also notes that one in twenty people in the work force are illegal immigrants. First, that is a low number when considering the entire workforce in the country. Second, those who are here illegally and working are still being taxed on their income so they are paying back into society. After reading “Five Myths about Immigration” by David Cole he quoted a 1994 Urban Institute report that verifies, “‘immigrants generate significantly more in taxes paid than they cost in services received’”(CIEQ 616). Cole also goes on to say that they aren’t eligible for most benefit programs anyway and the ones they do receive are constitutionally required (CIEQ 617). Based on all of this information I find it hard to believe that illegal immigrants are very taxing on our economy. In fact they may even be helping to stimulate the economy more than the are hurting

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