DAlessandro 1

Christian DAlessandro
Mr. Campopiano
Government 1
2 November 2015
Immigrant Citizenship
In the past ten years, millions of immigrants have immigrated to the United States. Of the
millions that have come to America, many have not been granted citizenship. Many of them
dont become citizens because it is either too hard for them or it costs too much money. In order
to make America more diverse, Congress needs to be able to open its borders more and allow
immigrants to earn their citizenship more easily. Immigrants come to America to better their
lives and offer a better future to their loved ones. They risk themselves of being caught by
immigration services, which can sometimes lead to unintentional crime. Granting citizenship to
immigrants would benefit the U.S. economy because they would be motivated to pay income
taxes, there would be more workers to support the economy, and crime would decrease.
Taxes are a big part of the United States and immigrants are not motivated to pay for
them because they are considered illegal and see no point in paying for them. It is a myth that
people think that immigrants dont pay taxes, when they in fact do pay taxes. Undocumented
immigrants contribute an estimated seven billion dollars per year to Social Security and 1.5
Billion to Medicare through payroll taxes withheld from their wages (Hill). No matter what
illegal immigrants pay taxes, regardless of what it is for. Illegal immigrants pay for taxes too,
which has grown to an amount of twenty billion dollars between 1990-1998 (Sirota). The total
amount that taxes have increased over the years continues to rise and immigrants are still paying
for their taxes, and theyre not even citizens. In 2010 unauthorized immigrants paid over eleven

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billion dollars in taxes, and at least half of all immigrants pay some sort of federal taxes
(Passel).
Another thing to note is that many immigrants have come to America seeking a better
life. Theyve also helped the economy in many ways, such as making a business that creates
jobs. Even when America was at one of its lowest in unemployment rates, immigrants came here,
created their own businesses and made jobs for those who were unemployed. Immigrants come
to America by the millions and the majority come seeking a better life, and those who come
support the U.S. working economy. Immigrants start their own businesses, whether it is about
opening a restaurant, or an electronics store, or something as small as a food truck, it creates jobs
for people. The more businesses that open, the more people can work and that is one way in how
immigrants help the community. Immigrants are more likely to start their own business over
nonimmigrant by 30 percent, while immigrants businesses take up eighteen percent of all
businesses in the U.S. (Furman). It shows that even in creating businesses immigrants will help
more than native-born citizens. That immigrants would do the harder work that no one else wants
to. Immigrants have also been developing cutting-edge technology companies. For instance,
immigrants have created companies such as Google, eBay, Yahoo, and Intel (Furman). All of
those companies are some of the most important companies on the planet that people have
benefitted from the most. Immigrants do bring a diverse set of skills and education when they
immigrate to America. (Greenstone). Immigrants can bring a different knowledge of cultures
and heritage that can make the American economy more diverse.
The crime rate in America is at a high, with immigrants getting most of the blame. There
are many people who consider illegal immigrants to be responsible for spikes in crime. People
like Donald Trump amongst them is known currently for blaming illegal immigrants, specifically

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Mexicans, for causing more crime in our country. Statistics show that the crime rate from
immigrants is lower than that of native born citizens. However, that is from immigrants who
have immigrated to America, while the second generation is about the same crime rate as natural
born citizens (Spenkuch). People who were born in foreign countries exhibit lower levels in
how much they involve themselves in criminal activities (Sirota). Americans seem to tend to
presume anyone who is different from them are criminals, regardless of who they are as a
human, Americans will judge if you are or look different, and that isnt what equality and liberty
for all is.
One thing that is thought by many people is the fact that immigrants solely come to
America seeking a job and a better life. Immigrants are known for coming to America seeking a
better life for themselves, their children, and their family. It is completely false of how people
think immigrants come to steal jobs; in reality they come to America and make jobs (Carden).
The more businesses there are the more job opportunities there are for people to find. They also
take the jobs that no one else wants to do. Also without immigrants working in the agricultural
field, the economy would suffer significantly. They help the economy by buying American
goods and services, paying taxes, and raising the productivity of U.S. business (Xu). Simply by
just spending their money illegal immigrants support other businesses success. Another thing that
many people think true about immigrants is that when they are offered a path to obtaining
citizenship people assume that we are rewarding them for breaking the law. That is technically
not wrong, but when thinking about past events in American history you realize that it is wrong.
Thinking back to the days of when black people would have to move to the back of the bus when
white folk wanted to sit down. Rosa Parks would refuse to give up her seat and would be
arrested. The ultimate result was black people gaining rights, and by breaking the law they got

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rewarded. By creating a path for citizenship for illegals people can worry less about illegal
immigration and focus on more pressing matters at hand.
In conclusion, granting citizenship to immigrants would benefit the country. America is
one of the biggest countries in the world, and everyday our population grows. The country
should accept this change of a diverse background, and it may lead to something new. They need
to learn that not all people that emigrate are criminals, and that the majority of them want to
contribute to their new country, that they want to come to start a better life, and to adapt to their
new environment. A quote from John Steinbeck, Power does not corrupt. Fear corrupts...
perhaps the fear of a loss of power. This quote shows Americas fear quite well, people are
scared of people they dont know, and that those people might come and do something to them.
They are scared that theyll come a take something from them, when immigrants just want to
come to America to better their lives. People dont realize that the benefits of immigration far
outweigh the challenges of it.

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Works Cited
Web
Xu, Sharon. Kean University, n.d. Web. 22 Oct. 2015.
Furman, Jason. "Ten Ways Immigrants Help Build and Strengthen Our
Economy." The White House. The White House, n.d. Web.
Carden, Art. "Illegal Immigration." SpringerReference (2011): n. pag. Web.
Spenkuch, Jrg. "Does Immigration Increase Crime?" Kellogg Insight. N.p., n.d. Web.
Anchondo, Leo. "Basic Guidelines for Taxation Non U.S. Citizens." Basic Guidelines for
Taxation Non U.S. Citizens. N.p., n.d. Web.
Sirota, Alexandra. "Online Tools & Updates." Taxation of Nonresident Aliens. N.p., n.d.
Web.
Passel, Jeffrey S. "5 Facts about Illegal Immigration in the U.S." Pew Research Center
RSS. N.p., 24 July 2015. Web.
Hill, Forrest. "Forrest Hill for Secretary of State - Myths and Facts about Immigration."
Forrest Hill for Secretary of State - Myths and Facts about Immigration. N.p., n.d. Web.
Greenstone, Michael. Asian American Society: An Encyclopedia (2014): n. pag.
Brookings.edu. Sept. 2010. Web.
Print
Anderson, Stuart. Immigration. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood, 2010. Print.