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Orlando Santos
Ms. Lynn Taylor
English 1010

Classical Argument
The issue on illegal immigration has been facing America for so many years and
currently, there are about more than 12 million illegal aliens in the United States, with a million
entering the country as legal immigrants on a yearly basis. More than half of this aliens are those
who have entered legally but extended their stay without filing for extension. The rest have made
their way through borders and risked their lives cramped in trucks and literally crossing the
borders. Despite this, the government is still trying to make things good for illegal immigrants
and the country as well. Policies have been changing over the years, with President Obama
giving amnesty decrees granting illegal immigration law exemptions to a certain percentage of
undocumented aliens.

For the last couple weeks, I have worked on a deep research about Illegal immigration in
the United States. I collected articles from reliable sources like: The New York Times,
Washington Post and Wall Street Journal. The results of my research were astonishing. For a long
time a lot has been said about illegal immigrants. Misleading arguments about undocumented
workers have tainted the reputation of millions of people from different parts of the world. The
objective of my work was based on two questions, Illegal immigrants and the economy? And
how can we keep undocumented immigrants from trespassing border lines?

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After reading from the experts on immigration and the economy. I have learned the truth,
behind the different number of myths about illegal immigrants. Different claims have been made
about illegal aliens, such as they drain our Social Security Services of this country, I have also
heard immigrants dont pay taxes and they send all their U.S earned dollars to their home
countries and that immigrants bring crime to our cities and towns. Illegal immigration is a big
problem for the United States, though recent studies have found that more immigrants are
leaving the country than they are coming in. expert believe the down drop from 12 million to
11.2 million is due to a better economy in foreign countries and tougher border security in the
United States.
A lot of negative comments have been made about undocumented immigrants, hurting
the economy for Americans. Illegal immigration does have some undeniably negative economic
effects. Similarly skilled native born workers are faced with a choice of either accepting lower
pay or not working in the field at all. Labor economists have concluded that undocumented
workers have lowered the wages of U.S. The impact on everyone else, though, is surprisingly
positive. Because a construction boss no longer had to pay a highly skilled worker to perform
basic tasks. That lowered the overall cost of construction, increasing the number of jobs the
company could book, which meant more customers and more money. Also think of how
restaurants operate without undocumented labor performing routine tasks, meals, which factor
labor costs into the price, would be more expensive. There would also be fewer jobs for waiters
and chefs, who in most cases make more money than the low wage employees behind the
kitchen.
Undocumented immigrants also contribute to the Social Security and taxation system of
the United States. Every year roughly 15 billion dollars are collected from illegal immigrants to

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fund Social Security. They also contribute to the tax system Unauthorized immigrants paid $11.8
billion in state and local taxes in 2012. This ranged from roughly $3.2 million in Montana, which
is home to only 6,000 unauthorized immigrants, to $3.3 billion in California, with an
unauthorized population of 3.1 million. With the only exception of those who get paid in cash
without any record of employment, however recent studies have proven that fewer companies are
willing to pay their undocumented workers in cash, due to the lack of tax breaks from the
government. Paying employees in cash could also bring problems to employers if the employee
becomes hurt while preforming a job.
Those who see undocumented immigrants as a tread to society have wrongfully accused
them of bringing crime to our cities and towns. Illegal immigrants have been accused of being
rapes, drug dealers, and gang member, etcetera. According to a 2000 report prepared for the U.S.
Department of Justice, immigrants maintain low crime rates even when faced with adverse social
conditions such as low income and low levels of education.

Although incarceration rates are highest among young low-income men and many
immigrants arriving in the U.S. are young men with low levels of education, incarceration rates
among young men are invariably lower for immigrants than for their native born Americans. This
is true across every ethnic group but the differences are especially noticeable among Latinos,
who constitute the majority of undocumented immigrants in the United States. Even in cities
with the largest immigrant populations, such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Miami,
violent and non-violent crime rates have continued to decline.
Although undocumented workers do have some negative effects on the economy in the
United States. The overall results of undocumented immigrants is surprisingly positive

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According to supporters, illegal immigrants work for cheaper labor and are often hardworking
people because they are saving money to bring back to their families. With more than enough
labor force, businesses can increase production and reach their targeted sales. If businesses are
booming, it is also good for the economy. Some illegal aliens who have managed to get jobs in
home care, restaurants and automobile shops pay revenue to the agency. But doing so, having
them stay illegally somehow allows them to compensate the government, one way of the other.
Also they have to open back accounts and buy necessities like automobiles. The money and taxes
they pay help the U.S. economy. For some, having mixed cultures in a country is a good thing.
This is why they are in favor of illegal immigration because these immigrants bring in their
culture and skills to the nation. There are supporters who claim that if all the people who are
overstaying in America will be deported, it will cause a lot and it is never that easy. This expense
is not the kind of money the United States can afford. Besides, there are other issues that
America needs to focus on other than illegal aliens.

Opponents of illegal immigration argue that America is faced with national issues such as
threats of terrorism. Although not all are terrorists and bad people, there are some who come to
the U.S. to havoc fear and commit crimes like drug-trafficking and illegal activities. There have
also been reports of more than a hundred cases of crimes related to illegal immigrants. Critics of
illegal immigration are rallying over the policies of the government regarding this controversy.
They say that because of the influx of illegal workers, more and more Americans remain
unemployed because employers sometimes favor illegal immigrants over legal residents because
of cheap labor and longer working hours. Opponents contend that taxpayers money is spent in
paying for border patrol and deportation. This is one of the complaints of groups against illegal

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immigration. They also raise that poor illegal immigrants medical expenses are paid for by the
government and this money come for taxpayers as well. Unauthorized aliens who get sick or give
birth on American soil have to be given medical attention even without insurance and money to
cover for hospital bills at the expense of the American taxpayers. Moreover, children of illegal
immigrants waiting to be deported need to be taken care and this requires money. The debatable
issue on illegal immigration is not about to end with the developments taking place as time
passes on. Contentions from two opposing groups will still be present as policies are ever
changing and immigrants keep on coming from different parts of the world. Government leaders
and different sectors who are affected with the issue should take these things in consideration to
come up with clear cut solutions to illegal immigration.

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Works Cited

Davison, Adam Do Illegal Immigrants Actually Hurt the U.S Economy Experts
The New York Times Post, February 12, 2014.
Davis, Bob. "Illegal Immigration's Thorny Economics." Wall Street Journal. 10 Feb.2016
A.1 SIRS Issues Researcher. Web.10 April.2016.
Hunt Albert, Facing the facts on illegal immigration The New York Times, July 18,
2015 Web article.
Markon Jerry. "Report: Fewer Than 11 Million Illegal Immigrants in U.S." Washington
Post. 21 Jan. 2016: A.5. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 09 Apr. 2016.
Markon Jerry. "Building Trump's Border Wall Not Exactly 'Easy,' Experts Say."
Washington Post. 18 Jul. 2015: A.1. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 09 Apr. 2016.