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Abhirami

Mrs. Gilbert

Academic Writing

July 24 2018

Welcome to the Land Of Immigrants

"The fact is: It's true what they say about the United States. It is a land of opportunity."

Says Christopher Hitchens, a well known journalist. Many people, from all over the world, come

to America, the land of opportunity, for millions of reasons, from fleeing wars, to finishing debts.

America has opened their doors to all of these hungry, needing people who just want another

opportunity. Some of the people may not have all of the consent of the American government,

but that “consent” takes a lot of money and time that a person fleeing a war, or in danger of debt

does not have. Immigrants have always been a vital part of America, weaving together history

and the present, so why is America challenging its own heritage now? Why is America

prohibiting the very thing that helped build it? Illegal immigrants involved in criminal activity,

and have a record for it should not be allowed to live in America. However, immigrants that have

lived in the US and don’t have a criminal record, if caught, should not be sent back to their

respective places. Instead, they should be allowed to stay here, as proper paperwork is being

done, since the could not afford the consent of the government, and also because they helped

build America to what it is now.

To start off, why do immigrants travel to America in risk of getting caught, when they

could just get a passport and a Visa? Immigrants might not have a choice in the matter, since

they may not have financial stability or the time needed to process all the paperwork related to
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traveling to America. If the doors of liberty are closed, then these people will have no one to help

them. My family and I are immigrants. We came here because of my father’s job. I have lived in

America for around 5 years and we have even bought a house. I go to school here, my parents

pay taxes, and altogether we do more than $1,000 worth of paperwork. The paperwork include

the passport, visa, background forms/applications, and other forms related to travel and

residence. Of course, this wouldn’t be a problem to some immigrants, but to others, especially

those who are already in debt, this is a slap across the face. Then the time it takes for all the

paperwork to process and finally get into one's hands, it takes “4-6 weeks”(Bureau of Consular

Affairs), in other words a US passport takes a month or more, to process. This does not include

the interviews, fingerprints, vaccinations, and visiting all sorts of government agencies. Even

after all of that, the form asked for could be rejected, and the process would have to start all over

again. This time is not available, to immigrants fleeing crises including: debt, war, riots, etc. By

the time all the paperwork is done, their need will be over. Illegal immigrants believe that

America is the land of opportunity, and they need that opportunity. So they decide not to follow

the long and expensive process, and can you really blame these people?

Even more surprising is that immigrants, illegal or not, have helped America’s

infrastructure. As immigrants file into America, they “grow the population, which stimulates

economic growth, the only way over the long term to improve standards of living” (Gillespie and

Todd). Hence, the basic notion of more immigrants in America, helps the American economy,

and being legal or not has nothing to do with it. In addition, “64%” (Migration Policy Institute)

of illegal immigrants are in the labor force. That is a lot of people helping America. The larger

the labor force, the more work is done, and the infrastructure benefits. As America continues to
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grow, lower level jobs are left unattended. Illegal immigrants in search for work will probably

not have many restrictions. In fact, according to the migration policy institute, sixteen percent of

immigrants are involved in the construction industry which is almost one million people. To

elaborate, jobs are filled, people are payed, and America benefits as a whole. Also, immigrants

have to follow laws, if they don’t, they have consequences, one of them being fines. When a

person, illegal immigrant or not, is given a fine, they have to pay money to the government as a

consequence to their actions. As people pay, the government gains money. The more money the

government earns, the more it can help the people. This give and take of money is crucial in a

growing democratic empire like America.

Many say that immigrants may misuse or abuse the freedom that is provided in America,

thus they should not be allowed. According to FactCheck.org:

So here are just a few statistics on the human toll of illegal immigration. According to a

2011 government report, the arrests attached to the criminal alien population included an

estimated 25,000 people for homicide, 42,000 for robbery, nearly 70,000 for sex offenses,

and nearly 15,000 for kidnapping. In Texas alone, within the last seven years, more than

a quarter million criminal aliens have been arrested and charged with over 600,000

criminal offenses(Trump).

This report presented on June 22, is collected on a span of 7 years. That is a lot of crimes

that immigrants have been convicted of. Those, not involved in crime also burden the

government by using the welfare programs, and they “They don't pay their fair share” (Gillespie,

and Todd). Well, majority of this information is misleading. First of all, “most legal immigrants

and all illegals [were] barred from receiving means-tested welfare”(Gillespie, and Todd) from
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the late 1990’s. So, immigrants were never allowed allowed a portion of the “welfare programs.”

Second, immigrants both illegal and legal, “contributed $13 billion in payroll taxes in 2010,”

(Blanco). So they do pay their fair share, and of the 8 million illegal immigrants in the

workforce, “Nearly half, or 3.4 million, of those workers paid Social Security taxes,” (Blanco).

So immigrants pay taxes, and they fill out the federal tax forms, that bind them to fully paying

their taxes, or getting a refund if necessary. Of course as immigrants should be welcome,

criminals should not. Men and women with severe criminal records, who are hiding from the law

should be handed over like they always have been. Others with petty cases, should suffer the

consequences, but should still be allowed to live in America. There are many variables in

criminal activity, deciding which is moral and which is not, is something the government has to

do. Even with many accusations of crime, the illegal immigrant arrest rate is “40% below that of

native-born Americans” (FactCheck.org). That means that even with the high numbers of

criminal activity from the immigrant population, a higher number is recorded in the native-born

American population. All in all, immigrants must be given a chance, but those who misuse their

freedom must not be excused from their crimes.

To conclude, immigrants, whether illegal or not, need the opportunity to regain

themselves. Illegal immigrants come to America in order to escape from debt, harsh rules, and

what not. Burdening government documents and forms slow their ascend and pull them further

into debt. America is a land created by immigrants, and it changes everyday. Immigrants come

here in search of a new life. After all, it is the land of opportunity.

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Works Cited

“Processing Times” ​US Department Of State​ ​n.d.​ Web. 14 July 2018

Migrationpolicy.org ​Migration Policy Institute Jun 01 2018 Web. July 14 2018

Farley, Robert. “Is Illegal Immigration Linked to More or Less Crime?” ​FactCheck.org,​

FactCheck.org, 27 June 2018,

www.factcheck.org/2018/06/is-illegal-immigration-linked-to-more-or-less-crime/​.

Gillespie, Nick and Todd, Krainin. "The 5 Best Arguments Against Immigration-and Why

They're Wrong." ​Reason.com,​ Reason, 14 Feb. 2018. Web. 23 July 2018.

Blanco, Octavio. "Why Undocumented Immigrants Pay Taxes." CNNMoney. Cable News

Network, 19 Apr. 2017. Web. 23 July 2018.