The United States of America built its foundation through immigrants. We have formed a country where opportunities are possible. Illegal immigrants should be given an opportunity to become legal citizens of the United States of America because they provide an opportunity to create jobs for other people, most immigrants have higher motivation to excel in a land of opportunities, and the United States was built on immigrants. Everyone should be given the benefit of the doubt in order to have a new life in the land of opportunities.
To continue, illegal immigrants should be given an opportunity to create jobs for other people. “Immigration fuels the economy. When immigrants enter the labor force, they increase the productive capacity of the economy and raise GDP. Their incomes rise, but so do those of natives.” (Orrenius 2). Where there is a need of workers at an industry, immigrants tend to flow in that direction. This then results in the continuation of the labor market. Illegal immigrants are usually looked down upon due to the absence of their citizenship in this country. Our history shows us that we this country originated from immigrants. A group of people arrived on the Mayflower in order to escape from the suffocation of their oppressor. There are varying factors of why an individual would immigrate to another country. Contributing factors that may affect this cause of migration to another country such as an oppressive government, low economic stability, education, and maybe free of religion and speech.
Most immigrants have an increased amount of motivation in order to succeed in a land of opportunities. Those who are less fortunate than others tend to work twice as hard rather than the ones who are financially stable and fortunate. “Immigrants are about 16 percent of the labor force, yet represent 49 percent of the labor force without a high school diploma, 25 percent of all doctorates, and 35 percent of doctorates in science, math, computer science, and engineering.” (Furchtgott-Roth 4). Overtime, the rise of immigration is greatly linked to innovative actions due to the major interest in the STEM occupations. Immigrants who arrive with a college degree move towards jobs that are more technical and scientific that does not require a huge amount of communication. Frank Sharry, the executive director of America’s Voice, a liberal advocacy group stated:
Immigration is integral to the nation’s economic growth. The inflow of labor supply has helped the United States avoid the problems facing other economies that have stagnated as a result of unfavorable demographics, particularly the effects of an aging workforce and reduced consumption by older residents. In addition, the infusion of human capital by high-skilled immigrants has boosted the nation’s capacity for innovation,entrepreneurship, and technological change (Edsall 1).
Although immigrants increase the economy by causing to be more efficient and productive, there also downsides to immigration. It is discovered that the wages of competitive workers decrease in amount. The new labor inflow disrupts the initial transition period as the economy is adjusting to these changes; which disrupts the wages of competitive workers. Due to the low prices of the goods immigration produce, consumers benefit from these services. Some might even acknowledge that immigrants will overcrowd the United States because it is possible if they flow in the country at an increased rate. For the newly-arrived immigrants, they all had one attribute in common; they may not have a strong communication with others. English is commonly used as the basic communication in the United States, however, these immigrants may not know how to speak. In turn, they may be employed in jobs where communications are not required, such as labor in agricultural fields or construction.
Several historical time periods have shown positive results in the United States. For instance, the Industrial Revolution called for immigrants to work in factories and farms. This era was the birth of mega-cities; which would then create more jobs for people in need of one.
Without immigration there would be no innovation. When Congress established the national origin quotas with the law passed as he Immigration Act of 1924 that year, it gave immigrants “immigration visas to just 2 percent of the total number of people of each nationality in the United States as of the 1890 national census. It excluded all immigrants from Asia. People were anxious because of World War I and heartily supported limits on immigration. By 1970, immigration had fallen to a low of 4.7 percent of the population” (Amadeo 1). However, the immigration policy was then altered in 1965 where quotas were were no longer about nationality. Alternatively, it was preferred for the ones who have special skills and those who had families in the United States. There was an increase percentage of immigration from Latin America and Asia.
Furthermore, the recent of events that took place when the DACA Program (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) was revoked received an outrage across the nation. There are approximately 780,000 dreamers waiting for their fate from Congress. A part of these people are children who have lived in the United States most of their lives. Some may even recognize the United States as their home. There are those who grew up in American soil their whole lives.
They have made innumerable friends, family, and even coworkers. There could also be those who have started their own career already. If their deportation does happen to occur, it is possible that a dreamer may even feel abandonment from a country where one has been most comfortable in. The dreamers who arrived at the United States as children are those who did not make the choice. It may have been their parents who yearned for a better life for their children’s future.
Why are immigrant children being threatened to be deported for an action that they had no control over.
Also, several contributing factors could have prevented illegal immigrants from becoming legal. There are numerous guidelines to follow when becoming a legal citizen in the United States. The applicant should be at least 18 years of age during the application process. He should have been continually residing for five years in an establishment and also present within the United States. The location and where one resides affects the application for citizenship.
Depending on the individual’s current circumstance, the time range could be from a year to several years. Illegal immigrants who arrived at the United States with a work visa will eventually end in the upcoming months, rendering them to be vulnerable to deportation. Some circumstances, such as a death in the family could alter the time frame of an individual becoming legal.
In addition, countries have a higher percentage of becoming a citizen. For instance, in Canada eighty five percent of immigrants were eligible to become citizens. Canada incorporates its immigrants to their advantage for innovative resources. Community organizations are used in order to help aid the community of immigrants. “In 2010-11, the Canadian federal government spent about $1600 on each newcomer – a big contrast to the paltry $2.23 spent by the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security” (Bloemraad 2). When one becomes a full citizen, their benefits increase greatly. From income supports to protections for the disabled. It is unfortunate that the United States provides relief to refugees from oppressive countries and political persecution. However, there is a limit when allowing these refugees to enter the United States.
Comparing both refugees and illegal immigrants, these refugees would eventually be granted for citizenship. Their children will benefit from this because it would be easier for them to be integrated in schools and society. The United States emphasize its efforts on border control.
Time and effort is spent on restricting undocumented people:
To continue, immigrants are less likely to cause problems in American soil.
“There are 1.9 million immigrants convicted of a crime. Less than half (820,000) are in the country illegally. Of those, 300,000 have felony convictions” (Amadeo 2).
This indicated that most immigrants arrived to another country for the purpose of a new life, a new beginning. They did not arrive to add more conflicts in their lives. Their journey to United States could have been a rough or an easy one. What makes today’s immigrants any less different than the immigrants from the late nineteenth century. The only difference between these two time periods were the different nationalities. During the nineteenth century, many people arrived from Europe such as Italy, Germany, and even Canada. They mainly became tailors, shopkeepers, and stonemasons where they were needed by the United States at that time. Today’s immigrants are mostly Hispanic or Middle Eastern.
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