Illegal Immigration in America

by Will Blakely

There is an estimated 10-15 million illegal immigrants that have migrated and are now living within our borders.  Some estimates have even reached as high as 30 million!  Since there is no way to track the official number of illegal immigrants that have migrated into this country we can only estimate.  It is hard to say why exactly we have let our country get to this point.  Whether it has been the lack of monitoring along our borders, the extreme access of government programs to avoid working, or the simple tolerance of allowing it, these individuals are hurting us as a Nation. 

Immigration Reform has been one of the proposed solutions to help us deal with this growing problem. President Barack Obama believes that granting a pathway to citizenship, or granting amnesty, for those who have put down roots in this country is needed.  He claims that they’ll (referring to the illegal’s) have to pay a fine, learn English, but can ultimately become citizens.  So let me get this straight… people that have illegally come into our country and have illegally been staying and working here, should be given an opportunity which millions of law abiding immigrants are denied every year?

So let’s look at part one of this proposed reform bill, paying a fine for citizenship.  How much is this fine going to be?  What is going to determine the just amount of money that someone is going to have to pay for his or her citizenship?  What about all of the back taxes that they didn’t pay?  How are they going to accumulate this sum of money when they are living as lower class citizens in this country?  This is the first flaw in this bill, who is to say what is a fair and just fine for them to pay?

In regards to having them learn English, in 2000 nearly 1 out of 5 Americans speak a language other than English at home with that number on the rise.  California (39.5 percent), New Mexico (36.5 percent), and Texas (31.2 percent) are the three highest states with residents who do not speak English at home.  With the majority of immigrants coming from countries where Spanish is the predominant language in America, especially urban areas, there is no real incentive for them to learn the language.  We have signs, food labels, phone directories, and even are trying to push for bilingual schools.  It is my opinion that we have not been pushing the issue of English as our official spoken language.  We are adjusting to Spanish-speaking citizens, so where’s the incentive to learn English when it’s just as easy to get by speaking their native language?

Immigration Reform is a form of amnesty and what amnesty does is reward illegal behavior.   It imposes a few penalties but ultimately allows taxpayer subsidies such as health-care, education, welfare, and job opportunities for them.  It takes legal taxpayer dollars away from citizens who need it.  Let us not forget that it is a privilege not a right for immigrants to enter and take the steps to become a US citizen.  Anyone not legally entering this country is breaking federal laws and should be considered a criminal.  Once we fail to enforce our laws, we are sending out a message to the world that we are no longer a nation of laws. 

 

By supporting amnesty you are also allowing for a bigger deficit to our National budget.  Once again it is our hard-working Americans who are going to be footing the bill for the government services in which all these “new citizens” are going to be using. Statistically speaking, illegal immigrants use considerably more government services than the average American and pay substantially less if any taxes.  Though we strive for our citizens to better themselves, it is not our responsibility to do the job for other countries’ citizens.  Even if illegal immigrants were granted amnesty more than two-thirds of them don’t retain the education equivalent to a high school diploma, which more than likely will land them a job in the unskilled workforce.  What this would do would continue to keep them dependent on the system for Governmental assistance, except now they’re citizens instead of illegals.

            Over the last two years there were roughly 7200 criminal cases involving illegal immigrants and only a fraction of those that are convicted are actually being deported back.  In places like California they house roughly a third of illegal immigrants that are living in this country.  The United States of America has been a staple for embracing different cultures from around the world and we are open to immigration, but it must only be legal immigration.  Our Country thrived by the contributions of legal immigrants.   What about those who have legally been through the process, is it fair to them?   I believe that is time that we crackdown on our borders and stop the problem at our source.  Once we can stop the bleeding we can then move forward and start the cleaning from the inside.