Hunter Morris

Engl 2010

Professor Alexandra

Illegal Immigration on the U.S. Economy

Illegal immigration is a topic that is very popular in todays society, weather it be on

human rights, political policies, or the betterment of nation. Going back one-hundred years we

had approximately twenty million immigrants living in the united states, during the over powered

industrial revolution. Right now we have roughly fifty million immigrants still in the US. Illegal

immigration cost the american people tax dollars, jobs, housing, health care benefits. The

American Dream is reserved for citizens of the United States that have paid their dues to be here.

So, why is it we have so many illegal immigrants? What is it about the U.S. that makes us so

desirable? And, how hard is it to get citizenship from another country?

“The American dream comes from opportunity. The opportunity comes from our

founding principles, our core values that’s held together and protected by the Constitution. Those

ideas are neither Republican, Democrat, conservative, liberal, white, or black. Those are

American ideologies.” -Ted Yoho, United States Representative

This opportunity gives everyone in this country the right to do whatever they please with

their life as long as no crime is committed. You don’t have to work, you can be a millionaire, the

spectrum of opportunity is the desired aspect within the U.S. This is the main factor that every

immigrant strives to achieve. We see almost fifty percent of illegal immigrants come from the

southern country Mexico, this is probably the popular due to regulation and shared-border. The

average household income per month in Mexico is $843, whereas in the United States the

average household income per month is $5,264. So it is very clear why some would have that

desire to travel here for betterment of their lives and their families. The problem arises when
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Engl 2010

Professor Alexandra

these illegal aliens are taking jobs that are supposed to be for the tax paying American. Overall

costing the United States economy roughly one hundred and thirteen billion dollars per year.

The Pro Con Organization summarizes the break down of this, “Illegal immigration costs

U.S. taxpayers about $113 billion a year at the federal, state and local level. The bulk of the

costs...some $84 billion...are absorbed by state and local governments.” These funds are

allocated into funding schooling, healthcare, citizens rights, etc… But these are also rights and

benefits that are reserved for U.S. citizens. Our main task to fight this growing epidemic is

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a law enforcement agency with specific regards to

immigration. In twenty nineteen the budget was 8.3 billion dollars to fund ICE, twenty two

percent higher than in 2017. This shows that this is an increasing problem within the government

and the only way to solve this is by allocating funds into these agencies. Many Latino’s

regardless of citizenship status say that they are worried about the possibility of deportation. This

should not be the goal of this agency. The Department of Homeland Security the parent

organization of ICE, says “The mission of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

is to protect America from the cross-border crime and illegal immigration that threaten national

security and public safety”. Yet we still have fifty five percent of Latino’s, up from forty seven

percent in 2017, that say they worry for themselves and family members. We have legal ways to

enter this country and gain citizenship, why don't people just follow those procedures?

Legal immigration is a process that can be resource consumption for the applicant,

requiring a lot of time and money. Without any special circumstances these are the requirements

to enter the United States on your own: Be at least 18 years old, have lived in the U.S.

continuously for five years, be able to speak, write, read and understand basic English, answer
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Engl 2010

Professor Alexandra

questions that demonstrate knowledge of the U.S. government and history, undergo a successful

background check, demonstrate attachment to the principles of the U.S. Constitution, and finally

take the oath of citizenship swearing allegiance to the U.S. Now looking at that list, this is going

to take at least five years of you living here under a green card or another merged citizenship

plan. Not to mention how much money all of this is going to cost you in travel, service uses, and

applications. Right now the application for citizenship will cost you $725 or 14,611 pesos,

almost a month of work based on Mexico's median income. This is a fee that if you asked a

college student for most of them wouldn’t be able to pay, yet we expect someone from a poverty

ridden country to pay. The high price and time consumption is still not a good excuse for

entering the country illegally but it does help you show the “why” to their actions.

"In my view, immigrants today aren't any different from immigrants who have come to

America throughout our nation's history. They bring new ideas, an entrepreneurial spirit and

close family ties. They place a high value on education. And they are eager to achieve the

American Dream. ... It's to our benefit to keep our doors open, and to keep enriching our

economy and culture. I'd like to see America continue to do so."-Dick Armey former Texas

Representative

We are in 2020 there has to be a better way to regulate who comes into the country while

still leaving the doors open. This is a risk to the american people but like the quote above says

we need to be open to new ideas and the possibility of giving the current and future American

people a better way of living. In recent history border towns in the south are known for their high

crime and drug rates. Yet if we make citizenship easier to attain there would be less incentive for

smuggling and we would see crime rates go exponentially down in these areas. What policies
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Engl 2010

Professor Alexandra

would be best placed for effectiveness within the system? If we were to look at the policies from

a very neutral perspective we would be able to come to an agreement that is better for the people

on both sides of the border. Systems such as the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency

are a very intimidating factor for people outside of the U.S. that should not be their goal. I.C.E.

should be an agency that is willing to help people get out of poverty within their country and deal

with troubled immigrants such as drug dealers and human traffickers. We look at the new

“Defund the Police” movement and we can see the correlation from those events to today. When

most people say “defund” they actually mean reform and give better training and teach people

how to de escalate situations. This can also be applied to Border Patrol and I.C.E. if we could

teach them these skills the United States would come off less aggressive for the immigrants

trying to leave their war torn, or poverty ridden home state. This will take funding, but it will be

made up in money lost by housing so many individuals in this country. If the immigrants are

already here working then why not make them legal and pay taxes just like every other american.

This would help fund the departments that are already involved and help them get the resources

and training they need to act upon any situation they are involved in.

For this project I asked 10 different people “If you were involved in an accident

tomorrow and had to pay $725, could you do it?” From this I gathered that only two of the ten

could cover this charge. So why is it that we expect people from a country where that is their

whole month's salary to pay it forward. I do believe like everything else we need money to fund

the people processing these applications, yet this is too much to ask for. Looking at the other

requirements, citizenship is a very long and grueling process. The Woodrow Wilson National

Fellowship Foundation did a research on this test showing that “​Just 39 percent of Americans
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Engl 2010

Professor Alexandra

can pass a multiple choice test with questions taken from the U.S. Citizenship Test.” This is a

very compelling statistic showing that we are expecting more of the outsiders trying to get in

than the people that are already here. This test should be based on laws and regulations, knowing

the history of this place should be up to the individual, not mandatory. We are asking questions

that have no sense of testing a persons character and ability to be a law abiding citizen.
Hunter Morris

Engl 2010

Professor Alexandra

Works Cited