Dear Next President,

Right now, we are all waiting to see who will become the next president of the United States. As we wait for Election Day, the two candidates are battling it out to get the most votes. A major issue that I will like to see be talked about between them two is about immigration, immigration is such a big problem that affects our nation economically and socially.

In this country, there are many problems that we as a people are trying to solve so that we can all live the American Dream. The American Dream can be described as whatever a person feels like it to be. Everyone has a different dream, and it’s mostly based on what our lives are at this moment. One of the big problems that people suffer from is poverty. Poverty can be found anywhere you go. Other big issue that we see being talked about a lot around the world are global warming and world hunger. This letter isn’t about talking all the issues that we may face; this letter is meant to inform you about a big problem in this country that isn’t talked enough about, immigration. Immigration is a huge problem that not only takes place in this country, but in many other countries. Each country has its own way to deal with it, but this country does not have the best way.

I chose to write about immigration mostly because immigration affects me too. I am a 16 year old boy that attends a high school in Woodburn, Oregon. My father was born in California, but my mother came from Durango, Mexico. She came here to start a new life, a better one than before. As you can see, this problem affects my life as well. My brother was deported after living here for about 15 years. Now he is spending his time in Mexico trying to make a living. My brother has two daughters that were both born in Oregon. Everyday think on how my brother must feel to not be with his daughters. I also see his daughters living without a father. 

In the town where I live, I see many new faces. Most of these faces that I see are people who come from different countries, but mostly from Mexico. This nation is very diverse, and many people don’t see the good of people from all around the world. Most of the time, people from different countries come here for almost the same reason as my mother, to start a new life. As I learned from my mother, these people take a lot of risks, just to make a living in this great nation. Over time, the problem has gotten worse. More people come here with more problems than before, and also more and more people are being sent back to their home country. Within the second term of President Barack Obama, 2 million undocumented people have been deported back to their home country: all were men, women, and children. According to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) there are about 40 million immigrants that live in the United States, and 11.7 million of them are unauthorized immigrants. It might not seem a lot, but the more you think about it, the bigger the number will seem to you.

Having these undocumented people here actually contributes to the U.S economy. A way to see how they contribute to it is by looking at their wages. Most of the time these people will take any job that falls in front of them, and one of the jobs that they can take is working in the field. A job that only a few will take. Not only that, most of the time these people will be paid much less than anyone else. Because of all this, some people believe that the people that are living as an undocumented citizens are being treated unfairly. Just because they were not born in this country, doesn’t mean that they don’t deserve the same rights as the rest of the people that live in the United States.

According to EPI once more, having undocumented people have legal status will be really good for the economy and will create even more jobs. Right now this country is in debt for trillions of dollars, and it’ll get much worse if we don’t consider ways to fix this major problem. This problem has been ignored for so long, and now is the time to take charge and a make difference. 

I hope you have taken the time to go through this whole letter and understand why this problem concerns me. I also hope that you will try to make a big difference in our lives, and to make this nation better than the way it is right now. We need to see some change soon, or we will all be doomed to live in an unfair country. And remember, we all want to live the American dream. It will take a lot of time and effort to get there, and some people might need even more time and effort. But we can all get there eventually.

Sincerely,

Brian P.