Dear Future President,

Illegal Immigration is a very pressing issue in America today and requires a great deal of attention to solve the problems that poor enforcement in the past has caused. Many people who come to the United States illegally are bringing in guns, crime, and drugs that only worsen the American society. There needs to be a system that works to preserve the high standards of America and so we benefit from the method, too. Immigration into the United States needs to be legal, and in doing so, make American interests come first by stopping illegal immigration at the borders, enforcing laws regarding illegal immigrants in the workplace, and deporting illegal immigrants.

Stopping illegal immigration at US borders is critical. Too many people have already come into our country and are staying here without becoming legal citizens. The Migration Policy Institute estimated that “11 million unauthorized immigrants resided in the United States in 2013” and approximately “7.8 million unauthorized immigrants present in the United States in the 2009-13 period (71 percent of the total unauthorized population) were born in Mexico and other Central American countries.” Americans, led by the future president, need to enforce legal immigration so that these numbers are reduced. Current amounts are now higher than ever and need to be cut down, if not eliminated. Because of there being considerably more people immigrating to the United States from Mexico and Central America, the US needs to particularly control people coming in at the southernmost border. U.S. Customs and Border Protection—America’s current border protection program—is “one of the world's largest law enforcement organizations” to this day, and “is charged with keeping terrorists and their weapons out of the U.S. while facilitating lawful international travel and trade”(About CBP). However, since CBP has not thoroughly kept illegal people out of the United States, according to the given estimated numbers, we need to especially decrease or completely eliminate the vulnerability of our borders to people looking to come in with increased border protection. As former president Ronald Reagan said, "A nation without borders is not a nation." We need to step up and protect our country by enforcing the importance of our boundaries. A significant step in securing our nation is in securing our borders so that American lives are valued above all else.

Another very essential step America needs to take is enforcing laws regarding illegal immigrants in the workplace. People are coming to our country illegally and taking jobs from genuine American citizens. There are “an estimated 6.5 million undocumented immigrant workers in the U.S.”(Workplace Fairness). Legal immigration has not been enforced largely because controlling businesses take advantage of workers who will work for less money, and the people who are doing those jobs are immigrants who will pick up any work they can find. This causes there to be less desire for businesses to employ legal citizens of the United States: “But the exception is companies that rely on this labor, particularly food processors, cleaning companies and agriculture. They always want more [workers] because more means less pay. These companies could care less about public benefits, unemployment rates and rest of the pathologies that an excess of immigrants can bring”(The National Interest). Because of these undocumented immigrant workers, Americans who truly deserve to be paid fairly for hard work aren’t even getting the jobs they need in order to do so. Companies need to be required to hire legal citizens, the ones who should get the job, and therefore, American citizens will be prioritized first.

Finally, deporting illegal immigrants is necessary to maintain the quality of American life. In order for everyone to be legal in this country and to have the same opportunities as citizens do, these illegal people need to be removed, and then can apply for legal citizenship. As of now, they are a waste of money: “Illegal immigration costs federal and local taxpayers $113 billion a year”(Federation for American Immigration). This $113 billion includes added costs of healthcare, welfare, education, food assistance, law enforcement, public assistance, the list goes on and on. Of course, some people may challenge this view by insisting that forced deportation is too expensive. However, the costs of keeping the illegal immigrants here is only going to increase and add up over time, countering the cost of removing them from the country. The money aiding their life here is coming from U.S. taxpayers, and it doesn’t benefit them or the United States, as these illegal immigrants are causing problems: “Statistics show the estimated 11.7 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. account for 13.6 percent of all offenders sentenced for crimes committed in the U.S. Twelve percent of murder sentences, 20 percent of kidnapping sentences and 16 percent of drug trafficking sentences are meted out to illegal immigrants”(Fox News U.S.). This is an outstanding amount of crime for people who are not even citizens. These statistics show that illegal immigration not only needs to be stopped, but people who are already illegally here have to leave. Americans are the ones who need to be put first, and it is in the best interest of the United States for these people to be deported.

At this point, I would like to raise a common objection that others have to the topic of potential deportation of illegal immigrants. Some think that this process will break families apart who are already living in the United States and will therefore be detrimental to their well-being. Perhaps an undocumented person started a family here in America with a legal citizen—their family wouldn’t have to leave, but the illegal immigrant would, causing tension in their family. However, families are being broken due to these people who are illegally residing in our country. According to Ohio Jobs & Justice PAC, “thousands of American citizens [are] killed each year by illegal aliens.” Some people are more concerned with the potential numbers of people who will be affected by deporting illegal immigrants, when we really should be concerned about the lives of countless American citizens affected each day by the deadly actions of undocumented aliens. Protecting American lives needs to be the top priority, and we need to do this by deporting people who are here illegally, therefore eliminating a cause of suffering to people of the United States.

In order to preserve American ideals and superiority, we need to hold everyone to the same standards of being legal citizens. It is critical to stop the flow of illegal immigrants and substances over the border, enforce laws in the workplace to favor Americans, and deport people living illegally in our country, in order to make life better for all civilians. This is an important issue for all Americans to consider, and is critical because the consequences of this problem now and in the future of the United States are high and will only be greater if the problem is not eliminated. According to MRCTV (from the Media Research Center), “92% of Americans view illegal immigration as a problem”, so you—the future president—need to take the initiative to fix this issue for America and it’s citizens.

Sincerely,

Rachel Kociba

Bibliography

By Jie Zong and Jeanne Batalova. "Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States."Migrationpolicy.org. N.p., 26 May 2016. Web. 28 Oct. 2016.

"Workplace Fairness - Short-Changed || Undocumented Workers."Workplace Fairness - Short-Changed || Undocumented Workers. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2016.

Foster, Howard W., Walter Lohman, Kim R. Holmes, Kristofer Harrison, and Daniel L. Davis. "Why More Immigration Is Bad for America."The National Interest. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2016.

Malkin, Michelle. "14 Reasons to Deport Illegal Immigrants." 14 Reasons to Deport Illegal Immigrants. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2016.

"State Cost Studies | Federation for American Immigration Reform." State Cost Studies | Federation for American Immigration Reform. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2016.

"About CBP." U.S. Customs and Border Protection. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2016.

"Survey: 92% Call Illegal Immigration a 'Problem,' 77% Say It's 'Serious'"MRCTV. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2016.

9-19-07, WI, 8-31-07 and the Sheboygan-press, 9-17-07, and By Michael Dresser, Baltimore Sun, 8-14-07. "Victims of Illegal Aliens Memorial."Victims of Illegal Aliens Memorial. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2016.