Dear Next President,

 Illegal Immigration is a big problem in the United States. We have 11 million illegal immigrants already here and more crossing every day. Many people just want to deport them all; they say they are here to sell drugs and terrorize Americans. We Americans forget we have it so easy, so I will help you to put yourself in their shoes. Imagine you are a person from a poor country, constantly looking over your shoulder, then one day you get an idea, you see an escape,risky nonetheless,but you are ready to take that step…..

I think we should let the immigrants stay. We grant them a path to amnesty. In return, we patrol borders more carefully, don’t let more illegal immigrants cross, but make it easier for families, women and children from war-torn, poor countries to cross legally. This would prevent the need for desperate families to cross illegally; so we are not preventing the scared families from crossing-- only the ones here to do illegal deeds.

Has everyone forgot about basic human decency? We can't just send all the illegal immigrants back; many of them have been here for years. Most of us wouldn't even be here in America if they had not allowed immigrants/illegal immigrants to stay. I don't think it is very realistic to deport the 11 million immigrants from America This is where human decency comes to play. Desperate people in desperate situations tend to take drastic measures to find solutions.

Most immigrants are not here to cause problems and break the law. They just want a better life for them and their families. Incarceration rates for immigrants is .86%, and for U.S born is 3.51%. Obviously ,there are some illegal immigrants, very few, who are here to make problems. This is why we should patrol the border more carefully, so that the ones who have to sneak in illegally because they are going to do illegal things can't cross the border.

Are you not worried about safety, but worried about money? That's fine. Several studies were done by numerous people on how letting illegal immigrants stay. According to the study done by Robert Lynch,PhD and Patrick Oakford, MSc, called “The Economic Effects of Granting Legal Status and Citizenship to Undocumented Immigrants," the sooner we give them amnesty the greater the good effects on the economy are.

You, Next President, have the power to change the world for the better. If you grant amnesty to the illegal immigrants already here, patrol borders more carefully, but make an easier path to America for immigrants so this problem doesn't happen anymore. This would positively affect so many lives in the United States.

Respectfully,

Michaela Q.

8th Grade

Evart Middle School

Evart, MI