Dear Next President,

There is an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants here in the U.S. The citizens of the U.S are complaining they are taking jobs from them even though many of the undocumented immigrants work jobs Americans don’t want. This isn’t right because these immigrants shouldn’t be blamed for when they already pay taxes, help the economy and work unwanted jobs. This is why the next president should go forward with the government to allow undocumented immigrants to have a chance to become U.S citizens.

Since one third (8 million) of undocumented immigrants already pay taxes, what would happen if they were granted citizenship? According to ThinkProgress the GDP (gross domestic product) would grow $1.4 trillion over a ten year period if undocumented immigrants were allowed citizenship in the U.S. ThinkProgress also says they would create 2,030,000 jobs per year and add $184 billion in tax revenue. Currently the revenue collected from these undocumented immigrants is counting to $11 billion alone for social security. Undocumented immigrants would rather pay the taxes than being deported.

Americans don’t want to work jobs as garbage truck drivers or school janitors, so many immigrants work those jobs and in most cases for under minimum wage. According to Numbers USA, majority of these jobs include manufacturing, construction, cleaning, etc.. Numbers USA also state there are 8.3 million undocumented workers in the U.S. It’s not the immigrants fault if Americans don’t want the lower skilled jobs.

Finally, immigrants are mainly law-abiding other than them being undocumented. Many Americans believe a portion of the undocumented immigrants contribute to the raise of crime and terrorism, but according to Ed Krayewski from Reason.com they state that dramatic crimes have dropped since 1986. Ed also states that 14% of undocumented immigrants are inmates; however, most of them are there for being undocumented. In state level, less than 5% inmates are undocumented immigrants according to Krayewski.

People are very quick to judge when they hear illegal immigrants; they associate it with terrorism and crime, but that is not the case. Undocumented immigrants help boost the economy, work jobs for low income and pay taxes. This is why the next president should allow the government to help undocumented immigrants pave a path to citizenship in the U.S. What comes to your mind when you hear illegal immigrant?

-Rebecca H