Dear Next President,

Every day more and more people are immigrating to the United States of America to create a better life for themselves and their families. As of today, immigration is a serious problem in our country. We need a change, a positive change. We can’t kick out all the Immigrants but we can’t host all of them either. Before we decide on any plan, we need to understand why and how these immigrants are coming to the United States. We need reform, and we need it fast.

The “Push-Pull Theory”. It is the theory that people migrate from their homes because something or someone is “pushing” them out or that something or someone is “pulling” them towards a new country or place to inhabit. People are coming to the United States from all over the world for many reasons. They are being forced out of their homes because of famine, mass persecution, worsening economy, war, and environmental causes. Individuals are coming with their children to start a better life and open themselves and their families to new and better opportunities. Instead of deporting ‘unwanted’ people, we need to create an effective plan that needs to be put into place immediately. “ Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" Does this quote seem familiar? It should. This is what is written on the Statue of Liberty. This is what our country was built on: Immigration.

To begin with, there are two types of immigration- legal and illegal. Illegal immigration is an important issue that needs to be reformed because illegal immigrants are unregistered and don’t pay taxes. According to The Independent Mag.org, .. .” There are about 11.7 million undocumented immigrants in U.S. the right now. ” Some may argue that granting amnesty to all of them would solve this crisis, but in reality, this would cause extra problems to arise. A solution to the illegal immigrant predicament is that we can start by giving illegal immigrants a path to “legal recognition, but not citizenship.” This means that the illegal immigrants in our country will have the right to participate in activities that a citizen would be able to participate in such as attending college and/or working.

Pursuing this further, immigrants provide a new type of initiative to the workplace. The Bureau of Labor Statistics documented “26.3 million foreign-born persons in the U.S. labor force, comprising 16.7 percent of the total in 2015.” Imagine how that number has increased over a year. With immigrants in the office, we create a more diverse economy which helps with global connections and expansion for our country. Many citizens claim that immigrants could wreck our economy. Following this, immigrants are able to perform specialized tasks that citizens of the United States can not and would not do.

In the same way, Immigrants help increase our population because, without them, our population would be static. As reported by the Migration Policy.org , “The U.S. immigrant population stood at more than 42.4 million, or 13.3 percent, of the total U.S. population of 318.9 million in 2014, according to ACS data. Between 2013 and 2014, the foreign-born population increased by 1 million, or 2.5 percent. Immigrants in the United States and their U.S.-born children now number approximately 81 million people or 26 percent of the overall U.S. population.” Many people believe that increases in population can cause unemployment, but Embraceni.org clearly states that “The pension gap can be filled by the contributions of new young workers who pay taxes.” Our country and economy are enhanced by diversity and cultural diffusion.

In conclusion, Immigration is an important issue that cannot be ignored or put off to the side, it has to be dealt with immediately. One way to deal with this is to provide legal recognition to illegal immigrants. Immigrants supply a new type of energy and excitement in the workplace and economy, they perform specialized tasks, and they increase our population. Diverse individuals make a strong nation. Our country is founded and built on immigrants, so turning them away and deporting doesn’t just hurt them- it hurts us, as an economy and a nation.

Sincerely,

Sasha 

Works Cited

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Room for Debate , New York Times, 12 Sept. 2016,

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2016/09/12/is-any-immigration-

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“The Pros and Cons of Migration | EMBRACE.” THE PROS AND CONS OF

MIGRATION, EMBRACE, 2016,

https://www.embraceni.org/migration/the-pros-and-cons-of-migration/

Newsela, Staff. “Election Issue: Immigration.” Newsela, Los Angeles, 26 June

2013, https://newsela.com/articles/immigrant-education/id/391/ .

“Debate Pro and Con of Illegal Immigration.” Debate Pro and Con of Illegal

Immigration, 8 May 2008, http://www.clearpictureonline.com/so-immigration.html .

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http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/frequently-requested-statistics-immigrants-and-immigration

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BORN WORKERS : LABOR FORCE CHARACTERISTICS — 2015.

Harrington, Ms. N. “Amnesty for Illegal Immigrants in the United States: Pros,

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http://www2.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/ltgy/harringtonwq1.html.