I think the first issue you need to think about in your first term is Immigration reform. You need to strengthen border security. We need to have a set amount of immigrants that we can let in in a year, and have strict background checks on the people that we let in. We need to crack down on the illegals that we already have in this country, and send back the families that they have created here.

The article “Immigration problems” by Problem U.S.A. states“In one action after another over the last decade, they have declined to approve measures known to be effective to slow the flow of illegal immigrants, they have decided to end various kinds of enforcement that had been effective, and they have approved a series of rewards to those who violate immigration laws.”. In this regard they have thinned out the border patrol. The U.S. has cut down on border patrol in the past few years, in some places almost down to half of what it once was. They have also chosen to have the people that have come illegally and created families in the U.S. to stay. All of these things have created a mass flood of people illegally immigrating to the U.S.

The numbers of illegals already in the U.S. are high and are ever-increasing, according to “The real Problem with Immigration... and the real Solution” by Tim Kane and Kirk A. Johnson. They say “More than 10 million undocumented aliens currently reside in the U.S., and that population is growing by 700,000 per year.”. With this statistic, from 2006, we can see the real problem. This number may have increased to a lot more since then, and it is ever growing. The rewards from violating the law and the ease of getting in has enticed hundreds of thousands of people to cross the border.

I think that the other side of the viewpoint, which is that the people have created jobs and provided for the economy in the U.S., and that the U.S. is messing that up, is totally wrong.The article Immigration Reform: good or bad for the economy, informs us that “11 million immigrants would be the equivalent to more than $1.5 trillion, or roughly 1 percent, added to the gross domestic product (GDP) in a period of 10 years The U.S.GDP, defined as the output of goods and services produced by labor and property, is approximately $15 trillion, according to the World Bank.”. This shows how they could positively affect our economy. But I think that this is totally wrong. The people that were born in our country should have the right to start out with a low-paying job, and not have that taken over by a flood of immigrants.

In conclusion, the people that come to the U.S. should be punished for their crimes. They should be sent back to that land where they came, along with their offspring. I also think that the border control should be strengthened, to stop them from coming over.

Sincerely,

William Ascher

10th grade

Mendota Heights, MN