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September 14, 2015

Andrew Worwood
Dear Mr. Editor,

It seems like whenever we talk about the issues that will be in the forefront of the 2016
presidential election illegal immigration always comes up. This is the reason my group has
decided to write to you today. This issue has always been a topic of interest in American history,
and it seems as though the nation cant ever agree on how to deal with illegal immigration. And
whether you are a republican or democrat there is a strong debate on this issue.

Although illegal immigrants come from just about every country in the world, the main
focus seems to be on Mexico. And when we listen to republicans blaming the troubles that
plague our society, such as lack of employment, dwindling funds for schools, healthcare and
other entitlement, on illegal Mexican immigrants we cant help but remember how Adolf Hitler
blamed the problems of Germany in the 1930s on the Jewish community. And like Hitler, many
of the republicans have spoken about rounding up the problem population and shipping them
away while seizing their funds. These ideas are very scary and hurtful to our communities. And
we think the republicans should be ashamed for polarizing the American communities with their
hateful rhetoric.

On this issue my group tends to agree with the democrats view that we should have
immigration reform in the favor of making it easier for illegal immigrants to obtain citizenship.

Because, like it says on the statue of liberty, Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled
masses yearning to breathe free. This is an open invitation to the people of the world to come
join this great nation. So why arent we welcoming immigrants, legal or illegal, with open arms?

One of the major point against naturalizing illegal immigrants is that they are taking our
jobs. On this issue we will have to remind everyone that a job is not something you can take, it
has to be given to you. And the jobs that are being given to illegal immigrants are jobs that our
citizens will not do for the wages paid. To prove this point we only need to look at Alabama. In
2011 Alabama passed house bill 56, one of the toughest immigration laws in U.S. history. The
purpose of this bill was to make life so difficult for illegal immigrants that they would leave.
Well, the laws worked and most of the illegal immigrants left, but how this exodus effected
Alabama was not expected by the politicians who passed these laws. When the illegal
immigrants left Alabama a giant void in the labor workforce was created. Many of the farmers
could no longer find help in planting and harvesting their crops. And according to the chief
economist at the University of Alabama, Dr. Samuel Addy, the lack of immigrant workers
caused the Alabama Gross Domestic Product to shrink by 2.3 to 10.8 billion dollars in one year
(Addy). So basically Alabamas economy relies on the immigrant workforce. Because of this
fact Alabama has been quietly dismantling house bill 56. So it would seem that the argument
that illegal immigrants are taking our jobs is a farce.

Another common arguments that those who speak out against illegal immigrants have, is
that crime and drug use increase due to the illegal immigrants. After most of the illegal

immigrants left Alabama this is what Chief Doug Pollard of the Albertville Police Department
had to say, Even after they passed the law [house bill 56] our drug trade was still wide open
(Pollard). In other words the illegal immigrant population had no effect on the drug trade.
There is one point that proponents of harsher immigration laws make that we do agree
with. That point is that the illegal immigration population can drive down wages. But this fact is
not their fault. Because illegal immigrants arent given the same protection against unfair wages
as a citizen, they can often be taken advantage of by an employer who is trying to cut costs. In
this way these harsh immigration laws, and lack of pathway to citizenship are not only unjust to
the immigrants but also natural citizens.

The truth of the matter is that when Americans go that Holliday inn, or buy those cheap
melons from Walmart, they dont care about the status of the maid making their bed or the farm
hand who picked that cheap fruit. But the hypocrisy of relying on that cheap labor force and
simultaneously condemning it does not elevate the reputation of our country. What we need is
reform to allow the workforce we rely on to become right with the law. Anything else is unjust,
and it is our duty as citizens to purposefully and peacefully protest and disobey unjust laws. And
in this way these illegal immigrants are as American as our founding fathers.

Works Cited
Addy, Dr. Samuel. Sweet Home Alabama Thomas Morton(VICE). 2015. film.
Pollard, Chief Doug. Sweet Home Alabama Thomas Morton (VICE). 2015. film.
VICE. "Sweet Home Alabama." HBO, 2015. Film.

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