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Andrew Norton
Professor Collins
ENGL 1302
April 13 2016
Immigration in America
Everyday thousands of people move between borders for business, vacation, and some to
completely relocate to a new home in another country. America is a large point of interest for
potential immigrants and has been for a long time. Stretching back to the early twentieth century
and even today the country is considered a melting pot for different people regarding race,
religion, culture, and country of origin. America is largely seen as a safe haven for people who
want to start a new life because the perception that anyone can be successful. While that is a
virtuous thing it brings along an issue. Because of this many foreigners choose to enter the
country illegally. People do this by entering the country either by crossing the border, coming
over water, or coming here to work for a specific amount of time and never leaving. This is a
growing epidemic in America as according to the American Immigration Council or AIC, there is
an estimated eleven million undocumented people living within the borders of the United States.
The AIC reports that the reasons for immigrants coming here illegally may be more complex
than what is believed by many, and what is often portrayed by political parties. According to an
opinion 2013 poll conducted by the AIC up to ninety-eight percent of the undocumented
immigrants would rather live as legal citizens and that nine of ten would naturalize if they felt it
was an option for them. The main issue is that many of them do not qualify for the four different
requirement systems in place. These requirements are very contingent on different aspects of
wishful immigrants lives. Because of this many immigrants feel that there is ultimately no other

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option for them but to come illegally. While this is wrong and a problem the vast majority of
immigrants are purely seeking a new life, safety from a dangerous home country, or a chance to
be more successful than they could be at home. There are many different approaches that have
been debated to solve this issue but there is one solution that helps the people who want to be
here and cut down the amount of undocumented immigrants living in America. The United States
of America should streamline the process of becoming a citizen and only deport violent illegal
immigrants while allowing the others to become citizens so that the people who come here can
have the opportunity to be citizens and participate in society if they wish.
In America, becoming a citizen is a taxing process. There are many different
requirements that need to be completed by the immigrants who wish to go through the
naturalization process. One of the main requirements is for immigrants to be able to read, write,
and speak normal English (USCIS). The only exceptions coming whether the age of the applicant
is fifty and has lived in the country for twenty years when applying after being admitted or is of
the age of fifty five and has been a legal resident for fifteen years (FA). Considering English is
one of the most commonly spoken languages in the world this does not seem like an
unsurmountable task, also considering many other countries teach English as a second language
in school. But for those who are not taught English in school in the home the language can be
very hard to learn and become fluent. This is because of its lack of structure compared to other
languages like Spanish, French, and Italian. They are structured in a way that is meant to be easy
to learn with practice but to someone who was raised speaking a structured language to try to
learn English can be very difficult. A possible solution to this problem is to give people who wish
to naturalize the resources required to learn English through language courses arranged by the
government to help immigrants learn the language they are required to learn. This would allow

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immigrants to be confident in their naturalization because they would be learning the language
and being tested in their skills with the language.
Another issue with the immigration process is the restrictions laid on the allocation of
green cards. To become eligible to receive a green card the applicant must be coming to work,
have family ties to current LPRs or legal permanent residents, be a refugee or seeking asylum,
or be selected by the random diversity lottery (AIC). The problem with this is that many people
who wish to immigrate to the United States do not always meet these requirements. An article
written by Romy Robitzky of ABC explains how people who apply for green cards must go
through a tedious and expensive process. According to the article immigration lawyers will
charge 5,000 to 7,500 dollars to go through the immigration process. After adding application
fees this can lead to costs of up to 15,000 dollars. On top of all of this it can take years to get
through the system of applying for a green card. Many applicants have expressed how
disheartening it can be to wait years to be approved, and part of the issue is that there are not
enough allocated resources to the Immigration and Naturalization Service. This means that
upstanding people who wish to live here to have a better life, or to start over in a new place
cannot do so legally. Because of this, many feel their only option is to enter the country illegally.
While coming illegally is a problem the ones who do not qualify feel that they should be able to
enter the country. A way to prevent these people who would not break the law otherwise from
entering the country illegally the United States should allocate give cards to those who wish to
enter the country if they do not have a criminal record and have shown they can be beneficial to
society through paying bills and working. This would allow applicants who wish to come to
America to work and be citizens do so legally. To do this the government should allocate

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resources to increase the amount of workers and other needs to allow applicants to become
citizens.
An additional option for wishful applicants is to come to the United States to work but
that is not always an option. The American economy is a very complex system that is successful
because of many different levels of diversification. It is layered on thousands of unskilled and
skilled workers to perform many different tasks. From open fields to cramped offices the work
done in America is important to the success of the country. Because of this various immigrants
from all over the world come to work. The only issue is that a large amount of them do not
qualify even though there is thousands of low skill workers needed in Americas agriculture
industry. The United States should set aside a contingent of green cards to allow low skill
workers to come to work so that America is able to keep up with its demand of low skill work.
As stated by International Business Times this would be a positive economic move for America
because of the increased production from low skilled jobs. This would allow fine people from all
over the world seeking a new life the ability to work and start a new life.
In recent history there has been a partisan discussion and it has been debated on how to
solve the issue surrounding the eleven million undocumented immigrants in America. Famously
or maybe infamously one of the most talked about ideas belongs to the Republican front runner
of the 2016 election, Donald Trump. His plan is to build a wall across the southern border of the
United States to prevent Mexican citizens from entering the country illegally and to deport the
eleven million undocumented immigrants. This plan has garnered large amounts of support and
hate alike. Not only is the wall and deportation a huge logistical issue, it is perceived as an
economic nightmare costing the United States billions of dollars to deport the citizens and build
the wall not accounting for the hit that the different industries that rely on low skill labor would

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face. According to reporter Jorge Ramos, the wall would be ineffectual because of the fact that
almost forty percent of all illegal immigrants come by plane and not over the border on land.
This statement is checked by Politifact.com where they find that the number may actually be
higher than Ramos suggests (Politifact). So at most the wall would be an expensive security
blanket that provides no real protection
America has always prided itself on its perception of being a place for anyone of any
background to be what they want to be. The United States is at a cross roads on how to handle
the amount of people entering its country illegally. It can either decide to fight back or to
embrace the ones who wish to live there with open arms. Again I challenge the federal
government to find a way to allocate more resources to the people of the world to become
citizens so that they are able to come here legally instead of feeling locked out unless coming
illegally.

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Works Cited
How to Apply for Naturalization. USCIS. US Citizenship and Immigration Services, n.d. Web.
20 Apr. 2016.
Immigration Reform: How Hard Is It To Become A US Citizen? Play The Game
[INTERACTIVE GAME]. International Business Times. N.p., 02 Aug 2013. Wen. 20
Apr. 2016.
Ramos: 40% of Undocumented Immigrants Come by Air. @politifact. Politifact, n.d. Web. 27
Apr. 2016.
Ribitzky, Romy. Path to U.S. Citizenship Costly, Tedious. ABC News. ABC News Network, 03
July 2016. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.
Trump, Donald J. Immigration Reform. Immigration Reform. Donald J. Trump, n.d. Web. 27
Apr. 2016.
US Citizenship Requirements: Becoming a U.S. Citizen. FreeAdvice. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr.
2016.
Why Dont They Just Get In Line? Why Dont They Just Get In Line? American Immigration
Council, n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.