Jacob Lueck

Research Paper- Illegal Immigration

Illegal immigration ignites many feelings that differ between the
people involved. What is going on is a border war. Not the war between
Kansas and Missouri mind you, but the fight over the immigration over
the United States- Mexico border. The fight that is crisscrossing over
the border is whether or not the people that are coming over illegally
should be punished harder and if regulations on the American side of
the border should be increased to make it more difficult for people to
come over to the United States. These arguments make for great
points, but just make finding a cure-all compromise all the more
difficult. While many civilians on the south side of the border feel that
people crossing the border is necessary and will help the economy of
the country the immigrants are entering. While the civilians on the
north side of the border think that all of the immigrants coming over
are just here to take away jobs from hard working Americans (Brice).
The Americans are angry about their jobs being taken away by
the immigrants, especially illegal immigrants. The reason so many
illegal immigrants are hired is because they can work for much less
money than natural American citizens who are required to be paid
minimum wage for their hours of work that they put in. It makes sense,
fiscally, to hire illegal immigrants and pay them say, five dollars an
hour, whereas a citizen would make seven to eight dollars an hour. But
hiring an illegal immigrants is a dangerous business; if federal officials
find out, the business is likely to be shut down and face huge fines
against them, and the illegals will be shipped back to wherever they
came from. Once the media finds out about this happening
somewhere, they flock like vultures to a kill. Even a small bust will
make national headlines and bring about new talks of reform and
stricter regulations in the industry (Hightower). Additionally, the antiimmigration people will go around the media outlets still trying to milk
facts and opinions about the story, and say Oh we knew this would
happen, its just a matter of time and itll happen again just you
watch. This only eggs on the opposing side to counter, and the media
blows up again.
In order to understand why people are immigrating in such numbers,
the United States citizens must try to empathize as to why people are
coming over, and why so many are doing so illegally. Mostly all of them
are here to seek a better life for themselves and to send money home
to help their families get out of the home countries. In Mexico for
example, people fun across the border because they want to escape
the drug wars going on. They are scare for their lives along with the
lives of their families. How is that so different from us? During World

War II, we (the United States) accepted many Europeans funning from
the Nazis. Why is this so much different? There really is no difference,
other than the Hispanics are not being killed off in a systematic
genocide. The reason people run is different and varies between
people. But no matter what people will face persecution from some
people in one way or an other. For example, a man in Malmo, Sweden
has been targeting immigrants and ethnic minorities (Nyberg). For
most people the reason they leave their home country is to escape the
problems that plague their home country. But, the people that do cross
illegally are scared. Admittedly, some are just trying to bypass the
government system here, and avoid taxes and other costs; which is
wrong. But this leads to the next point. Why do people want to cross
illegally? The answer varies between the person. But many immigrants
do not want to be found in record book and thus be tracked down. We
know that some government officials are corrupt and we do not know
who handles records of immigration. Fear drives people to think and
act irrationally. On the other side, people want to not have to pay taxes
to the government, which would be supplemental to everyone in the
United States. Instead, the illegal immigrants are hurting the economy
by taking money out and away from the government and not putting
any back towards the government. No matter what there will be
corruption in government, that fact is true, and will stay true for a long
while. But, what is needed is for the governments to actually talk to
each other and try to come up with ideas that will actually work. Every
country involved will need to be fully onboard. Mexico has actually
tried to do this and has pamphlets out in the community that states
how to immigrate correctly. All of the countries need to take there
steps to help, because by helping others we are actually trying to help
ourselves. No one gets hurt in this situation. Everybody wins. So why is
there still opposition? Ignorance mainly. The way people were raised,
false ideas gleaned from others. The media blowing ideas and
information out of proportion. Many of these factors contribute to the
feelings of discord against illegal immigrants. In 1996, laws were
passed to help immigrants gain citizenship status and become socially
accepted. The laws also say that if a person who crosses illegally will
be put into reform classes and if they want to cross legally they will
have to go through the classes to become a legal immigrant.
Immigrants without proper documentation, many seeking political
asylum in the United States, have been sent to facilities across the
country to await decisions on their status. A quarter of the children
whose paperwork is compromised have been held in facilities that also
house juvenile criminals. Some of these waylaid immigrants are unable
to be deported because the United States does not have diplomatic
relations with their home countries. Despite attempts to restrict illegal
immigration, peopleespecially at the U.S. southern borderroutinely
enter the United States with the intention to gain employment.

Recognizing the dependence that the American economy has on this

workforce, President George W. Bush proposed a guest worker program
in 2004. The plan called for legal status for temporary workers that
could be renewed every three years and benefits including driving
privileges and health care. These laws are meant to help people
wanting to come into the United States; mostly to work. Even though
many people are inclined to hate the immigrants coming into the
United States legally, its the ignorance of the masses. By allowing the
immigrants sanctuary in the United States we are providing these
people with new opportunities at lives. Im also faintly hinting at World
War II, and the circumstances of the immigrants from Europe. We
denied the Jews, and they ended up being the victims of genocide. Are
we going to deny the people that are in real need of help and new life?
Or are we going to make a change and help these people? We need to
provide assistance, or sit back and watch the suffering of the people
under the drug lords of Mexico and Central America.
Seal the border hysteria is everywhere. But people are now not
just looking at the immigrants themselves, but the executives behind
the borders. Citizens of America are wailing about the influx of illegal
aliens crossing the border. Some people have even started complaining
saying such things like Our children wont grow up speaking English,
not with street signs in both languages. Even Benjamin Franklin
(during his time) saw the exponential rise of Germans coming to
Pennsylvania and stated frankly Unless the stream of the importation
could be turned they will soon so outnumber us that all the advantages
we have will not be able to preserve our language, and even our
government will become precarious. Exclusion and other unfairness
toward immigrants is not something new, take for example the Irish,
French, Chinese and Catholics. This is not something that is relatively
new. But this does not mean that the feelings of ill content are
illegitimate. Many hard-working normal families are scared of the
illegal immigrants coming across the border because they work for
such low wages, and the fact that no one is telling them what to do is
scary. Many politicians are feeding of the fear factor of the voting
people. Some political pundits are trying to be the most nativist, and
prey on the people and push their English- only school programs. And
to top it off, Tom Tancredo bashes the immigrants by calling them
aliens. His webpage states that all these aliens want to do is to push
drugs, rape kids and destroy lives along with they are all just
Mexican terrorists coming to kill me, you and your family. When being
confronted and accused of trying to turn America into a gated
community he replied with You bet I am!
According to Juan Hernandez, there are many people he knows
that are here illegally. Yes, I know some, I will not name names

because these people are my family and friends. But these are good
people who just want to work. I get how it is wrong for them to not pay
some of the taxes we pay, but they wanted a better life, and they
figured once they had enough money, their kids could go to college
and make money and repay the government for what it has been lost
(Hernandez). This seems fair, in a very unfair situation. Even though
the immigrants will not pay taxes, they also make much less money
than their legal counterparts. Each side has its own drawbacks, and
fighting rages on what side seems most fair and just in an unfair
situation.
The United States and the government of Mexico may never
reach a consensus and come to terms about the situation on the
border. The states in the Union are going to pass laws that seem unfair
because they are strict on illegal immigration. Many people will raise a
big ruckus and complain about how this is unfair. But the true travesty
of the illegal immigration issue is that immigrants are not paying their
fair share of taxes, not are they getting paid a fair wage. Both sides of
the issue are correct on certain points and reform is seen as necessary,
however, sensitive people will want what they see is best for their way
of thinking on their side of the issue.

Works Cited
Brice, By Arthur. "Mexico: Guns from the U.S., Not Illegal
Immigrants, Are Real Problem - CNN.com." CNN.com - Breaking News,
U.S., World, Weather, Entertainment & Video News. Web. 25 Sept.
2010.
Hernandez, Juan. Personal Interview. 22 Nov. 2010.
Hightower, Jim. "Immigrants Come Here Because Globalization
Took Their Jobs Back There." Home | AlterNet. 7 Feb. 2008. Web. 22
Oct. 2010.
Nyberg, Per. A Serial Shooter Is Targeting Immigrants. Oct.-Nov.
2010. Video.