Alan Rodriguez Vega

DECEMBER 7, 2016

IMMIGRATION & ECONOMICS

ALAN RODRIGUEZ VEGA

SALT LAKE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
[Company address]

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Alan Rodriguez Vega
Mark Holland
December, 06, 2016
Immigration & Economics
The subject of immigration goes hand in hand with politics and politics goes hand in
hand with economics. First, I will be discussing some of the history and some opinions of the
American people. I will be inputting my own thoughts and opinions; then, at the end, I will be
getting into the economy side of things and how and if immigration is good or bad for the health
of our countrys economy and backing it up with statistics to back up the comments.
Immigration is a hot topic that has been debated by politicians and regular citizens since
the 19th century when immigration was booming. European immigrants were coming into the
country around the 1880s and establishing themselves in the east coast and helping the country
progress and become what it is today. One prime example would have to be New York. After the
Europeans came, the Asian immigrants came during the gold rush and helped the country with
the hard labor that involved the railroad system. Now, we are seeing a lot of Mexican and Latino
people trying to enter the country legally and illegally, and the media is giving them a bad image
and all the uneducated Americans are eating it up. The media sells the immigrant population of
today as lazy and that they dont contribute to the economy but only hurt it.
On flipside of things I can tell you that we do pay taxes, taxes that sometimes some of us
cant claim. We cant take advantage of some of these amazing social programs that the average
citizen enjoys. Most people dont understand that we do pay Social Security taxes even though
we are not entitled to the Social Security benefits. That means that they are being used by the
government and they can do whatever they please with the free money. In a way, its ironic

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because illegal immigrants are here unlawfully and therefor committing a crime, but that does
not make it okay for the government to look the other way when they are getting the free money
from these hard-working people. I can tell you all of this because I am an immigrant and I can
work thanks to Obamas Executive action named Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. I must
pay $500 dollars every two years so I can work, which is fine by me, but even though I have
been here since I was 5, and I feel just as American as any other citizen. I cant vote. I cant do
much to voice my opinion to political leaders and I cant do anything about my parents situation
as far as their legal status is concerned. It hurts because I am not a criminal and I want to have a
better life for my kids than what my parents gave me. After all isnt that why we are all here?
As far as the economic flow of things is concerned, there are about 41 million immigrants
in the U.S alone and make up about 20% of the U.S population even though we only make up
5% of the worlds population. As you can see, we are a country of immigrants with our not so
open door policy for immigrants. One good example of an open-door immigration policy is
Ireland, as they have the fastest growing economy in Europe. Of course, based on science we
should keep our eyes opened to other variables and must know that correlation doesnt mean
causation most of the time, but we must note that they are doing very well and they do have a
good immigration policy as does New Zealand. Immigrants in the U.S alone contribute 11 billion
dollars to the economy and most of it goes unclaimed by them and used by U.S citizens that say
that immigrants are bad and are lazy.
When Alabama passed bill HB 56 to make sure that there were no illegal immigrants
living in the state in 2011 they did not see the repercussions of such actions. The bill failed
miserably as the farms and fields that immigrants were farming and cropping all rotted, as
farmers tried to find American workers for such jobs. The American workers did not last even if

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they were being paid a decent wage nor did they do as good as a job as the immigrant population
that had fled the state. If you consider this small sample, you will see that just in the economy
sense of things it does not make sense to do massive deportations as the economy will fall flat,
prices will go up for things like food and shelter and the U.S economy will hurt.
In the end, I dont see deporting illegal immigrants as the solution to the U. Ss problem
of immigration. I do agree that if they have a vast criminal record then they should be reported,
but if they are here being productive and have built a family here and call the United States of
America home, then why take that away from people that want to work hard to prove that they
are beneficial to the country and want better for themselves and their families?