Running Head: IMMIGRATION REFORM CASUAL ARGUMENT

Cause and Effect From the Issue: Immigration Reform

Jacqueline Palacios
Montgomery College- Germantown Campus

Author Note
This paper was prepared for English 102 Taught by Professor Storm

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Cause and Effect From the Issue: Immigration Reform

In the topic of immigration, debating whether an immigration reform should be
proposed can be very controversial. There are some who believe that there are causes that
have lead to where an immigration reform should be proposed and others who believe
that there are causes that can have too much damage in which an immigration reform
should be dismissed. With every cause there is an effect. One reason as to why an
immigration reform should be passed is the amount of underpaid workers in the U.S. The
effect of passing an immigration reform would give better working conditions to the
immigrants and allow them to get paid at an equal rate as their peers. Another reason as to
why an immigration reform should be passed is the effected families that have been
separated. Bringing upon an immigration reform would re-connect these families and
encourage such family unity. Even with the positive reasons why an immigration reform
should be passed, others have causes as to why a immigration reform should not be
passed. Understanding a positive cause of an immigration reform may show a more
logical outlook if deciding if an immigration reform should be passed.
In the U.S, there are a high percentage of immigrants who come into the states
thinking the states was a land of opportunity. What the immigrants did not realize is that
behind those borders, there is no future for them. Underpaid immigrant workers are one
reason as to why an immigration reform should be passed. The effect of the reform
passing would be that all these people would obtain adequate pay. The reasoning behind
this is that those immigrants do not have any legal documentation, which without the
proper documentation, there are little to no good jobs available. Most immigrants come
and get severely underpaid when they are working alongside others who make twice as

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much as they do. Ojeda (2013) explained that with [a] reform, legalized immigrants
would no longer be underpaid, creating an income floor that would benefit all
American workers (Immigration Reform Can benefit the US Economy section, para. 1).
The reform would give immigrants the qualifications to be equally paid, as they would be
granted legal status and would no longer have to settle for the lowest paying jobs. When
immigrants are paid equally, the higher pay not only helps them, but also the US as a
whole. There are also some immigrants who studied in their home countries and are
qualified for higher paying jobs but cannot apply because of their legal status. Kennedy
(2008) explained that immigrants make up about 40 percent of high studied fields such as
engineering or doctoral (para. 15). The U.S can potentially loose money because the high
skilled are not being put to work in their studied fields and potentially better the
economy. There is no current way of allowing immigrants to be qualified for higher
paying jobs or higher positions. An immigration reform would fix this concern, as it not
only helps them, but also the US as a whole.
The amount of separated families can be another cause as to why an immigration
reform needs to be put into place. If a reform were passed, the effect of this would have a
re-connection of the families who were separated when deportation of their family
members was happening. This has caused the U.S to have a broken immigration system.
From the beginning, immigrants would flee their countries because of desperation. The
U.S was a place where they thought they would be welcome because of the Statue of
Liberty, and the Catholic Church, but they seemed to have been proven wrong (Dolan
2014, para. 11). This nation is made up of immigrants, and separating them from their
families only causes distortion in the system. These people who come fleeing from their

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countries are like any other human. As explained by Dolan (2014), our nation has
deported more then 1.5 million people over the past five years, separating hundreds of
thousands of parents from their U.S.-citizen children (Practical and Humane
Immigration Reform section, para. 5). The children suffer as they see their parents get
dragged out of the country. They are to be left with relatives but the love and nurture
from their parents cannot compare. Passing an immigration reform would mean reconnecting these families and fixing our broken immigration system.
Unlike the causes as to why an immigration reform should be passed, not
everyone believes passing an immigration reform would give a positive effect. For that
reason there are other factors that allow people to think otherwise and believe an
immigration reform should not be passed. One of the causes as to why others believe a
reform should be rejected is the fact that the U.S already has a high number of
population. Some people believe that the effect of the reform would only add to the
overpopulation in the U.S. As explained by Mann (2012), our primary concern with
immigration, both legal and illegal, is that it adds weightily to population growth in our
crowded country. Our present population of 298 million is already far beyond the longterm carrying capacity of our natural resources and environment (The Importance of
Halting Illegal Immigration section, para. 19). Mann believed that an immigration reform
would only add to the limit capacity. If a reform were to be passed, those who were
separated would be allowed re-entry to the U.S. to be with their family members. This
would be the case for millions of immigrants and would just keep adding to the number.
With such high numbers of immigrants in the U.S. already, show just how dangerously
open our borders are. If the population of immigrants where to grow, the high population

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of immigrants can easily be taken advantage of and used as a cover-up for terrorist and
drug trafficking (Kane, 2010, Low-Skill Immigration Effects section, para. 15). Allowing
families to be re-united will bring more population to the U.S., but our population grows
everyday. The resources are not going to run out because things are made to
accommodate the people. As population grows, resources grow. For those who come into
the U.S. with pure intentions, there should not be a drug or terrorist problem. Not all
immigrants come with the intent to do bad, so all immigrants cannot be expected to act
the same.
Apart from overpopulation being a cause as to why an immigration reform should
not be passed, the already high percentage of unemployed American citizens is another
reason why others believe a reform would only bring a negative effect. As explained by
Mann (2012), illegal aliens depress wages of American citizens and legal immigrants,
and add to their unemployment (The importance of Halting Illegal Immigration section,
para, 20). The Competition for low skilled jobs is high, due to the fact that immigrants
get paid low wages. Low-paying workers might be the employers first choice and while
Americans arent willing to get low wages, immigrants are. Kane (2010) sayed that some
might even say immigrants are taking Americans jobs (para. 12). While this might not be
the case for high-skilled workers, low skilled workers jobs are at stake if a reform were to
be passed. Many are afraid that these immigrants will continue to take their jobs and
increase the unemployment rate of Americans. The main reason why illegal immigrants
would depress the wages is because they do not have proper documentation and get
underpaid. For that reason, employers want to hire workers who are willing to work for
low wages and can bring down the pay for other workers who have proper

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documentation. If a reform were to be passed, employers would have no reason to pay

immigrants low-wages and the wages would no longer be depressed.
There are many causes as to why an immigration reform should be in place, as
well as causes that can lead people to believe an immigration reform would portray a
negative effect. Underpaid workers would benefit if an immigration reform would to be
passed. The effect of this would be that they could get fairly paid. Separated families
would also benefit from an immigration reform. The effect would be being able to reconnect these families. Although, not everyone believes an immigration reform would
give positive effects. Some believe that because we already have a high number of human
population, promoting an immigration reform would only add to the population growth.
They also believe that the high percentages of Americans who are unemployed would
also only continue to rise if an immigration reform is put into place. Knowing the positive
causes as to why an immigration reform should be passed is ideal when deciding that it is
the most logical solution to the topic.

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References
Dolan, T. (2014). Just and Humane Immigration Reform Will Bring Immigrants
Out of the Shadows. In D. A. Miller (Ed.), Current Controversies.
Immigration. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press. (Reprinted from
Catholic Bishops: Fix Unjust Immigration System, USA Today, 2013, June
9) Retrieved from https://montgomerycollege.idm.oclc.org/login?
url=http://ic.galegroup.com

Kane, T., & Johnson, K. A. (2005). Illegal Immigration Threatens U.S. Security. In
L. I. Gerdes (Ed.), Current Controversies. Immigration. San Diego:
Greenhaven Press. (Reprinted from The Real Problem with Immigration ...
and the Real Solution, Heritage Foundation, pp. 2-7, 2006) Retrieved from
https://montgomerycollege.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://ic.galegroup.com

Kennedy, E. M. (2008). Immigration Legislation Should Not Punish All Illegal

Immigrants. In P. Hina (Ed.), Contemporary Issues Companion. Illegal
Immigration. Detroit: Greenhaven Press. (Reprinted from Examining the
Need for Comprehensive Immigration Reform, 2006) Retrieved from
https://montgomerycollege.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://ic.galegroup.com

Mann, D. (2012). The Unabated Flow of Illegal Immigrants Must Be Stopped. In

N. Merino (Ed.), Current Controversies. Illegal Immigration. Detroit:
Greenhaven Press. (Reprinted from Zero Tolerance for Illegal

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Immigration: An Urgent Policy Need, 2006, Negative Population Growth
(NPG)) Retrieved from https://montgomerycollege.idm.oclc.org/login?
url=http://ic.galegroup.com

Ojeda, R. H. (2013). Immigration Reform Can Benefit the US Economy. In R. D.

Lankford, Jr. (Ed.), At Issue. What Is the Future of the US Economy?
Detroit: Greenhaven Press. (Reprinted from Raising the Floor for
American Workers, 2010) Retrieved from
https://montgomerycollege.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://ic.galegroup.com