Pac, J.

Jose Pac
Research & Writing
11-4-15
People Fear Change, but It Is Necessary

Immigrants from Latin America and from various places in the world travel into the United
States in search of a better future every day. Many of them are able to establish a life in the US illegally
while some Latin American immigrants die as they attempt to cross through the Sonoran desert in order
to get to the US and in most cases they are deported to their country by US authorities1. Many of these
Latin American Immigrants need help to establish a stable live by being economically independent and
the US is a place that can offer work and a chance for a better future. Therefore immigrants who do not
have a criminal record should be helped out by the US government by giving them a permanent
residency in the US and allow them to get a job in order to, avoid immigrants to take a life of crime
because of their lack of jobs due to the fact that they are illegal residents in the US, prevent them from
putting their lives at risk, and avoid families to be separated because of deportation.

Immigration into the US should be legalized for people who have US citizen children and for
people who do not have a criminal record to prevent them from risking their lives. Latin American
immigrants that travel to the US put their lives in danger because they attempt to cross deserts in which
many are lost or die from dehydration or hypothermia2. About 2000 of these immigrants corpses have
been found in the desserts in the last decade and their corpses are either found by authorities or
scattered by wild animals and it is speculated that the number of deaths of these immigrants who travel
into the US is much bigger3. Immigrants take these dangerous routes because the US has heavily
guarded borders that are right beside urban places such as cities or towns. This is what incentives
immigrants to travel into the US through the desert that leads into Texas. This is actually is a strategy
that the US took into practice to try to force immigrants into the dessert and prevent them from getting
into the US4. This is inhumane and cruel from the US side. They promote the death of Latin American

1 "Immigration Detention." American Civil Liberties Union. Accessed April 10, 2015.
https://www.aclu.org/immigrants-rights/immigration-detention.

2 Helmore, Edward. "Death Map' of Deserts Aims to save Lives of Desperate Mexican Migrants." The
Guardian. Accessed April 18, 2015. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/01/map-us-mexico-
migrant-deaths-border.

3 Helmore, Edward. "Death Map' of Deserts Aims to save Lives of Desperate Mexican Migrants." The
Guardian. Accessed April 18, 2015. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/01/map-us-mexico-
migrant-deaths-border.

4 Karlin, Mark, and Robert Neustadt. "Massive Deaths in Border Desert Caused by US Immigration
Policy." Buzzflash. Accessed April 19, 2015. http://www.truth-out.org/buzzflash/commentary/massive-
deaths-in-border-desert-caused-by-us-migration-policy/19130-massive-deaths-in-border-desert-caused-
by-us-migration-policy.
 Pac, J.2

Immigrants and no one does anything about this. The fact that thousands of persons risk their life just
to get into the US should be seen as a message to the US government, that they have to offer certain
people a chance to live in the US to avoid them taking drastic choices such as this one. This way many
lives would be saved and the sufferment of Latin American Immigrants can be avoided. An example of
an immigrant that traveled into the desert and died is a little 14 year old girl, who was from El Salvador
and whose name is, Josseline Janiletha Hernandez Quinteros5. She was a victim of dehydration because
of the extreme heat in the Sonoran Desert.

This proves that minors are traveling into the US illegally which is a big problem because now
they are subjected to suffer of many things such as dehydration, exhaustion, abuse from the people that
are helping them cross the border and even death, and this has to be solved by eradicating the DACA6.
The DACA stands for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and is a program that offers minors who
arrive in the US illegally, a chance to obtain a permit to study or work in the US but it is not for a
permanent stay, and it is only applicable for a couple of years7. This should be done because in this case
the DACA serves as an incentive for minors to travel into the US illegally. After eradicating the DACA
the US should start a legal residency permit program. What this new program would generate is a
chance for the immigrant minors to get into the US legally and avoids these minors from traveling
illegally into the US which keeps them from risking their lives. The problem with the DACA is that it is
not fulfilling my desire of giving minors a better life because it just serves as an incentive for more
minors to travel illegally into the US because they know they will not be deported. The DACA has to
be shut down and replaced by a better system or program.

The separation of families because of deportation is a huge issue that has to be solved by
allowing illegal parents to stay with their US citizen children. Thousands of immigrants are able to
establish a live in the US and have children, but many years later some of these are found and they are
deported and separated from their US citizen children8. In some cases these children have no one to
take care of them. They take refuge in orphanages or just in practically anyone who embraces them and
helps them9. Many people revolt against these issue and demand that these parents should be able to
stay with their children and be able to take care of them10. If the US government allows these parents to
stay with their US citizen children these children would avoid being orphaned and having to go into an

5 Ibid

6 "Made Into America: - Immigrant Stories Archive." Made Into America. Accessed April 11, 2015.
http://madeintoamerica.org/.

7 "Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)." Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.
Accessed April 19, 2015. http://www.ilrc.org/daca.

8 Gambino, Lauren. "Orphaned by Deportation: The Crisis of American Children Left behind." US
Immigration. Accessed April 22, 2015. http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014/oct/15/immigration-
boy-reform-obama-deportations-families-separated.

9 Ibid
 Pac, J.3

orphanage which can be psychologically harmful for these children.

A major issue the US has with immigration is the fact that immigrants are criminals but this is
not the case most of the time and this factor have to be taken into consideration to avoid the deportation
of certain individuals. Currently, about 80 million immigrants from all over the world live in the US11.
This makes up one fourth of the US population. Out of the 80 million immigrants about 20 million
have a Latin American origin12. Out of these immigrants about 45 percent of them are categorized as
criminals13. 15 percent of their crimes consist of traffic penalties such as driving without a license and
only 30 percent of them are considered criminals with major offenses. The reason that many of these
immigrants turn into criminals is because they have a very scarce possibility of getting a job because
they are un-documented people and they have no money to count with because they were poor back in
their home country14. This makes people to be unable to sustain themselves economically. They live in
the streets so they are guided into a life of crime by other criminals who take advantage of their
situation. This causes the police in the US to have even more problems. This is a serious problem but it
has an easy solution: give these immigrants some kind of authorization of work, under the condition of
having a clean police record.

Some people might ask themselves why should the US authorize immigrants to enter their
country and why should they help them if their countries were not able to help them in the first place.
Well the answer to this question is simple. The US has to prevent people from risking their lives in their

10 Greenberg, John. "Jose Diaz-Balart: 1,000 Deportations Every Day, Vast Majority Aren't
Criminals." @politifact. Accessed April 5, 2015.
http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2014/nov/12/jose-diaz-balart/diaz-balart-vast-
majority-deportees-arent-criminal/.

11 "U.S. Immigration Policy Program." Migrationpolicy.org. Accessed April 11,

2015.http://www.migrationpolicy.org/programs/us-immigration-policy-program?
gclid=Cj0KEQjwxpip
BRCap8PR2Om7vq4BEiQA6V7OVbHSgoH_l1wBxYvLgx6-z-mcJ65be-dIu52tP5mqExcaAmL
f8P8HAQ.

12 Ibid

13Greenberg, John. "Jose Diaz-Balart: 1,000 Deportations Every Day, Vast Majority Aren't Criminals."
@politifact. Accessed April 5, 2015. http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2014/nov/12/jose-
diaz-balart/diaz-balart-vast-majority-deportees-arent-criminal/.

14 "The "yes, But" Syndrome." The Economist. January 2, 2014. Accessed April 9, 2015.
http://www.economist.com/blogs/americasview/2014/01/poverty-latin-america.
 Pac, J.4

country or just outside of their country because the fact that people come into their country provokes
problems for their police forces15. Therefore a solution to this problem would be of interest for the US
government. So the US government has to make a change and give immigrants a chance in order to
save their lives and avoid problems for the US police.

Most importantly the US has to give a chance to the world to have legalized emigration from all
over the world because it is something that is important for the economy and life status of millions of
emigrants. People look for a better life in the US because the US is a country with lots of job
opportunities16. These people have the right of to pursuit a better life just as Thomas Jefferson said in
the past, We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed
by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness.17 Then the US should take the words of one of their very own presidents and the person
who wrote their declaration of independence, as a guidance of what to do with the millions of
emigrants that travel into the US. Therefore the US should give a chance for millions of emigrants with
no criminal record to have a better life, and give them a chance to become a legal resident in the United
States of America.

The fact that many immigrants that travel into the US risk their lives and their integrity is a
reality18. So these people should be helped by the US in order for them to be able to create a life of well
being because it is a right of everyone as Thomas Jefferson said19. If the US gives immigrants with no
criminal record a chance of becoming a permanent resident legally this would prevent thousands of
illegal immigrants from trying to get in the US, it would prevent thousands of families to be separated
because of deportation, and many immigrants lives would be saved. Change is necessary.

15 "Hispanic Crime and Illegal Immigration in the United States." Open Borders The Case. March 17,
2012. Accessed May 5, 2015.

16 Ivanovitch, Michael. "Stop Whining! The US Economy Is in Good Shape." CNBC. February 16,
2014. Accessed May 9, 2015. http://www.cnbc.com/id/101420721.

17 "Pursuit Of Happiness Quotes." BrainyQuote. Accessed May 6, 2015.

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/pursuit_of_happiness.html.

18 "Made Into America: - Immigrant Stories Archive." Made Into America. Accessed April 11, 2015.
http://madeintoamerica.org/.

19 "Pursuit Of Happiness Quotes." BrainyQuote. Accessed May 6, 2015.

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/pursuit_of_happiness.html.
 Pac, J.5

Works Cited

"Clicking on Heaven's Door: The Effect of Immigrant Legalization on Crime." Cato Institute. August
20, 2014. Accessed April 8, 2015.
"Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)." Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. Accessed
April 19, 2015. http://www.ilrc.org/daca.

Greenberg, John. "Jose Diaz-Balart: 1,000 Deportations Every Day, Vast Majority Aren't Criminals."
@politifact. Accessed April 5, 2015.

http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2014/nov/12/jose-diaz-balart/diaz-balart-vast-
majority-deportees-arent-criminal/.
Helmore, Edward. "Death Map' of Deserts Aims to save Lives of Desperate Mexican Migrants." The
Guardian. Accessed April 18, 2015. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/01/map-us-
mexico-migrant-deaths-border.
"Hispanic Crime and Illegal Immigration in the United States." Open Borders The Case. March 17,
2012. Accessed May 5, 2015.
"Immigration Detention." American Civil Liberties Union. Accessed April 10, 2015.
https://www.aclu.org/immigrants-rights/immigration-detention.

Karlin, Mark, and Robert Neustadt. "Massive Deaths in Border Desert Caused by US Immigration
Policy." Buzzflash. Accessed April 19, 2015. http://www.truth-out.org/buzzflash/commentary/massive-
deaths-in-border-desert-caused-by-us-migration-policy/19130-massive-deaths-in-border-desert-caused-
by-us-migration-policy
"Made Into America: - Immigrant Stories Archive." Made Into America. Accessed April 11, 2015.
http://madeintoamerica.org/.
"Pursuit Of Happiness Quotes." BrainyQuote. Accessed May 6, 2015.
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/pursuit_of_happiness.html.
"The "yes, But" Syndrome." The Economist. January 2, 2014. Accessed April 9, 2015.
http://www.economist.com/blogs/americasview/2014/01/poverty-latin-america.