Medearis 1

Millenni Medearis

Ms. Dewey

ENG101

3 December, 2018

Immigrants are an Integral Part of the U.S.

America is a nation of immigrants. Majority of everything great in this country was

introduced or influenced by immigrants. Pizza? Democracy? Yup, thank you immigrants. “40.4

million immigrants reside in the U.S. Broken down by immigration status, the foreign-born

population in 2011 was composed of 15.5 million naturalized U.S. citizens, 13.1 million legal

permanent residents, and 11.1 million unauthorized migrants.” (Garcia para. 2 ). Immigrants

legal and illegal make up roughly 12 percent of the U.S. population. However, the United States

government likes to paint a certain ugly picture of all immigrants, dismissing all the good they

bring to the U.S. This negative perception of immigrants prevents them from being accepted into

America even when they are some of our most talented scientists, entrepreneurs, lawyers etc.

Immigrants are necessary for the United States; therefore there should be immigration reform.

Immigrants better the U.S. economy. Immigrants come and bring insight from their

countries successes and better our economy by bringing their business to the U.S. Immigrants are

usually sought out for new ideas in stem programs. In fact, “​Each year, U.S. universities conduct

a global talent search for the brightest minds to admit to their graduate programs. Increasingly,

foreign students​ occupy the top spots in the search.” (Open Borders Improve…. Para. 1). Some

of the greatest innovations in technology have a lot of immigrants in their staff. The educated
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people in the U.S. are aware of this and even look for these people out of country because they

know they bring new insight and ideas.​ As the article ​Open Borders Improve the US Economy

states​ “​ ​ ​An additional benefit is that high-skilled immigrants are likely to pay far more in taxes

than they use in public services, generating a positive net contribution to government fiscal

accounts.”, this is a direct way immigrants contribute to the U.S. They do not simply take

advantage of our resources they contribute to them as well. Immigration policies must be

changed to support the current acceptance of all the good immigrants bring to the U.S.

Immigrants enrich the cultural diversity in our country that prides itself for being the

“melting pot” of cultures. Accepting so many cultures in the country has indeed made a change.

“A 2007 Gallup Poll sought to get a handle on this subject by asking how immigrants had

affected "food, music, and the arts" in America. Forty percent indicated that immigrants had

made things better, 9 percent felt they had made them worse, and 46 percent concluded there had

not been much of an effect” (Open Borders Enrich...para. 24). Despite the majority of the vote

feeling there has been no change, there is a clear difference from the point of view of other races.

The same people who conducted the Gallup Poll from above concluded that hispanics felt that

immigrants had indeed improved the culture of America compared to african americans and

whites. ​It’s clear that immigrants are aware of the changes they bring. Immigrants also bring the

beauty of their cultures into the United State’s art and film, and immigrants do excel in this area

as well. ​ In 2011 it was said that “Of Hollywood directors who received multiple Academy

Awards, nine of the 17 were foreign born.” (Open Borders Enrich...para. 25). It’s clear

immigrants bring changes in the arts and culture of America.

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By implementing reform in immigration in the U.S. there could also be a way that illegal

immigrants can remain in the U.S. The U.S. needs immigrants as they make up the majority of

the labor intensive jobs. “About 5.2 percent of the U.S. labor force consisted of undocumented

immigrants in 2010, even though they comprised only 3.7 percent of the U.S. population.”

(Garcia para. 23). It’s clear immigrants make up a big piece of the workforce and of course

changing immigration policy would gain more from allowing hard working illegal immigrants to

stay and contribute to the government properly. In fact if policy was improved the border states

would be able to gain much more money in taxes from naturalizing these hard working

immigrants.

Even though the pros of immigration reform outweigh the cons, it is hard for people to

accept these positive changes. This is shown in the way critics may argue that immigrants just

cause a large loss of money. The facts however show that keeping immigrants out causes a larger

waste of money and resources. When it comes to immigration people agree with the need for

mass deportation in order for the U.S. to be successful again, but this path will cause an even

larger loss of money. Trying to do this would cost nearly $300 billion and the operation would

span over a 5 year period. This would clearly hit all citizens pockets harder than just pushing our

government to be more open to improving these lack luster policies that in the end cost more

money.

Immigrants have a great impact on the U.S. they help us in multiple aspects that

Americans have a hard time admitting because not enough is said in defence of immigrants.

People argue that immigrants do nothing for the U.S. when the reality is, immigrants do a lot of
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good that is never advertised. This is the reason immigration reform is necessary, immigrants

should be more accepted as they are not all criminals. Immigrants are a big part of the United

States’ identity and this is why their accessibility to the country should be modified.
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Works Cited

Robertson, Lori. “Illegal Immigration Statistics.” ​FactCheck.org,​ 10 Aug. 2018,

www.factcheck.org/2018/06/illegal-immigration-statistics/​.

Wendell, Johnny Angel. "Illegal Immigration Benefits America." ​Immigration​, edited by Debra

A. Miller, Greenhaven Press, 2014. Current Controversies. ​Opposing Viewpoints in

Context,​

http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/EJ3010362276/OVIC?u=mcc_glendale&sid=OVIC&

xid=4ae15af7. Accessed 5 Dec. 2018. Originally published as "The 'Do Nothing' Solution

to 'Illegal Immigration,'," ​www.sfbg.com,​ 17 May 2013.

Garcia, Ann. "The Facts Support Immigration Reform with a Path to Citizenship." ​Immigration​,

edited by Debra A. Miller, Greenhaven Press, 2014. Current Controversies. ​Opposing

Viewpoints in Context​,

http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/EJ3010362289/OVIC?u=mcc_glendale&sid=OVIC&

xid=74b565e9. Accessed 5 Dec. 2018. Originally published as "The Facts on

Immigration Today," 2013.

"Open Borders Improve the US Economy." ​Should the US Close Its Borders?​, edited by Louise

Gerdes, Greenhaven Press, 2014. At Issue. ​Opposing Viewpoints in Context,​

http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/EJ3010615222/OVIC?u=mcc_glendale&sid=OVIC&
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xid=8cf078b5. Accessed 5 Dec. 2018. Originally published as "Immigration and

Economic Growth," ​Cato Journal,​ vol. 32, no. 1, Winter 2012.