Immigration Essay, Research Paper

They slip into the San Diego rail yard furtively, preferably beneath the protective cover of darkness, jumping fences, eluding guards and dodging 200-ton locomotives in a perilous dash for the most elusive of prizes, a free ride to the north. Every day thousands of Mexicans and Central Americans cross the U.S.- Mexican border carrying little more than dreams of a better life. Why should we blame them? Mexico and other poor countries are trying to get a better life just like everyone else in this world.

There are many arguments that support allowing illegal immigrants into America. Illegal immigrants have a positive effect on the American economy. They contribute more to the government than they receive in benefits. Illegal workers provide a flexible, low cost labor pool for United States companies, thus allowing local companies to compete with inexpensive imports from cheap labor companies. Without illegal immigrants, many United States factories would go bankrupt. Illegal immigrants contribute much more money to the government than they receive in benefits, and therefore are not a social burden. Illegal immigrants pay millions of dollars into Social Security that they will never collect. They also pay state income, sales, and property taxes for which they receive few benefits.

In America s history, there have been many men who have helped our nation develop into what Americans live in today. Without immigrants such as Alexander Graham Bell, Albert Einstein, and Samuel Slater, many of the technological advantages such as the telephone, medicines, and factories we have today, would not exist. Thanks to immigrants, the United States continues to progress in many areas to make it the most successful nation in the world.

It is America s responsibility to insure that all people seeking freedom and a better life can have a chance to fulfill their dreams.