Illegal Immigration

Can America afford to continue to rely on the obviously flawed immigration laws to protect our economy? Can our economy survive eliminating the immigrants working in the US today? How can we address the problems with immigration? These are the questions haunting us today. The largest problem with immigration is illegal immigration. This has become a heavily debated issue in several states as well as with our lawmakers in Washington. Immigration has long been a part of the United States as in the beginning; we had an open door policy. If someone could make a positive contribution to our country, the American Dream was theirs if they wanted it. However, the minute they put a strain on our economy, America had no use for them and the door was suddenly closed. Most of America today views illegal immigration as a strain on our economy and in response is calling for immigration reform.

When you look at the numbers, they tell a completely different story. These immigrants may be illegal, but they are supporting our local communities and businesses. Our economy benefits even from the money that is sent back to their countries of origin due to the fees charged for these transactions. Banks have begun to open avenues to which they are able to deposit money in accounts in the United States and obtain credit to purchase automobiles and even homes. There are however many who are not working in the main stream and are abused and being exploited by American employers. We also do not know how many immigrants we actually have here which are vital statistics needed for our preparation for the future. We must address this issue by developing a system to document the immigrants coming to the United States along with the ones, who are already here, provide adequate protection under the law while they are employed here, and provide them with legal avenues by which to work and pay taxes.

We must first admit the obvious. We have a problem with illegal immigration. It would be impossible not to mention very expensive to catch and deport these immigrants. As long as there are jobs and employers willing to hire them to do those jobs, as long as Americans are unwilling to do those jobs, immigrants will continue to take the risk and come back. This alone describes the root of the problem of immigration. Believe me, if there were not any jobs available here, these individuals and entire families would not risk their lives to come here. They still very much love their country. This is evident by how much money is sent back to their home countries each year.

Next, let's look at how much the immigrants working here actually enhance our economy. Look at the grocery stores. Walk in to a Wal-Mart or K-Mart on the week-end and in most states affected by immigration you will see the economic impact they have on our community and local economies. The build our homes; they build our schools; they harvest our produce and bring them to market. All of