Ashton 1 Jeremy Ashton December 13, 2013 English, Period A1 Argument Essay Reforma de la Inmigracin Thousands of citizens in the

United States claim that they will flee from the country if any bill they disagree with is passed into law. Though these people would probably leave without stretching their legal barriers, the action is still comparable to the actions of the immigrants who they criticize. The difference between the two groups of people is that one is just being pouty and the other is escaping from actual mistreatment and subjugation. Immigrants come to the United States to give themselves a better life, to escape, and to give their children an opportunity to have a better life. They know the risk and they are willing to take it. They deserve our respect and attention, and it should be our responsibility to give them their deserved rights and help. From 1990 to 2012, admissions for refugees and asylees (legal and documented) in the United States dropped from 120,000 to 60,000. The amount of legal immigrants dropped drastically in 2002, most likely because of economic issues in the United States. In 2006, the amount of illegal immigrants to the United States also decreased drastically and probably for the same reason. Nevertheless, there was actually a major increase of immigrants, legal or not, leaving the United States to go back to their countries of origin. In recent years, Ive been led to believe that there has been an increase of immigration because there has been an (apparently

Ashton 2 unjust) increase in people who see it as a major issue, but this evidence has proven that to be untrue. Why have we been spending so much time and so many resources on an issue that has been solving itself because of our recklessness in other parts of our society? I personally think that its because of blatant racism. There has been an increase of people with ethnic origin other than some form of white, but that is all it is: ethnic origin. This should be obvious to most people; the slightly more diverse population is mostly made up of the children of past immigrants, not new ones. Immigration has actually become less of an issue than it has been in such a long time, so we should not be spending so much time thinking about it anyway. Weve agreed - as a country - to comply with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, but we do a terrible job of doing so. Our laws against immigrants violate at least ten of the articles in the declaration (possibly more), which is staggeringly high considering there are only thirty articles in the declaration to start with. Our biggest offence of the declaration is against article 14, where its stated that every person has the right to seek asylum from persecution in another country. There are exceptions to this right, but none of them seem to apply to our situation with immigrants. Because of this, we should make their trip into this country at least a little bit easier. It is our responsibility to offer people an escape from whatever terrible conditions they are trying to get away from. People who argue against immigration often say that illegal immigrants are stealing american jobs. Immigrants wouldnt be able to find jobs, if the positions werent still open. Many of the jobs offered to illegal immigrants are jobs that citizens of the United States refuse to do even when theyre at the lowest point in their lives. Americans werent taking these jobs, so they had

Ashton 3 to be filled by people who were desperate enough to resort to picking tomatoes for 12 hours for pay below minimum wage. If Americans had actually had the jobs in the first place, immigrants wouldnt have been able to steal them. People also say that immigrants are freeloaders because they dont have to pay taxes and still benefit from the taxpaying of others, but this is also untrue. About 75% of undocumented immigrants are on payrolls, and pay the taxes that come with that just like everybody else. In addition to that, hardly any immigrants file for tax returns because theyre afraid of being deported, so they dont get the opportunity to regain what was taken from the already miniscule amount of money in their bank accounts. States like California have been making an effort to improve the lives of undocumented immigrants who are already here through things like the Dream Act, which allows illegal immigrants to sign up for student loans and sign up with the military for a college education: opportunities that are already available to us. Theyre making an effort to improve the lives of immigrants and give them an equal opportunity. It isnt about making their lives easy; its about leveling the playing field. They made the effort to get here; they should be treated with as much respect as the rest of us. Most people who call for immigration reform support giving equal rights to undocumented immigrants, not giving them extra rights. Illegal immigration is much less of an issue than people make it seem to be, and it shouldnt be an issue in the first place. No matter whom a person is they deserve to be treated with respect and given the same rights as any other person. We claim to be a country of freedom and opportunity, so we should take it upon ourselves to prove that its true.

Citations Avila, Natalie. "Immigration opponents are misinformed." The North Wind. N.p., 10 Nov 2011. Web. 5 Dec 2013. <http://www.thenorthwindonline.com/?p=3862827>. Berry, John. Wiley Online Library. N.p., 22 Jan 2008. Web. 4 Dec 2013. <http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1464-0597.1997.tb01087.x/full>. Ludwick, Jim. "Ludwick: Congressman Schrader misinformed about immigration." Oregonians for Immigration Reform. StatesmanJournal, 21 Mar 2013. Web. 5 Dec 2013. <http://www.oregonir.org/letters/ludwick-congressman-schrader-misinformed-aboutimmigration>. Martin, Daniel, and James Yankay. "Annual Flow Report." Homeland Security. The Department of Homeland Security, n.d. Web. 4 Dec 2013. <http://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/ois_rfa_fr_2012.pdf>.