Audrey+Fernandez

The number of immigrants in the U.S. has been booming over the years (10 million as of 2009). There are two sides to this issue; those who are pro-immigraton, and those who are against it, anti-immigration. Some people say that immigration benefits the U.S. economy in a number of ways like increasing money circulation and by immigrants performing jobs that Americans won't take. Those who oppose claim that immigrants break the law by crossing the border or by overstaying their visas and they are merely criminals who should be treated as such and eventually deported. There are also other aspects of this issue like the Mexican border, law enforcement, economic impact, terrorism, rights, crime, etc. ..
 * Illegal Immigration**

[] 1. This website is a discussion board on people's opinions about the legality (and humanity) of vigilante border patrol groups. A girl posted something about a CMT special she saw where various citizens groups were patrolling the Arizona border in pursuit of immigrants- she questioned the rights these people had to do this. A lot of people replied to her post and almost all of them were unanimous in deciding that no, this wasn't legal at all. But there was one person that stated that this activity was only illegal if the vigilantes broke the law (like beating someone). So technically, it is indeed illegal. Some readers even compared these groups of people to lynch mobs because of their racist mentality.

http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/perspectives/investing-american-dream 2. This website was about the DREAM act which is a federal bill that would enable undocumented immigrant students all across the country access to legal residency and federal financial aid like the rest of their documented peers. The writer of this article, Roberto G. Gonzales, is trying to convince readers that the DREAM act would not only affect the teenagers who receive residency and financial aid but also America as a whole because passing this bill is like "removing legal and economic barriers to higher education" which would increase the students chances of succeeding and giving back to their country. Although he doesn't clearly state his opinion on the broader issue of immigration, he does portray an interest in bettering the lives of the immigrants who are indeed already living here-especially immigrant youth.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1209/30283.html 3. This article by Walter A. Ewing talks about how illegal immigrants are not the reason why the unemployment level is so high so deporting all 8 million of them won't "magically create 8 million job openings for unemployed, native born Americans." He goes on to explain how illegal immigrants and native-born Americans have different levels of education and different work experience so it's not as if these two groups of people can just "swap" jobs. Overall, Walter's perspective on things is that deportation of all illegal immigrants wouldn't put an end to the American problems we so often blame on these "aliens." Immigrants didn't cause the recession-and deportation isn't the answer.

http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/perspectives/back-future-impact-legalization-then-and-now 4. This article explained how legalization of all undocumented immigrants would be a highly beneficial turning point for our country. The author explains how legalization has had unexpected positive impacts in the past in the areas of work, family, and community. Some of the positive impacts that were mentioned were how when there was an Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, most of the immigrants affected by it went from illegal, secretive jobs to higher paid employees. Also, these immigrants became more active community members who spent money on their community.

http://wn.com/citizen_militia 5. This video is a recording of a FOX news report where a news reporter is following around and interviewing a group of citizens who decided to take matters into their own hands and form their own militia near Arizona's border with Mexico. They even went as far as to close the park land to U.S. citizens and putting up a sign stating that citizens should "be aware of foreigners who are heavily armed" and engaging in drug trafficking, terrorism, etc.

http://immigration.procon.org/view.source.php?sourceID=002727 6. In this article written by a Heritage Foundation representative, the perspective is that illegal immigrants should not be granted amnesty because it is unfair to those who actually obey the law and go through the long, legal process of becoming a U.S. citizen. Illegal immigrants are criminals who should not be pardoned of their crime and doing so would only be "condoning or encouraging the likelihood of further illegal conduct."

http://immigration.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=000775 7. This article was written by Andy Selepak who believes that the illegal immigrant parents shouldn't not be deported only because they had a U.S. citizen-born child. He claims they "knew what they were getting themselves into" and that they use their child as their "golden ticket" to staying in the country. He believes that the real solution is to send the whole family back to their native soil, kids and all.

http://immigration.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=000786 8. The post by C. Stewart Verderey Jr basically says that illegal immigration poses a terrorist threat simply because the law enforcement is so preoccupied enforcing and regulating immigration laws that biggert issues like terrorism are ignored. The "chaotic" situation that is immigration allows terrorists and criminals to hide under a "cloak of anonymity."

http://immigration.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=000789 9. The Federation for American Immigration Reform states that immigrants cost a lot more than they actually pay back to the country tax-wise. The lack educational experience and work low-income jobs which are usually "under-the-table" type jobs that they don't include in their taxes. The conclusion is that they are a financial burden.

Audrey Fernandez AudreyCFernandez@gmail.com