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Michael Matthews
Mr. Munoz
Dual Credit English, Per. 5
15 December 2014
Illegal Immigrants Receiving Amnesty
For many years, illegal immigration has been an ongoing controversial topic in society
throughout the United States. Timothy Murphy, a former United States soldier, has a solid view
on illegal immigration, Illegal immigration is a crisis for our country. It is an open door for
drugs, criminals, and potential terrorists to enter our country. It is straining our economy, adding
costs to our judicial, healthcare, and education systems. His perspective on immigration is
becoming the common view for many Americans. Illegal immigration from Mexico is
specifically the issue argued about in the United States. Some Americans associate the issue to
be a criminal action, unfair to American citizens, and an infringement to the United States
(white) population. Although illegal immigration is held to be a serious crime to some
Americans, they must first embrace the immigrants side of the story: the reasons they come to
America, the struggles they endure coming to and living in the United States, as well as the
extraneous process they must complete to become a legal citizen of the United States. For many
years, illegal immigrants have been living in the United States behind closed doors. It is time that
illegal immigrants in our country come out of hiding and receive the amnesty they deserve and
have been longing for.
It is evident that some Americans have negative views towards illegal immigration. Jeff
Schoep, head of the National Socialist Movement, says, The immigration issue is the biggest
problem we are facing because it is changing the face of our country, we see stuff in English and

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[now] in SpanishThey are turning our country into a Third World ghetto (Marisol). Although
the United States has moved past the violent racial groups, such as the Ku Klux Klan, more
organized and unseen hate groups still exist. One group in Pennsylvania called Keystone United
(formerly the Keystone State Skinheads) has been concentrating its efforts toward the debate
over illegal immigration. Keystone United is outraged over illegal immigration. In the groups
home state, the Hispanic population has increased by 41% since 2000 (Marisol). Members of
Keystone United are distributing flyers asking residents to fight [the] crimes that are committed
by illegal immigrants (Marisol). Douglass Myers, a founder of Keystone United, claims, A lot
of the small working-class towns are being invaded by different types of peoplethe group
speaks out of the rights of whites being pushed aside by newcomers (Marisol). However, not all
the negative controversy comes from white supremacists; some Americans believe that illegal
immigrants receive unfair benefits from the government. For example, illegal immigrants living
in California can go to state universities and pay only the in-state tuition, while native-born
Americans who live in neighboring states pay much higher tuition (Sowell). These Americans
believe that rather than passing bills to make undocumented workers legal, the government needs
to establish benefits for native born Americans as well.
Instead of only listening to the voices of Americans on their views of illegal immigration,
we as a country need to understand the views of illegal immigrants and the reasons why they
came to the United States. Illegal immigrants come here escaping a low quality of life in a poorstricken town that offers no jobs for their townspeople. The average Mexican wage is about
$4.15 an hour and those in the agricultural industry make even less. Though an individual may
be able to survive on that wage alone, it is more difficult for those with families. Currently about
40% of the Mexican population is below the poverty line. Although unemployment is about 4%

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in Mexico, it is estimated that nearly 25% of those working are classified as underemployed
(Illegal Immigration). Some jobs are created but they are not sufficient to meet the growing
demand of the Mexican people. Their pay is so low that they cannot afford to cover the most
basic necessities, such as shelter, food, and healthcare. Thus, illegal immigrants come to the
United States seeking a job to support their family as well as themselves. Several immigrants
also come to the United States to reunite with family members who have already begun a life in
the United States. Besides gaining a job and reuniting with family, illegal immigrants come to
the United States to accomplish a bigger goal: to achieve the American Dream and gain
citizenship in the United States the land of opportunity and equality for all (Illegal
Immigration).
Illegal immigrants live very difficult lives. Many immigrants struggle with figuring out
what life he or she can look forward to living in the United States. Many unregistered
immigrants work hard, labor-intensive jobs, including landscape and construction. These jobs are
the easiest for illegals to acquire because no English language background is needed to gain the
job. These jobs require the men and women to work in hot climates either digging ditches or
building structures. Most workers must walk or take the bus to their jobsite because they do not
have a personal vehicle. Rodrigo Nunez describes to writer Matt Dougherty his life as an illegal
immigrant: Each morning is the same for Rodrigo Nunez. He wakes up, eats a banana and has a
cup of coffee saturated with sugar and milk, and then throws on his ratty jeans and mud-caked
boots, ready for yet another day of hard labor and monotony (Dougherty). Rodrigo takes the bus
to work, and each day, The sun wakes [him] up on the bus right before [he] get[s] there, Nunez
said. Today we are digging a ditch to run the pipes through. It is hard because it is so hot during
the day, and I still have to wear pants (Dougherty). Illegal immigrants receive pay below the

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minimum wage mark. Small businesses and large corporations can get harsh penalties for hiring
illegals as well as receiving negative publicity, and those businesses do not want to gamble with
the authoritative power of the government. Due to this, illegal immigrants cannot expect to work
a non-labor-intensive job or an easier way of living in the United States. America has depended
on immigrant labor to fill certain sectors of our industries, and skilled immigrant workers have
been very popular to our employers.
The ultimate goal for illegal immigrants is coming to the United States to gain permanent
rights. Truthfully, immigration is a natural right inherent to our humanity. Additionally, freedom
of movement is also such a right. If we as a country do not provide immigrants with amnesty we
are treating them as criminals. Are these people criminals? No, they are humans just like every
American and they should be treated as equal. These immigrants want to be treated as equal;
they wanted to be treated fair; they want to be treated like American citizens. Immigrants have
come to this country to live a better, fair, and successful life. The President of the United States,
Barack Obama, has been working to grant illegal immigrants with the amnesty they deserve
forgiving their acts of illegal immigration. Additionally, they will be rewarded with legal status
(Immigration Amnesty). In doing so, President Obama wants to increase the number of legal
immigrants to keep families together and meet the demand for jobs that employers cannot fill.
Providing illegal immigrants with citizenship will actually better the United States. It
encourages economic growth in the United States as well as raise wages (Furman). Obama plans
to protect nearly five million undocumented immigrants from deportation. President Obamas
strategy requires documented immigrants to pay a fine, be able to read or write in English
language, and to go to the back of the line for the opportunity to become a citizen of the United
States of America. President Obama stated, Together we can build a fair, effective and common

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sense immigration system that live up to our heritage as a nation of laws and a nation of
immigrants (Immigration).
Illegal Immigration is not just black and white as some people may view it. Americans
must first realize the goal of immigrants and understand the immigrants views before taking a
firm stance on the issue. Consequently, we as a society are all from a line of immigrants who
have come to this country. Everyone in this country shares the same common goal, which is to
live a life of freedom and happiness. Former United States President Bill Clinton has expressed a
modest perspective on immigration, We must realize that all Americans, whatever their racial
and ethnic origin, share the same old-fashioned values, work hard, care for their families, pay
their taxes, and obey the lawLegal immigration has made America what it is today a vibrant
and diverse nation, all the richer for the energy, ideas, and plain hard work immigrants have
contributed to our society (Clinton). The enemy is not illegal immigrants. The enemy is the
ignorance of the immigration system.

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Works Cited
Clinton, Bill. Between hope and history meeting America's challenges for the 21st century. New
York: Times Books, Random House, 1996.
Dougherty, Matt. "A Day in the Life of an Illegal Immigrant." Mac OS X Server. 03 Mar. 2009
Furman, Jason. "The Truth about Immigration and the Economy." CNN. Cable News Network,
09 Dec. 2014. Web. 12 Dec. 2014.
"Illegal Immigration from Mexico to the United States." United States Immigration: Green
Card,

Visas and U.S. Citizenship. 03 Mar. 2009

"Immigration Amnesty." US. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2014.

"Immigration." The White House. The White House, n.d. Web. 14 Dec. 2014.
Marisol Bello. "White supremacy's new angle." USA Today (n.d.). MasterFILE Premier.
EBSCO. 3 Mar. 2009
Sowell, Thomas. "Legalizing the Illegals." Human Events 59.38 (03 Nov. 2003): 16-16.
MasterFILE Premier. EBSCO. 3 Mar. 2009