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Brooke Rodriguez Mrs. McGriff ENC 1101 23 March 2014 No More Immigration Laws? There are many aspects that impact the United States economy, but one of the largest contributors is immigration. About 12.5 percent of the U.S. population is made up of immigrants. Due to this percentage and the influence they have on everyday life, many arguments are formed. Living in the U.S., people either fight for immigration equality, try to look for a middle ground fix, or are for the strict enforcement of immigration laws. The fact that so much of the American population is made up of people from outside the borders makes the thought of immigrants wanting equality not an unheard idea. People come to the United States for many reasons. One example would be that they want a better life not only for them but for their children or future children (Becker). Expecting mothers come across the border so their baby can be born a U.S. citizen. Protesters constantly fight to be treated like a regular human being (Rodriguez, 454). Most Mexicans actually believe that they are treated harshly because of the color of their skin (Rodriguez, 455). They just do not want to be treated as if they are unwanted or subhuman (Rodriguez, 455). Those who oppose immigration laws think they should be done away with. From then on people could come and go as they please into the U.S. and not have to worry about if they are being illegal or not.

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Can there be a middle fix for immigration that makes everyone happy? There could possibly be a simple solution. For the past few years net illegal Mexican immigration has been drastically low. However, this is not completely due to tough border control and enforced laws. Gary Becker states that this could indeed be due to a better economy in Mexico. If some conditions in struggling countries such as incomes, level of employments, or opportunities changed for the better, than in a general sense less people would want to leave. Young adults who look for a larger income in other countries could then at that point stay with the better economy (Becker). No matter how nice laws may look on paper, immigration laws are not there to look pretty. These are meant to be enforced and should be. If people in other countries really want to become a U.S. citizen then they should go through the necessary steps to becoming one. In 2005, the Pew Hispanic Center asked adults in Mexico if they would go to the U.S. if they had a chance and forty-six percent said yes (Parker, 459). Although, when they were asked if they would do it illegally, nearly twenty percent of the original forty-six percent said yes (Parker, 459). These are free people, who choose to come here and choose to do so illegally (Parker, 459). This is a good example of why most Americans strongly believe in these laws. If there were no laws in place than the percent that would normally come into the U.S. illegally would be able to come and go whenever they wanted. Immigration laws weed out the hard workers and the dedicated who truly want a better life from the ones who just cause harm. The American people want to be able to know that their kids are safe and that the government is doing everything in its power to protect them. Think of immigration like its a kid in school. That kid has a choice to follow the rules and get good grades or break the rules and not care about the consequences. The kid who follows

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the rules and gets As ends up benefiting the school and helps the school scholastically. On the other hand, the kid who disobeys and gets expelled then hurts the school in the long run. The idea of wanting people who are going to benefit the U.S. and not have to hear the next new update on the news about illegal immigration is not a bad thing. There will always be people who think they are treated differently and fight for equally, but deep down they know that the laws are there to keep the peace, not to discriminate. It is just like the kid who got expelled. He knew there were rules in place but he chose to turn the other cheek.

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Works Cited Becker, Gary. On the border, new realities: recession helped slow the river of illegal immigration. Demography and a stronger Mexican economy may keep it from rising again. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Hoover Digest. 2013. Web. 23 March 2014. Parker, Star. Se Habla Entitlement. Longman Writer. Ed. Diana Hacker. New York: New York, 2011. 458-460. Print. Rodriguez, Roberto. The Border On Our Backs. Longman Writer. Ed. Diana Hacker. New York: New York, 2011. 454-456. Print.