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RosaArami Chavez

Ronald Calvird

English 1

Argumentative Essay

02 April 2025

Changing the Immigration Policies in America

In the United States of America, who makes the decisions? Is it the people or one specific

person, or is it the people that sit in congress on their nintendo switches? Most ideas in America

start from one person who shares it with everyone else. Then as a whole the people begin to rise

and push for change. If a person were to look at every “movement” the United States has had, it

starts with an issue that the people are suffering from. The Civil Rights Movement started

because the African Americans were tired of the unjust way they were being treated. The

Women's Suffrage movement began due to the fact that women were unable to vote. The Latino

Movement was caused by unfair immigration laws created by the President. The Civil Rights and

Women's Suffrage movements were both solved by the lawmakers of our nation changing or

adding something to the laws. However, nothing has been done to help the Latino movement. No

laws have been changed to try and help the hispanic immigrants that are being deported. For

most of America’s history, immigrants were welcomed to enter and exit the country freely, using

the Revolving Door System. After the tragic events of 9/11, America shut its door on

immigrants. The United States gained stricter border control, added more visa limitations, and

countless other obstacles to enter the country. The American immigration system has not
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changed for the better since. In the constitution, there are no dedicated sections for immigrants

but they are mentioned. The Equal Protection Clause, found in the American Constitution in the

Fourteenth Amendment- Section 1, states that every person has the right to the same fair and

equal protection as their neighbor, regardless of immigration status. The United State of America

should change the immigration policy to decrease the amount of illegal citizens, better the

economy and enhance the labor force

One major argument for immigration is that allowing immigrants into the country is very

expensive and harmful to the general public. Contrary to this The University of Texas at Dallas

performed a study that proves that immigrant workers commit less crimes than native citizens.

Legal immigrants help to pay things like social security which helps the older generation of our

country

In America today, we can not tell an accurate number of illegal immigrants. An estimate

done by the Federation for American Immigration Reform, or FAIR, says that approximately

18.6 million illegal aliens are currently residing in the United States. If immigration laws are

changed then we can work to decrease this number. Changing the immigration laws allows legal

immigration to be strengthened. These changes would allow more entryways for immigrants, and

being granted access to these entryways would be easier. Easy entry lowers the amount of

incentive for illegal immigration. Many undocumented immigrants are a result of overstaying a

visa. If the immigration laws are changed and a visa overstay prevention program is

implemented, then we can better track the immigrational systems. These systems would function

like checklists. Every immigrant on a visa in an area would be listed and a reminder would be

sent out stating that their visa is almost up, granting immigration officers the ability to send them
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home on time to lower the amount of illegal aliens in the country. This also allows immigration

officers to push for harsher punishments for overstaying a visa. By having more connections

with countries that immigrants regularly migrate from, better and more accessible ways are

created for immigrants to enter the country. This, overall, improves not only the immigration

systems, but also allows the countries to delegate and create treaties for the greater good of all of

their economies

Although having connections with other countries is important, our own nation's

economy takes more of a priority. Having immigrants is beneficial to our economy, these

immigrants help the United States of America to meet the labor force needs. The people who

come over to America on visas are here to work through temporary work placements or by guest

workers programs that help to ensure that all jobs necessary are filled. These jobs typically

include agriculture, construction, hospitality, and service industry. Legal immigrants also help to

increase the flow of the tax revenue. The immigrants who have documentation pay taxes just like

the average American citizen. Their money, just as everyone else's, contributes to fund public

infrastructures, and services. In some cases immigrants who aren’t able to immigrate legally

work through illegal markets. This constant exploitation of the immigrants hurts all the good-tax

paying people. If the immigration law changes then these illegal markets can be diminished. This

can better improving the wages and working conditions for all workers

While having nice working conditions and decent wages are enjoyable, not all people

have the liberty to have those types of jobs. When immigrant workers migrate over they take any

type of work they can get. For them making money is the priority, as a result they take whatever

jobs they can. For the American economy that means filling in whatever jobs they have
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available. This helps with the job shortages in fields that the younger generation aren’t willing to

work. Professions like healthcare, agriculture, construction and technology are very immigrant

influenced. Immigrants also bring diversity to the table at the grand feast of the American labor

force. This helps add variety to the work-force, with the amount of different skill sets, point of

view and problem solving. This variety also allows the UNited States to benefit at a global level.

All these skills and opportunities attract people. The best of the best world-wide come to

America to work. This gives the United States a competitive edge and a leg up in field like

Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM).

If America changes the immigration policy then the amount of illegal immigrants will

decrease, the American economy will stabilize and the labor force will be enriched. Whether it is

implementing overstay visa prevention programs, or having a full labor force due to

immigration, the time has come for change. Policymakers, lawmakers and citizens of one mind

must push for better immigration reformation that can make a clear and fair pathway to legal

citizenship and residency. If these changes are supported, America can become a more secure,

healthy, and compromising nation, where anyone can have the chance to help change the future.

Let’s work together to convert this dream into a reality

Works Cited

Beshay. “What We Know about Unauthorized Immigrants Living in the U.S.” Pew Research

Center, 22 July 2024,

www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/07/22/what-we-know-about-unauthorized-immig

rants-living-in-the-us.

“First-Generation Immigrants Less Likely to Commit Serious Crimes.” News Center, 2024,

news.utdallas.edu/social-sciences/first-generation-immigrants-less-likely-to-commit.

Accessed 2 Apr. 2025.

“How Many Illegal Aliens Are in the United States? 2025 Update | FAIRUS.org.” Federation for

American Immigration Reform (FAIRUS.org), 7 Mar. 2025,

www.fairus.org/issue/how-many-illegal-aliens-are-united-states-2025 Accessed 1 Apr.

2025.

Maria Ramirez Uribe. “There Aren’t 30 Million Immigrants in the U.S. Illegally.” @Politifact,

2024,

www.politifact.com/factchecks/2024/jun/11/marco-rubio/there-arent-20-million-to-30-mil

lion-immigrants-in/.