Illegal Immigration

Is deportation truly the answer?

How does this go against the values of America and the various communities that are within it?

Is there another way?

Isaiah Hernandez
 Abstract

This project is here to demonstrate the occurrences that happens when illegal immigration

is looked down upon and why Americans look down at immigration that is done illegally. This

project also gives insights into communities like Tucson, Arizona where illegal immigration is a

part of almost every aspect of the community and how this could affect the community as mass

deportation becomes more imminent. Lastly, this project presents a solution to mass deportation

that may truly benefit illegal immigrants as well as the communities they reside in.
Isaiah Hernandez

Ebru Erdem

ENG 102

February 22nd, 2016

Deportation and the flaws of it all

The United States is entering into a new era. An era that has multiple issues and problems

to solve on top of having a brand new president running the country. One of these issues is illegal

immigration and how to counter it. With a brand new presidential administration running the

country with a disliking for illegal immigration, mass deportation is highly likely. This has created

a lot of conversation around what is truly right especially in communities like my own here in

Tucson, Arizona. Tucson is a city not too far from the US-Mexico border that knows illegal

immigration all too well. Many of these illegal immigrants are a part of our community and are

around us daily. Tucson, along with many of the other border cities will have to make up a decision

on where they stand. The truth is, mass deportation of illegal immigrants will and has never

worked.
 Let’s start off with some facts. Mexicans make up for over 81% of the illegal immigrants

that currently live in the US (David Becerra, Louise M. Quijano, M. Alex Wagaman, Andrea

Cimino & Kelly N. Blanchard, 2015). The illegal population here in the US is approximated to

be at around 11.9 million people. Since Mexicans make up for 81% of that, there is around 8

million Mexicans living in the US Undocumented. (David Becerra, Louise M. Quijano, M. Alex

Wagaman, Andrea Cimino & Kelly N. Blanchard, 2015) This also means that approximately 8

million undocumented workers that are of Latino descent are currently working in the US work

force. Mexican immigration has been on the rise ever since the early 1990s and increases each

and every year. In 1990-2000 there was a 57.9% increase in Latino residency in the US. Then in

2000-2010 there was another increase of 43% in latino residency (David Becerra, Louise M.
Quijano, M. Alex Wagaman, Andrea Cimino & Kelly N. Blanchard, 2015). This being said,

mass deporting over 8 million illegal Latino immigrants will be no easy task.

The major reason why mass deportation of illegal Latino Immigrants is not only

ineffective but dangerous for our country is because of the presence of the Latino community in

our cities is huge. America would have to deport over 8 million undocumented Latino

immigrants to get rid of illegal Latino immigration in our country. This would be a very costly

thing to do since we would need people to carry out this task. With our country already in almost

20 trillion dollars in debt, do we really need any other expenses added on

(http://www.usdebtclock.org/ , 2016)? Additionally, 8 million undocumented Latino immigrants

are approximated to be a part of the US work force. Getting rid of 8 million people that are

currently in our workforce would be a disastrous predicament for the US and would create even

more economic turmoil for the US. Many Americans are heard preaching that illegal immigrants

take jobs away from the “real” American workers that deserve those jobs but this is actually
quite the opposite. Those 8 million illegal immigrants that are currently working here in the US

actually create more jobs for the US because they create output since they work lower skilled

jobs ideally ( Peter Dixon, Maureen Rimmer, 2016). Our economy would actually decrease 3 to

6 percent if all undocumented workers were to leave this country (Peter Dixon, Maureen

Rimmer, 2016). This is a very terrifying statistic. What exactly would we do if 3 to 6 percent of

our economy were to just vanish?

Take the small community of Tucson, Arizona for example. This little city is inhabited with so

many undocumented immigrants in every corner. Many of them are friends, neighbors, brothers,

and most importantly human. Many of these people are imbedded in our community and are very

important to all of us regardless of their legal status. The truth of the matter is that much of the

immigration that is happenings here illegally is out of desperation because of the current state of

the work force in Mexico (Gomberg-Muñoz, R. , 2015). Many of these immigrants are coming

just so they can fend for themselves and their family hence why so many illegal immigrants are a

part of our work force. In fact, many studies show that illegal immigrants would leave back to

their native country if only legal bindings didn’t keep them in the United States. Since illegal

immigrants are here illegally there is no way for them to cross back into their country without

find an easy way back into the Unites States to get to work. It is clear that these immigrants boost

our economy so why not use this to our advantage? There are multiple solutions that can be

taken to resolve our issue.

coming into our country illegally is happening, lack of jobs in other countries. Studies show that

in a time where the United States allowed work visas for Latinos that wanted to work in the

states, illegal immigration was at a surprisingly low rate (Maureen Rimmer, Peter Dixon, 2015)

Creating work visas again in a time where undocumented immigration is a problem could

effectively lower illegal immigration for the US all while still getting the advantages of having

workers willing to work lower paid jobs and creating input. (Maureen Rimmer, Peter Dixon,

2015) Also Mexican families can stay in their home country and come and go for work while

breaking no laws and providing for their families. This can be a great solution to a majority of

our solutions but what about the other millions of undocumented immigrants that want to live

here in the states? The answer is plain and simple. Create a system that helps undocumented

immigrants help their legal status by becoming legal.

communities like Tucson to find some kind of escape from the corruption in Mexico and they

feel like they stand a better chance her in the US to survive (Gomberg-Muñoz, R. ,2015). Since

the corruption in Mexico is so corrupt almost half of the country is living in poverty and wealth

is distributed super unfairly (Ella Cady, 2015). Mexico has surprisingly been growing their

economy by 2-3 percent per year but this is not beneficial to the half of the country that is

shrouded in poverty. (Ella Cady, 2015) Mexico is the land where the rich conquer and the poor

are forgotten. Many illegal immigrants want to escape that and be a part of our country that is

prosperous and cares about their citizens (Gomberg-Muñoz, R. , 2015). Many Americans are

against the idea of legalizing these immigrants because of their “violent nature” but studies show

that majority of the Illegal immigrants that are in our country do not have violent tendencies. In

the same time frame that illegal immigration tripled to almost 11.2 million (1990-2000), the

crime rate in our country actually was reduced by 48%. Also, only 1.6% of foreign born males

are in jail here in the US where 3.3% of native born males are in US jails. (Alan Gomez, 2015).
The proof is there. Many of these undocumented immigrants are here for a better life not for

violence. The moment that we realize that these people are hard workers and people that are

willing to make a difference, is the moment we can start making a change for these people. We

could start by making a system that makes it easier for illegal immigrants to change their legal

status. Let’s make it so that they have guidance and motivation to stay on the right track to

citizenship and then we can have so many hard working and loyal citizens living here helping to

make this country again. Our values as a country has never been to be hostile towards others that

have differences from us. We have always been seen as the country where anything is possible.

Let’s be just that and do the impossible for our country and for these people. “This land is your

land. This land is my land. This land was made for you and me.”

Works Cited

Becerra, D., Quijano, L. M., Wagaman, M. A., Cimino, A., & Blanchard, K. N. (2015). How
Immigration Enforcement Affects the Lives of Older Latinos in the United States. Journal
Of Poverty, 19(4), 357-376. doi:10.1080/10875549.2014.999969

Alvarez Gutiérrez, L. (2013). Costo Alto de Política Anti-imigrante Sobre la Familia y

Gomberg-Muñoz, R. (2015). The Punishment/El Castigo: Undocumented Latinos and US

Philbin, S. P., & Ayón, C. (2016). Luchamos por nuestros hijos: Latino immigrant parents strive
to protect their children from the deleterious effects of anti-immigration policies.
Children & Youth Services Review, 63128-135. doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2016.02.019
Willis-Esqueda, C., Delgado, R. H., & Pedroza, K. (2017). Patriotism and the impact on
perceived threat and immigration attitudes. Journal Of Social Psychology, 157(1), 114-
125. doi:10.1080/00224545.2016.1184125

Gomez, A. (2015, July 16). Voices: How violent are undocumented immigrants? Retrieved
February 15, 2017, from http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/07/16/voices-
gomez-undocumented-immigrant-crime-san-francisco-shooting/30159479/

10 Facts About Poverty in Mexico. (2016, August 01). Retrieved February 15, 2017, from
https://borgenproject.org/poverty-in-mexico-2/

Dixon, P., & Rimmer, M. (2016, November 27). Why deporting millions of people would be bad
for U.S. workers. Retrieved February 15, 2017, from
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-deporting-millions-of-people-would-be-bad-for-
us-workers-2016-11-25