Immigration
Good or Bad?
Does Immigration improve or hurt the economy?
There are 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States ("Facts...About Immigration"). Out of these Immigrants, they are 16% American workforce (Roth). This means they start businesses which open up jobs, and they will create more of a demand for supplies (Roth). The Immigration Policy Center predicts that Lantino and Aisan immigrants purchase up to $1.5 trillion and $775 billion up to this year. These small businesses started by immigrants generated more than $776 billion annually (Gray). They also take up the jobs that Americans don't want and they create more jobs for Americans. They also make Americans get paid more. Between 1990 and 2004, increased immigration caused American's earnings to increase by 0.7% (Gray). Immigration does improve the economy.
How Many Are There?
There are 41.3 million immigrants in the Untied States in 2013. Out of these 21.6% are illegal immigrants ("Statistics on Immigration"). Picture from ("Illegal Immigration, Population").
Where Did They Come From?
In 1960, the majority of the immigrants were from Europe. Then, in 2013 only 13% of the immigrants were from Europe. In 2013, over half of the immigrants were from Latin America and the Caribbean ("American Immigration, then and now").
Where Are They Now?
Half of the illegal immigrants live in California, Texas, Florida, and New York. Their population range from 900,000 to 2.7 million. The other states with larger population are New Jersey, Arizona, Georgia, and Illinios. These eight states make up more than two-thirds of undocumented immigrants (Passel, Cohn).
What is the population of illegal Immigrants compared to the population of America?
The population of illegal immigrants and Americans increases from 1969 to 2011. The highest number of illegal immigrants in the U.S. is in 2007, with 11,780,000. The highest ratio between illegal immigration and American population is in 2006 and 2007 with 3.9%. So, the population went up from 1969 to 2007, where it peaked, and then slowly went down from 2007 to 2011 ("Illegal Immigration, Population").
Does Immigration reform help?
Obama has a plan for immigration reform. His plan will help 4 million illegal immigrants become legal. Out of 11.4 million illegal immigrants, 6.2 million are not eligible to apply, 1.2 million are covered and 4 million could be covered by the change. This will help the illegal immigrants but most observers predict 50-75% or less participation to Obama's plan because Obama won't grant full legal status (Gittleson). The government will have 4 million new tax payers but many experts predict of the 4 million, half of the illegal immigrants have fake papers and are already paying taxes (Rosenfeld). So, it will help the government but not substantially.
Immigration is Good
"The lesson of these 236 years is clear – immigration makes America stronger. Immigration makes us more prosperous. And immigration positions America to lead in the 21st century. And these young men and women are testaments to that. No other nation in the world welcomes so many new arrivals. No other nation constantly renews itself, refreshes itself with the hopes, and the drive, and the optimism, and the dynamism of each new generation of immigrants" - President Obama
This is what President Obama said at a naturalization ceremony in July, 2012 (Gray). President Obama thought immigration was good 3 years ago and after my research I can confirm that it is good.