Immigration to the United States

The controversy over immigration policy has become one of the most pressing issues in the United States. There are many misconceptions when it comes to immigration but the United States actually benefits from immigration by allowing foreigners to live study and work here. There are immigrants who have earned their citizenship in this in this country and are making the best of it and then there are those who come to this country just to cause harm. We as a people need to understand the difference between the two and to realize that there are some benefits to immigration. Those who are opposed to immigration always claim that immigrants take on jobs, lower wages and drain too much tax money. According to a study by Public Policy Institute of California, â€Å"immigrants who arrived in the State between 1990 and 2004 increased wages of native workers by an average of 4%. † What they do not realize is that jobs that immigrants take on are jobs that most people in America would not take whether immigrants were here or not. There are plenty of economic benefits to immigration reform. I’ve learn that â€Å"immigration reform would increase U. S. GDP, which is Gross Domestic Product by at least 0. 84 percent. This would translate into at least a $1. 5 trillion cumulative increase in GDP over 10 years. † Immigrants contribute to our society, maybe not as much as those who were born here but there are some positive things that come out of immigration. Not all immigrants are here to cause terror and threaten the lives of other human beings. A study that was done by the Immigration Policy Center in Washington D. C. howed that â€Å"immigrant men between the ages of 18 to 39 had an incarceration rate five times lower than people born in the United States. † There are people who have worked hard to earn to citizenship and should not have to be placed into a certain category just because they were not born here. Also there is a diversity value to having immigrants living in the United States. Having people live here who were not brings about cultural and social changes along with opinions and ideas for new developments. The benefit of immigrants moving here is to have a better life. They would not have moved here if they did not imagine a better standard of living. The benefit may not be for the United States but there is a benefit for the immigrants. Immigration has its advantages and disadvantages. Some of the disadvantages include† greater poverty, increase in crimes, lower unskilled wage, education costs, and a few others. † On the other hand, the positive benefits of immigration far outweigh the disadvantages in many ways such as the economic advantages and the cultural advantages. More often than not most immigrants come to the United States looking to make a better life for themselves. Some immigrants go through so much trouble just to be turned away. When applying for citizenship there is a lot of paperwork and intense interviews. Immigrants who are here illegally and just wanted to cause harm do not deserve to live here in America, but those who have worked hard to earn their citizenship deserve the same rights as someone who was born here.