Illegal Immigrants ChiKuang Lee Section 608

Growing Problem As much as 11 million illegal immigrants are in the U.S. currently. Out of the 11 million illegal immigrants, only about 119,000 of them were forced to leave the country. According to the Census Bureau, about 400,000 new illegal immigrants sneak into the U.S. every year. In 1999, the Immigration and Naturalization Service deported 1.6 million people who were not eligible or attempting to get in the U.S.

Harm to Society Just by entering the U.S. illegally, they are all criminals. In 2002, they cost over 1.6 billion dollars in court systems and federal prisons. In 2002, they cost over 2.5 billion dollars in Medicaid. Illegal immigrants’ children cost the federal and state billions of dollars because they don’t know how to speak English. Just their medical bills are over 2 billion dollars a year!

Terrorist Threat Due the war in Iraq, many worry that some of the illegal immigrants can pose a threat. Many fear more and more people sneaking in are planning a plot on our country. If the government illegalized illegal immigrants than we could be legalizing terrorists to stay in our country.

Lost Jobs Hundreds of people a day cross the border to go find a job in the U.S. Many jobs are lost and taken my illegal immigrants. They are willing to take a lower wage which is a big disadvantage for a normal citizen. Many would love the chance to even get a job!

Prevention Some in the Senate purposed a bill that would build a fence in the border. A way to limit the number of illegal immigrants working is to get employer verification. The increase of security around the border can prevent anyone from sneaking in.

The Border Fence On October 26, 2006, President Bush approved a law that would build a 700 mile fence. This way no one can illegally come in the U.S. that easily. The safety of the our people and jobs would be much safer with the fence preventing anyone from coming in.

Number of Illegal Immigrants California- over 2,200,000 Texas- over 1,000,000 New York- almost 500,000 Illinois- over 400,000 Florida- over 300,000

References Camarota, Steven. "Poll First to Offer Public a Between House, Senate Plans." U.S. Border Security. 3 May Nov D'agostino, Joseph A. "Coming to America." U.S. Deports Only 1% of Illegal Aliens. 26 Mar Nov "Estimated Number of Illegal Immigrants by State." Estimated Number of Illegal Immigrants by State. 11 Nov Gamboa, Suzanne. "Bush Signs U.S.-Mexico Border Fence Bill." Bush Signs U.S.-Mexico Border Fence Bill. 26 Oct Nov Hess, Amy. "Helpful or Harmful to America." Illegal Aliens: Helpful or Harmful to America? Nov