Abstract

Illegal immigration is a very pertinent issue in the current day society of the
US. Every year thousands of illegal immigrants cross our border in search of new
opportunity and a better life for them and their families. This issue is viewed in
many different ways, some see it as one of the biggest problems that our country
faces and others see it as a new opportunity to grow our nation. When discussing
immigration issues, viewing the issue from both sides can provide new light to the
situation. Illegal immigration is a problem, every state spends millions of dollars
every year providing services to people who do not pay taxes or vote. On the other
hand, these illegal immigrants help to boost our economy and help our overall
GDP because of their contribution to the workforce. The following facts will help
to display the issue from both sides of the spectrum, the first side being mass
deportation to combat illegal immigration and the second being comprehensive
immigration reform to allow those who are already here, an easier way to attain
citizenship.

Downfall
Illegal immigration is seen as a very large problem by many people for many
reasons. Marc Rosenblum, in his article on the issues of immigration, says that
immigration affects the countries that people are immigrating from. The people
that leave their home countries are often the most skilled workers. They leave their
country and then that economy suffers due to the lack of skilled laborers. Another
major issue with illegal immigration, as displayed in the image below, is that every
state spends billions of dollars every year to pay for the expenses of illegal
immigrants. This is also an issue because these illegal immigrants do not pay taxes;
they do not contribute back to the society that is paying for them to live here. As
Oliver Anderson states, in his book about illegal immigration, the unauthorized
resident alien population (commonly referred to as illegal aliens) rose from 3.2
million in 1986 to 11.9 million in 2008(Anderson 107). These 11.9 million
people are all living off of the resources provided by the US while not contributing
back to the government. This is an issue because it takes away from the resources
that tax payers can receive. This is one of the main arguments against illegal
immigration because so many people see it as unfair. The evidence provided here
shows that illegal immigration is a big problem in the US, it affects many legal
citizens in a negative way.

Opportunity
Illegal immigration seems to portray a large amount of opportunity for
growth to many people. Marc Rosenblum, in his article about illegal immigration,
says that immigration expands the workforce in America and increases wages
across the board. Illegal immigrants actually help to stimulate our economy and
grow our overall GDP. As the graph below suggests, it would be more detrimental
to our GDP, to deport every illegal immigrant in our country, than to reform
citizenship policies and let them become legal. To most people, we would rather
help our countries GDP rather than hurt it. Another misconception about illegal
immigrants is that they are responsible for a large amount of crime. J. L. Spenkuch
explains in his article that, Almost three quarters of Americans believe that
immigration increases crime. Yet, existing academic research has shown no such
effect. Using panel data on U.S. counties, empirical evidence found a systematic,
but small impact of immigration on crime. He explains that this is because the
consequences for committing crimes are much greater for an illegal immigrant. If
they are caught, they not only face the same charges that a citizen would, but they
also face deportation, a major deterrent for most illegal immigrants. All of these
examples show how illegal immigration is not as detrimental but actually helpful
to our society.

Conclusion
Illegal immigration is an issue in our country, no matter which side you
agree with. It is a topic that causes political strife across the board every year. If
you feel that illegal immigration is a downfall or an opportunity for our country,
the facts show that the issue needs to be dealt with. Out of the two options as a
permanent solution for illegal immigration, mass deportation of all illegal
immigrants or immigration reform, I believe that first option is a more feasible idea
as far as pleasing current citizens and being fair to immigrants. If we amended the
legal immigration process it would allow for the current illegal immigrant
population to become real members of society while still contributing to our GDP.
All in all, our country needs to take action to deal with the issue of illegal
immigration, hopefully the facts presented here can help you choose an appropriate
side of the issue.

Bibliography
Anderson, Oliver C. Illegal Immigration: Causes, Methods, and Effects. New York: Nova Science, 2010. Print.
Cornelius, Wayne A. "Death at the Border: Efficacy and Unintended Consequences of US Immigration Control Policy."
Population & Development Review Population and Development Review 27.4 (2001): 661-85. Web.
Romero, Fernando. Hyperborder: The Contemporary U.S.-Mexico Border and Its Future. New York: Princeton Architectural,
2008. Print.
Rosenblum, Marc R. "Moving Beyond the Policy of No Policy: Emigration from Mexico and Central America." Latin American
Politics and Society 46.4 (2004): 91-125. Web.
Spenkuch, Jrg L. "Understanding the Impact of Immigration on Crime." SSRN Electronic Journal SSRN Journal (n.d.): n. pag.
Web.
Image 3:
http://www.lvcriminaldefense.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/illegal-immigration-nevada.jpg
Image 2:
https://www.google.com/url?
sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjskpuEwdTLAhXLPhQKHZejCrkQj
RwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.immigrationcounters.com
%2F&psig=AFQjCNGd5lhUzLohtzl28C8nG7oUGxNguw&ust=1458743467961413
Image 3:
https://www.google.com/url?
sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwj2q4PKwtTLAhXKvBoKHWXBCs
MQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmediamatters.org%2Fblog%2F2014%2F04%2F10%2Fdeporting-longstandingundocumented-immigrants
%2F198845&psig=AFQjCNEk_OnB_tDNCDwy7lTKCqW163VZjQ&ust=1458682118849114

Tony Sedillo
English 120
Project 2 Reflection
Project 2 was a very eye opening experience in many aspects as far as an English
project goes. Working in groups, online, using Facebook as a discussion platform still feels
different, it is a very cool way of interacting with classmates regarding English topics, like
research and how to conduct research. Also, the peer review online, using a discussion board on
Learn is an interesting way of conducting a peer review process, especially because I have only
ever done them in a person to person situation. In general, it is reassuring to have the IAs review
our work too. I am used to only having the instructor/professor review my work, so the
perspective of a person who is an expert in the subject but not necessarily the teacher of the class
is helpful because they provide helpful information on how to better improve our work. Due to
these things and multiple other things, I have grown in the subject of research papers according
to the following SLOs.
SLO C was involved greatly with Project 2. I first discussed with my peers what my
research would consist of and what form it would be in over an internet discussion board on
Facebook. I then began conducting research online viewing different articles and ebooks in order
to build evidence that supported the different stances I formed over the issue in my project. I the
synthesized this information into written a form of a paper. After I had a rough draft of my paper,
I shared it with my peers in an online discussion board. I then created an academic poster board
to display the final form of my research project. Throughout this whole project I used many
different mediums in order to plan and execute my research project. I also learned more about
this SLO because the research poster was something that I was not very familiar with before this
project. I had always thought of a research paper being strictly written text. Expanding my
horizons through the display of my research paper as a research poster definitely helped me to
grow in this SLO.
SLO G was one of the more relevant SLOs for project 2. I used many sources like
books, articles, and academic journals to research and explore on a topic that I had personal
beliefs of. I used these sources to build a stance on an issue from the facts that I found and then
compared it to what I believed personally and they were totally different. As it turned out, my
personal beliefs did not match what stance I had formed on the situation and I found this very
interesting. While first discussing my issue on the Facebook discussion forum, I brought up the
idea of viewing of illegal immigration from two different sides as a way to make my research
paper less biased. I began to consider this and it seemed like I would have difficulty writing the
side opposing what I viewed. Surprisingly, I had a harder time writing what I believed than the
opposing side of the issue. This made me think differently about the issue and actually led me to
change my stance on illegal immigration, a very eye opening experience.
SLO H also came into play over the course of Project 2. In order to conduct research to
write my paper I had to find various sources that explored illegal immigrants as negative and
positive. In doing so, I had to consider the perspectives of multiple different people and how they
supported their positions with research that they had done. I then used these positions to build an
argument for both the positive and negative sides of illegal immigration. As far as multiple
technologies and mediums goes, I viewed books and articles online and then transcribed them

into a paper form and then share that online in a discussion board form. From there, the paper
form was transformed into a research poster. I used many various mediums of composition to
conduct my research and display the different stances that I had formed on my issue, all
contributing to my growth in SLO H.
Throughout Project 2 I had many growing experiences involved with English class. I had
never composed a research poster and this really opened me up to the different forms of
composition that can be involved with research projects. Also, viewing the issue of illegal
immigration from two different sides has altered my view on the subject. Seeing the different
facts provided with two different sides, I now feel differently than when I first started the project.
Project 2 was a great learning experience and led to growth for me in several different ways.