Hernandez 1

Hernandez, Jocelyn
English 28
Holly Batty
21 November 2016

Argumentative Essay
Immigration has been an important issue in the 2016 Presidential Campaign. I personally
endorsed Hillary Clinton's immigration reform policies because it coincided with my value/belief
system. After reading a story as powerful as Enrique's journey its hard to see how difficult
immigration life really is. This is a powerful statement because my parents are immigrants and if
people like me don't know the truth behind immigration, I can't imagine how ignorant the rest of
our country must be. Clinton not only planned to extend existing laws protecting immigrants she
also wanted to use legislation to protect immigrant rights. However, as strong as I may feel about
Clinton's policies, we all know that it is not ideal to talk about how much I support them because
as of November 8th 2016, Donald Trump became our president elect. Trump is a man that does
not support immigration as much. His policies include; plans to build a wall which he does not
plan to pay for, ensure that counties take back their deported, and put a stop to any policies
making immigrant life bearable. Although I believe we are far better off excelling as a
country with Clinton's policies it is important to seek a silver lining, we must recognize that
as promising as Trumps policies may sound, it will be extremely difficult to execute them.
I feel that we are better of excelling with Hillary Clintons immigration policies because
she believes in immigrant rights and recognizes that they are substantially beneficial for our
country. One main reason that I support Hillarys policies is because she recognizes immigrants
as the people they are. This is reflected in her policies, she planned to introduce comprehensive

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reform for immigrants, enforce immigration laws humanely, and do everything possible under
the law to protect families. For Clinton (as a politician) it is extremely rare to see how passionate
she is about protecting immigrants simply because most see immigration as a problem. Hillary
also realizes that immigrants are important to our economy and we have always thrived off our
immigrants. As she states in a speech given on November 6, 2016 We can build an economy
that works for everyone, or stack the deck even more for those at the top. We can keep America
safe through strength and smarts or turn our backs on our allies, and cozy up to our
adversaries. We can come together to build a stronger, fairer America, or fear the future and fear
each other.. Clinton is fully aware that immigration is not going to stop. Rather than neglecting
them she knows that with the right legislation immigrants will be an asset to the economy. She
acknowledges that without workers the economic wage gap in our country will only grow. It is
crucial to realize what immigrants do for our country.
Donald Trump, however has repeatedly stated that immigrants are a burden to our
country so it is necessary to deport them. Many who stand by him aren't aware of the financial
responsibility it would take to do that. For many immigration is a concern because many
immigrants don't pay taxes. They also state the our current immigration policy cost too much.
Well, according to the conservative American Action Forum, or AAF, they argue that it would
take 20 years to accomplish a mass deportation program, with a full cost between $420 billion
and $620 billion.. Clearly a mass deportation would not only cost taxpayers double of what they
pay now (which they stated is already too much), but it would also take two full decade to
execute. This only proves that if only more information was shared about a mass deportation it
would not be as popular. Another way Trump plans to keep immigrants out of America is by
building a wall along the southern border of Mexico. Improving and securing the southern border

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is not a relatively new concept nor is it one that is widely supported. Although during Trump's
campaign it did gain some momentum only because he declared that Mexico would pay for the
wall. When Trump and the president of Mexico, Pena Nieto, meetup to discuss international
issues, Trump released information stating that they did not discuss the topic. However according
to an article published by the Wall Street journal called, Trump goes to mexico the author states,
... Pea Nieto later claimed the two had discussed the wall and who would pay for it -- and he
had made it clear to Trump it wouldn't be Mexico.". Clearly Trump did not want to admit that
Mexico was unwilling to pay for the wall because he knew that if he did it would make him look
like a liar. Statements like this only go to show that Trumps policies are unfathomable simply
because they are based on silly ideas, that would be nearly impossible to execute.
Another policy Trump plans to implement is ensure that other countries take their people
back when our country orders them deported. This is something that is not under Trumps control.
In order for him to implement this law he would have to reach an agreement with other countries
and according to general history it is something that is not simple to do. In the book Enrique's
Journey by Sonia Nazario, the author speaks of Enrique, an immigrant boy from Honduras who
is making his way to America in spite to find his mother. He runs into many obstacles on his way
north, especially in Chiapas Mexico with street gangster who are described to be in the most
dangerous gang; Mara Salvatrucha (MS). The author says, Many MS gangsters settle in
Chiapas after committing crimes in the United Sates and being expelled to their home countries
in Central America.. This clearly indicates that many countries aren't willing to accept their
native even if they are unwanted by a different country. Just because Trump says that he will
ensure that other countries will take back the deported doesn't mean that they will. It is extremely
hard to make people return to their home country because in some instances it is very dangerous

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there that they rather run the risk staying in that country. Nazzario clearly states this in her book
after interviewing a twenty-five year old from El Salvador who says, The police in Chiapas are
more forgiving of gangs than those in El Salvador or Honduras.There, the police don't arrest
you. They kill you,. Even after this young man is able to return to his home country in central
America he would rather not because of how dangerous it is. He decided to stay in Chiapas
Mexico and be imprisoned rather than returning to his home country This shows that not only are
the countries unwilling to take back their people, the people themselves are unwilling to go back.
In conclusion, Trump and Clinton have very opposing views on immigration. We
explored how Clinton's policies are better in every aspect possible. How her policies are better in
treating immigrants respectively and acknowledging the good they do for America. There is no
doubt that Clinton has a better stance on immigration. Her policies show she is aware of the
atrocities immigrants face like those that are mentioned in the book Enrique's Journey. And,
although Trump has vocalized his opinions against immigration he has showed that he is no
possible threat because of the inconsistency of his policies which lack credibility.

Work Cited
1. "Hillary Clinton on Immigration Reform." Hillary for America. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2016.
2. @jamestaranto. "Trump Goes to Mexico." The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company,
01 Sept. 2016. Web. 12 Dec. 2016.
3. "Immigration." Donald J Trump for President. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2016.
4. White, Author E. M. "Tag: Immigration." Hillary Clinton Speeches. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec.
2016.
5. Nazario, Sonia. Enrique's Journey. New York: Random House, 2006. Print