Crossing The Line Essay Topics

Submitted By afalla8457
Words: 1560
Pages: 7

Ada Allaire
Hosuk Lee
Geography 1101
27 Sept 2013

When the phrase “illegal immigration” is brought up, most people have very different opinions on how it affects our country and how the issue should be addressed. The problem is that no one has really even figured out how to approach the issue. Illegal immigration can be economically devastating to a country. It can cause America to loose more money on taxes, hospitals lose money in charity treatment, and the nation is forever in the bilingual debate. It is estimated that the United States spends three billion dollars a day to just to incarcerate illegal aliens. In the film, Crossing the Line: Border Stories, they give a statistic saying that it costs twenty to forty percent more to teach students who are not already fluent in English and there are 2 million illegal immigrants to worry about in public schools. The United States should spend more time and money promoting legal immigration and easing up on the process of becoming a legal resident instead of spending trillions of dollars on attempting to stop the problem. Spending more money on promoting legal immigration could do positive things for the country and its economy. One of the biggest things that I agree with in the film was what Richard Barrera, president of the S.D. Unified School Board, had to say about the impacts of education on all children. Even though it costs more money to teach children who are not already fluent in English, Barrera believes that the contribution made by immigrants out way the costs and legal or not, the upcoming generations need to be educated. Unfortunately, for some, immigration is the only way parents can give their children a decent education. In the end, is it children that hold our future. It is our jobs to help them grow into productive members of society and with out immigration there would be no way for these children to obtain the right schooling. America is known as a melting pot because there is a wide variety of people that have migrated to this country and continue to practice their beliefs. Immigration offers numerous opportunities to interact with people of other countries and gives a base for people from different backgrounds to come together. Also some of the most intelligent and ambitious individuals who are unhappy with their own countries bring their skills to America, which results in helping our community. Along with increasing the diversity of the country, adding an additional group of cheap labor adds to the flexibility of business, leading to cheaper prices, better quality products, and higher profits. Immigrants tend to take the low- paying jobs that most Americans refuse to do at low wages. In the film, Crossing the Line: Border Stories, they bring up how immigrants in California would rather be homeless and waiting for work then be back struggling in Mexico. Immigrants are willing to work very hard for low wages because it is better compared to the hardships faced in their old country. Not only do these jobs help out immigrants, but also immigrants can help out businesses. Most businesses with a majority of immigrants has employees get cheap work, do not have to pay for health care, and do not need to worry about paying taxes. The undocumented contributions they make actually do more good then harm to our nations economy. In the film they also mention how undocumented contributions have been generating the most tax revenue because immigrants pay more taxes than they receive. Immigration also improves the overall image of America, as it is seen as a welcoming country. People come to the United States to seek out opportunities, political and religious freedom, and to start a better life. The United States is a perfect place for struggling people all over the world. In America, people have the ability to do or be anything they want to be. People can vote for what they want while other countries provide no opportunities