Drain on the U.S. Government

According to a study in 2002, illegal immigrants actually are found to cause a financial drain on the government. The article listed many major findings to help prove this point. The first thing they said was, "Households headed by illegal aliens imposed more than $26.3 billion in costs on the federal government in 2002 and paid only $16 billion in taxes, creating a net fiscal deficit of almost $10.4 billion, or $2,700 per illegal household." Where is that $10.4 billion dollars supposed to come from? How are U.S. citizens supposed to try to help close the gap and what will it cost us? I know that I'm not a fan for higher taxes and if that is the only way that we can make up for that money then I will vote against that plan. Why should I have to pick up someone else's slack? Another major finding was, "With nearly two-thirds of illegal aliens lacking a high school degree, the primary reason they create a fiscal deficit is their low education levels and resulting low incomes and tax payments, not their legal status or heavy use of most social services." I found this really interesting because I would have never thought that the reason they cause such a strain is their education. It never occurred to me that if they were properly educated they would have the opportunity to get better jobs. I never thought it was possible for illegal immigrants to get a good job in America since people just give them whatever else is left and the jobs that they don't want. I also learned that "Costs increase dramatically because unskilled immigrants with legal status—what most illegal aliens would become—can access government programs, but still tend to make very modest tax payments." This statement silences people who say that all the illegals in this country should automatically become citizens. If they were automatically citizens, but still uneducated, they would still be making the same amount of money but this time they would have access to things like welfare that they didn't have before. This also makes me question why they should have access to welfare when American citizens need that money. This topic is starting to make me understand why people have such a problem with illegal immigrants. I always thought that saying they take away from Americans was a lame excuse. I still think it is but I can understand now where these people are coming from because these illegals are taking away from us what is not theirs.


Steven A. Camarota. "Illegal Immigrants Create a Drain on the U.S. Government." Current Controversies: Illegal Immigration. Ed. Debra A. Miller. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2007. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Deerfield High School. 5 Feb. 2010 .

One Man's Argument for American Social Security

The article I read was called "Illegal Immigrants Should Not Receive Social Security Benefits" by Paul M. Weyrich. After reading what Weyrich had to say, I find myself agreeing with him. Weyrich talked about a term called "totalization". What he was talking about was talks between Mexico and the United States about totalization. This is the idea that an illegal immigrant from Mexico would be able to come into the United States and work for a few years then go back to Mexico and finish the rest of his working years there. Then after he grows old and retires in Mexico he can get American Social Security because of the few years he spent working in the US. This frustrates me as an American citizen. I will be turning 17 years old in month. I have had a job since I was 15. For two years I have had to have some of my pay check taken from me and given to social security. By the time I get old and can actually see this money again I will have most likely put in almost half or maybe more than the total amount of money I have made in my whole working life. Why should someone who isn't even a citizen or who doesn't even live in this country get to benefit from the years of hard work I've put into this system. There is already speculation about whether or not Social Security will even be around by the time I can benefit from it. Why should the little amount that I'm entitled to be shrunken even more? Weyrich quoted a US Congressman saying, "The Federal government may actually allow someone who actually came to the United States illegally, worked less than the required number of years to qualify for Social Security, and then returned to Mexico for the rest of his working years, to collect full U.S. Social Security benefits while living in Mexico. That is an insult to the millions of Americans who pay their entire working lives into the system and now face the possibility that there may be nothing left when it is their turn to retire." I have no problem with immigrants. Personally I come from a family of immigrants and couldn't care less if there were any in our country or not. But the idea of someone coming in and staying here for a few years, then going back to the country he came from, and taking my money is insane. If someone wants to live and work in the United States and receive Social Security in their retirement years then they should plant themselves here. They should take all the steps necessary in becoming an American citizen so that they actually deserve the money they are taking away from me.

Weyrich, Paul M. "Illegal Immigrants Should Not Receive Social Security Benefits." Current Controversies: Immigration. Ed. Louise I. Gerdes. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2005. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Deerfield High School. 5 Feb. 2010 .

The First Seven Years

The First Seven Years by Bernard Malamud shows the thoughts and feelings of immigrants in the United States. This is the story of a Polish immigrant in America living as a shoemaker trying to live out the American Dream. He wants to be able to provide for a good life for his family and make sure that his daughter grows up with all the opportunities and advantages she can get. In my research I found out that many immigrants did this. They would come to this country and even if they were unable to make a great life for themselves they made sure their children were able to grow up and be very successful. The shoemaker in this story tries to push his nineteen year old daughter to continue her education and go to college. She is a bright girl who loves to read and learn. The shoemaker feels that the best thing for her to do is to further her education so that she can grow up educated and find a good job for herself and be happy and successful. The daughter is hesitant and wants to get a job instead of go to college. When the shoemaker learns his efforts to push education for his daughter are not working he tries finding her an educated man to settle down with. After setting up a college boy with his daughter, the shoemaker learns that his daughter has no interest in this boy and felt he is too materialistic. After speaking with his assistant, another polish immigrant, at the shop, the shoemaker learns that his assistant has been in love with the young daughter for all five years that he has worked at the shop. After a small argument about marriage to his nineteen year old daughter, the shoemaker tells his assistant that he must wait two more years for his daughter to turn 21 before asking her hand in marriage. Though this may not be the American dream he sees for his daughter, he knows that it will make her happy and will give her a fulfilling life so he allows this to happen.

Where I'm At Now

After some initial research into immigration in America one theme seems to be occurring in everyone article I read, the theme of hate. Most Americans were extremely intolerant of immigrants and immigration into this country. Even the government passed laws banning certain people all together, and others that limited the number of others. As I go deeper into this research project I will probably start to focus my attention on hatred toward immigrants and various anti immigration movements. There seems to be plenty of information about why people didn't want immigrants out there so this seems logical to make my main focus for this project.

Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882

In 1882 the US took drastic measures in preventing people from entering the country by passing the Chinese Exclusion Act. This law prevented the Chinese people from immigrating to the US for a period of ten years. This act was passed because "in the opinion of the Government of the United States the coming of Chinese laborers to this country endangers the good order of certain localities within the territory thereof." Americans, and even other immigrants, felt that the rapid immigration of such large numbers of Chinese took away many jobs for people already in the US. The government's plan to ban the Chinese was very effective. For ten years no Chinese were allowed to immigrate or even come to America. To make sure this rule held up, the government would even punish any American boat captain who helped the Chinese sneak into this country. The offender could "be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars for each and every such Chinese laborer so brought, and may be also imprisoned for a term not exceeding one year." This is a pretty heavy fine to have to pay just for trying to help someone else out so it made most people not want to risk any sort of punishment. The American government meant business when they said all Chinese were banned for this country. They had no problem punishing "any person who shall knowingly and falsely alter or substitute any name for the name written in such certificate or forge any such certificate, or knowingly utter any forged or fraudulent certificate, or falsely personate any person named in any such certificate." Anyone that tried to create a new American identity for the Chinese sneaking in to our country were punished the same way that any boat captain was in they were caught. The United States was so set on keeping all Chinese out and opening up jobs for Americans that no one from China was even allowed to visit for fear that they would stay in the country and start a life here illegally. The only exception to this rule was if a Chinese government official or diplomat visited the country on business. In that case they would have all their personal servants checked out and make sure that they left with the same number of people they came with. This was a very intense way to filter immigration but I would not be surprised if we see something like this with immigrants from Mexico today since many people feel the same way about those now as they did about the Chinese then.

"Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 11 Feb. 2010. .

A Gentleman's Agreement

In 1907 President Theodore Roosevelt made and agreement with the Japanese government. The agreement that was made was to stop all immigration from Japan to America. The Japanese government was afraid that it would lose to many young men and that the Japanese military would suffer from the small numbers. Japan would only issue passports to the people that were not laborers because they wanted people the go back to Japan if they were to visit. The only exception to this rule was to people who already had family living in the United States or had previous interests in the farming industry in this country. Hawaii was a separate case for the Japanese because it was much closer than the mainland of America. When dealing with those islands it was up to Japan whether or not they wanted to give passports to their people. They decided to "be limited to former residents and parents, wives, or children of residents. This agreement stayed in place until the US tried to limit immigration even more with the Immigration Act in 1924.

"Theodore Roosevelt: Gentleman's Agreement (1907)." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 1 Feb. 2010. .

Voice of Anti-Immigration

The anti-immigration movement started around 1870 when many immigrants started coming to America. Between 1870 and 1920 America took in 27 million immigrants from Southern and East Central Europe. These immigrants were different from the normal Anglo-Saxon culture. Many people did not like these new people and tried fighting against it. "Anti-immigration activists sought to keep certain classes or races of people out of the United States, fearing that the Anglo-Saxon culture of the country would dissolve in the influx of new people." These people were so afraid that they went to Congress to try and stop the immigrants from coming in. In 1921 and 1923 Congress passed the Quota Acts which limited the amount of immigrants allowed in the country each year from any one certain country. Many of the Americans in this time period were against of the people they referred to as "polygamists" and "anarchists" because they did not want the religion and culture they had established in the US to be dirtied or changed in any way. Many people also believed that the immigrants would not be able to assimilate into America. "It was tied to attempts to "Americanize" immigrants with citizenship classes, literacy classes, and even cooking classes." The only way that the American citizens would allow in immigrants was if they were able to take away all of their foreign culture and bring them up to the Anglo-Saxon norm. "Ultimately, all immigrants experienced some assimilation, with such groups as Scandinavians becoming completely Anglo-Saxonized" Even today many people still feel that we should not allow immigrants into this country legally or illegally. In the 1980s and 1990s political figures asked for "renewed restrictions on immigration, especially in the light of increased illegal immigration from Mexico and Cuba." Even though there are not as many people trying to immigrate into this country as there were about 100 years ago, there is still a big issue with the idea of new citizens. As long as people continue to immigrate, there will always be a big debate and loud voices from anti-immigration activists.

"anti-immigration movement." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 1 Feb. 2010. .