Illegal Immigration Into The U.S

Illegal Immigration has been a problem in the U.S. for decades. However, it’s always filled with Anti-Trump propoganda, misinformation spread by the media, and people commonly ignoring the facts to push misconceptions.

	I will be talking about unbiased, raw facts about Illegal Immigration into the U.S. First, let’s define Legal vs Illegal Immigration.

Immigrants who have become citizens of the United States are known as “naturalized citizens.”

Being a legal citizen allows you to:

“vote in federal elections.”
“travel with a U.S. Passport.”
“run for elective office."
“participate on a jury.”
“become eligible for federal and certain law enforcement jobs.”
“obtain certain state and federal benefits not available to noncitizens.”
“obtain citizenship for minor children born abroad.”
“expand and expedite their ability to bring family members to the United States.”[19]

Immigrants who illegally live in the U.S. are known as “unauthorized,” “illegal,” or “undocumented” immigrants.


unauthorized immigrants include people who enter the United States through:
illegal means like crossing the border without inspection.
legal means with a tourist, student, or work visa but overstay the timeframe allowed by the visa.

Under federal law:

illegally entering the U.S. is generally a criminal offense and also carries civil penalties.
unlawful presence in the U.S. is generally a civil violation and can result in deportation but not a prison sentence.

Next, let’s cover common misconceptions:

Most Illegal Immigrants are from Mexico. This is a completely false fact with no backing. Since 2007, the number of Mexican illegal immigrants living in the U.S. illegally has declined by 2 million. Mexican Immigrants make up only 47% of all undocumented immigrants in the U.S.

Illegal Immigrants cause less violence then citizens
Although it is true that they cause overall less crimes, they also are more likely to commit more serious crimes like murder. A study in Arizona showed that undocumented immigrants are 146% more likely to be convinced of serious crimes.

However, other statistics are unavailable, inaccurate, and combine legal and illegal immigrants, making this an impossible point to defend or support.





How many undocumented immigrants from Mexico are living in the U.S.?
	As of 2017, that number is 4.9 million.
How many undocumented immigrants are in the U.S., total?
	There are about 10.7 million.
How many of these undocumented immigrants are deported each year?
	In 2017. 192,334 illegal immigrants were deported.
The immigration problem is brand new.
	This is false, this is a problem we’ve been battling for decades. In fact, 83% of illegal immigrants have been living in the U.S. for more than 10 years.
How Much do Illegal Immigrants cost the U.S. each year?
	80-140 billion, estimates say.
What Could we do with that money?
	Free College for all would cost $47 billion.


Border Wall
It would cost about $22 billion, but would it work?
Are there any cheaper, more effective methods?

What about a high security fence with increased military presence?

What about opening up our border?

In 2016, 106,000 illegal immigrants crossed the border by literally walking through it.

700,000 more got here through another means.

Can anybody tell me what that means is?

Overstaying Visas

People get a Work Visa, or a student visa, and when it runs out, they dont leave.

They Stay.


A few weeks ago, Ice raided thousands of homes to find known criminals who had overstayed their visas.


A couple weeks ago, Ice raided an agricultural labor force in Monterey County.

Hundreds of people were arrested, and about half of them were released after proving they are in fact, U.S. citizens.

What about the other half?
Their kids were in school and had no one to pick them up.
They were stranded.

Yet people blamed the government, and Ice.


People say illegal immigrants come here to have a better life, but why not come legally?

To become a legal citizen, you need a green card.

How long does it take to get a green card?

It takes anywhere from 1-3 years. That gives you permanent residence in the U.S.
To become a citizen, however, it takes longer. You must live in the U.S. for a minimum of 5 years, and then it takes anywhere from 6 months to a year to become a citizen

From start to end, it takes anywhere from 6 and a half, to 10 years to become a citizen.

If most illegal immigrants have been here for over a decade, as i previously mentioned, why haven’t they started the process?

To avoid taxes?

As aforementioned, illegal immigrants dont pay income tax, costing the U.S. lots of money.

As Kevin mentioned yesterday, they do however pay sales tax.

Overall, the amount they cost the u.s. heavily outweighs the amount they pay in sales taxes

Many people say they dont have that time.
Let me ask you, during those raids at the farm, why weren’t their kids arrested and deported, too?

Because they're citizens, because they were born here.

These illegal immigrants clearly had the time to start and finish this process, but didn’t.