Today in America, there are around eleven million illegal immigrants and Mexicans make up a little over half of the group. Immigration has been a common problem for numerous years. This has also been a popular topic in recent political debates and news reports. Immigrants come over to the U.S. for a variety of reasons, whether for family, make more money, employment opportunities, better education, or other reasons. For my research, I want to focus on Mexican immigrants and why they immigrate to the U.S. and how they affect the U.S. economy. Immigrants coming in to the U.S. can affect the lives of citizens in a variety of ways. There are pros and cons to those reasons, and I want to research how those reasons are either pros or cons in the U.S. and how they are affecting jobs, income, health care, education and other important aspects of daily life. 

In the U.S. we are given many rights and opportunities that allow the citizens of the U.S. to live the life they want, to prosper, and live a future of freedom. Millions of people come to the U.S. to achieve this "American Dream". This has been a saying for many years that illustrates the endless possibilities that one can achieve while living in the U.S. "With the hope of a better life, or a chance to achieve the so-called "American Dream," many Mexicans want to leave their native country" (Montorio 5). Mexicans, just like many other people, come to the U.S. for a variety of reasons. The U.S. offers better jobs, health care, living, education, and so many more opportunities to help someone achieve.  "The impetus for many Mexicans to leave their native land for the U.S. has to do with economics. Mexico is one of the poorest countries in the world and it shares a border with one of the wealthiest" (Montorio 5). If a Mexican can enter the U.S., they have a better chance at living a more successful life that they desire in the U.S. 

Border patrol to keep immigrants out of the U.S. has been a popular topic for many years now. According to "a recent study by the Center for Migration Studies found that since 2007 most undocumented immigrants came here legally on what we call nonimmigrant visas (visitors, students, temporary workers) and overstayed" (Wernick). Immigrants looking to come to the U.S. for education, employment, or visitation for business reasons can request a visa from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS). The process to getting a visa and being put on the wait list to enter the U.S. can take many years. If the immigrants gain permission from the USCIS to enter the U.S. with a visa, "each employment category for admission has different requirements, conditions, and authorized periods of stay" that must be adhere to in order to stay in the U.S. (Working in the U.S.). 

Students looking to come over for educational reasons can pick from two types of visas and must be able to meet specific criteria's. These criteria's include: "be enrolled in an "academic" educational program, a language-training program, or a vocational program, be enrolled as a full-time student at the institution, be proficient in English or be enrolled in courses leading to English proficiency", as well as many other criteria's (Working in the U.S.). This visa allows students who are illegal immigrants to enter the U.S. for an opportunity of education there.  

Those looking for work can choose from either temporary or permanent work. These both have many visas to choose from, each with their own specific criteria's and responsibilities that are required of them. For a temporary worker to gain a visa, their "prospective employer must generally file a nonimmigrant petition on your behalf with USCIS" as well as fill other requirements to classify them for the visa (Working in the U.S.). Permanent workers have five different visas to choose from. "If you have the right combination of skills, education, and/or work experience and are otherwise eligible, you may be able to live permanently in the United States" (Working in the U.S.) Illegal immigrants who are looking to find work in the U.S. can apply for one of these visas to give them the opportunity they are searching for.  

Lastly, for those looking to come for business reasons stay for only a short time of a maximum of six months. There are a few different classifications of visas someone can request for business. Each have their own specific criteria's that one must pass. Some of these criteria's include: "to conduct activities of a commercial or professional nature. For example, consult with business associates, negotiate a contract, or attend a business conference" (Working in the U.S.).  Any immigrant looking to gain a visa to the U.S. can apply through the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and many overstay their visit, which is why we have such a large number of undocumented immigrants from Mexico. 

With over 11 billion immigrants living in the U.S., they obviously make an effect on the U.S. economy. In a recent study by the Pew Research Center, they found that in 2014 "the U.S. civilian workforce included 8 million unauthorized immigrants" (Krogstad, Manuel, Passel & Cohn). This indicates that majority of the illegal immigrants in the U.S. are participating in the workforce. "Immigrants are typically attracted to growing regions and they increase the supply and demand sides of the economy once they are there, expanding employment opportunities" (Nowrasteh). Immigrants are creating a better life for themselves, as well as benefiting the U.S. economy. Even with the abundance of jobs that the U.S. offers, "immigrants likely compete most directly against other immigrants, so the effect on less-skilled native born Americans might be very small or positive" (Nowrasteh). This means that chances are immigrants aren’t taking jobs from native-born who are looking, but they are creating more jobs and allowing Americans to work for the job they are seeking for. 

Another way that immigrants affect to the economy is by paying taxes and health care. "According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, in 2014 undocumented immigrants paid approximately $11.7 billion in state and local taxes. That includes more than $7 billion in sales and excise taxes, $3.6 billion in property taxes, and $1.1 billion in personal income taxes" (Wernick). This research illustrates how immigrants are contributing to the economy by the extra billions of dollars they are adding. The billions of extra dollars that are supplied by the illegal immigrants paying taxes put more money in the economy to help it grow. Immigrants also contribute to systems like Social Security and health care systems. "Earnings by undocumented immigrants result in a net positive effect on Social Security financial status generally, and that this effect contributed roughly $12 billion to the cash flow of the program for 2010." (Wernick). With the $12 billion that are contributed, plus the additional dollars from taxes and other health care systems, the illegal immigrants are boosting the economy. 

Jose Vargas is an illegal immigrant who was sent to the U.S. from Mexico as a child by his mother, so he could live a better life. He came to California to live with his grandparents. While living in California, he quickly learned the difference in the life he lived, versus a child who was a U.S. citizen. It started when he realized his green card, and all of his documents to be in the U.S., were fake. He was determined to work hard and be rewarded with citizenship. Being an illegal immigrant still, his life was different. "It means going about my day in fear of being found out. It means rarely trusting people, even those closest to me, with who I really am" (Vargas). He worked hard and was given many opportunities in the U.S. like, attending school to get an education, having many successful jobs, and eventually receiving a driver's license and social security card. He achieved all of these things that he would’ve never been able to have the opportunity of if he was never sent to the U.S.

Immigrants coming to the U.S. has been happening all throughout history. Majority of illegal immigrants have migrated to the same states. According to a study by the Pew Research Center " About six-in-ten unauthorized immigrants live in the six states with the largest populations of unauthorized immigrants—California, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, New York and Texas" (Krogstad, Manuel, Passel & Cohn). These states range from having 450,000 to 2,350,000 illegal immigrants living there. "California has by far the largest number of unauthorized immigrants, about 2.3 million in 2014" (Krogstad, Manuel, Passel & Cohn). While these are large number of immigrants to be living in the U.S. illegally, many of these immigrants have been there for around 10 years or more. "In 2014, unauthorized immigrant adults had lived in the U.S. for a median of 13.6 years, meaning that half had been in the country at least that long. Only 7% of Mexican unauthorized immigrants had been in the U.S. for less than five years in 2014" (Krogstad, Manuel, Passel & Cohn). According to this research, it demonstrates that the illegal immigrants in the U.S. currently have been dwelling there for many years. 

With Donald Trump just being elected President, immigration has become a very popular topic. Throughout the entire election, Trump made it very evident he was anti-immigration and this would be one of the first things that he fixes when he gets elected into office. After only a short period of time being in office, Trump has already started his steps to kick the immigrants out and keep more from coming in. On January 23, Trump signed three orders which would take the steps to get the immigrants out of our country and make sure they don’t have an easy way in. 

The first order is on border security. The purpose of this order is to "obtain operational control of the U.S.-Mexico border by planning, designing and constructing a wall along the length of the border" (Warren & Kerwin 2). One of Trump's main debates was building a wall to keep the Mexicans from crossing over the border. During an interview with CNN, he described this wall by stating: "we're going to build a wall. It's going to build a real wall. It's going to be a wall that’s powerful and that people won't be going under or up or around or anything else. And were going to have a door in the wall and people are going to be coming in legally" (Trump).  The problem with building the wall is it will be "expensive, difficult to construct, ineffective in deterring illegal migration, harmful to the environment on the border, offensive to personal property rights, and a threat to the economic and social well-being of border communities" (Warren & Kerwin 3). From the list, this proves the many issues with building a wall with no promise that it will even work to keep immigrants out. There are many ways that immigrants come into the U.S. other than just sneaking over the border. 

The second order is on interior enforcement. One part of this order is enforcement priorities. This order "expands the priority list of noncitizens subject to deportation to anyone charged of a criminal offense(...), who abused any program to public benefit, who is subject to a final order of removal, but has not departed" (Warren & Kerwin 8). This is a broad order that gives authorities more power and enforcement to crack down on immigrants for little offenses. Another part in this order is to increase ICE agents by 10,000. This would be a very costly order with the "anticipation of the launching of more aggressive enforcement activity throughout the country, including raids, which spread fear in immigrant communities" (Warren & Kerwin 9). While this might aid in removing illegal immigrants who are criminals from the U.S., this would still leave a large percent of the immigrants who would be left over.   

The last order is on refugees. This order was titled for "protecting the nation from terrorist attacks by foreign nationals" (Warren & Kerwin 10). This order has a long step-by-step process that is used to make sure we are protected with the right people in the U.S. They are suspending visas and doing extreme vetting on refugees. This process will "suspend the issuance of visas to countries designated as being detrimental to the interest of the United States for 90 days" (Warren & Kerwin 10). The second part to this order which "requires implementation of uniform screening standards for all immigration programs, to include assessments such as whether an individual is a risk, will be a positive contributor to the nation, and has the ability to make contributions in the national interest" (Warren & Kerwin 10). This order is made to keep the countries safety in our best interest. This will provide us with safe enforcers that are guaranteed to protect our country.   This process will take years to accomplish and is believed to discriminate against people from certain countries or religions, specifically Muslims, because of the 9/11 attack. 

The large number of immigrants coming from Mexico make an impact on the U.S. in various ways. Some people believe they are causing major problems and ruining the U.S., while other believe they should be given a chance and their impact doesn’t affect the U.S. too greatly. Different ways the Mexican immigrants are affecting the U.S., whether someone believes in a positive or negative way, is by job availability, health care, education, income, and other ways. For my essay, I hoped to make awareness to the many problems in our country about illegal immigrants. I want to make known both sides of immigration: the pros and the cons to the different issues I found in my research. I also wanted to make aware the views of an immigrant's life through the eyes of an immigrant as well as how someone like President Trump views them. All of these issues have been aware in the past as well as the future. Throughout history these issues remain and opinions are changed. 
