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The United States is a nation of immigrants. Only the Native Americans are indigenous to this continent, and at some point in their history they may also have come to this region from Asia across the Bering Strait or by some other means. In this century, consecutive waves of immigration from different parts of the world have created tensions with Americans already living in this country, for they believed that the immigrants were taking their jobs, gorging the welfare roles, and somehow reducing their overall standard of living. Even many of those who support the values immigrants bring with them have emphasized that no nation can allow unfettered crossings of its borders and that some sort of immigration policy has to be set in place and enforced, though there may be large differences among groups as to what is an acceptable policy. The issue has also been raised as to who is an American and what does it mean to become an American. This is often bound with the issue of whether one can be an American and not speak English, and English-only movements have developed with the answer that one cannot.
Much of this discussion is clearly motivated by a concern that immigration, legal and illegal, is out of hand and that too many people are coming into the United States. Usually it is thought that there are too many because they are taking jobs that Americans could otherwise have and thus damaging the economy. At a time of slow economic growth, such arguments are especially compelling. However, it is my personal belief that the immigration of foreigners into America has been more beneficial for our economy than detrimental, and I therefore support the acceptance of legal immigrants into our country.
One of the most common arguments against immigration is that the foreigners are taking our jobs and channeling money out of our economy. In contrast though, immigrants are a critical part of the U.S. workforce and contribute to productivity growth and...