Illegal Immigration Debate

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Illegal Immigration Illegal Immigration AP Government 1/22/2012 AP Government 1/22/2012 Matt Graves Matt Graves With the number of illegal immigrants in the United States now over 12 million and rising, immigration is once again a main topic of debate. A reason it is becoming more of an issue is because illegal immigrants are now spreading far beyond the normal states such as California and Texas. Complaints about illegal immigrants are daily and can be heard on many news, radio or any other media outlet. In recent presidential elections, along with the economy and other issues, illegal immigration has become a very dominant theme, particularly on the republican side. Even…show more content…
The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) argues that illegal immigrants cost U.S. taxpayers more than 100 billion dollars every year. They say this is because of a variety of different reasons. First of all, illegal immigrants are undocumented workers which the government pays, but they don’t pay the income taxes back. The director for FAIR says that "The study of the fiscal effects of illegal immigration clearly demonstrates that it is a burden on the American taxpayer”. He also says that if more forceful implementation of immigration laws were put in, each U.S. household could save in the neighborhood of a couple thousand dollars per year (Fahmy, 1). Some people even go as far in saying that it isn’t the war that is making us bankrupt, it is really illegal immigration. Some statistics that the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) came up with based on census data says that 11 billion to 22 billion dollars is spent on welfare for illegal immigrants each year by state governments. Illegal households pay only one third of taxes compared to non-illegal households. 1.9 billion dollars a year are spent on food stamps and other sources of food-assistance programs, along with free school lunches for illegal aliens. These statistics are as of 2009 (Livingston). And it isn’t only the people who cross the border illegally who are the problem. A lot of illegal immigrants will bring their kids or have them once they are here, kids need to go to school and because the illegal immigrants usually have no money they get things for free like going to school, paying taxes and even school lunches. In the most heavily populated areas with illegal immigrants, these costs add up fast and end up being a lot of many that legal U.S. citizens eventually pay for in higher taxes. With the increase
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