Illegal Immigration

Many immigrants make a lot of money in construction, lawn maintenance and all sorts of manual labor jobs. The fact is that many of those jobs start out at $10.00 per hour. Many of the immigrants that are doing these jobs are very proficient at them and the more skill they have the more they get paid, it is not uncommon for these people (illegal or legal) to make $25.00 an hour or more. This is plenty of income for them to support themselves and their family and still be able to pay taxes. I have seen in my various interactions over the years with illegal immigrants that a good percentage of them do actually pay taxes. Contrary to popular belief these illegal immigrants have the ability get a taxpayer identification number regardless of their immigration status and pay taxes just like everybody else. Most of the people I have met that do not pay taxes are afraid that if they go through the process to get their taxpayer number they will get deported and are unaware that this isn't the case. I do agree that there needs to be some kind of reform to streamline the immigration process. These hard working, taxpaying people should have some hope of being able to live in this country and have the same rights as natural born citizens. At the same time I also feel that there should be some kind of outreach to get those that do not pay taxes to start, maybe offer a quick way to get work visas, greencards, or a fast track naturalization. The people that do not pay their taxes should be treated the same way that any citizen is for not paying their taxes (i.e. tax levies, tax liens, jail).

I also think that as a wealthy nation America should reach out and try to help improve the political, economic, and social conditions in Mexico and the other countries where most of our illegal immigrants are coming from. While we are helping out, somewhat, I think that as a whole the people of this nation should be more concerned with the problems of our neighbors and do everything we can to help. If the conditions of these people's respective countries are improved and they can have the same financial, medical and social opportunities as we do here they will be less likely to leave their native country and come here. Over time this would drastically reduce the number of immigrants, especially illegal ones, and bring in more tax dollars to help educate the these people and their children so that they can be productive members of our state and country. They will be able to get the assistance they need to live and hopefully be able to get financial help for higher education so that they can find better jobs, earn a higher income, and help the economy as well as the society in which they live.

Sources: US Immigration Support