Argument Outline: Why Illegal Immigrants Should be Allowed in the US

Argument Outline

I. Illegal immigrants are good for the US economy in many ways.

a. Illegal immigrants are good for the labor market.

i. Illegal immigrants fill many jobs that US workers cannot, will not, or do not want to take (Lerman and Schmidt).

1. This benefits legal workers, because it allows them to seek higher-paying, more rewarding alternatives (Nadadur).

2. This benefits illegal workers because it gives them an opportunity to pursue a better quality of life in the United States than they experienced in the country they fled.

3. Because of the prevalence of illegal workers in the U.S. workforce, deporting them would devastate the economy.

a. 2005 statistics indicate that illegal immigrants fill:

i. 20% of farming occupations (Nadadur)

ii. 17% of cleaning occupations (Nadadur)

iii. 12% of construction occupations (Nadadur)

iv. 11% of food preparation occupations (Nadadur)

ii. Illegal workers are cheaper to recruit and retain than legal workers. Thus, when businesses have an opportunity to contract with illegal workers, they reduce their labor costs, enabling them to provide goods and services at a lower cost to consumers (Nadadur).

iii. A government bears cost—including education, healthcare, and infrastructure—when an individual comes of age within its borders. When an adult immigrates, the national labor force gains a worker, but it has avoided the costs associated with “raising” that worker. This is a net benefit to the United States as a destination country (Nadadur).

b. Illegal immigrants pay many of the same taxes that lawful residents pay, and remain ineligible for many government benefits (Dalmia). This provides additional revenue that can fund programs that benefit legal U.S. residents.

i. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that 50-75% of illegal immigrants pay local, state, and federal taxes (Merrell).

c. Illegal immigrants spend their income in the economy, furthering economic growth, and even create new markets for U.S. businesses to target (Nadadur).

II. Most illegal immigrants are otherwise law-abiding.

a. Illegal immigrants do not commit more crimes than legal residents. (Wang)

b. Violent crime has decreased dramatically since 1986, the last time amnesty was granted to illegal immigrants (Sampson).

c. Some studies indicate that illegal immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than their domestically-born counterparts (Sampson).

III. Unrealistic Proposition

Even among those who oppose amnesty or other programs that help illegal immigrants, the deportation of the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States today is viewed as an unrealistic proposition (Pew).

a. Deportation would rip families apart and create needless suffering for individuals and communities. This suffering would also create a national and international public relations nightmare for the government.

IV. Public opinion counsels that illegal immigrants should be given a chance to stay.

a. According to a 2013 Pew Research Center/USA Today study, 71% of Americans support giving illegal immigrants a chance to stay in the U.S.

V. Immigration is a natural human right (Napolitano).

Though it can be regulated, treating immigrants who have done nothing wrong other than crossing an arbitrary line in the sand flies in the face of personal liberty and personal freedom.

a. Natural rights are inherent in the human condition—rights that all people possess simply by virtue of being human beings. The idea that a government must provide “authorization” for an individual to move around as he sees fit undermines liberty and human dignity.

b. This is particularly the case for illegal immigrants who were brought to the United States when they were too young to have any say in the immigration or came as victims of kidnapping, human trafficking, or under other duress.

VI. The Federal government is not obligated to prevent illegal immigration.

a. Article 4 of the United States Constitution provides that the United States “shall protect each of [the States] against Invasion.”

b. Various Federal courts have held that illegal immigration does not constitute an “invasion” for purposes of this obligation (California v. United States).

Works Cited

California v. United States, 104 F.3d 1086, 1091 (9th Cir. 1997).

Dalmia, Shikha. "Illegal Immigrants are Paying a Lot More Taxes Than You Think." ReasonFoundation. N.p., 1 May 2013. Web. 10 Nov. 2013.

Lerman, Robert I., and Stefanie R. Schmidt. An Overview of Economic, Social, and Demographic Trends Affecting the US Labor Market. Washington, D.C.: Urban Institute, 1999. Print.

Merrell, Melissa. "The Impact of Unauthorized Immigrants on the Budgets of State and Local Governments." CBO. Congressional Budget Office, 6 Dec. 2007. Web. 10 Nov. 2013.

Nadadur, Ramanujan. "Illegal Immigration: A Positive Economic Contribution To The UnitedStates." Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 35.6 (2009): 1037-1052. Print.

Napolitano, Andrew. "Immigration is a Natural Right." Reason. N.p., 31 Jan. 2013. Web. 10Nov. 2013.

Pew Research Center/USA Today. "'Borders First' a Dividing Line in Immigration Debate." PewResearch Center for People & the Press. N.p., 23 June 2013. Web. 9 Nov. 2013.

Sampson, Robert. "Rethinking Crime & Immigration." Contexts Winter 2008: 28-33. Print.

Wang, Xia. "Undocumented Immigrants as Perceived Criminal Threat: A Test of the MinorityThreat Perspective." Criminology 50.3 (2012): 743-776. Print.