Adalyn Olthuis

Miss Levesque

Communications

30 March 2017

Undocumented Immigrants Path to Legalization

In the United States (U.S.) today, illegal immigration is a controversial topic. It was

heavily debated by the candidates in the recent 2016 presidential election When discussing

whether or not undocumented immigrants have the rights to a path to citizenship, the debate

could go on for hours. As a result of deportation, U.S. born children with undocumented

immigrant parents live with the constant fear of their parents being taken away from them. On

top of that, one of the main reasons for immigration is because people are suffering in their home

countries. Although many believe this to be true, undocumented immigrants are not criminals

either. Therefore, it is extremely important we do not take away undocumented immigrants

rights to becoming citizens.

Contrary to what many people believe, undocumented immigrants, more often than not,

have never committed crimes. First of all, entering the country as an undocumented immigrant is

not a legal offense, but rather a civil offense (Planas and Foley). In fact, undocumented criminals

do not commit crimes at higher rates than native-born Americans. Instead, it is more likely to

find native-born Americans, in comparison to undocumented immigrants, in jail (Stribley). When

people say that undocumented immigrants are criminals and have committed crimes, that is false

information. ...roughly 1.6 percent of immigrant males age 18-39 are incarcerated, compared to

3.3 percent of the native born, wrote the American Immigration Council based off a data
analysis from the American Community Survey in 2010. The information that immigrants are

criminals and or more likely to become criminals is false. It does not make sense to deny

undocumented immigrants rights to becoming citizens because of the incorrect fact that they are

all criminals.

There are many reasons as to why people immigrate to the U.S., poverty, conflict in their

home countries, racial and religious persecution, suffering, and to creatin better opportunities for

their children, among many more (Nuez). Robert Stribley for the Huffington Post wrote, These

families have suffered in ways that no one should have to and no should deny their personal pain

and anguish. If someone comes to the U.S. to escape pain and conflict, there is no reason why

their right to legalization should be denied. People work exceptionally hard to immigrate to the

U.S. to escape the problems and suffering in their homes. Should they be deported because of

this? The answer is no. No one should have to go through all that these people do, only to have

it all thrown away. Though not all crimes lead to deportation, many do. For instance, being

caught driving under the influence may not lead to deportation, but overstaying a visa will

(Bray). Firearm offense can also lead to deportation along with several other crimes. Instead,

people in these situations should be assisted by citizens and legal residents of the United States,

including the government, to gain permanent residency and later on, citizenship.

If an undocumented immigrant has a U.S. born child, then there is a large possibility of

them being split up from their families. About twenty-two percent of all deportations in the

second and third quarters of 2011 were parents of citizen children (Barro). For children who lose

parents to deportation, it has been recorded that the effects are similar as to what happens when a

parent is sent to prison. The child will move from family member to family member or become
homeless, along with developing psychological trauma and losing focus in school (DePillis).

Splitting a child up from their parents is one of the worst experiences they could go through,

whether it be to deportation, prison, death, etc. Imagine losing parents to deportation only

because they wanted to create better lives for themselves and their children by immigrating to the

U.S. For some children, this is reality, not their imaginations. However, this can be prevented if

we do not take away undocumented immigrants rights to legalization.

Undocumented immigrants should not have their rights to legalization denied. The

argument that undocumented immigrants are criminals is in fact false. Furthermore, many people

immigrate to the U.S. today to create better lives for themselves. Additionally, if an

undocumented immigrant has a child in the U.S., that child automatically becomes a citizen.

However, if the parent is then deported, the child is split up from one or both of their parents,

devastating their lives. It is important that instead of denying their rights, we assist

undocumented immigrants on the path to becoming permanent residences and later American

citizens.
 Works Cited

Barro, Josh. "Just What Do You Mean by Anchor Baby?" The New York Times. The New York

Times Company, 28 Aug. 2015. Web. 09 Dec. 2016.

Bray, Ilona. "Top Legal Reasons You May Receive a Deportation (Removal)

Notice."Lawyers.com. Martindale Network, n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2017.

DePillis, Lydia. "The U.S. Has Deported More than Half a Million Parents since 2009. Heres

What Happens to Their Kids." The Washington Post. WP Company, 21 Sept. 2015. Web.

13 Dec. 2016.

Ewing, Walter, Daniel E. Martnez, and Rubn G. Rumbaut. "The Criminalization of

Immigration in the United States." American Immigration Council. American

Immigration Council, 13 July 2015. Web. 12 Dec. 2016.

Nuez, Christina. "Why People Migrate: 11 Surprising Reasons." Global Citizen. Global Poverty

Project, 04 Dec. 2014. Web. 12 Dec. 2016.

Planas, Roque, and Elise Foley. "Here's Every Argument You'll Need For Your Immigration

Debate This Thanksgiving." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 26 Nov.

2014. Web. 12 Dec. 2016.

Stribley, Robert. "Undocumented Immigrant Does Not Equal Violent Criminal." The Huffington

Post. The Huffington Post, 24 Aug. 2016. Web. 12 Dec. 2016.