Preview

Open and Closed Borders: the Effects on America

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
4103 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Open and Closed Borders: the Effects on America
Open and Closed Borders: The Effects on America

by

Savannah Miller

American Studies English 6C

Mrs. Teisha Sherrill

March 20, 2013

Introduction

“The Census Bureau estimates that 450,000 illegal immigrants enter the United States each year” (Point: Immigration). Why are so many immigrants coming here illegally? “Immigrants leave their country of origin for a variety of reasons including employment, economic, social conditions, military conflict, and political turmoil” (Immigration Restrictions). What is the government doing to stop it? Each year many immigrants enter the United States, a good number of them enter illegally, crossing the border without correct documentation, and living in the United States pretending to be legal citizens and reaping the benefits. Will open borders benefit the United States? Or, will it increase crime rate and destroy the economy? What does amnesty mean and how would it effect the 12 million illegal immigrants and United States citizens? In this paper the reader will examine the effects of open borders and the pro and con sides to the issue.

Rhetorical Precis

Savannah Miller in her term paper, Open and Closed Borders: The Effects on America, argues that open borders in the United States not only will increase terrorism and crime rates, but will destroy the United States economy. Miller supports her claim by thoroughly explaining the effects of open borders on America, how it would benefit and how it would not, and the pros and cons to each side. The author’s purpose is to inform the reader of the effects of open borders, the good and the bad sides, in order to prove that open borders would lead to no good. The author writes in an informational tone for the reader.

Chapter One

Immigration in America has a long history. This is because since the beginning of the nation, people from all over have been coming to America. In a technical sense all Americans, apart from Native Americans, have



Cited: “Amnesty”. Merrian Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. 10 ed., 2002 Bowman, Jeffrey Cushman, C Immigration”. Points Of View: Immigration Restrictions (2011): 3. Points Of View Reference Center. Granite Hills High School Lib. Feb 21,2013. “Controversy over Immigration Policy”. Congressional Digest 35.1 (1956): 1. Points of View Reference Center “Immigration”. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com,n.d. Web. Feb 7. 2013 Issitt, Micah L View: Immigration Restrictions (2011): 1. Points Of View Reference Center. Granite Hills High School Lib. Feb 7, 2013 . Google. Web. 14 Mar. 2013. Pearce, Matt. “Point: Immigration Restrictions Must be Enforced”. Points Of View: Immigration Restrictions (2011): 5

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Best Essays

    The Truth Behind the Border

    • 2316 Words
    • 10 Pages

    8. 6) Kuttner, Robert . Illegal Immigration: Would a National ID Card help?. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1991. Print.…

    • 2316 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    Illegal Immigration

    • 785 Words
    • 4 Pages

    America has traditionally been known as a “melting pot,” welcoming people from different countries. However, during the past few years, there has been an influx of illegal immigrants that a lot of people view as a threat to the sovereignty of our nation. This flood of undocumented immigrants has spawned a debate about whether illegal immigrants should be allowed to cross national borders and stay in the country to start a new life. In June 2008, an article titled “Argument for Illegal Immigration” was published in the Los Angeles Times where Milton Friedman discusses illegal immigration and its benefits to our nation. According to the article, “…immigration, over the Southern border, can be a good thing for the economy.” While some people might agree that illegal immigration has its benefits, these benefits are outweighed by the drawbacks. The United States should put more money into security to patrol its borders because illegal immigration is more harmful than it is beneficial not only to the country, but also to the citizens of the United States.…

    • 785 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Immigration has recently been a brewing topic within the media and has caught many people’s attention. This issue has brought multiple political figures and opinions into-the spotlight, each accompanied by a plan and part of a political agenda. Central American immigration into the U.S. still remains unsolved despite the efforts of President Obama who had promised a comprehensive immigration reform. Some believe that America was built upon immigrants, and that smart immigration practices will benefit the economy and nation as a whole. However, others feel that immigrants hurt the nation by limiting the number of jobs available to Americans, and bring crime and public insecurity. Since the Immigration and Reform Act of 1986, both the Democrats…

    • 451 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The key concepts of this paper are social, economic and political effects of illegal immigrants who are allowed to stay in the United States. Social effects of immigration arguably include the position of new immigrants such as Vietnamese, Russian, Israeli, Mexican, Columbian, Chinese, Korean and other types of immigrants as criminals (Duignan, 2003). This means that America’s society is effected by the amount of immigrants in its jails. This argues that more immigrants increase the number of criminal activity, making the country less safe. Economic effects argue, for example, that native people of a country do benefit from immigration, because of productive relationships between immigrant workers and other factors of production (Borjas, 1995).…

    • 185 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Illegal immigration into the United States is currently massive in scale. More than 10 million undocumented aliens currently reside in the U.S., and that population grows by 700,000 per year. The outrageous number of immigrants stands to show the great attractiveness of America, though on the negative side it stands to show how dangerously open our borders really are. When three out of every 100 people in America are undocumented (or possess forged and faked papers), there is clearly a profound security problem. Even though they pose no real security threat, the presence of millions of undocumented migrants distort the law and effectively…

    • 585 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The United States was built on immigration when Christopher Columbus landed in Plymouth. The United States has always had a strong history concerning immigration. Not until the United States was declared a free country did immigration start to increase. For this reason the constitution was forced to place laws on who could enter, how long they may stay, and when they must leave (Immigration Law 1).…

    • 2007 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Best Essays

    Illegal immigration refers to “the migration of people across national borders in a way that violates the immigration laws of the destined country,” (ProCon.org, 2008). Barry Chiswick explains that illegal immigration occurs because of a discrepancy “between whom the United States will accept as an immigrant and the desire of some foreign nationals to live and work in this country,” (Chiswick, 1988). There are several forms of illegal immigration. Four of the most common include: undocumented/unauthorized entrants, immigrants who use fraudulent documents to gain entry, violation of the duration of a visa, and violations of the terms and conditions of a visa, (ProCon.org, 2008). The first form, undocumented or unauthorized entrants, involves people from one state who enter another state secretively in order to avoid inspection. These people may enter by sea, air, or land. In the second form, people present fraudulent documents at the time of inspection. The document may falsify a person’s identity, or otherwise support admission into the state. The third form of illegal immigration, violation of the duration of a visa, involves individuals who enter another state lawfully but intentionally overstay their period of legal stay. This causes their status to change to “irregular”. Finally, visa holders can violate the terms of their visa. Such violations include accepting employment, not attending school (if the visa is permitted for schooling), or committing crimes, (ProCon.org, 2008).…

    • 3344 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    1907-The Immigration Act of 1907 required aliens to declare intention of permanent or temporary stay in the United States and officially classified arriving aliens…

    • 4346 Words
    • 18 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Immigration is the act of leaving one’s country to settle in another. People from all over the world have come together in this land to form a unified country. This great nation of the United States of America has been built upon immigration. Year after year people leave their home country in hopes of finding something better in the United States. They leave their homes for economic, social, and political reasons, hoping that they will find the answer they are looking for here in the United States of America. Through struggle and hardship many immigrants better themselves and at the same time enrich the United States. They make economic, social, and political contributions.…

    • 2108 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Best Essays

    Immigration Reform

    • 1897 Words
    • 8 Pages

    In this paper I will discuss how the United States needs a new immigration policy that is based less on wishful thinking and more on realism. Spending vast sums of money trying to enforce arbitrary numerical limits on immigration that bear no relationship to economic reality is a fool’s errand. We need flexible limits on immigration that rise and fall with U.S. labor demand, coupled with strict enforcement of tough wage and labor laws that protect all workers, regardless of where they were born. We need to respect the natural human desire for family reunification, while recognizing that even family-based immigrants are unlikely to come here if jobs are not available. And we need to create a pathway to legal status for unauthorized immigrants who pathway to legal status for unauthorized immigrants who are already here so that they can no longer be exploited by unscrupulous employers who hang the threat of deportation over their heads.…

    • 1897 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Better Essays

    For many years, Immigration restrictions have been a major social issue that affects the United States in so many ways. This review argues against U.S. immigration restrictions. The U.S. stance on immigration policies will need to be reevaluated as it has been in the passed. Many believe Amnesty is a practical and just solution and should not be taken lightly. Granting Amnesty will be best for the U.S. economy and illegal immigrants. This review will also show it is time the United States government pass another Amnesty act similar to the IRCA (Immigration Reform and Control Act also known as the Simpson-Mazzoli act) passed in 1986. It will also reveal that some Americans are against illegal immigration and want the government to end it. It…

    • 1560 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    The issue of immigration is major debate in the united states. Although critics argued of negative impacts of immigrants such as overcrowding, drug trafficking and threatening…

    • 955 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Border Control In America

    • 494 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In the United States of America, known as the land of the free, Immigration has become more than a nuisance. A pattern has been speculated. This pattern shows a trend of crimes rates rising alongside the rate of illegal immigration. This has led to drastic measures by the Government funded Border Control agencies. Violence has risen by both sides of the dispute. The increased use of force to control our borders impacts relations not only externally, but internally.…

    • 494 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The topic of immigration, whether legal or illegal has been rife with discussion in the United States, since perhaps the first immigrants sailed from Europe in the fifteenth century. With decades of endless debate, the topic has remained in the forefront of the American voter’s mind for a very long time.Immigration has many talking points: arguments over the social, political, and future implications of immigration have plagued our society for decades. However numerous, among the most important are the economic effects that immigrants have on the United States of America. What positive effects do immigrants; both legal and illegal have on the economy of the United States of America?…

    • 1209 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Since there are many immigrants who cross the country’s borders illegally, the major complication is undoubtedly their legality. In many cases, these individuals who do not have proper documentation then fail to pay taxes, health and social insurance; in consequence, the country’s economy is being harmed. To be more precise, the country’s finances are mainly gained from taxes. As one might expect, people who avoid paying taxes cause a gap in the state’s budget. The economy then may suffer from a lack of resources; and as a result, the country is unable to provide welfare and services. Also securing individuals who do not actively work, in other words, do not make money, such as the elderly people, might become difficult.…

    • 512 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays