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(Letter from Zach Fisher)
Senator Boxer: I'm a high school student at The Bay School of San Francisco, and have watched the passionate debate about immigration from both inside and out of my U.S. History class. Although the debate is extremely personal, and so complex that even the otherwise united Republican Party is divided over it, the real debate over legal and illegal immigration will boil down to the weighing of it's benefits, socially and economically. While many people's views change according to whether legal or undocumented immigrants are the group under consideration, my belief is that both illegal and legal immigration make our nation healthier economically, and therefore we should stop focusing on how to end illegal immigration and focus instead on expanding legal immigration. A recent New York Times article cited an interesting study about the economic effect of illegal immigrants. A common argument made by individuals who favor a more restrictive immigration policy is that because many illegal immigrants do not pay taxes, illegal immigrants cheat the American government out of services. This recent study pointed out the fallacy of the argument (that was in the first place was based mostly on anecdotal reasoning and not data) by conclusively showing that the illegal immigrants who do pay taxes easily compensate for the few services which illegal immigrants actually make use of—for example, public education. Perhaps the illegal immigrants are not as detrimental as was once believed. We cannot shut out illegal immigrants, because to do so would be detrimental to our nation's economic well-being. Additionally, immigrants—some legal but especially the undocumented—fill a substantial niche which simply will not be filled by Americans. Nobody else will do the menial jobs which many illegal immigrants fill. Immigrants are believed to make up 12% of the US population but 14% of its workers. Fanatically enforcing illegal immigration policy would cause an unspeakable economic problem for our country, simply because Americans are too proud to take these jobs, or they already would have. We cannot reasonably over-penalize illegal immigration for this reason. Of course, the debate over illegal immigration also has issues other than the economy attached to it, the nation's security being one of the most interesting ones which might have helped to bring the immigration debate into national attention again after 9/11. Many individuals worry that terrorists might be bringing weapons across the border. Recent statistics claim that tens of thousands of immigrants crossing the border each year are not Mexicans, and that billions of dollars in drugs cross the border. There is nothing theoretically to prevent weapons from crossing the border. Nevertheless, to protect our nation's borders in response to a vague threat at the expense of our economic health is simply not an acceptable compromise. Until there is solid evidence that not only could it happen but that it is likely to happen, we will have to make the best compromise possible and leave our borders as open as they are now. Demographic data gives us a good reason to not panic about legal immigrants, whatever restrictionists claim. Today's immigrants are significantly younger in age, and therefore more useful to the American workforce than the immigrants of 40 years ago. While only about 5% of the foreign-born population in America was in their early 30s in 1960, more than 13% of the foreign-born residents today are in the same age range. As immigrants become younger on average, a greater percentage will immediately enter the workforce, thereby benefiting the economy. As a percentage of the total population, legal immigrants make up 4-5% less today than at the turn of the 20th century. This period was one of economic growth for America; there is a link between the amount of immigration and our economic health. Keeping this in mind, if for no other reason than the economy, legal immigration is a factor in America's success economically. What needs to be done now is to reduce the frivolous spending on border security, for example, that which you voted for in the Immigration Reform Bill. While it has become politically popular to support "strict enforcement of national security" over a more level-headed, pragmatic approach, you may want to reconsider the benefits that illegal immigrants undoubtedly have. With the rest of the bill, concerning the legalization of current illegal immigrants, I have no issue. In another similar bill, namely the Triple-Layered Fencing Amendment, you voted for the creation of triple-layered fencing and vehicle barriers across 700 miles of the southwest border with Mexico. I think that such ridiculous measures as these are a waste of tax-payers money. However, I support your vote on the Foreign Student Public Education Amendment, because I believe that the undocumented immigrants still deserve the same educational opportunities which legal immigrants receive. What needs to be done is to reduce spending on border security and focus instead on encouraging legal immigration and bolstering the rights of illegal immigrants. Only in this way can our nation be prosperous and sensible. Thank you very much for your consideration in this matter. Respectfully, |