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Cassie Schafer
English 101-15
Professor Rowley
2/26/12
Argumentative Essay:
Increasing Population
“Through 2050, immigrants and their children will account for 60 percent of the
U.S. population growth” (Solis). Watching the news, reading the paper, and searching the
internet, we hear about all the illegal immigrants that come from Mexico to Arizona and
California. “Mexico is the leading source country and accounts for 1.3 million or about
40% of the total. In addition, California is the leading state of residence of the illegally
resident population with a total of 1.4 million people” (Espenshade 201). The media
provides us with the top layer of the immigration issues, but does not go into depth about
it. Immigration’s impact on society is much bigger than people think. Many people,
mainly educated people who understand the issue of immigration, argue that the
increasing population of immigrants will bring countless benefits to our nation. On the
other hand the media believes that the increasing population of immigration hurts our
nation. Weighing the pros and cons of this argument, the increasing population of
immigrants will ultimately help our nation with employment, education, and
improvement in businesses and as a nation we need to allow the immigrants to come into
America and make a home for themselves just like our ancestors once did.
Immigration is defined differently to every individual. According to the Oxford
English Dictionary, Immigrants are defined as, “People who come to live in a foreign
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country permanently” Many people oppose immigrants coming into our nation and
making a home for themselves. One of the major points they argue is that immigrants are
costing our nation too much money. As taxpayers we do not want to pay for someone
else to come and live in our country. It almost seems unfair for someone to come into our
country and live off of people who are already established in this country. It seems ironic
that half of the people who are already citizens of the U.S. do the exact same thing by
living off the government. Although money may be a big issue, it ultimately comes down
to what this nation would be without immigrants coming to the United States?
“At the end of 2006, the United States reached the population milestone of
approximately 300 million residents. This figure represents a body of people who, at one
time or another, arrived here from someplace else” (Garreau 232). If we sit down and
think about where we came from, we all may realize that our relatives migrated from
somewhere else to start a better life here in the United States. Is it such a bad thing for
other people to want to do the same thing as our ancestors did? “But wherever they come
from, immigrants make the trek to the United States for the same reason: to make a better
life for themselves and their children” (Solis). Not only does it seem hypocritical of our
society to not allow more people to migrate to America, but there are many proven
benefits that come along with the increasing population of immigrants here in America.
The benefits that come from an increasing population of immigrations are beneficial for
everyone.
One of the major benefits that arise through studies is education, specifically
making it affordable for everyone. The Obama Administration sees the benefits that
immigration has had on our country and is in the process of trying to help. “Through
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these investments, we are working to make college more affordable, revitalizing
community colleges, connecting graduates to businesses that need their skills…” (Solis).
Education over the last few years has sky rocketed so high that most people cannot afford
it. If they do choose to go to college they will be in debt for at least 20 years after they
graduate. No one wants to be in debt. Today, it seems as though most of the good paying
jobs require you to have at minimum bachelor’s degree. College seems to not be an
option anymore, unless flipping burgers at McDonalds for a career is satisfactory.
Making tuition more affordable would allow more people to attend college without the
fears of being able to afford it and ultimately achieve their hopes and dreams without the
financial burden. Many people argue that decreasing tuition would make allow more
people to go to college but over the last couple years the amount of people who attend
colleges around the world has continued to grow so it seems that the less expensive
tuition would allow a less burden of debt when the person graduates.
Over the last few years the unemployment rates seems higher than ever. “The
greatest impact of immigration will be felt in the economy” (Kotkin, Ozuna). Studies
have shown that the more our population goes up the more job openings will open.
“Between 2000 and 2050, for example, the U.S. workforce is projected to grow by over
40 percent” (Kotkin, Ozuna). With more jobs opening up it will provide more
opportunities for unemployed people to get jobs. Not only will the increasing population
of immigration help us with employment, it will help us in the workplace more than it
already has. People do not realize that immigrants have helped us tremendously in the
past when it comes to the workplace because of the many companies they have started
that opened many doors for us. “Not only is immigration part of the national narrative,
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but we’re especially delighted when these immigrants help create companies such as
Intel, eBay, and Google” (Garreau 235). “In California, they account for a majority of
such firms, particularly in technology (Anderson and Platzer 2006). Although many of
these companies are small, a significant number have also become sizable, including Sun
Microsystems, Yahoo, AST Research, and Solectron” (Kotkin and Ozuna). Where would
our country be without those companies? Some of the nation’s largest companies are
started because of immigrants who come into this country. Since most of the large
companies started by immigrants involve technology means even more because our
nation is all about technology. That is how most people survive these days. Without their
computers or cellphones they would be lost. “Immigrants are credited with 24 percent of
patents and founded and cofounded over 25 percent of engineering and technology
companies in the U.S. between 1995 and 2005” (Solis). The more companies that are
started in the United States, the less we have to go overseas to purchase what we need.
“As president Obama stated: “Instead of just being a nation that buys what is made
overseas, we can make things in America and sell them around the globe” (Solis).
America has the potential to be great but if we want to be great we have to start allowing
others to help us.
Society here in the United States does not accept change very easily. “Essentially,
the United States must remain an open economy and an open society if it wishes to retain
its standing as the ‘land of the free’” (Kotkin, Ozuna). The news talks of how great our
country is, but we all know that nothing is ever perfect and there needs to be changes
made in order for our country to be great. We see the economic benefits that come from
immigration, but there are the sociological benefits that also come along with the
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increasing population of immigrants. “These ‘new Americans’ became the building
blocks of our nation’s communities” (Solis). As Americans, we see the diverseness
around us which you do not see as much when you go to other countries. As a country if
we are accepting of new people migrating to America, this country could have the
potential to be great. Accepting the change of immigration would be a large step for our
society. If we were able to accept the change of millions of people migrating here to the
United States it seems as if the small changes could now occur without all off the freak
outs that occur. Our society would be much more open to change and not so afraid when
the change happened that was inevitable. The increasing population of immigrants will
change our society and allow our society to be more accepting of change.
The news and media forgets to mention all of the great benefits that come from
the increasing immigrants that are coming to America. The economic benefits that come
from immigrants are the increasing number or jobs, the decreasing cost of higher
education, and the possibility of a great economy that is done completely here in America
with no help from foreign countries. There are also sociological benefits that will help
our society as a whole. The society here in America will learn to be accepting of other
people who come to America in hopes of starting a new and better future for them and
their families. Each person in America has a choice to accept the change and come closer
as a country because immigration has always been an issue. “Immigration is closely tied
to our nation’s history” (Solis). Immigration will always be an issue that will be
discussed and debated so the only option is to accept it.
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Works Cited
Espenshade, Thomas J. “Unauthorized immigration to the United States.” Annual Review
of Sociology 21 (1995): 195-216. ProQuest. Web. 22 Feb. 2012.
<http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.library.ewu.edu/stable/2083409?&Search=yes&se
archText=Thomas&searchText=Espenshade&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2
FdoAdvancedSearch%3Fq0%3DThomas%2BEspenshade%26f0%3Dau%26c1%3
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104&returnArticleService=showFullText>.
Garreau, Joel. “300 Million and Counting.” What Matters in America. Ed. Goshgarian,
Gary. New York: Longman, 2010. 232-239, Print.
"immigrant". Oxford Dictionaries. April 2010. Oxford Dictionaries. April 2010. Oxford
University Press. 05 March 2012
<http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/immigrant>.
Kotkin, Joel. Ozuna, Erika. “America’s Demographic Future.” Cato Journal 32.1 (2012):
55-70. ProQuest. Web. 22 Feb 2012.
<http://proquest.umi.com.ezproxy.library.ewu.edu/pqdweb?index=0&did=258439
5591&SrchMode=2&sid=8&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&
VName=PQD&TS=1330967459&clientId=5545>.
Solis, Hilda L. “Immigrants and America’s Future.” Americas Quarterly 5.2 (2011): 96101. ProQuest. Web. 22 Feb. 2012.
<http://proquest.umi.com.ezproxy.library.ewu.edu/pqdweb?index=5&did=241158
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0241&SrchMode=2&sid=5&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&
VName=PQD&TS=1330967241&clientId=5545>.