FINDING THE BALANCE IN AMERICA’S IMMIGRATION
Aaron Hanlon
Composition 2 (EN1420)
June 3rd 2015

Introduction
America the land of immigrants, yet, immigration is one of the main topic points politicians are speaking about, in the upcoming presidential elections. Finding the right balance is key to the overall success of native born workers, immigrants, and America. While many American feel immigration does not effect their day to day lives, many do not understand how expansive the blanket of immigration is. Finding the right solution to immigration is why so many politicians are speaking out about their immigration reform policies. This paper explain how immigration affects your everyday life, and give you information on what some of the solution politicians think are best for our nation and us all.
Background
The economy, immigration, job availability, and people looking for work directly affect each other in more than one way. “Many Americans feel a sharp distinction between what’s said about “the” economy and what they experience in “their” economy” (Frum, 2015, para 2). For example, in a strong thriving economy, there will be more jobs available and more people not looking for work due to the abundance of jobs. While in a weak stagnate economy, there will be less jobs and more people looking for work. Where immigrants play a role in this cycle is in the “people looking for work” section. Many immigrants coming into this country are undocumented and uneducated. They cross the border looking for better opportunities for themselves and their families. They cannot afford to pay and wait in the current U.S. naturalization program which has some well educated people waiting in line for years just to get a chance for a green card or even a permanent residence card. Some come over fleeing from gang and cartel violence or persecution. The problem many Americans are experiencing is in the lower middle and low economic brackets. “In the middle and bottom, wages stagnate. Jobs are created, yes—but native-born Americans are not hired for them” (Frum, 2015, para 2), these natural born workers are under or uneducated as well, and are directly competing with immigrants that either have or do not have documentation. The natural born workers are losing jobs simply because hiring immigrants is cheaper. Many economist admit that most testing of the economy does not test for results like this and it is a blind spot that simply in not being addressed. So how can we fix these issues and find balance between hiring both natural born and immigrants workers?
Open the Borders
One solution is to open the borders, allow immigrants the ability to come and go as they please. “Last year when the Senate passed S. 744, a bipartisan bill meant to enhance border enforcement and modernize and streamline the process of granting legal status to undocumented immigrants, we knew our community’s work was more important than ever.” (Villalpando, 2015, para8) They can find work here in the U.S., stay in the U.S. during their work week, and travel back to their homes to see their families. This would give current undocumented immigrants and those still trying to cross over, the freedom to freely travel across the border, apply for federal assistance programs, and find employment. “The Catholic leaders are urging for comprehensive immigration reform that would include an earned path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, or "those in the shadows," in addition to expedited family reunification and improved refugee protection.” (Oleaga, 2015, para 5) While this sounds like a great solution, there are many downfalls. For example, what they look like, where they are coming from, and where they are planning on settling, not to mention the millions of people that will come to the U.S. looking for work. With a mass increase of people looking for jobs, the job availability rate will decrease sharply, and the economy will show similar