The Struggles of an Undocumented Immigrant: Amy’s Story

Cynthia Nguyen Ms. Thompson ENC 1101 November 28, 2011 "Amy's Story. " Immigration and Multiculturalism: Essential Primary Sources. Ed. K. Lee Lerner, Brenda Wilmoth Lerner, and Adrienne Wilmoth Lerner. Detroit: Gale, 2006. 329-333. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 14 Nov. 2011. Definition/Background History: The IRCA (Immigration and Reform Control Act) was introduced in 1986, this act enabled immigrants who came to America illegally residency and citizenship. The widespread amount of illegal immigrants caused border controls for those who are foreigners.

Unfortunately Amy, an anonymous illegal immigrant, and her family surpassed the deadline by three and a half weeks. Amy tells her story about her family and financial struggles due to being an undocumented immigrant. She faced out-of-state tuition fees because of college requirements of being resident in the United States. Hiding undercover pretending to be a citizen was becoming tough for Amy so she had to drop out of school. Now she tutors and has low-paid jobs to support her parents and herself. Cynthia Nguyen Ms. Thompson ENC 1101 November 28, 2011

Bennion, David. “Undocumented Youths Organize to Pass DREAM Act. ” Legal Intelligencer. 31 Aug 2009. Print. David Bennion. “Children of Illegal Aliens Should Go to College and Gain Legal Status. ” “What Rights Should Illegal Immigrants Have? ” Noel Merino, Ed. At Issue Series. Greenhaven Press, 2010. Opposing Viewpoints. Web. 9 Nov. 2011. Positive Effect: David Bennion, an immigration attorney at Nationalities Service Center in Philadelphia, stated: “Each year, about 65,000 undocumented students graduate from high school in the United States.

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They then face often insurmountable barriers to pursuing further education or employment opportunities. ” By passing the DREAM Act the amount of undocumented immigrants that are already living in America could help the economy and prosper in education and employment. Negative Effect: Keeping the act repealed is beneficial because the amount of illegal immigrants in America could incline. By permitting the “Dreamers” to pay in-state-college tuition and become a citizen of U. S. would promote more illegal immigrants into America. Cynthia Nguyen

Ms. Thompson ENC 1101 November 28, 2011 "Dream on. " America 19 July 2010: 5. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 14 Nov. 2011. Positive Effects: President Obama reignited the idea of allowing illegal immigrants education and ability to attend colleges under certain circumstances written in the DREAM Act. He states “We should stop punishing innocent young people for the actions of their parents by denying them the chance to stay here and earn an education and contribute their talents to build the country where they’ve grown up. With this idea, this allows the children who are documented an opportunity to succeed in the United States not only for themselves, but our economy as well. Cynthia Nguyen Ms. Thompson ENC 1101 November 28, 2011 Ling-Ling, Yeh. “The Dream for Some, a Nightmare for the Rest. ” The Daily Californian. 19 Oct 2007. Print. Yeh Ling-Ling. “Children of Illegal Aliens Should Not Go to College and Gail Legal Status. ” “What Rights Should Illegal Immigrants Have? ” Noel Merino, Ed. At Issue Series. Greenhaven Press. 2010. Print. Opposing Viewpoints. Web. 9 Nov. 2011. Undesirable Effects:

Yeh Ling-Ling an executive director of the Diversity Alliance for a Sustainable America, and an immigrant states “Passing the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act, or DREAM Act, is a bad idea. Allowing illegal immigrant students to pay in-state college tuition and gain residency would only encourage more illegal immigrants in the United States. The act would have a negative economic impact and hurt American citizens. ” Passing the Dream Act would economically stress our funds because in reality most illegal immigrants are low-paid and cannot afford to pay taxes.

The amount of children in American public education would rise. “This cost can exceed $9,500 per child per year if the student receives the so-called bilingual education, not to mention the costs of other social services. ” By accepting this act, it would be a reward to illegal immigrants and would cause more to migrate to America. The Dream Act would negatively effect politics as well. For example, Hipic activists encourage the pressuring of the United States to be identical as Mexico. This factor effects the future of millions of our nation.

Not only politics would be effected but, “The U. S. population has quadrupled since 1900, from 76 million to 303 million. In the last 15 years alone,over 50 million people have been added to the United States mostly due to immigration-derived growth! If our population continues to grow at the rate of last decade, by 2100—within the lifetimes of today's children's children—the United States will have India's current population. ” Cynthia Nguyen Ms. Thompson ENC 1101 November 28, 2011 "Illegal Immigrants. Current Issues: Macmillian Social Science Library. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 9 Nov. 2011. Definition/History/Background: “An immigrant is a person who migrates from one country to another. An "illegal" immigrant is a person who does so without following the established legal procedures of the destination country and who resides in that country without proper visas or other documents. Illegal immigrants are sometimes referred to as "illegal aliens" or "undocumented workers. ” Most illegal immigrants of the United States come from Mexico by crossing the 1,955-mile border or the northern border with Canada. Desirable: Economic effects of immigrants can be positive. Illegal immigrants are more open to low-wage jobs because without paperwork they are not allowed to apply for a job. “... immigrants take on hard and dangerous jobs that native Americans will not do. These defenders maintain that immigrants’ labor and entrepreneurship helps to revitalize American industries and create more jobs than they take. ” Undesirable:

For the people who do pay taxes, immigrants are expensive to have. “The study concluded that taxpayers were paying $4 billion annually in unemployment, medical, educational, and other government programs and services. ” Cynthia Nguyen Ms. Thompson ENC 1101 November 28, 2011 Texier, Le Emmanuelle. “The Debate for In-State Tuition Fees Regardless of Immigration Status: The Right to Educate. ” La Prensa San Diego 9 May 2003. Print. Emmanuelle Le Texier. “Undocumented Immigrants Are Entitled to In-State Tuition. ” Lori Newman Ed. At Issues Series. Greenhaven Press, 2006.

Opposing Viewpoints. Web. 14 Nov. 2011. Positive Effects: Enabling illegal immigrants to continue with education formulates a chain reaction to the economy’s rise. Educating a large portion of our country promotes skilled workers, in which help with building a better future for America. Students have not done anything to harm our economy. No matter illegal, or not the children are the future of America and should be rewarded by the ability to fulfill higher education. Allowing this higher education promotes more skilled workers “building the future of a country. ”

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