Zachery White Mr. Foreman English III, Per. 10 20 April 2017 Why Immigrants are Good for Our Economy Immigrants have long been a scapegoat for when economies are declining, jobs are scarce or national security is a concern. 30 years of research show that immigrants, illegal and legal, promote economic growth. There are 11 million immigrants in the United States. 8 of those 11 million work and pay taxes (Ehrenfreud). Immigrants make our economy significantly stronger with their work and taxes. There are 1.3 million immigrants working in the leisure and hospitality sector, 1.1 million in the construction sector, plus another million in the professional business sector (Ehrenfruend). The hard working immigrants in these sectors, plus other sectors, pay a lot in taxes …show more content…
Immigration and Customs Enforcement estimated 1.9 million deportable illegal immigrants with criminal convictions. 297,000 of those illegal immigrants are in our state and local prisons, and 3 percent of that 297,000 have a felony conviction. 1.8 million of the working class immigrants our working under a name and number that is not their own. To top it all off the government spends an extra $350 million, of our tax money, to educate students who do not speak English every year. But in my opinion the pros still outweigh the cons. Why immigrants ,with no criminal convictions, should be allowed to stay and enter our country freely. Undocumented workers make up 3 percent of our economy. If all undocumented workers were removed, or deported our country would show a 9% decline in agricultural production and 8% decline in construction/ leisure and hospitality sector. The United States government would also lose $11.74 billion in taxes every year. That tax money goes to welfare to help the need or to construction crew to build our much needed