Essay On Undocumented Immigration

My grandfather came to America as an undocumented immigrant with his wife in search of a much more fruitful life. He was only 20 years old, and had just enough money to move to America and rent an apartment in Washington Heights, Manhattan. He was given a job at his brother’s restaurant as a chef, and after two years of working from dawn to dusk and wearing his hands to the bone to save up and using loans from his brother, he opened up a restaurant of his own: El Nuevo Ambiente translating to “The New Environment.” Surprising enough, starting your own small business was fairly simple in his time. Using his passport, he applied for an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, which allowed him to also apply for an Employer Identification number.

There are over 800,000 undocumented immigrants in the state of New York, 85.5 percent are working age and over 86,000 are entrepreneurs (The Contribution of New Americans in New York). Undocumented immigrants face much resistance because many believe that the concept of law and order is undermined by these immigrants. They also believe that it is much more difficult to regulate taxes when undocumented immigrants are part of the working economy. Many americans also have issues with undocumented immigrants because they view their presence as unfair to everyone who is in America legally, posing a threat to employment and residence. Contrary to this belief, undocumented immigrants are more likely to pursue jobs that are more labor intense and ones that other U.S born americans aren’t willing to do much like my grandfather who worked hard as a chef and on a farm before immigrating to America. For example, undocumented immigrants make up 50 percent of hired crop field workers which is a reason why agriculture is a thriving industry in the United States (The Contribution of New Americans in New York). Undocumented entrepreneurs, such as my grandfather and his restaurant, also open up job opportunities for documented