Running head: ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS 1
Let the Undocumented Aliens Work
Priyanka Desai
Research Paper, Cambridge College
College Writing II
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS 2
Abstract
Until the late 19th century, there was no such thing as “legal” or “illegal” immigration in
the United States, because before that one could migrate anywhere, there was no law to break. In
1920’s the US started restricting immigration. Of the 12 million illegal immigrants currently in
the United States, about 7.2 million are undocumented workers. Since it is difficult to get work
visas, they the illegal immigrants are in constant fear of deportation by the government.
Department of Homeland Security should give work permit to the illegal immigrants, because
they helps in increasing the size of US economy, because they provide an important source of
low-skilled labor and because they contribute more in tax revenue than they collect.
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS 3
Let the Undocumented Aliens Work
George Bush in a 1980 Republican presidential debate said, “We’ve made illegal some
kind of labor that I would like to be legal.” He was referring to the undocumented and illegal
immigrants that had become some kind of labourers in US, who could be legal. According to
Black’s Law Dictionary, “An illegal alien is the term given to a foreigner living in the US with
no right to stay and who has taken no steps to become a citizen”. To enter legally, foreign
workers either have to obtain a green card, which requires them to have close family members in
the United States, or secure a temporary work visa. In fact, for most undocumented immigrants
there is no process they can go through, no application they can fill out, not even a fine they can
pay to start the legal process of becoming U.S. citizens. Why don’t “illegals” get in the back of
