The benefits to this are enormous! The American economy benefits from LEGAL workers able to find LEGAL jobs, not hiding in the shadows and stealing to survive, paying taxes and funding their retirement and other benefits. The availability of student loans and grants would result in a higher income potential, which means more disposable income.
The criminal justice system would benefit immensely! Gone would be the days of extended and expensive incarceration. Gone would be the overwhelmed court dockets full of deportment hearings. Gone would be the overcrowded prisons. Gone would be the demonstrations for equal rights since it would be attainable by anyone willing to commit to working for it. Gone would be the crimes thqt leave victims in the lurch while the anonymous immigrant offender disappears into the woodwork. Everyone would be held accountable because everyone would exist, would be identifiable, instead of being a phantom who disappears as fast as they appeared. No longer would any immigrant have to live under the cloud of insult while being labeled and grouped under the unfounded stigma of criminal. No one would say just because you are Hispanic, "don't know what you've done, but we know you've done something". The vast majority of immigrants are honest, hardworking people worthy of more in life.
A resident worker program would relieve the stress on federal anti-terrorism efforts. Instead of spending incredible amounts of taxpayer money chasing down every single immigrant who entered this country illegally, they can marshal their resources to other, more beneficial avenues of preventing any further terror attacks in this country. They can bolster efforts and funding on existing counter-terrorism programs that are already seeing some level of success. Such an immigration reform program would make American citizens so much safer!
The former resident immigrant, now an American citizen, would not have to live under the stigma of being illegal, a law breaker, and America can enjoy yet more diversity and acceptance within its citizenry!
From a humane perspective, many immigrants who attempt to cross the border outside of border checkpoints generally choose running across a desolate wilderness with no victual supplies. To move fast, you have to pack light, which means with very little water and food. The hope is that a safe haven can be reached before U.S. Border Patrol agents catch them or they fall to exhaustion and thirst. Sometimes, they do not make it, dying in the attempt. This will not stop; we know this. Erecting a border fence will only result in tunnels being dug underneath. Border Patrol agents had already experienced this before September 11, 2001, before the outcry for a fence was heard, before the Border Patrol increased recruitment efforts, before citizen organizations were created to complement the Border Patrol's efforts, and it continuously worsens.
If immigrants know there is a safe, dependable method for relocating to this country to take advantage of the many opportunities this great nation offers, fewer deaths will occur. Deaths that are eventually placed at our feet as our responsibility. This is a most humane alternative, and one that shows American citizens are committed to a better world for everyone.
Face it, all of us are immigrants to some extent. Somewhere in our ancestral past, our forefathers immigrated to this country. This is how America was founded. How do we rise to the esteemed name of American when our brothers and sisters are denied the name? Give an immigrant the goal of citizenship and the opportunity to attain it, they will be an outstanding American!
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