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Hailey Stynes
Mr. Burchett
Government 3
1 November 2015
The Stynes Alien Act
Today there are over 41 million immigrants living in the United States of America
(Zong). They are in our everyday lives, they work just like the rest of us, they obey laws like the
rest of us, they essentially live like the rest of us, yet they are not considered equal. They are
aliens of our country and we treat them just like that. People who have lived here for most of
their lives are still considered to be from a different planet. Regardless of if they are here legally
or illegally, immigrants today face immense amounts of discrimination and segregation.
Although it is unfair that anyone has to endure this discrimination, it is even more disturbing that
some of these victims are children and did not choose their immigration status. Illegal
immigrants under eighteen should be allowed to earn citizenship because our countrys history is
a history of immigration, all minors deserve the opportunity to pursue a better life in the United
States of America, and our country needs diversity of people and their thoughts.
A little over 200 years ago, no one was a citizen of the United States. Our nation was
formed by people leaving their countries of birth to immigrate to a new land and form their own
country. These immigrants built the greatest country in the world. Here they were able to
establish their own rules, government, and way of life. They immigrated from all over the world
to ports, like Ellis Island, in the United States. Over 40 percent of today's American population
can trace their ancestry through Ellis Island (Ellis Island). Since almost half of Americas
population is related to an immigrant from one single port, it proves how many immigrants we

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truly have in our country. As our country grows and develops, more and more people come and
build their families here. One of every five children under age 18 living in the United States
that is, 14 millionis an immigrant or has immigrant parents (Hernandez). Our nation was
created on a foundation of immigrants, and this way of growth continues today. All of the first
generation immigrants came here to either leave something bad behind or to pursue a better life
for themselves and their family.
Immigrant families, and especially children, come to the United States to pursue a better
life. Many people and families that immigrate to the United States today are leaving horrendous
conditions in their birth country to come here in hopes of a better life. They come here to work
hard and improve their lives to the best of their ability. About 36 percent of U.S.-born children
of immigrants are college graduates5 percent above the national average (Ceneta). Children
that immigrate to the United States are determined to make a better life for themselves and prove
their hard work by applying themselves and working hard to get a good education. The
DREAM Act would permit certain immigrant students who have grown up in the U.S. to apply
for temporary legal status and to eventually obtain permanent legal status and become eligible
for U.S. citizenship if they go to college or serve in the U.S. military (The DREAM Act). This
act would protect minor immigrant students who are being discriminated against, but are
working hard to better themselves. Not only are immigrants working hard to better their lives,
but their success often improves the lives of others in our country. According to the Fiscal
Policy Institute, small businesses owned by immigrants employed an estimated 4.7 million
people in 2007, and according to the latest estimates, these small businesses generated more than
$776 billion annually (Furman). By starting their own businesses, immigrants are not only
helping themselves, but they are creating jobs and helping the United States economy. In

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addition to helping to create jobs and improve the U.S economy, immigrants also naturally help
to diversify our country with their thoughts and ideas.
Immigrants bring diversity to the United States, not just through nationality and
ethnicity, but more importantly in their diverse thoughts. Unique backgrounds and different
perspectives are often the fuel for the most innovative and transformational ideas. More than
three out of every four patents at the top 10 patent-producing US universities (76%) had at least
one foreign-born inventor (Korlach). This shows the huge impact that immigrants ideas have
had on the growth and improvement of the United States. An increasingly diverse population
will continue to affect every aspect of U.S. society and could have a significant influence on the
United States political and economic outlook (ASAE). It is critical to have diverse perspectives
as our economy and society becomes more global. The United States is home to many
successful companies with at least one founder who was an immigrant or child of an immigrant
(Immigrant Entrepreneurs). These companies are hugely successful because they are founded by
immigrants with innovative and unique ways of thinking. As immigrant minorities mature along
with an aging U.S population, their influence will continue to become more significant.
A major counter argument to allowing more immigrants the right to gain citizenship is the
amount of money it costs to allow more immigrants to become citizens. There is a lot of
controversy on how much it would cost to bring in more immigrants. Many argue that illegal
immigrants that are not paying taxes still reap the benefits of public schools, health care, and
welfare. However, in 2012, statistics showed that the 11.4 million undocumented immigrants
currently living in the U.S paid almost $12 billion dollars in state and local taxes (Undocumented
Immigtants). This proves that a good amount of immigrants are doing their part by contributing
to society and paying their taxes. Another common argument is that we are getting the worst

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people from the foreign countries that immigrate here and therefore, they are infecting our
society. Donald Trump unintelligently argued recently that, When Mexico sends its people,
theyre not sending their best. Theyre sending people that have lots of problems. Theyre
bringing drugs. Theyre bringing crime. Theyre rapists. Donald Trump and other ignorant
people are the ones that are hurting our society. These unintelligent statements and consequential
stereotypes give immigrants a bad image for no reason. Whole new classes of felonies have
been created which apply only to immigrants, deportation has become a punishment for even
minor offenses, and policies aimed at trying to end unauthorized immigration have been made
more punitive rather than more rational and practical. In short, immigrants themselves are being
criminalized (Ewing). It has been proven many times that stereotypes and set beliefs greatly
affect a persons idea of themselves and what actions they choose to make. Statistics prove that
immigrants are not actually criminals, they just have a bad reputation. Many border patrol
officials have aggressively mistreated immigrants and abusing their power of punishing
immigrants with deportation. In Katja Franko Aas book she argues that many questions have
since been asked about the legitimate use of force in deportation (Aas). Overall, allowing
immigrants to gain citizenship will have a more positive than negative impact on our country as a
whole.
Illegal immigrants under eighteen should be allowed to earn citizenship, because our
history is a history of immigration, all minors deserve the opportunity to pursue a better life in
the United States of America, and our country needs the diversity of people and their diverse
thoughts. There need to be major changes in order to obtain equality for these immigrants. The
first step to reform the immigration system is to ensure that children have an equal chance to
become citizens. However, in the bigger picture, we need comprehensive immigration reform to

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provide equality for all immigrants, not just minors. It is imperative that people in the United
States fight for the immigrants coming to our country and work to make a fair immigration
system.

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Works Cited
Web
"ASAE The Center for Association Leadership." Increasing Political and Economic Impact of
Diversity-minorities One Third of the U.S. Population. Asae, 2014. Web. 23 Oct. 2015.
"The DREAM Act." <i>DREAM Act: Summary</i>. NILC, May 2011. Web. 02 Nov. 2015.
"Ellis Island." National Parks Service. U.S. Department of the Interior, 17 Aug. 2014. Web. 23
Oct. 2015.
Ewing, Walter. "The Criminalization of Immigration in the United States." Immigration Policy.
American Immigration Council, 8 July 2015. Web. 23 Oct. 2015.
Furman, Jason. "Ten Ways Immigrants Help Build and Strengthen Our Economy." The White
House. The White House, 12 July 2012. Web. 23 Oct. 2015.
Hernandez, D.J. "From Generation to Generation: The Health and Well-Being of Children in
Immigrant Families." Executive Summary. U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2015.
Web. 23 Oct. 2015.
"Immigrant Entrepreneurs and Innovators across the United States." <i>Immigration Policy</i>.
American Immigration Council, 11 Mar. 2014. Web. 02 Nov. 2015.
Korlach, Jonas. "Patent Pending: How Immigrants Are Reinventing The American Economy Partnership for a New American Economy." Renew Our Economy. Partnership for a New
American Economy Action Fund, 26 June 2012. Web. 23 Oct. 2015.
"Undocumented Immigrants' State and Local Tax Contributions | The Institute on Taxation and
Economic Policy (ITEP)." The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP). ITEP,
16 Apr. 2015. Web. 23 Oct. 2015.

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Zong, Jie. "Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United
States." Migrationpolicy.org. Migration Policy Institute, 25 Feb. 2015. Web. 20 Oct.
2015.

Book
Aas, Katja Franko, and Mary Bosworth. The Borders of Puishment: Migration, Citizenship, and
Social Exclusion. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.