Kevin Sittner

Ms. Gardner
English 10H/Period 4
29 November 2016

Dear President-elect,

My name is Kevin Sittner and I am a fifteen year old attendee of Casa Grande High School in Petaluma,
California. I am a learner and I am a communicator, but today, I hope to be an educator.

I have no doubt that you are aware of the overwhelming concentration of issues which America faces, but
by prioritizing specific issues, various others will not receive the necessary attention to truly improve their
circumstances. As president, you must not only aim to improve, but you must improve your aim. Turn
your focus to an issue at the very heart of America: unauthorized immigration. My grandparents were
fortunate enough to escape to the turmoil surrounding World War II by immigrating to the United States.
Due to its tolerance, they were able to enter and become citizens after a six year wait. The time range of
the immigration process is far too widespread, resulting in the illegal and unjust immigrations of many,
even those who once intended to enter our country legally as means of opportunity.

Immigration has shaped our workforce, promoted diversity, and granted opportunity to escapees of
tyranny and civil unrest as well as to pursuers of happiness and the American Dream. According to the
American Immigration Center, it may take an individual with familial ties to an American citizen upwards
of 6 years to immigrate legally and become an official American citizen without a green card or a
sponsor. As a result, many people who would have taken the proper measures to immigrate have decided
to enter the country illegally, as their need to immigrate grows more and more overwhelming. Few of
these individuals who immigrate have criminal intentions beyond their illegal immigration, so many wish
to become working members of society. According to the Pew Research Center, The U.S. civilian
workforce included 8 million unauthorized immigrants in 2014 who were working or were unemployed
and looking for work. We must value immigrants for their contributions and appreciate their desire to
contribute to American society, legal or not.

I would like to promote a plan that draws the line between deportation of the innocent and of the
threatening while helping to reduce the total time necessary to enter the United States legally. We must
work from the inside out, as proposed by Barack Obama. You must begin by halting illegal immigration
at the Southern and Northern borders where it is easiest to stop. You must deport immigrants with
excessive criminal backgrounds who pose as threats and have entered illegally or exploited a temporary
visa; however, you must promote the immigration of businessmen and entrepreneurs who intend to
become valuable members of the United States workforce. The creation of visas suited for entrepreneurs,
investors, and workers stationed at federal science and technology laboratories will encourage innovators
to become American citizens and help to streamline immigration in order to improve our economy and
allow these workers to experience their share of the American Dream.
Many will state that enabling certain unauthorized immigrants to remain in the United States is an
injustice. Many will claim that immigrants are taking jobs from the hands of American-born citizens.
However, this proposal does not appeal to either of these accusations. While it may appear unfair to legal
immigrants to allow current illegal immigrants rights of American citizens, they will pay taxes and take
proper steps towards gaining citizenship. There is no method nor reason to deport valuable members of
the workforce or families, especially in large numbers. A greater focus on deporting harmless people
lends itself to a lesser focus on deporting dangerous criminals. Many of these job positions which
immigrants fill would not be filled otherwise. Among these job positions are factory workers,
construction workers, and operators of public transportation. Why should we scold the immigrants who
occupy seemingly undesirable positions, especially those who create job opportunities for themselves and
others?

With this, president-elect, I urge you to take action towards improving Americas immigration system.
You must exhibit strictness, but you must also demonstrate tolerance. Without tolerance, I would not be
writing to you today and my grandfather would not have a sponsor. Without tolerance, he would not er
enter the United States and work in a Uranium mine. Without tolerance, his sponsor would not enter the
United States and perish in a German death camp. In the past, millions have escaped the unimaginable.
But now, more than ever, is an opportunity to make a difference, and that change begins with you.While it
is up to Congress to review these plans, it is your duty to treat immigrants as humans, and as people, and
as members of a greater world race, but never as outsiders.

Sincerely, Kevin