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Illegal Immigration Growing on the U.S. Essay

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Illegal Immigration Growing on the U.S. In “Illegal Immigrants Do Not Harm America’s Economy,” Brian Grow and his colleagues, reporters for Business Week, argue that rather than damaging it, illegal immigrants actually help the economy by paying taxes and advancing general economic growth. The writers are responding to claims that illegal immigrants receive unwarranted negative attention for supposed drains on public services. They also address the fact that, despite possible legal ramifications, companies hire undocumented workers in higher numbers than ever before while the government seems to turn a blind eye. They speak of depressed wages, increased spending, and ambivalent government policies. Grow and the other writers try to …show more content…

$43,000” (46), and “solidly middle class family that any U.S. consumer-products company would love to reach” (46). They speak in glowing terms about how the Valenzuelas contribute to the local economy through their business and family purchases. After the reader feels a certain level of kinship with the Valenzuelas, the writers introduce the matricula consular, an identification card available to immigrants regardless of their legal status. This card makes them more able credit consumers and is intended to lower the crime rate as illegal immigrants are able to use banks and, therefore, not carry large sums of cash. The writers attempt to sway the readers’ opinions by showing the Valenzuelas and many others like them are eager consumers who are now able to contribute to the economy in their area through car loans, mortgages, and cell phones. They cite specific companies like Wells Fargo where “At the Velenzuelas’ branch, fully 80% of accounts are opened by matricula holders” (48) and Blue Cross of California which “sells health insurance to matricula holders from company-staffed desks set up inside Mexican and Guatemalan consular offices” (48). Grow, as well as his co-writers Adrienne Carter, Roger Crockett, and Geri Smith, make a compelling, fact-supported argument for the importance of illegal immigrants on certain sectors of the workforce. They state that “a wholesale expulsion [of illegal immigrants] would be crippling” (51). As proof, they

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