Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the most American of them all? One of the most truthful testaments of patriotism has been an American’s rightful position in this nation,  proudly displayed in the form of American citizenship. But what happens if that citizenship isn’t yours? Immigration: One of the greatest stories of true American patriotism is acted out on senate floors every day. Immigrants made it here and they want to be here, but do they deserve it? How American are they really without a shining emblem of citizenship on their papers, if they have any papers at all? An age old question that has plagued a conflicted nation for generations. The consensus has yet to be reached, so the issue stands:  At what point does the immigrant stop and the American begin?

While the question seems simple enough, the answer remains complex and potentially unanswerable; nevertheless, let’s try and break down the issue.  There are currently almost 309 million people living in this country, and of those 41.3 million of them are immigrants (assuming an immigrant is someone who wasn’t born in this country). On one hand, according to the conservative review, the numbers are only increasing. “By 2065, the immigrant population is projected to rise to 78 million, representing 17.7% of the population and accounting for 88% of total population growth.  The combined population share of immigrants and their U.S.-born children will account for 36% of the entire population, up from the already high 26%.”

An increase in population size, by immigrants or otherwise, could open a whole new can of worms for American citizens. According to Communities Digital News, the US has one of the highest growth rates in the world among developed countries-- and it is continuing to grow. “The results of this demographic explosion are readily apparent: low wages and high unemployment rates, public school systems with very high student-to-teacher ratios, and government assistance programs so heavily utilized that severe cuts will be needed to sustain them.”

With controlling population size already a growing problem for the stars and stripes, destroying the American dream some might say, what would a continual influx of non-native newcomers do to the country? Taking the much-needed welfare to curb the overpopulation issue might be one of them. “The vast majority of illegal immigrants pay absolutely no federal or state income taxes and they never intend to.  At the same time, they seem more than happy to take advantage of the free social services and benefits offered to them,” according to Infowars. This inundation of immigrants feeding off of American welfare could lead to a continued growth of  more immigrants, more overpopulation and many more problems.

One of the possible problems might be an increase in job competition for already sparsely available options in a struggling economy. According to National Interest, the result might be “wage depression, though there are other factors that restrict wage growth, and persistently high unemployment above the 5 percent level that most economists believe is unhealthy”.   And what’s worse, according to this source, is that the influx of new labor is unnecessary, when we have perfectly capable Americans that could fill those positions. We don’t need immigrants to do the low labor work, because we have unemployed Americans who need the work. So who allows them to keep coming? “The only constituency that claims there is such a need is employers. And they have essentially written U.S. immigration law for a very long time”.  Once again, we’re allowing corporate America to call the shots at the detriment of ordinary, hard-working Americans, National Interest further explains.

So, we’ve let them take our jobs and use our resources and what have they done with all of that? According to the Conservative Review, “In 1970, the poverty rate among immigrants stood at 18%, only slightly higher than the 14% of the native-born population.  Now the poverty rate among immigrants has grown to 28% compared to 15% among Native Americans”. 

On the other hand, is immigration really so bad for our country? Actually not at all.  According to the Migration Policy Institute they have made some very valuable contributions to the economy. In fact, the Migration Policy Institute explained that “immigration unambiguously improves employment, productivity, and income,” with the Huffington Post bolstering their argument by assuring readers, “contrary to popular belief, immigrants do not reduce native employment rates overall.”

Additionally, it’s arguable that the jobs they are supposedly “stealing” aren’t even those that Americans are seeking, and there is still a huge demand for employees to fill such positions. According to the American Immigration Council, “Immigrants and native-born workers fill different kinds of jobs that require different skills. Even among less-educated workers, immigrants and native-born workers tend to work in different occupations and industries. If they do work in the same occupation or industry—or even the same business—they usually specialize in different tasks”. What make matters even more confusing is that contradictory studies have shown that not only do immigrants not take welfare from other Americans, but they actually put more into the system than they get out of it. The Social Security Administration reported that immigrants contribute over $13 billion to the system each year, while reaping hardly any of the benefits other Americans do, grossing only an average $1 billion paid back each year. According to Immigration Policy, “In total, unauthorized workers have contributed more than $100 billion over the last decade”.  Not only do unskilled laborers bring a much needed pool of workers to the country, but compared to the benefits skilled immigrants bring, the possibilities for growth are limitless. Historically, the greatest and most innovative minds have been those of people who immigrated to America, in pursuit of the American dream, a better life for themselves, aware of the capabilities for fostering talent the country possessed. The same stands to be true today. Vice President of Marketing at Smartling outlined how dire the situation is for modern America in Huffington Post’s “Seven Surprising Ways Immigration Helps Build A Stronger America”. “Either American companies must recruit the best talent now, or their competitors in other countries will have a clear and timely advantage.” The nation needs to act now, or face the consequences of falling behind in the global competition for intellect and innovation.

Regardless of varying opinions or statistics (as there always will be)on the impact of immigration on the American economy, immigration is inarguably vital to the beating heart of the American Dream. Its roots trace back and course through an essential network of individuals who came to America in search of something more. They built, they grew, they challenged, alongside all others in this great nation of ours. The nation of the pilgrims, the nation of the immigrants, of Hamilton, Carnegie, Einstein, of you and me and our grandparents and theirs. A body of hearts beating in sync to form the soul of a beautiful, beautifully free, nation.