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Adolfo Levano Steven Hall English 1010 February 12th, 2014

Immigration Persuasion

In October 2013, the Director of the White House Domestic Policy Counsel, Cecilia Muoz, spoke at the University of Michigan about The Need for Common Sense in Immigration Reform (Muoz). She summarized a piece of immigration legislation in four policy principles. I have based my opinion on the economic side of the immigration reform and how it can help or hurt the economy of the United States. I agree with the main three principles of her speech including the importance of enforcing immigration laws, the fact that undocumented people are part of our community, and the need to update the family and legal immigration policy. However, I did not agree with Mrs. Muozs fourth principle involving creating additional temporary work permits for future undocumented immigrants because I felt that it wouldnt be beneficial for the economy of the United States (Muoz). The first immigration principle that Cecilia Muoz spoke about was that an important piece of immigration policy is to increase enforcement of immigration laws and to have a more secure border as well as having the necessary laws to pursue undocumented people who have committed crimes (Muoz). Theres a strong need for increasing enforcement because the United States needs to know who comes in and out of the country at all times to prevent terrorism, drug trafficking, and even human trafficking. One of the requirements of

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the senate was to add more enforcement to this legislation by doubling border patrol agents which, in my opinion makes it a stronger bill that would protect our country, its people, and the economy (United States, Sec. 1102). The second immigration principle that was mentioned was that there are approximately 11 million undocumented working people in the United States and that these people are a part of our community and work force. Part of the proposed legislation would first require undocumented people to come forward and let the United States government know who they are. Then they will be provided a provisional permit to work, but must move to the back of the line behind people who are legally trying to enter the country. Other requirements include paying taxes, learning English, and paying a penalty for entering the country illegally. Finally, after completing these requirements, they will have the opportunity to get a green card and eventually citizenship (Muoz). This country was founded by immigrants and our economy has been enhanced by the contributions of immigrants throughout our history. If the United States can help undocumented workers and students to come forward and contribute to our communities rather than live in the shadows, that would have a positive effect on our overall economy because these people would have better paying jobs, access to education, and can use their desire for success and innovation to help the country succeed even more. The third immigration principle that Mrs. Muoz talked about was fixing the outdated legal immigration system since it has not been updated since 1991. Mrs. Muoz also mentioned that immigration reform needs to address both family immigration and employment immigration. For the first time, this legislation proposes a new visa category for

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people who have higher education in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and math (Muoz). It hurts the United States economy to train individuals in these science, technology, engineering, and math fields and then not allow them to work here or bring their families because we are basically investing our resources in other countries future economic growth. So in order to attract more skilled people into our economy we need to give them an easier way to come work here with their families. The fourth immigration principle involves the future demand for labor in low-skilled jobs and to allow the government to regulate a temporary workers permit office to let individuals from other parts of the world to come and perform those low-skilled jobs (Muoz). My opinion is that we do not need to have a bigger government that will regulate temporary workers because the main reason there is a proposal to help the undocumented and give them the opportunity to work and grow as part of our community is so that we have certain control of who is in the country and who is not. The United States needs to have a stronger border patrol and employers should continue to use E-verify the way its supposed to be used when hiring new employees to discourage future illegal immigrants; otherwise the United States government will be proposing another immigration bill in another 10 years. To conclude, immigration reform has the potential to benefit everybody in this country, but as Mrs. Muoz said the need for common sense in immigration reform is a must if a bill is going to pass the Senate and the House of Representatives (Muoz). The first three principles of her policy recommendations could strengthen the United States economy and bring more competition and innovation which leads to more opportunity for every American.

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Works Cited
Muoz, Joe. The Need for Common Sense in Immigration Reform. Department of Public Policy, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, October 20013. United States. Cong. Senate. Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act. 113 Cong., 1st sess. S744. Washington: GPO, 2013. Print.
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