English Language and Composition

Synthesis Question
Reading Time: 15 minutes
Suggested Writing Time: 40 minutes
Directions: The following prompt is based on the accompanying six sources.
This question requires you to integrate a variety of sources into a coherent, well-written
essay. Refer to the sources to support your position; avoid mere paraphrase or
summary. Your argument should be central; the sources should support this argument.
Remember to attribute both direct and indirect citations.
Introduction
Illegal immigration has been a major problem for the United States since the 1970s.
Many people feel cheated out many opportunities because the immigrants have taken
advantage them. Others believe that they take care of things that certain Americans do
not take advantage of. A major question arises however should the government try to
get rid of them?
Assignment
Read the following sources (including any introductory information) carefully. Then, in
an essay that synthesizes at least three of the sources for support, take a position that
defends, challenges, or qualifies the claim that many people feel cheated out many
opportunities because the immigrants have taken advantage them.
Refer to the sources as Source A, Source B, etc.; titles are included for your
convenience.
Source A (Immigration Timeline)
Source B (Pew Research)
Source C (Cui Bono)
Source D (Debate)
Source E (The Common Reaction)
Source F (Cartoon)

Source A
"Illegal Immigration." - News. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2014.

. MAY. 17, 2013 Bill de Blasio, New York City public advocate and mayoral candidate,
unveils initiatives he says are intended to help integrate undocumented
immigrants into mainstream; calls on State Legislature to allow illegal immigrants
to obtain driver's licenses and City Council to create a municipal identification
card that would serve as proof of residence, allowing immigrants to use public
libraries and open bank accounts.
. MAY. 4, 2013 Cecilia Munoz, longtime immigration rights activist, was denounced
after she joined Obama administration and defended its deportation policy, but
her loyalty appears to have paid off now that administration is moving toward
policy that includes path to citizenship for more than 11 million illegal immigrants.
. MAY. 4, 2013 Hosam Amara, former manager at Agriprocessors kosher
slaughterhouse in Iowa who fled to Israel following immigration raid in 2008,
appears in federal court to face charges that he conspired to exploit immigrant
workers.
. MAY. 2, 2013 Tens of thousands of immigrants, Latinos and other supporters of
immigration system overhaul turn out for May Day demonstrations intended to
show Congress that momentum is building for path to citizenship for 11 million
immigrants in country illegally.
. APR. 27, 2013 Central Americans fleeing crime and economic stagnation are flowing
freely across Mexicos southern border and causing a spike in migration to the
United States; Mexico has been conflicted about its border; many see migrants
as Latin American brethren yet there is also growing concern that migrants may
stay longer in Mexico as its economy picks up and it becomes harder to cross
into the United States.

Source B
Illegal Immigrants Benefit the U.S. Economy." The Hill. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2014.

According to the Pew Research Hispanic Trends Project, there were 8.4 million
unauthorized immigrants employed in the U.S.; representing 5.2 percent of the U.S.
labor force (an increase from 3.8 percent in 2000). Texas Comptroller Susan Combs
that stated, Without the undocumented population, Texas work force would decrease
by 6.3 percent, highlighted their importance in a report and Texas gross state product
would decrease by 2.1 percent. Furthermore, certain segments of the U.S. economy,
like agriculture, are entirely dependent upon illegal immigrants.

Source C
Illegal Immigrants Benefit the U.S. Economy." The Hill. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2014.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture states that, about half of the hired workers
employed in U.S. crop agriculture were unauthorized, with the overwhelming majority of
these workers coming from Mexico. The USDA has also warned that, any potential
immigration reform could have significant impacts on the U.S. fruit and vegetable
industry. From the perspective of National Milk Producers Federation in 2009, retail
milk prices would increase by 61 percent if its immigrant labor force were to be
eliminated.
Echoing the Department of Labor, the USDA, and the National Milk Producers
Federation, agricultural labor economist James S. Holt made the following statement to
Congress in 2007: The reality, however, is that if we deported a substantial number of
undocumented farm workers, there would be a tremendous labor shortage.
In terms of overall numbers, The Department of Labor reports that of the 2.5 million
farm workers in the U.S., over half (53 percent) are illegal immigrants. Growers and
labor unions put this figure at 70 percent.

Source D
"Victor Davis Hanson - Illegal Immigration: Who Benefits?" National Review Online.
N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2014.
Why are over 11 million foreign nationals residing illegally in the United States? If we
can answer that question, then we can fathom the purpose of comprehensive
immigration reform, and understand why special-interest groups mostly favor what the
majority of Americans oppose. Illegal immigration goes on because, in the Roman
sense, it serves the interest (cui bono?) of tens of millions of people. In practical terms,
comprehensive immigration reform is a way not to end the present chaos but to
legitimize it.
Employers in the restaurant and hospitality industries, and in meatpacking,
agribusiness, construction, and landscaping, find Mexican nationals wonderful workers.
They are. The lack of legality, English, and a high-school diploma are not drawbacks for
the physically demanding jobs in these fields, but in a tragically paradoxical way
become advantages turning what would otherwise be entry-level or temporary
employment into a multi-year ordeal. The employer reaps the benefit of industrious
young and healthy workers, and the greater society picks up the eventual tab for the
aging and injured and for dependents in terms of health-care, education, and lawenforcement costs.

Source E
"Is Immigration Good for America?" The Premier Online Debate Website. N.p., n.d.
Web. 30 Oct. 2014
Immigration brings in, pretty much all the time, undesirable people. Immigrants often
work for a very low wage and are taken advantage of by rich business owners which do
not help the American middle and low classes at all. The only people that really support
immigration are people that do not have to live where immigrants have created ghettos
and the rich because of the cheap labor. Immigrants also are often mostly from third
world countries that have no true American values. They often do not want to adopt
western ways, but want to stick to their barbaric or just simply un-American ways of
doing things. In Sweden, Muslim immigrants have basically made it into the rape capital
of Europe. America should not suffer the same fate.

Source F
"Immigration Cartoons." About. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2014.