Illegal immigration occurs when a person crosses the border of a country without following the immigration laws of that country, or when a person stays in a count
ry after his or her visa has expired. 
According to the INS, over 1 million illegal immigrants crossed the border in the last two years, most of whom were from Mexico. Although most people think of people crossing the border in the dead of night when they think of illegal immigration, many illegal immigrants actually enter the country legally; they simply do not leave once their visas have expired. There are around 7 million illegal immigrants living in the United States right now, 70 percent of whom entered legally, then stayed once their visas expired. most illegal immigrants come to the US to find work so they can support their families.There are many arguments concerning illegal immigration. Some people say it is detrimental to the country's economy and security. Others say that it is harmless. Those who agree that it needs to be stopped often disagree on how to go about putting a stop to it.
Those who say illegal immigration is harmful to the United States say that the open borders allow terrorists to come in undetected. They also say that illegal immigrants get all the benefits of the social security and public school systems without having to pay taxes, which puts the burden on US citizens and legal immigrants. It also forces wages for Americans down because employers do not want to pay them more than they pay their employees who are illegal immigrants. According to these people, illegal immigration is a crime that must be stopped.
Some solutions have been proposed, one of which is enforcing the laws that are already in place. Many laws have been put into place to deter illegal immigrants from coming to the US, but few, if any, have been regularly enforced. Fences have been proposed, but never completed. Fines for companies that employ illegal immigrants have been put in place, but are never enforced. The only policy that is ever effective is amnesty.
Those for illegal immigration say that illegal immigrants create more income for businesses than citizens because they will work for lower wages, sick pay, pensions, or insurance, which US citizens will not work for. They also say that illegal immigrants do jobs that American citizens simply will not do. They also say that illegal immigrants deserve citizenship because they do so many jobs that increase the income of many companies.
The security of the border needs to be strengthened. As it is, terrorists can come and go at will, as can millions of illegal immigrants. Although people say that illegal immigrants create value for businesses because they work for less money, they fail to realize that those same illegal immigrants put an unnecessary strain on the economy. The government hardly has enough money to pay for social security for US citizens without having to pay for illegal immigrants as well. Building a fence that spans the length of the border, and enforcing the laws that are already in place would be a tremendous step forward in solving this growing problem.
Resources:
http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/illegal+immigrant
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4989248.stm#nativo
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4989248.stm#tancredo
http://www.americanpatrol.com/REFERENCE/isacrime.html
http://www.cis.org/articles/2008/back208.html
http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/01/31/illegal.immigration/
http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/01/31/illegal.immigration/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=750Ka3PIKds
http://usliberals.about.com/od/immigration/a/IllegalImmi.htm
