Cultural+and+Social+Impact

Ariel's Paragraph
Illegal immigration is a major problem for the United States. Many Americans are fine with illegal immigrants staying here, while others fight to expel them. Illegal immigrants come into America and do not pay taxes. Many think that it is unfair that citizens are paying for illegal children to go to school and hurts the economy, but others think the illegals help by taking low-skill and wage jobs that Americans would not take. Some think that immigrants enrich America’s culture; others think they spoil it. One may think that the illegal immigrants help the economy, while another thinks that they are stealing jobs from Americans. One thing is for sure: illegal immigrants have a social and cultural effect on America.

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Impact on Culture
 Illegal immigrants entering the US have had a profound impact on the America’s culture. In some ways, they have en riched it. They have brought new ideas and entrepreneurial spirit to the US. In other ways though, illegal immigrants have impacted America’s social structure. Millions of illegal immigrants arrive in the US every year and form exclusive communities that do not have any motivation to assimilate with the American culture. Mainly because of the language barrier, illegal immigrants in general are doing poorly in school. Thanks to immigrants and illegal immigrants we have many kinds of new cultures and traditions that were brought from their native countries. For example, the majority of schools in Texas teach Spanish. The reason for this is because there are approximately 48.4 million Hispanic people in America, taking up 16 percent of the population in America and around 38 percent of the population in Texas. Immigrants also bring new kind of food. For example, there is a wide range of Tex-Mex food, because of the large population of Hispanics living in Texas. Immigrants also bring their holidays to America, such as Cinco De Mayo.

Views of Americans
Americans’ views on illegal immigration and immigration in general have changed over time. In 2007, a poll was taken by USA Today. The result was that most Americans who responded to the poll were in favor of giving illegal immigrants a chance to gain citizenship. However, only three years later, a poll taken by the New York Times and CBS News ended differently. The majority of these voters think that the country’s laws on immigration need to be changed greatly in favor of cracking down on illegal immigration. Numerous polls show that an American’s view is influenced by their economic circumstance. While some Americans believe that immigration is important to the economy, others believe that immigrants are stealing jobs from American citizens. Those who believe the latter are most likely feeling more financial stress than the former.

Immigration-based Organizations
 Many Americans are taking a stand against illegal immigration. For example, if one searched “illegal immigration in america” on the Internet, one of the first links to show up would be to the website of “[|Americans for Legal Immigration]”. The views of this organization are as follows: “1. Secure Our Borders 2. Crack down on employers that intentionally hire illegals 3. Remove incentives and rewards to illegals such as licenses, welfare, and other taxpayer benefits 4. Enforce our existing laws and deport illegal aliens when convicted of crimes or detected during routine law enforcement activities.” As one can see, this organization has no intention of stopping immigration all together, just illegal immigration. Other organizations, such as the AICF ([|American Immigration Control Foundation]) and the NOFEAR ( National Organization for European American Rights), have very different opinions than that. “AICF's web site suggests that immigrants have ‘sown the seeds of ethnic strife in America’” __(http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2001/spring/blood-on-the-border/anti-immigration-)__ The National Organization for European American Rights thinks that if we continue letting immigrants in from Mexico, our country will turn into a big version of Mexico City. Some organizations even go as far as to think that the Mexican government and American Hispanics are secretly planning to found a Hispanic nation in southwest American. As this proves, the opinions of Americans can vary greatly when it comes to immigration.

**Sources**
[|Lauren Schoen's Works Cited] [|Morgan Levy's Works Cited] [|Amanda Barsky's Works Cited] <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|Arielle Terk's Works Cited]