America should support blanket amnesty for illegal immigrants.

America should not necessarily grant Illegal Immigrants citizenship, however they should be granted the right to all educational and health benefits, and legal rights that American citizens receive. According to the CAIRCO's section on Immigration Issues, since the 1986 amnesty, Congress has passed a total of 7 amnesties for illegal aliens allowing over 6 million total illegal immigrants to be granted blanket amnesty for a variety of reasons ("Immigration Issues"). Many illegal immigrants have already been granted a path to citizenship and amnesty, and more opportunities should be made available. For example, President Barack Obama reasons a plan to possibly grant the 12 million illegal immigrants that reside in America Amnesty. President Obama explains, "'We are not going to ship back 12 million people, we're not going to do it as a practical matter. We would have to take all our law enforcement that we have available and we would have to use it and put people on buses, and rip families apart, and that's not who we are, that's not what America is about. So what I've proposed... is you say we're going to bring these folks out of the shadows. We're going to make them pay a fine, they are going to have to learn English, they are going to have to go to the back of the line...but they will have a pathway to citizenship over the course of 10 years'" ("PROPOSED IMMIGRATION REFORM"). Simply removing illegal immigrants from the country would be much too costly and a waste of time. Individuals would be ripped away from their families and communities and there would also be negative economic consequences from removing millions of hard-working residents from the domestic labor pool. Instead, a proposed path to citizenship is a better solution. Illegal Immigrants offer benefits to the United states in a variety of different ways. For example, Undocumented immigrants contribute to our economy as workers, taxpayers, and consumers, they account for 5 percent of the total U.S. labor force, and at least a quarter of the workers in industries like construction, agriculture, grounds keeping, meat processing, and textile production. All undocumented immigrants pay sales and property taxes, and most pay federal and state income taxes as well, even though they're not eligible for Social Security, Medicare, or the many other programs their tax dollars help fund. Undocumented immigrants also spend billions of dollars each year, which supports our economy and helps create new jobs. The New York Times explains that 'a 2006 study by the Texas State Comptroller estimated that the 1.4 million undocumented immigrants in Texas alone added almost $18 billion to the state's economic output, and more than paid for the $1.2 billion in state services they used by generating $1.6 billion in new state revenues' (Ewing). The contributions of undocumented immigrants would be even greater if they were able to earn legal status. Workers who are not part of an underground economy and don't live in fear of deportation are better able to acquire new job skills and move up the career ladder. That turns into higher wages, more money paid in taxes, and more money to spend to support other businesses. Also, most illegal immigrants are for the most part law-abiding. As I previously explained, there is a greater percentage of citizens who commit crimes than there are illegal immigrants. Immigration is a natural right that is attained at birth. The idea that immigration needs to be authorized by the government goes against that freedom. Immigrants who come to America seeking the opportunity to work and pursue happiness, or those brought here at too young an age to have any say in the matter, ought to be able to stay to pursue those opportunities, thus proving that illegal immigrants should be granted blanket amnesty. Works Cited Ewing, Walter. "Are Illegal Immigrants Good for the U.S. Economy?" The New York Times. Web. 30 Oct. 2013. "Immigration Issues." Cairco. Web. 29 October 2013. "PROPOSED IMMIGRATION REFORM." US Amnesty. Web. 29 October 2013.