"Are Illegal Immigrants Good for the U.S. Economy?" Revision

            Undocumented immigrants not only contribute to the economy as workers but as tax payers and consumers as well. In the article “Are Illegal Immigrants Good for the U.S. Economy”, Walter Ewing said “the contributions of undocumented immigrants would be greater if they were able to earn legal status”. Undocumented immigrants should have more rights in the United States because they work very hard in this country.

            In the United States undocumented immigrants are under appreciated. Although I am a naturalized citizen of the United States, I still consider myself an immigrant. I watch as my father and aunts struggle to get their legal status. My father brought my sister, my brother and myself, from Guyana, to the States for a better life. It took about ten years for my father to get legalized as a United States citizen, and through him I was able to get my legal status.

            Undocumented immigrants or immigrants in general, tend to work harder than “natives”. When my mother finally came to the States, 6 years after the arrival of my father, my sister, my brother, and myself, she immediately went to work as a home health aide. At the same time my mother was studying to become a medical assistant. I hardly ever saw her because she was always at work and after work she had school. By the time she got home I was in bed because I had school in the morning.

            Being an undocumented immigrant, you get treated like your worth less than the natural born citizens in the United States just for having a different skin color or speaking a different language. As an undocumented child attending public school was hard for me because I was teased just about every day because I had a thick Guyanese accent. I had long beautiful black curly hair that had to be cut off because someone put their gum in my hair. I never understood why those kids were mean to me and because of that I started to isolate myself from everyone.

            The United States government should give undocumented immigrants legal status after being in the States for at least three to five years. They should at least have a stable job and stable living environment to become a citizen of the United States. If the undocumented immigrants are willing to show they want to be in the United States, then I say let them be.