Immigration can be both a blessing and a curse to a country like the United States, a place that, since its founding, everyone has wanted to come to. It offers opportunities and freedoms that no other country can even dream of offering. With such a promise, this can make immigration a strain on the country as a whole. Border security in the United States should be reinforced and made tighter because a lot of people that are crossing our borders illegally, are pouring into the welfare system and most, not all; are not productive members of society because of the fact that they cannot find jobs. People are usually fed the same lies, from the mainstream media outlets like CNN, MSNBC and others, that open and free immigration helps the economy because "it helps Americans do jobs they do not want to do" and "it helps stimulate our economy by providing more workers.” Though immigration does help our economy, it does not mean open borders is the answer. This article will will go into detail on why the usual talking points of the mainstream media and politicians simply not true, with facts to back up the point. It will also give reasons why the United States should invest in securing the border and securing our nation's sovereignty.

Pro-open border supporters, which can range from Immigration activists and Politicians all the way to celebrities, always claim that "immigrants do jobs people don't want to do" and "it helps stimulate our economy by adding more workers." These are untrue statements because according to the United States Census Bureau, information stated among the considered "high immigrant occupations" most are actually native born Americans: 55% of maids and housekeepers, 75% of janitors, 65% of construction workers, 64% of groundskeepers and landscapers, 63% of butchers and 58% of taxi drivers are all US citizens. It also goes on to say that the amount of American citizen unemployment in these "high immigrant" occupations is actually higher than in "non immigrant" occupations. These statistics give further evidence that the claim, “Immigrants do jobs Americans don't want to do” is simply not true. According to these numbers, American citizens are more than willing to do these jobs and even more Americans would be doing them if it wasn't for all of the open border illegal immigration this country has to face. Constitutional Scholar and nationally syndicated talk show host Mark Levin said that, “It is not to say immigrants do not play a role in our economy… it is to say that open borders, illegal immigration, unfettered immigration is destructive to the American worker. It is not a contribution to our economy and its particularly so that some of the people that come to this country are drawn not by these jobs, but by the welfare state.”

Since the founding of America up until the 20th century, immigration was “technically” open and people have used the fact that that is enough of an argument to continue the open borders policy. What people do not understand or sometimes overlook, is the fact that before and after America's founding all the way to the industrial revolution, immigration was open and necessary. America was creating way too many jobs and our population alone could not fill them. That trend has unfortunately reversed. According to the Center of Immigration Studies, for every one job that America creates, two immigrants come into the country and 18 million legal and illegal immigrants settled in the United States from 2000 to 2015, while only 9.3 million additional jobs were created. The study goes on to say that the population of Americans aged 16 to 65 (working age) also grew by 16 million from 2000 to 2014, and that overall population of working-aged immigrants and native-born Americans increased by 28 million, which is three times the number of jobs added since 2000. That means roughly one working-age immigrant has entered the labor market for every two or three young Americans who turn 18 for every 1 job created. The problem is obvious there are not enough jobs to go around for both Legal, Illegal and US citizens. Open immigration and open borders was a necessity and a great thing for the United States back in the 18-19th centuries, but times have changed and the amount of legal workers have decreased significantly. From the statistics above it is obvious that the US needs tighter border security to reduce the waves of incoming illegal immigrants.

Another problem posed by the waves of illegal immigration is that it gives businesses the opportunity to pay illegals less for the same work and it increases welfare costs. People who come here illegally come here out of desperation and, are more often than not, more likely to work for a lower wage. They do this because even at the lower wage, they are still making more than they ever would back in there home country. Illegal immigrants that cross the border are usually not farmers and non educated people that can only work in low skilled occupations. According to The Daily Caller, extra immigrants are usually poor. This drives up tax payers' cost of welfare the extra immigrants also flood classrooms and increase the need for higher school budgets. The Daily Caller also goes on to say that the post 2000 flood of immigrant and young American workers in the gradual growing job market, is helping drive down wages and boost Wall Street values. They go on to say, that according to The New York times, median household income has dropped 9% since the turn of the century giving further proof that wages have gone down while corporate profits go up. This drop in median household salaries is due to the fact that there are not enough jobs for the American worker population, the legal immigrant worker population and the illegal immigrant population, forcing people to fight over the few jobs that are being created. Some will take lower wages just to have some sort of income, leaving the others to have to settle for less money than what they usually earn. Illegal immigration needs to stop in order to stop the decline in wages, stop Wall Street from making profits by taking advantage of people’s desperation and get Americans and Legal immigrants back to work, and making good wages. However, this is not support for the minimum wage increase, because that is a different argument in itself.

Immigration is a cornerstone for America. This nation was discovered, founded and brought up by immigrants. Legal immigration should be embraced and encouraged by all Americans, because without immigrants, our great country would not exist. The United States is "the shining city on the top of the hill,” that everyone wants to "flock to" as Ronald Reagan put it. For The United States to continue being that shining city, we need to secure the border, fund a double layered fence all across the southern border between the United States and Mexico, increase the amount of border patrol agents working the border and enact an entry/exit tracking system to make sure people here on visas leave on time. This will employ even more people along with protecting our nation’s sovereignty. We the people need to pull together and secure the border to help curb the 11.5 Million illegal immigrants here since 2000, restore our unemployment to the healthy 2-3% which would in turn help the economy and help get Americans back to work raising wages and providing a more comfortable living for all people in America, immigrants and Citizens alike. This will ensure that The United States continues being "The shining city on top of the hill” that everyone looks to where it as Ronald Reagan said in his farewell speech, “she still stands strong and true on the granite ridge, and her glow has held steady no matter what storm. And she's still a beacon, still a magnet for all who must have freedom, for all the pilgrims from all the lost places who are hurtling through the darkness, toward home." With that we too shall hold steady through this storm and our light will continue to shine brightly.