Can the United States afford to tolerate illegal immigrants? Illegal immigration is a serious issue in the United States. Due to free rights, liberties, and opporeunitees, it makes America a popular place to live. According to the United States government, the number of illegal immigrants ranges from 9 to 11 million. However, the Federation of American Immigration Reform (FAIR) claims that there are 10 to 12 million illegal immigrants living in the United States today. Some citizens claim that illegal immigration is a benefit to the economy and that they help fill jobs that American citizens find “undesirable”. In spite of this, illegal immigrants are taking millions of dollars away from the deserving legal Americans.

Imagine your tax money being wasted on illegal aliens. Picture yourself living in a society where your hard earned money is wasted on people who are in your country illegally. See in your mind’s eye money we pay to support our citizens. The United States support our citizens by providing free education, welfare, justice, jobs, and health care. Illegal immigrants take many of these privileges up when they can be used on legal citizens. All these examples are a reality that the American government simply cannot support. Studies show that 58% of illegal immigrants come to America to take benefit of the free education. The Pew Research Center stated, “Both unauthorized immigrants tthemselvess and those born in the US, make up about 6.8 percent of the total enrolment in elementary and secondary schools.” It is unconstitutional for illegal immigrants to take away our rights, liberties, and opporeunitees.

Doesn’t it make sense that if you choose to come into America, to do it legally? It is proven that illegal immigrants are tied closely as criminals. Identity theft, fraud green cards and social security cards are ways illegals commit crimes. Today, over 25% of federal prisons are populated with illegal immigrants. That 25% of prison space could be taken by American criminals instead of illegals. It is clear that illegal immigration should be supervised closer so the American government will stop losing money, and lower the criminal rate.

Due to illegal immigrants, the jobs that Americans find “undesirable” are filled. However, those jobs that are found undesirable can be filled with American workers, which then help the economy thrive. According to the Federal Government, 14.9 million Americans are without jobs. It is proven that one in every twenty workers are illegal immigrants.

Studies by Jeffrey S. Passel, a senior demographer at Pew Research Center, said that the states with the highest percentage of illegal immigrants were Nevada (7.2%), California (6.8%), Texas (6.7%), and New Jersey (6.2%). If you look at the unemployment rate, Nevada is the number one state with the lowest unemployment. Doesn’t this say something about Illegal Immigrants? They come into this country to work when our own American citizens are having trouble finding jobs for tthemselvess. Steve A. Camarota, director of research at the Center for Immigration Studies states "There's no reason for these numbers to go down. Our legal policy remains very permissive, and we're not enforcing the law." This is the problem that the government faces is “not enforcing the law” as Camarota states.

In conclusion, America needs to watch the border patrol to ensure the rights, liberties, and freedom that the United States offers are going to well deserving people and not to illegal Aliens. The United States cannot afford to waste their money on undeserving people. If immigrants wish to come into the United States, they should complete the process legally and rightfully. The precious tax money and benefits such as health care and free education should be only for the legal citizens. Saving American money is well worth it.