LETTER: Has Obama done something right?
On Oct. 24, President Obama gave a speech about an immigration reform that surprised me, because I actually agree with him. He is suggesting we should help those illegal immigrants become legal citizens. This is a change that will help us as a nation become stronger by being united together as Americans.
President Obama said this in his speech, “It’s not smart to invite some of the brightest minds from around the world to study here and then not let them start businesses here. We’ve sent them back to their home countries to start businesses and create jobs and invent new products someplace else.”
Why are we doing this? It doesn’t seem smart to educate the worlds smartest people and not allow them to live here. We need new people and new ideas in the U.S. New ideas bring knowledge, wealth and less unemployment.
In President Obama’s speech, he said, “It doesn’t make sense to have 11 million people who are in this country illegally without any incentive or any way for them to come out of the shadows, get right with the law, meet their responsibilities and permit their families then to move ahead.”
11 million people – I honestly didn’t think this was correct, so I thought I would try to find another source and found this on washingtontimes.com: “Demographers say the number of illegal immigrants has now leveled off at slightly more than 11 million.” A majority of these people want to be U.S. citizens. We have made it too difficult for people to become legal citizens. It’s easier to risk their lives and sneak into the country and live illegally rather than become legal. We have it backwards; we need a program that will encourage people to come to the U.S. the right way, the legal way. The Senate has already passed an immigration reform bill that will help make this happen. This bill will encourage immigrants to come legally to our country.
“Independent economists have shown that if the Senate bill became law over the next two decades, our economy would grow by $1.4 trillion more than it would if we don’t pass the law,” Obama said.
Is $1.4 trillion pocket change? I certainly don’t think it is. It seems pretty simple to me; more people means more businesses, more businesses means more jobs and more people working means a better and happier nation. People who are already here illegally are using our government funds. They are willing to be legal citizens and pay taxes, so why shouldn’t we let them?
I encourage you to read President Obama’s speech for yourself. Most of all, I encourage you to support the United States of America and our economy by supporting this immigration reform bill.