Illegal Immigrants Deserve Civil Rights

Citizenship in the United States comes with a very significant and powerful advantage; civil rights. Under these rights, your freedom is protected from several infringements by the government. Many individuals are entitled to these rights, such as those born in the United States, while many individuals may not be granted all of these rights, such as illegal immigrants. There is a huge controversial debate surrounding illegal immigrants and whether they should have civil rights and liberties, and this debate is becoming intensified in result of our president, Donald Trump.

Illegal immigrants come to the United States to live safer and better lives and to provide for their families, and to have their rights taken away is completely cruel. Illegal immigrants should have civil rights and liberties because they are human and their lives are as important as anyone else’s, and they do not cause harm but rather improve our economy.

The result of not obtaining civil rights can result in several negative outcomes. Some of these results of non citizenship can be physical expulsion, disenfranchisement, exclusion from access to public benefits and acts of violence. (Goldston, 2006). For a human being to be withdrawn from receiving benefits such as healthcare, or to be deprived of liberty, is inhumane and cruel and it is also a violation of the fifth amendment. The fifth amendment states; no persons shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law. (FindLaw, 2018). This is the main reason why illegal immigrants should have civil rights; because it is clearly stated in the constitution. If the fifth amendment used the word ‘citizen’ or ‘american’ opposed to ‘person’, then this argument would be invalid, but it uses the word ‘persons.’ An illegal immigrant is human, they are a person, they clearly deserve to be treated equally just as any other person deserves to be treated.

The American Dream is the hope for many families; they long for good health care, a good education, and a fair wage. Many countries have very poor healthcare and are very dangerous, leaving little hope to achieve the American Dream. One country in specific that faces very low health care quality is Mexico. Many residents of Mexico bear a disproportionate burden of disease, death, and disabled for certain health conditions, and they also have the worst perceived general health than the majority of the US population. (Mier, Ory, Zhan, Conkling, Sharkey, & Burdine, 2008). The resources for healthcare in Mexico are extremely limited, causing it to be difficult to access basic care to stay healthy. This is a major reason why illegal immigrants should have civil rights and liberties. Many residents of Mexico are becoming sick and diseased because their country does not have easy access to healthcare and the neighboring country, the United States does in fact have much easier access. Instead of feeling as if they can reside in the United States and get access this healthcare, they may fear that they will be taken advantage of or treated badly because they will not have civil rights. This is causing many immigrants to stay where they are and become sick and spread infections around, which is a very significant reason why they deserve civil rights, so they can have a healthier life.

An illegal immigrant is just like anyone else in America, they work, pay bills, provide for their families, and mind their own business. The perception many people have is that illegal immigrants are criminals and that they wreak havoc in the United States, which is why many believe they should not have rights. Although, it has been researched and proven false that the increase of immigrants causes an increase in violence and crime. A study published in the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Criminology found that there is no relationship between new immigration and and serious property crime. The increase in immigrants did not increase crimes such as burglary and theft. (Bernat, 2017). Many feel immigrants do not deserve civil rights and liberties because they are bringing harm to America, when in reality they are causing no more harm than those who do have civil rights and who were born in the United States.

Another important benefit of allowing illegal immigrants to live in the US and have civil rights is the boost in economy the United States would receive. Illegal immigrants are hard workers and they are willing to do the work that many others do not want to do. They account for 13 million consumers and many businesses would be not be able to replace certain workers if they were not allowed in the country. (Stern, 2010). Illegal immigrants are a benefit to the economy because they work hard and some even create small businesses, which is a major benefit to society. Another benefit to legalizing immigrants and allowing them rights is that it would boost the society and the health of the United States. If immigrants are “afraid to get health care, they can easily become carriers of diseases. If they were legalized, we can increase disease control.” (Stern, 2010). Healthcare is extremely difficult to receive as an illegal immigrant and many are not granted these rights. By allowing them civil rights, there is much more consuming and labor put into the United States, and better health in society is accomplished. Denying them rights results in less benefits to the country as a whole, it ruins the economy.

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