There is quite a debate going on in the U.S. these days. The topic of concern is illegal immigration. One of the areas feeling the affects of illegal immigration is Tulsa, OK.

The Story

Dan Howard, a Tulsa, OK resident and radio personality of his own show titled, Outraged Patriots, broadcasts his feeling that the U.S. government is not doing its duty to protect the U.S. from what might be a "silent invasion." In other words, he is concerned that while more and more illegal immigrants are coming to our country, he fears that the numbers are growing too large, and before we know it, it will be almost impossible for the U.S. to do anything about it.

Because of Howard's two-hour broadcast each week, this conservative city (Tulsa) is feeling angered and uneasy about the Hispanic newcomers that have been pouring into their otherwise laid back community. The rising resentment is very apparent in the Latino community in Tulsa. It seems that long-time U.S. residents in Tulsa are taking their stand particularly at a mall in East Tulsa, which is filled with Latino shops. Since a U.S. boycott of the mall, sales have been down 40 percent for most merchants, and they are feeling the sting.

While there is a great unsettledness happening in this city, the same is happening in other cities that are seeing increases in Hispanic occupancy in recent years. What brings these immigrants to certain cities more than others? It would appear that illegal immigrants are settling in high-profile cities where they can find work for very low wages.

Tulsa has taken very rigorous actions to crack down on illegal immigration in their communities by passing an anti-illegal immigration measure. This measure allows police the right to check the immigration status of a suspected illegal alien. In this way, they can be either turned down for job interviews or even terminated by their current employer for being an illegal alien.

Thoughts to Ponder

Some would argue that it is not so much the fact that America does not want to open our arms to people who come here seeking a better way of life. By all means, a vast majority of us welcome this opportunity. The fact is the way the Hispanics are coming in an illegal fashion, and once here show no signs of wanting to become Americans.

How do you feel about this? Should the U.S. conform to Mexican traditions, or should Mexicans who come to our country conform to our traditions, if they want to be here so badly? It is quite a debate in our country today.

The issue that has many Americans distressed about this situation is that there are no clear-cut federal laws in place to handle this problem. This leaves individual states and local governments to compile their own laws. Instead of making this an issue of "United we Stand," it has become each state and city for themselves.

How would you go up about solving the illegal immigration issue?

Vocabulary Inspection

Listed below are some words used in this article that children may not be familiar with. Discuss these with your students or children, and if they do not know what a particular word means, have them look it up in a dictionary.

• Illegal
• Immigration
• Invasion
• Conservative
• Resentment
• Occupancy
• Rigorous
• alien (illegal)
• Distressed

Please feel free to print this article for classroom or home use.

This series title contains six entries across the political spectrum and extensive information on how to write a cause-and-effect essay. About half of the book is devoted to the topic of illegal immigration, while the other half is devoted to writing instruction, examples, and exercises.
Illegal Immigration (Writing the Critical Essay)