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An Illegal Dream

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The Illegal American Dream Who are the 11.4 million immigrants living in the United States illegally? There are many immigrants who stand to benefit from President Obama’s recent executive actions, which defer deportation for up to 5.2 million illegal immigrants and grant them work permits. A population of immigrants who have already qualified for protection under Obama’s 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA. DACA allows certain people who came to the United States illegally as children to earn a reprieve from deportation for two years, subject to renewal. They are also eligible for work authorization. Obama’s recent executive actions, announced in November, target two groups: People who qualify for an expansion of the DACA program, and illegal immigrant parents of U.S. citizens who have been in the country more than five years with no criminal record. (Siegel) With President Obama skirting the constitution with his executive orders, there will be many more illegal immigrants in this country getting benefits which are for American citizens. There are some hard working illegal immigrants in America illegally, but how many are making a difference in their American communities. Veronica Valdez, the author of Walking Across the Stage, wrote, “For my mother, the concept of working has always been something you have to do, as opposed to an opportunity to make a difference in the world or to find fulfillment.” (231). Many illegal immigrants send their money back to their country of origin to other family members. They do not try and make America better, pay taxes, or make their neighborhoods better. Go to south Texas near the border, and you will find it becoming a third world nation. There is no assimilation, you would just think it was northern Mexico. America is the melting pot of the world, yet the immigrants now are not becoming a part of

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