As the immigration debate heats up, free marketers square off against cultural conservatives and on the left side civil rights and ethnic advocacy groups oppose environmentalists and job projectionists. While the total estimated number of illegal immigrants approaches 12 million, the need for action is apparent. The options of amnesty and the other of building concrete walls and blocking off the border are simply not acceptable.

On one side of the spectrum, it is clear that immigration contributes to negative impacts on wage levels and decreases job availability in certain economic sectors. Because of this, a rising sense of economic and social insecurity is present in many U.S. communities, along with drug trafficking in border states, creating concerns for American people. Not only are our hospitals filling up, but those who do not pay taxes are using the United States for all it has. This is simply not acceptable.

On the other hand, illegal immigrants make up15 percent of the American work force and contribute $20 to $30 million dollars to the American economy. The diversity immigration brings creates a better education and informed community and allows America to be the melting pot it was designed to be. Immigration also allows individuals the rights that they may have previously not had. The freedom of speech, something we tend to take for granted is a luxury many in other nations can not enjoy. Many send money to their families and migrate here so that they may have food on their tables and shoes on their feet.

However, President Bush stated in his recent address on May 15, "People ought to be here on a ... temporary basis. And if they want to become a citizen, after a series of steps they've got to take, they get in line, like everybody else; not at the head of the line but at the end of the line."

I support immigration and believe it has benefits, but I insist immigrants follow the process like so many others have. It is a privilege to live here and not something attained automatically. Yes, some of us were born into the benefits this country provides, but our forefathers were not and they helped create where we stand today. The process of becoming a citizen is tedious but we must keep the guidelines for citizenship high.It is with these comments I feel immigration policy must be ratified and feel that immigrants take the proper steps in becoming citizens.
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Jeremy Lynch is a student at Bear Creek High School.