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Ryan Martin Honors American Studies February 13, 2012 Immigration is a huge factor in many states across the United States (US). Some find it a problem; Maryland finds it a boost to their economy. Maryland researchers state in the article that the immigration into their state has boosted the economy and lowered the unemployment rate. Many immigrants have taken positions in the agriculture, seafood, construction, tourism, and transportation jobs. This allows the economy to grow because the immigrants are willing to work for less, and the state continues to have people filling those positions. Something else that has increased in Maryland is the amount of immigrant children. This is because the workers bring their families with them across the borders. Maryland schools have started programs to help the immigrant children because it is a benefit to their economy to educate the children. Maryland has noticed a better economy and says “expansion in these labor-intensive industries would have been choked off” (Tickner). Unlike southern border states such as Arizona, Maryland does not have the drug trafficking problems. For this reason, Maryland does not treat them with any less respect than American citizens.  America was made up of mostly immigrants when it was first founded. Now that America is established and borders have been declared, Mexican immigrants are illegally entering the US, bringing illegal drugs, and causing a lot of problems in southern states. The drug war has caused the US to send warnings to its citizens in these areas ( Huffington Post). Some people find this dreadful. Maryland, however, is finding useful purposes for these immigrants. The immigration has benefited Maryland by raising their economy. The immigrants have taken agricultural jobs and labor intensive jobs that most Americans would not do ( Tickner). These immigrants work for lower wages and longer hours. The wages they earn are better than what they earn in their home countries ( New York Times). Immigrants came to America in the beginning of the 1900’s and had some of the same traits as immigrants today. The immigrants worked in harsh conditions and had very little pay for their hard labor-intensive work ( Gertude). Today laws prohibit these harsh conditions because of what happened to the early immigrants.  Early immigrants made their children work alongside them to help raise monies for their families too. The Maryland educational systems have made changes in order to help the students of the immigrants. They help them with languages and other necessary educational needs. Maryland education is helping the children because they realize that these children are the next generation, so the students need to learn skills for later in life. In the 1900’s, the children of immigrants did not have opportunities to go to school because they had to work with their parents in order to survive. Labor laws are now in place that prohibits children from working so that they can get a good education and have improved the conditions of the workers ( Maryland Wage and Hour Laws).  Ellis Island was a stop as a checkpoint for immigrants coming to America early in our history. Today immigrants literally run illegally across our borders. This leaves the US vulnerable to attack. Today there is little known about checkpoints for immigration into the US. This is another problem for companies who hire these workers because the US government holds them accountable. These companies still hire these workers because they need them. There are some immigrants who still legally enter our country, but we have to find a way to control the illegal entries. Immigrants have been entering America since it was founded. This article tells about how the state of Maryland has used the new immigrants to their benefit by improving their economy. Many states in the south have taken security measures against the immigrants because they are smuggling drugs across the borders. How can other states like Maryland find ways to have immigrants benefit their economy? Maryland has given work to the immigrants who strive for a better living in America. In the past, immigrants leaving their home countries have come to America for a better life and have worked hard for it. Mexican drug smugglers, however, have tarnished the hardworking name of immigrants. The immigrants in Maryland have been proving that some immigrants can work hard. In leaving their countries, the immigrants are changing the demographics of the US and Mexico by immigrating and changing the population of the countries. Over the years, America has been populated by immigrants coming here for a better life. How can America tell the immigrants they cannot enter our country when it was the very building block for our great nation? The children of immigrants have been accepted by schools in Maryland and are given great educations. The children will have a better time in America and will want to stay making even more impact on the demographics. The demographics are always changing around the world as people immigrate and are having children in new countries. The world is interconnected more than ever before because of constant immigration and will continue to have changing demographics as a result too.
 * Common Sense Immigration Policy Recommended by Maryland State Panel**
 * Summary**
 * Relevance **
 * Evaluation **
 * Questions **
 * 1) How can the southern states use the immigrants to help them like Maryland does?
 * 2) How can the southern states crack down on the drug smuggling?
 * 3) How can the federal government reward immigrants for working hard and helping our economy?
 * 4) How can the US improve identification of these immigrants in order to protect US citizens?
 * 5) How can the US better help immigrant children through our educational system who have no say in where they move and live?

Gertude Barnum, “A Hungarian Girl’s Impressions of America: A True Story Told by a White-goods Striker to Gertrude Barnum,” //The Outlook// 104 (17 May 1913): 111-114. Huffington Post. "Mexican Drug Violence: U.S. State Department Expands Travel Warning To 14 Mexican States." //Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post//. N.p., 10 Feb. 2012. Web. 14 Feb. 2012. . "Maryland Wage and Hour Laws - EmploymentLawHandbook.com." //EmploymentLawHandbook .com//. Web. 15 Feb. 2012. . New York Times. "The Competition for Low-Wage Jobs - NYTimes.com." //Room for Debate - NYTimes.com//. N.p., 18 Mar. 2009. Web. 14 Feb. 2012. . Tickner, Neil, Larry Shinagawa, Ph.D., and Jeffrey Werling, Ph.D. . "'Common Sense' Immigration Policy Recommended by Md. State Panel - Business - Press Releases - msnbc.com." //msnbc.com - Breaking news, science and tech news, world news, US news, local news- msnbc.com//. 9 Feb. 2012. Web. 13 Feb. 2012. .