For this week's article, I wanted to address common arguments and misconceptions about illegal immigration in this country. This is a major topic in the upcoming 2016 election, and Democrats and Republicans are completely polarized on the issue. Here I'm simply going to bring up some of the most common arguments I've heard against illegal immigration and do my best to fact check them. This issue in particular is very hotly debated, and both sides of the argument release different studies and evidence they claim prove their own points. I tried my best to stick to non-biased sources and look for just the real facts and statistics while combing through all the muck.

Argument #1: Illegal immigrants don't pay taxes!

I've heard this claim many times, and I find it incredibly surprising that this myth persists. Because it is, in fact, a myth. The information is readily available to anyone who cares enough to Google it, and most impartial sources will show that illegal immigrants in this country do pay taxes.

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy has conducted a study that reveals of the approximately 11.4 million undocumented immigrants in this country, they contribute about $11.84 billion in taxes annually. ITEP's analysts also expressed the prediction that with full implementation of Obama's executive actions regarding immigration reform, immigrants would end up contributing an additional $2.2 billion. If an easier path to citizenship were allowed for illegal immigrants, they would be held required to pay even more in taxes than they already do. It is also worth mentioning that, while undocumented immigrants pay so much in taxes, they are rarely able to reap the welfare benefits that these taxes pay for, as their immigration status leaves them unqualified for social welfare programs. Although some may take advantage of a legal family member's welfare, this is not the prevalent case.

Argument #2: Immigrants steal jobs from unemployed Americans!

Whenever I hear someone complain that illegal immigrants steal jobs from native-born workers, I try to remind them that the job market is much more complicated than a set number of jobs available and a set number of people competing for those jobs. It's just not how economics work. When an undocumented worker does a job, yes, "immigrants do indeed take jobs that could have been done by someone else, native born or not," says Tim Worstall at Forbes. However, as an undocumented immigrant may take that one job, he also brings along with him a set of needs that need to be fulfilled. He needs a place to live, food to eat, etc. He creates more demand in the market, and in fact creates more jobs in the long run. New jobs are created to supply for his demand.

According to the Economic Policy Institute, "that in the long run, immigration has a small but positive impact on the labor market outcomes of native-born workers." They also concede that although the long term effect of immigration on the job market is positive, there is evidence that the amount of available jobs drops slightly before the market has time to adjust for the influx of immigrants. However, a small short-term drop in available jobs is less of a problem when compared to an overall growth in the job market. The EPI also states that, regarding the legalization of undocumented workers:

"Providing legal status and citizenship enables unauthorized immigrants to produce and earn significantly more than they do when they are working without legal rights or protections and in constant fear of deportation. Their resulting productivity and wage gains ripple through the economy because immigrants are not just workers—they are also consumers and taxpayers. In particular, they will spend their increased earnings on items like food, clothing, housing, cars, and computers. That spending, in turn, will stimulate demand for more goods and services, which will create the need for more workers. In other words, it will create jobs."

Allowing immigrants into the country helps the economy by providing a larger market and more demand for labor. There isn't a set number of jobs to be filled, the economy is in a state of constant fluctuation. Allowing immigrants into the United States not only helps them to live a better life, it also benefits our country's economy.

Argument #3: Immigrants are mostly criminals!

This is a claim voiced predominantly by Donald Trump and his campaign. The Washington Post's Fact Checker blog has investigated Trump's allegations and found that immigrants do not have a higher crime rate than native-born Americans, and first generation immigrants actually have a lower crime rate. Studies by the American Immigration Council show the same thing, and they report a lower incarceration rate among illegal immigrants when compared to native-born American citizens. They state that "roughly 1.6 percent of immigrant males age 18-39 are incarcerated, compared to 3.3 percent of the native-born."

Argument #4: Immigrants hurt national unity by segregating themselves in their own communities and refusing to learn English!

This is a more outlandish claim that I hadn't personally heard very often myself, but apparently Wikipedia says it's a common argument against immigration, so why not mention it. I'll simply say that it's just not true, the American Immigration Council reports that over 75% of immigrants speak English fluently, demand for English classes far exceeds the supply, and greater than 33% are naturalized citizens.

I find it unbelievable that such a large group of people still are misinformed about the realities of immigration in this country. I find it especially ridiculous that such a large number of individuals that want to someday become the President of the United States subscribe to and/or promote the view that immigration is a plague that must be blocked at all costs.

Deporting illegal immigrants as criminals does not solve anything, and in the end it only hurts our country more. Building a wall along our border is a nonsensical notion and a complete waste; the resources spent trying to build this ambitious barrier could be allocated to a much more important cause. We shouldn't be spending our resources to divide us, we should be spending them to improve lives. We should be providing paths to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, and we should be allowing a reasonable amount of immigration into this country to benefit our own economy as well as the lives the immigrants themselves.

The United States has always been a country of immigrants, and today is no different. This opposition to immigration is based on ignorance and fear helps no one.