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As is common during election years, 2016 has been quite turbulent. One of the most hot-button issues has been immigration, and specifically differing opinions on our new President-elect’s stance on it. Gallup recently reported that 65% of Americans are in favor of creating a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, while just under 20% of the population believed undocumented immigrants should be immediately deported. While research indicates that undocumented immigrants don’t hurt -and actually benefit- America, both sides stick to their beliefs. The arguments are as follows:

Throughout his campaign, President-elect Donald J. Trump asserted that undocumented immigrants are America’s biggest problem. He argued that they cost the country billions of dollars and take away low-level jobs that could otherwise be given to American citizens. Trump’s main issue with undocumented immigrants seems to be the amount of government money that is spent on them annually. In August, at his Arizona speech on immigration, Trump cited the Federation for American Immigration Reform in his claim that America spends $113 billion on undocumented immigrants every year. What he failed to mention was that almost $12 billion of those $113 billion come from taxes paid by undocumented immigrants, and that of the remaining $101 billion, state and local governments pay $84 billion. That means that annually, the federal government spends only $17 billion on undocumented immigrants. In Trump’s Ten Point Plan to Put America First, which can be found on his website, he mentions tripling the amount of ICE agents. Seeing as the federal government currently spends almost $7 billion on ICE agents now, Trump would be adding at least another $14 billion to the budget, nearly doubling what the federal government currently spends on immigration. And while Trump would be busy spending taxpayer money, undocumented immigrants would be busy improving the American economy.

Undocumented immigrants contribute a lot to America, but one of the most important of those contributions is the boost to the economy. According to the Pew Research Hispanic Trends Project, undocumented immigrants make up 5.2% of America’s workforce, and in fields like agriculture they can constitute up to 70% of the workforce. This means that they make up a large amount of the US workforce and thus help keep the economy circulating by paying taxes. Undocumented immigrants pay $12 billion in taxes every year, while Trump pays (presumably) none. In 2007, the Congressional Budget Office said, “Over the past two decades, most efforts to estimate the fiscal impact of immigration in the United States have concluded that, in aggregate and over the long term, tax revenues of all types generated by immigrants—both legal and unauthorized—exceed the cost of the services they use.” The facts show that undocumented immigrants add far more to this country financially than they cost.

Trump’s other claim is that undocumented immigrants take away low-level jobs from American citizens. If you were to look at the industries that undocumented immigrants work most in, you would find that it is true; undocumented immigrants almost always work low-level jobs such as maid, cook, or agricultural worker. However, the undocumented workers that “take” these jobs are not stealing them from American citizens. Even the poorest American citizen would not put up with the poor wages, hard labor, and harrowing workplace conditions that accompany these jobs. So, no, undocumented immigrants are not taking Americans’ jobs, because even if undocumented immigrants didn’t fill those positions, no regular American citizen would be rushing to fill them.

Actress, activist, and spokesperson Sophia Bush’s tweet in response to Trump’s Arizona immigration speech says it all: “Horrifying. Truly. So much for being a nation that lives up to the words on the Statue of Liberty.”

The other side of the argument also has its points:

Our new President-elect has stated since the beginning of his campaign that he planned to take a hard stance on illegal immigration. What he has also said, and what has been largely ignored, is that the undocumented immigrants he plans on deporting are those that have criminal history. The media ignores this fact in favor of publishing sensationalized, click bait headlines.

Undocumented immigrants are one of America’s most pressing problems. They disproportionately impact the level of crime in the nation, costing citizens tax money. Think about it this way: A person enters our nation illegally. From there, they either get a job, which means they have taken a job from an American citizen, or they go on welfare, and make legal citizens pay for their expenses while they do no work. In both scenarios, legal American citizens lose. Then, continuing the scenario, say that undocumented immigrant commits a crime. Once again, the American citizens have been hurt. And then, if the police find the undocumented citizen who committed the crime, our country spends tens of thousands of dollars to prosecute and then jail that person. Once again, America loses.

Many say that targeting undocumented citizens is cruel or racist, but there is evidence to support the belief that they are a problem. In 2013, federal prosecutors prosecuted just over 60,000 criminal cases. Over 40% of those cases were filed in court districts around the Mexican-American border. Nearly 22% of those cases were drug related, and 19% were violent crimes. Clearly, the Mexican-American border -which 97% of illegal immigrants use to cross into America– is a despot for crime. Sheriff Paul Babeu of Pinal County, Arizona said, “The Mexican drug cartels have almost toppled the Mexican government and they are crossing into Arizona at will. Pinal County has seen mass murders, execution-style slayings, sexual assaults, kidnappings, shootings, armed robberies, burglaries, and more — all tied to illegal immigration.”

The bottom line is, undocumented criminal immigrants need to go. This is what Trump has been saying all along.

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It is clear that both sides have extremely different points of view, and it is doubtful that they will ever see eye to eye. Even members of Whitney M. Young have strong opinions on the issue; Claire Toney ‘17 said, “This country is built on immigration. You can’t expect people to stop immigration because it’s not convenient for you.” To counter her point was a junior who wished to remain anonymous, but said, “People who come over the border are constantly incarcerated for violence or drugs. If you’re crossing the border to come over and commit crimes, then you shouldn’t be here anyways.” Ultimately, the future of undocumented immigrants rests in the hands of our new president-elect. As the most powerful man in the world, Americans can only hope that he will take the time to look at all sides of the argument and listen to the opinions of the American people.