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What's the Big Deal? Illegal Immigration

What's the Big Deal? Illegal Immigration
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 4 to 5
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   4.7

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    immigration, pedestal, interior, commit, homeland, plaque, illegal, wretched, yearning, tests, criminal, jobs, health, escape, guys, bronze

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What's the Big Deal? Illegal Immigration
By Brenda B. Covert 		  
1     On the interior pedestal of the Statue of Liberty, there is a bronze plaque. It says, in part:

Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest tossed, to me:
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!
 
2     This poem suggests that people from other lands are welcome in America. People come here for the hope of a better life. They want to work and make money. If they have relatives here, they want to join them. Maybe they just want to escape the limits of their home country. The USA is known as the land of opportunity. If foreign-born people really are welcome, then why do so many people complain about illegal aliens? What makes them illegal? What's the big deal?
 
3     A legal alien, or immigrant, gets permission to enter the USA. He or she has to pass a criminal records check and a health check. The USA wants to keep out the bad guys and people who might make others sick. Adults must also have skills that will help them get jobs. They agree to pay taxes. Legal immigrants promise to respect the laws of our country.

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