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impact on the United States economy.

Immigrants also strengthen the country's social structure. The debate over illegal immigration primarily concerns Mexicans, who come from a society where family is extremely important and family values have not yet been eroded to the extent that they have in the United States. In 2004, fifty-nine percent of illegal immigrants residing in the US had children who were citizens. That translates to 13.9 million illegal immigrants who have established family ties in this country. Research has shown that the rate of single parent families is lower among Mexican immigrant families than among whites of comparable income levels. America has long considered itself a nation based on Christian principles, and research shows that many Latino families, including immigrants, have a higher rate of church attendance than their white counterparts (Fukuyama). Aside from the injection of traditional family values into American society, immigration also has a positive effect on crime rates in the country. Robert J. Sampson of Harvard University conducted a study in 2003 that analyzed crime in Chicago among different groups of people. The study found a significantly lower violent crime rate among Mexican-Americans than among whites or blacks. Additionally, neighborhood made up primarily of immigrants had proportionately lower violence (Sampson). Higher immigrant population, which includes illegal immigrants as well, correlates to lower violence. Sampson cites comparatively low crime rates in San Diego, El Paso, San Jose, Dallas, and Phoenix, all cities with high populations of immigrants, as examples of this phenomenon. Between the positive effect on violent crime rates and the strengthening influence on family values, immigrants, including undocumented immigrants, prove beneficial to the culture of the United States.

Opponents of immigration hold that the less-skilled citizen work force suffers due to the high number of unskilled illegal immigrant workers. They cite statistics that show that the immigrant population is crowding unskilled citizens from jobs. However, as cited above, without an influx of immigrants there will be a lack of workers and business will suffer. Furthermore, the underlying problem of unskilled workers is that citizens do not complete high-school or go on to college. This problem has nothing to do with illegal immigration but is a completely separate social malady. Anti-immigration groups tout anecdotal evidence of illegal

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