Illegal immigration has been a problem that has plagued the United States for many years. This problem is not new to the country as thousands of immigrants have crossed oceans and the Mexican border since our country was founded. The underlying problem is the lack of assimilation to the American lifestyle and acceptance of existing norms and laws. With the economy already fragile and the unemployment rate soaring, Americans must make every effort to close their borders to undocumented workers to ease the strain and keep all the jobs available for unemployed Americans and legal workers. Aviva Chomsky writes that “immigration plays a much more complex role in the employment picture, and many different factors influence employment and unemployment.”(4). Chomsky, continuing, “it seems in fact that immigrants and low-skilled citizens compete for the same jobs” (11). Hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants enter the country and begin working under illegal names or take agricultural jobs where they are paid under the table. Chomsky confirms this fact when he states that “some immigrants work in the informal economy and are paid under the table in cash, so they have no federal and state income taxes, or Social Security taxes, deducted from their paychecks” (36 ). Which many employers are realizing because by doing so they don't have to pay taxes and can make more profits. This also damages the country's economy because no one pays taxes and therefore no money is circulating to get the country out of the current recession. This burden falls indefinitely on the shoulders of the rest of America's legal citizens who are inevitably forced to pay the cost of this one-sided job by... means of paper... look for anyone who wants to come to America to find a new home, a job or a better life, yet I have a problem with doing so at the expense of all the honest, hardworking citizens who pay the taxes that have made this country a place others want to come to. I wouldn't go to any country in the world and try to rob its countrymen, all I ask is the same from others. Works Cited Anzovin, Steven. The immigration problem. New York: Wilson, 1975. Print. (49) Chomsky, Aviva. “They take our jobs.” Boston: Wilsted, 2007. Print. (4,11,36) Lee, Kathleen. Illegal immigrants. San Diego: Lucent, 1996. Print. (40,41,39,51)USCIS. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.” Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA).” Network. June 4, 2011 .West, Darrell M. “Brain Gain.” Harrisonburg: Donnelly, 2010. Print. (10-11)