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Immigration Persuasive Speech

Cortni Willard
Hns. English 10
Per. 3
5-24-06
Persuasive Speech

I.
A. "Give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free." These words are engraved on the Statue of Liberty that was assembled in 1886. The statue was meant to be a beacon of hope for all immigrants that enter the U.S. Do we still agree with what those words say?
B. There has been so much controversy about immigration in the last few months that I became interested in how immigration affects our lives. I have researched immigration for the last 2 months now. I've read Internet articles, newspapers, and watched the news. So I became very informed about the subject of immigration.
C. 850,000 legal immigrants have been coming to the U.S. per year since 2000, plus the number is rising. This doesn't take into account the 275,000 illegal immigrants that come to the U.S. every year. In total, that amounts to over 1 million immigrants..
D. Today, I would like to inform you about the serious problems immigration could cause. First, by giving you all the facts, and by explaining how immigration, if continued, will affect our lives.

Transition: I'll start by telling you about immigration and its history.

II.
A. Americans have always been realistic about immigration, but if it continues at the rate it is, we will be in trouble.
1. The biggest issue is the fact that the U.S. is in the middle of another great wave of immigration.
a. Nearly 1 million immigrants are coming to the U.S. every year.
b. The immigration Act of 1965 was made to reunite and grant freedom for refugees.
1. The law nearly tripled the rate of immigration from 297,000 in 1965 to 850,000 in 2000
2. This is not including illegal immigrants, which are estimated around 275,000 per year.
3. During the 1990s there was an economic boom in which the number of illegal immigrants more than doubled, hitting 8.7 million.
B. Did you know that there were...