The United States is known as the land of great opportunity. People from all over the world traveled to America in hopes of finding a better life for them and their family. Oscar Handlin of Harvard wrote: “I once thought of writing a history of immigrants in America. Then I discovered that immigrants were American history” (Daniels). Over the years, the population of these immigrants has grown immensely, and some of these immigrants have become illegal, leading to immigration reform. Immigration reform is a term commonly used to improve illegal immigration laws. It is one of the most controversial issues in the United States today. As of 2011, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) estimated that the number of undocumented people. A 2013 report by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) shows that the annual cost to U.S. taxpayers of providing illegal immigrants with social services along with education is estimated at approximately $113 billion. In addition to being a burden on the country, some people believe that illegal immigrants contribute greatly to the crime rate. The Federal Bureau of Prisons had reported that 26.4% of inmates in federal prisons are not U.S. citizens (Vaughan and Camarota). “Most studies comparing crime rates and immigration levels in cities do not show a clear correlation between the percentage of immigrants in a city's population and its crime level. This is one of the strongest arguments that immigrants do not have high crime rates. However, such studies generally measure only overall crime, not crimes specifically committed by immigrants, so their value is limited” (Vaughan and Camarota). This shows that crime should not be a factor why illegal immigrants should be denied citizenship due to the low rate of crime committed by illegal immigrants. Many also believe that illegal immigrants are taking over citizens' jobs for lower pay when, in reality, many of these jobs are becoming unwanted by the authorities. Recent studies have shown that the higher earnings of legalized workers will produce more tax revenue, more consumer purchasing power, and more jobs. A study by Raúl Hinojosa-Ojeda, founding director of the North American Center for Integration and Development at the University of California, Los Angeles, estimated that in the first three years following legalization, greater earning power of newly legalized workers would generate $4.50 in earnings for $5.4 billion in additional net tax revenue, which would generate enough consumer spending to support 750,000 to 900,000 jobs (American Immigration Council). “Furthermore, 'if unauthorized Latino workers were granted legal status, the state government would benefit from a $310 million gross increase in income taxes and the federal government would gain $1.4 billion in income taxes paid every year'” (American Immigration Council) . Another study conducted by Manuel Pastor and his colleagues at the Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration at the University of Southern California found that the unauthorized Latino population in California was losing $2.2 billion in wages each year to due to their lack of legal status. By granting citizenship to illegal immigrants, you allow legalized immigrants to earn higher wages and move into jobs