Illegal Immigrants: Immigration Reform, Citizenship, and DeportationIntroductionThe United States has seen a gradual increase in the number of illegal immigrants crossing its borders over the past fifteen years years. According to a 2013 report by the Pew Research Center, there were nearly twelve million undocumented immigrants living in the United States in 2012. (Gomez, A.) According to Brookings Institution demographer William Frey, immigration “is beginning to have a larger impact on more states while continuing to have a very large impact on traditional immigrant magnets like California” (Haya El, N. and Kiely, K.) There are several schools of thought on the issue, but two of them seem to stand out in our nation's ongoing efforts to find a solution to illegal immigrants entering the country and to those already living in the country, many of which have been here for several years and have had children born as citizens of the United States. Pro-reformists On the one hand there are those, such as Vice President Joe Biden and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who are strongly and openly in favor of passing the immigration reform bill which, among other things , would guarantee immediate citizenship to illegal immigrants already present in the country. Village. Biden's strongest argument in support of the bill may well be that "...America is losing thousands of engineers and scientists who earn PhDs at American universities [but who cannot work because they have no status legal]" (Fischer, S.) The anti-reformists At the opposite corner are those who believe that all illegal immigrants should be deported and that the country's borders should be made more secure. These individuals argue that allowing immigrants to enter the country illegally, leaving the problem domestically, and fortifying the country's borders will help us ensure that our country remains safe and prosperous. Quoted Carter, Sara. “Study Finds Nearly 70,000 Criminal Illegal Aliens Released into US” The Blaze. Mercury Radio Arts, March 31, 2014. Web. April 3, 2014. Fischer, Sara. “Biden: Undocumented Immigrants Are Already American Citizens” CNN Political Ticker RSS. Cable News Network, March 27, 2014. Web. April 3, 2014. Gomez, Alana and TODAY USA. “Illegal immigration could increase.” USA Today nd: Academic research completed. Network. April 3, 2014. Haya El, Nasser and Kiely, Kathy. "More immigrants than ever are flowing into the United States; nearly half do so.." USA Today n.d.: Academic research completed. Network. April 3, 2014.Rubin, Jennifer. "Social Conservatives and Immigration Reform." The Washington Post. Washington Post, March 31, 2014. Web. April 3. 2014.