Illegal Immigration
Introduction
Illegal immigration is a term that is used to describe people who enter a country without having any formal permission. Illegal immigration has become a major problem in the society. This is because of the adverse effect illegal immigration has. People have different views on illegal immigration. Some people support illegal immigration because of the benefits associated with illegal immigration. For example, illegal immigration provides cheap labor. It also helps in economic growth as the illegal immigrants contribute in increasing the gross domestic product in the country. Other people do not support illegal immigration as it has more harm that benefits. For instance, illegal immigrants have affected economic growth in the country. They have also caused social problems like increase in crime and drug smuggling. This paper analyzes the debate on illegal immigration. It shows the negative impact caused by illegal immigration and what the government can do to reduce illegal immigration.
Discussion
The rate of Illegal immigrants in United States has increased for the last ten decades. The illegal immigrants come from different parts of the world like Europe Canada and Mexico. There are various factors that have led to the immigration of people from different parts of the world. First, socioeconomic factors and the labor market have led to immigration of immigrants from different parts of the world. A large percentage of illegal immigrants come from poor developed countries. The immigrants move from developing countries to developed countries. There are various factors that motivate illegal immigrants to move from poor countries to developed countries.
Most of the illegal immigrants are interested in looking for better economic opportunities and improving the quality of life. Hence, the immigrants move to countries that have good economic growth and opportunity for improving their living standards. Many immigrants believe that the benefits associated with illegal immigration are more than the disadvantages. There are various costs that are linked with illegal immigration. First, the immigrants might be restricted from living in the country of destination. Others costs include being caught and sanctions (Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas 2003).
Apart from economic factors, the high number of illegal immigrants in United States is as a result of family reunification. Some of the illegal immigrants move from their home country so as to be together with their families. The families apply family reunification visas that enable them become legal residents in the foreign country. The visas are limited in number and this forces some of the family members to enter the country illegally in order to reunite with their families (Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas 2003).
Moreover, political chaos and instability in most countries have contributed to illegal immigrants. Most of the illegal immigrants move from their home country to other countries so as to escape civil war in their home country. Other factors that force immigrants to move from their home country include genocide, oppression and abuse. In addition, some of the immigrants are forced to move due to dictatorship in the country of origin. The factors above have led to increase in number of illegal immigrants in United States and hence the illegal immigration debate (Dudley 2003).
People have given different views about illegal immigration. Some people support illegal immigration in the country because of various reasons. First, most people support illegal immigration in the country as it provides cheap labor. Most industries in the country rely on cheap labor provided by the immigrants. The industries prefer to hire illegal immigrants as they are able to work under low wages compared to American workers. The number of illegal employees in the industries has increased greatly due to demand for cheap labor. The illegal immigrant employees in the country accounted for 5% of all employees in the country.
The illegal immigrants formed 7.2 million employees in the country out of 148 million employees.19% of the illegal immigrant workers worked in the construction industry where they performed various jobs related to construction. In addition, 15% of illegal employees worked in the production industries and 4% of the employees worked in farms. The report released in 2005 on illegal immigration indicated that 24% of the employees worked in farms and 17% of the employees in cleaning. Other immigrants worked in food industry and construction industry. The employees comprised 12% and 14% of all the employees respectively (Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas 2003).
The illegal immigrant workers were more in some jobs like insulation, roofers and food processing. The opponents of illegal immigrants argue that employment of illegal immigrants in various industries leads to reduction in job opportunities. This is because most Americans are not able to get employment opportunities. However, illegal immigration does not lead to loose of jobs. This is because the illegal immigrants perform tasks that Americans are unable to perform. Many Americans are not interested in working in food processing industries or other industries that offer low salaries. This has compelled the industries to hire immigrants instead of Americans. In addition, Americans are not able to work where the working conditions are poor or there are no rules. Thus, this has resulted to high number of immigrants in the industries. Most of the employers support illegal immigration in the country as it helps them reduce the production costs by employing cheap labor and increasing the production level (Dudley 2003).
Apart from providing cheap labor, illegal immigration helps enhance economic growth. The advocates of illegal immigration argue that illegal immigrants have contributed a lot in the growth of United States economy. For example, Alan Greenspan argues that illegal immigration has a significant contribution to United States economy. The illegal immigration has helped boost economic growth in the country by providing cheap labor and flexible workforce. The illegal immigrants have helped most companies in the country overcome employment problems. Most of the industries in the country are not able to employee enough workers as the demand of employees is high compared to the supply. The demand of workers in country is not constant as it rises and falls. Illegal immigration has helped overcome the demand issues in the country hence contribute to economic growth (Cozic 1997).
Advocates of illegal immigration claim that the United States government should devise strategies to allow immigrants to enter the country legally .This will help increase the number of skilled workers and unskilled workers in the country (Johnston 2009). The government should improve the immigration laws as they affect illegal immigrants and productivity in the country. This is because they restrict illegal immigrants from living in the country. Apart from improving legislation in the country, the government should improve various programs that support immigrants so as to increase the number of illegal immigrants. For example, the government should improve the H-1B visa program for skilled employees so as to encourage more skilled employees to migrate.
Currently, the program supports 65,000 skilled workers. It should be enhanced to help support 150, 000 skilled workers (Cozic 1997). Greenspan argues that United States is not able to produce adequate skilled workers and the gap should be filled with illegal immigrants. Moreover, the illegal immigrants help improve the gross domestic product in the country as they provide a ready market for goods and services. Though most people claim illegal immigration affects the economy negatively, it helps enhance gross domestic product. A large percentage of immigrants in the country rely on products and services offered by various companies in the country. On the other hand, the advocates of illegal immigration argue that eliminating illegal immigration might slow economic growth as the country will not have enough labor and market for goods and services (Dudley 2003).
Lastly, illegal immigrants contribute a lot in taxes. Most people argue that the government spends a lot of resources including funds on providing services to illegal immigrants. Many citizens in United States have attributed the slow economic crisis in the country with increase in government spending on illegal immigrants. However, the government does not spend huge amount of funds on providing services to immigrants. Instead, the immigrants contribute a lot in taxes. A review of 29 reports published for the last 15 years by the congressional budget office proved that the immigrants contribute more in taxes that they cost in services. The results from the study showed that the tax revenue generated by illegal immigrants was high. The taxes exceeded the total cost of services offered to immigrants. Hence, the government spends a small amount of money on immigrants (Lee 1996).
Though illegal immigration has a lot of benefits as stated above, it has some harm. The opponents of illegal immigration argue that illegal immigration affects economic growth in the country. Some studies have proved that illegal immigration in the country reduces the socioeconomic status of poor citizens in United States and benefits the rich. This is because illegal immigrants lower the wages in different sectors in America. This in turn widens the socioeconomic gap between the rich and the poor. This is because most of the poor citizens in the country are not able to get employment opportunities in the industries as the industries rely on cheap labor provided by the immigrants. Most of the industries have benefited a lot from illegal immigrants as the industries have reduced the coast of production and increased production level. Other studies have proved that a 10% immigrant resulted to increase in supply of skilled workers and reduced the wages of blacks and other citizens by 4%. It also lowered the employment rate among the blacks and other citizens by 3.5%. In addition, the increase in immigrants resulted to increase in incarnation of blacks. The incarnation of blacks increased by 1 %( Lee 1996).
Further, illegal immigration has a social impact. The opponents of illegal immigration argue that illegal immigration leads to drug smuggling. For instance, illegal immigration in the country has been associated with high rate of drug smuggling in the country. Drug smuggling has become common in the Mexico border and other borders. The drug cartels use the borders to enter the country. Most of the drug smugglers enter the country as illegal immigrants and this makes it hard for the law enforcement officers to arrest them.
The drug smugglers have worked with illegal immigrants to smuggle drugs into Mexico and other parts of the country. The drug smugglers have been able to extend their command in the country through illegal immigration. The drug smuggling business has depend on illegal immigrants as they are able to smuggle various drugs like cocaine and heroin in the country. The drug smugglers have been able to cultivate marijuana in national forests in America with the help of illegal immigrants. Hence, reducing illegal immigration will help reduce the rate of drug smuggling in the country (Hanson &Council of foreign relations 2007).
Additionally, illegal immigration in the country has been associated with increase in crime rate. Most of states having high number of illegal immigrants have recorded high rate of crimes. The rate of violent crimes and other crimes has increased for the last few years. For example, the crime rate in Arizona has increased greatly. Most of the crimes in the state have been committed by illegal immigrants. This has forced the state to enact laws to prevent illegal immigration. Arizona has developed new immigration law to help curb illegal immigration in the country. The state has found it hard to deal with border violence and crimes that are committed by illegal immigrants. The violent crime rate in Arizona reduced by 1500 in 2005 and 2008. This is according to a FBI report released in 2008. The report showed that property crimes in the areas reduced from 286000 to almost 279, 000.The law enforcement officers attributed the reduction in crime to reduction in numberof immigrants(Hanson &Council of foreign relations 2007).
Also, the high rate of illegal immigrants in the country has led to destruction of the enviorment. Illegal immigrants have affected the land in Mexico border by causing deforestation and destruction of wildlife. In addition, the immigrants have led to environmental degradation in most parts of Arizona. Environmental degradation in Arizona has become the most visible effect of illegal immigration. The illegal immigrants affect the enviorment in different ways. First, the immigrants dispose waste materials in the forests and anywhere. For example, the immigrants abandon cars and fill bags that a filled with garbage in the forests. A report released in 2002 in Arizona showed that the illegal immigrants left 45 cars on the Buenos Aires refuge near sasabe. The immigrants left trash filled in 723 bags in Arizona (Hanson &Council of foreign relations 2007).
. The garbage was 18000 pounds. Studies have proved that an average immigrant walking in the desert leaves 8 pounds of waste within 3 days. One million immigrants leave almost 2000 tons of garbage in a year (Lee 1996).
Apart from disposing waste, the immigrants cause destruction of forests through deforestation and fore. In 2002, the illegal immigrants caused 8 wild fires in Mexican border. The fires destroyed almost 68000 acres of land. This forced the government to use huge amounts of money to fight the fires. Some of the illegal immigrants in the country have used some of the parks in the country to grow drugs and distribute illegal drugs. The immigrants have turned the protected areas into drug smuggling points. Also, the illegal immigrants have caused destruction of the wild life by destroying the habitats. The destruction of forests in Arizona and other areas has affected wild life negatively.
For example, it has led to shortage of food and water and this has in turn caused death. Most of the animals have been forced to move from the parks to other areas to search for food and water. As a result most environmentalists have come out to curb illegal immigration in the country. The environmentalists have forced the government to develop policies to eliminate illegal immigration and conserve the enviorment and wildlife (Hanson &Council of foreign relations 2007).
In addition, illegal immigration in the country has been linked with terrorist activities. Most of the terrorist activities in the country have been associated with illegal immigrants. This is because many people who are involved in the terrorist attacks do not have the right documents. For instance, the attackers do not have legal visa. Most of them enter the country using various means. For example, they can enter the country through the airport and borders. They can also enter the country using water. This is evidenced by various terrorist attackers that have happened in United States. Most of the criminals convicted for bombing the world trade center in 1993 were immigrants. Most of the criminals were immigrants from the Middle East who did not have permission to live in the country. The criminals could have been given a visa that could have not been issued. Also, the visa could have overstayed. Other attacks include the bombing of the New York subway system and Khobar tower bombing in 1993 and 1996 respectively (Kenny 2007).
Lastly, illegal immigration has an impact on politics in United States. First, illegal immigration has affected politics in the country negatively. The political leaders have different views about illegal immigration. Like other people in the country, some of the leaders support illegal immigration. Other; leaders do not support illegal immigration in the country. The difference in views has made it hard for political leaders to make the right decision. For example, the political leaders have found it hard to enact proper laws due to division in the government. This has in turn had a negative impact on the country and citizens. This is because of increase in social issues and economic issues in the country. The political leaders in the country are supposed to work together to enact policies like illegal immigration policies (Kenny 2007).
Reducing the rate of immigrants entering the country can help overcome the social issues and economic issues that are caused by illegal immigration. The government should develop policies to restrict the rate of illegal immigrants in the country. For instance, the government should implement the immigration act well. This will ensure only authorized people are allowed to enter the country. Most people do not support the enforcement of illegal immigration laws (Le May 2007). This is because they have adverse effect on the immigrants. They argue that enforcing the laws affects the constitutional rights of illegal immigrants.
Illegal immigrants have been accorded various rights in the constitution. For instance, the immigrants are allowed to move freely. They are also protected from unreasonable seizure and search. Most of the laws enforced by various states in the country encourage search and seizure. The laws allow law enforcement officers to search immigrants to determine if they have the necessary documents. They are also allowed to question the immigrants if they suspect they are criminals. The government should enforce the immigration laws without affecting the constitutional rights of the immigrants (Le May 2007).
Conclusion
In conclusion illegal immigration in United States has both advantages and disadvantages. There are many advantages that are linked with illegal immigration. For instance, illegal immigration provides cheap labor in many industries. A large number of the industries rely on illegal immigrants. This is because immigrant workers are able to work under low wages unlike Americans. Also, they are able to work in poor working conditions unlike Americans. These factors have increased the number of immigrant employees in the industries. Moreover, illegal immigrants help enhance economic growth in the country.
Though most people see immigrants as a burden to the government, immigrants are not a burden. This is because they contribute a lot in taxes and gross domestic product. The tax revenues generated by immigrants are more than the money the government spends in maintaining the immigrants. Also, the immigrants have helped provide skilled labor in the country and hence overcome labor demand issues in the country. On the other hand, illegal immigration has led to destruction of the enviorment and wildlife. It has also led to increase in illegal drugs and crime in the country. Most of the immigrants have been involved in violent crimes and drug trafficking. It also led to increase in terrorist activities in the country.
Reference
Cozic,P.C .Illegal immigration: opposing viewpoints. Greenhaven Press, 1997
Dudley,W. Illegal Immigration. Greenhaven Press, 2003
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.U.S. Immigration and Economic Growth: Putting Policy on Hold, 2003. Retrieved from http://dallasfed.org/research/swe/2003/swe0306a.html on 19/04/2011
Hanson,H.G.,&Council of foreign relations. The economic logic of illegal immigration. Council on Foreign Relations, 2007
Johnston,N.Greenspan Says Illegal Immigration Aids U.S. Economy,2009. Retrieved from http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aeQKG53ULolk
On 19/04/2011
Kenny,K .Illegal Immigration. ABDO, 2007
Le May,M.C. Illegal immigration: a reference handbook. ABC-CLIO, 2007
Lee,K .Illegal Immigration. Lucent Books, 1996
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