Scott Westfall
Pate
12/9/2010
Research
Immigration in the Workplace
Over than 10 million illegal immigrants live in the United States, and 1,400 more arrive every day (Katel). Seeing the great economic opportunity in the U.S. immigrants cross the border to work low wage jobs and begin a new life. While illegal immigrants only take up a small 5 percent of the United states workforce, these illegal aliens take up American jobs, threaten national security, and ruin culture because the refuse to assimilate (Katel). Many agree in this debate that the presence of so many immigrants actually boost our economy. Illegal immigration raises difficult questions about the American economy and how the country continues to seek low wage labor while
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With no penalty in place large business and even small home owners have no reason to not hire cheap labor through illegal immigrants. A big part of the argument that the corporations have is that some Americans will not want to do the more blue-collar work that the majority of the illegal immigrants do. This is true to some extent. But when an American man or American woman is hungry and jobless, they will wish that they had that job. The United States has an unemployment rate of 9.8% (Recession). Also, this great country has over 310,000,000 Americans living in her borders (Census). That means that 30 million Americans are jobless. The illegal immigrants represent 5% of the workforce and have jobs that those 30 million Americans do not have (Katel). If the economy is ever going to improve, then the unemployment rate will need to go down. This means that those employers hiring those illegal immigrants will have to stop hiring illegal immigrants and hire U.S. citizens. Another major concern for native born Americans is the constant reshaping of American culture to fit in with the immigrant’s culture. For example many parts of Texas and California have become both Spanish and English speaking towns. Schools now require multiple years of foreign language and many companies would like for their employers to be bi-lingual. While this helps broaden our horizon as a
The last 10 years of U.S. economy can be seen by the impact of immigrant reform in different scenarios. In 2013, undocumented immigrants have been granted legal status; citizenship has helped to increase the U.S. GDP and would accumulate by an additional $1.4 trillion compared to the 10 years in between the 2013 to 2022. This earning will give a chance for the Americans some additional earnings of $791 billion at the same period as a personal income, in which the economy would create job opportunities, about 203,000 new jobs per year. In these years the undocumented immigrants will earn about 25.1 percent more than the current earnings of the immigrants. These earnings show that they will be contributing significantly to the federal, local, and state taxes which will add to tax revenue in 10 years with $185 billion to $116 billion for the USA federal government as well as $68 billion to the state and local government (Stuart Anderson,2011).
Today one of the biggest issues in America is illegal immigration; these people travel from all over the world, and illegally cross national borders onto U.S soil in desperation to find a better life. Immigrants come to America in hopes of fulfilling the American dream, being free and safe from their original home lands. Most immigrants are illegal and come by the millions each year, which lead to many controversial disputes. The overflow of immigrants caused many citizens to question if these illegal immigrants are damaging America in various way and also by bringing in crime, drugs, and terrorists. Others state that immigrants truly aids the economy “Indeed, some sectors of the economy might have a hard time functioning without illegal workers. (Katel 395) Many citizens believe illegal immigrants are taking jobs, and abusing government benefits, however many argue that these immigrants in fact contribute to a stronger economic stimulus, take unwanted jobs, and some even create jobs for Americans.
Illegal immigration has been around ever since borders were created to divide the world. The reasons for illegal immigration, stretch from escaping unstable governments, seeking job opportunities, and making money. In the United States, most of the current illegal immigration comes from Mexico and Latin America because of poverty and the lack of jobs (Poroy)(Wilson, Armstrong). The United States provides many cheap labor positions in construction and farming where business owners are looking for immediate workers that will get the job done. Unfortunately, illegal immigrants cost the U.S. government around $11.4 billion to $20.2 billion each year due to the use of America’s goods without paying all their taxes(Amadeo). Fortunately, over the
There are not many people who know that there is war going on within America. A war, that is capable of impacting the future of America. Millions of “Dreamers” are fighting to be recognized as American citizens. In recent months and years, the debate on immigration reform has been heated and often uninformed. Every president mentions in his speech to take action on immigration reform. But unfortunately he ends up taking action against immigrants by deporting them. Is the country founded by immigrants has closed doors for the immigrants? People are fighting for the immigration reform. In order for the bright future of America we need to fix the present problems. A land of opportunity has taken many hits but the immigration reform made us think about our legal system. It is essential to understand that “immigration reform” is not a cup of tea. The question many are asking is that how can we accept millions of people into our labor force? We are already struggling from unemployment rate, which is peaking high. In this paper I will be primarily focusing on the role of immigrants on our economy, businesses and society, and how it impacts our society.
In “Immigrants” by Pat Mora, they are struggling to achieve acceptance and help their family have a better future. The parents are trying so hard to associate their children with “American traditions” and still are left wondering if they will be accepted in America. In my opinion nothing is worth loosing your actual culture or values. They are literally willing to do whatever it takes to transform heir children into American traditions. “Feed them mashed hot dogs and apple pie” (Line 2 Mora). Both Hot dogs and Apple pie are both American food and American culture. Wait there is more they are even considering changing the names of their children. Buying them blonde dolls and football cleats both have typical American
The US labor force would not survive if it was not for illegal immigrants. If there were no illegal immigrants our labor force would decrease by four percent (Isidore 5). “We could not have grown as much as we did in the 1990s if we did not have immigrants… our growth would have been slower (Isidore 5).” Having illegal immigrants in our labor force increases the amount of resources we have, which increases the amount of production in the country. “Some economists discuss that not only do U.S. consumers benefit from lower prices as an outcome of the low wages most immigrants are paid, but that the convenience of lower-wage labor helps create more work for higher-skilled, higher-paid workers who are generally born in the US (Isidore 14).” Illegal immigrants are opening up higher wage jobs, because they take over the lower wage jobs. Many immigrants take jobs in the field of construction, agriculture
Illegal immigrants help boost the United States economy by paying some taxes. Like American citizens, illegal immigrants may pay local, state, and federal taxes including sales tax that helps support government services that they may not be able to access (Ewing 9). Since more American citizens are becoming aware of the benefits of an education, openings are being created for illegal immigrants in low paying jobs (Nadadur 1037-1052). Americans, unlike illegal immigrants, have more diverse careers. Aliens are more concentrated in specific job areas, resulting in a decrease in immigrant labor cost. This helps boost the United States’ economy (Carter 777-795). Of the approximate eleven million illegal immigrants in the U.S., most work in labor intensive jobs. Careers such as construction and agriculture tend to attract illegal aliens and they account for about twenty-five percent of the work force in these areas (Ewing 9). Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve admits that illegal immigrants help improve the United States economy and does not suggest turning them away (qtd. in Quindlen 90). Anna Quindlen, in her article “Newcomers By Numbers,” agrees with Bernanke and believes that immigrants are the factor that helps keep prices low. She also adds that immigrants are not causing American citizens unemployment, but are simply taking the low wage jobs that citizens are not willing to do and even boosting the economy (90).
For ages, the United States has seemed to be the country where people seek to move to for a better life. The United States was built on immigrants. People have always migrated to the United States both legally and illegally. The main problem the country has face with immigrants is the amount that trespass the border illegally. Illegal immigration is the unlawful act of crossing a national border(Illegal Immigration Pros and Cons). The illegal immigrant population keeps growing at an annual average of about 300,000 people(Currie 10). In the recent year of 2014, there were about 11.3 million undocumented people living in the United States(Krogstad). Many have asked what harm they do to both the economy and the American citizen. Although there are many arguments as to how much harm they cause, there are as many arguments stating illegal immigration benefits the United States. Illegal immigration has a positive impact in the United States within the consumers, the working class, and the overall economy.
The United States has always been termed as land of opportunity which attracted immigrants to come to country so as to manage better living and to cash in employment opportunities. Immigrants coming to US are either low skilled or high skilled people however they have made their significant respective contribution to enable economic growth for the country (Diana, 2014). The Immigration and Naturalization Act provide permanent immigrants limit of 675,000 and these immigrants could be family based like spouse, unmarried minor children and parents of US citizens or employment based immigrants working on temporary visas (AIC, 2014). Presently there are around twelve million immigrants in the US who even have partial papers or no paper works and considered as illegal immigrant. The largest immigrants are Hispanic-Americans who represent the 16.7% of US population (Aguilar, 2013).
The term illegal immigration refers to the diversity between whom the United States will accept as an immigrants and the desire of foreign nationals to live and work in this country. About 90% of the illegal immigrants in the United States are of Mexican nationals. Throughout the history, the United States has been raised to be the shelter for immigrants all around the world. Foreign nationals have flocked to its shores, slaving for the American freedom and its economic opportunities (Chiswick, 1988). As these immigrants are suffering from poverty, unemployment and lack of education. It is also seems to be attractive for low skilled workers that cannot afford the expenses of legal immigration and tend to be illegal aliens to fill jobs in agriculture
GDP is the lifeline of a nation. It represents, “The total dollar value of all goods and services produced over a specific period; think of it is as the size of the economy” (Smith).” If the GDP is rising, the economy is good and the nation is moving forward” ( Smith). “More workers equal a bigger GDP, and illegal immigrants, who are accounted for fifteen percent of the American workforce, account for more than ten percent of America’s GDP” (Camarota). There is no doubt that the United States GDP is significantly higher because of the help of illegal immigrants regardless of legal status. There have been many economic factors that have been influenced by illegal immigrants over the past years. Some have been convenient, while others have been inadequate such as unemployment rate. Nevertheless, it is critically important to understand the benefits immigration has had on the United States economy despite whatever one’s view is. Immigration has historically played an important part in the building of the United States, and they continue to carry out that legacy today, and for many generations to
The world is becoming an increasingly interconnected place and this trend is continuing. As a result, countries are facing new problems that are requiring policy changes in many highly contentious fields. Of major concern are the immigration and citizenship policies of many western nations that are receiving a majority of the immigrants. This is a highly salient issue because people are concerned about the effect immigrant populations will have on voting trends and the jobs that they could take from citizens. Rarely discussed, though of vital importance, is the immense impact that immigrants have on the economy, as they take low paying jobs that the average citizen would scoff at. If these immigrants are willing to take such low paying
Whereas there are many who believe illegal immigrants are one of the main reasons for this country’s economic burden, there are a group of people who believe without immigrant workers to fill the workforce, the United States economy would be worse off as some industries may be drastically affected. According to a Gallup poll conducted on August 2009, 50 percent of Americans believe that immigration should be decreased because the United States cannot sustain the financial burden that immigrants pose in difficult economic times (Morales). In the United States there are many jobs that natives’ workers do not want; illegal immigrants have filled these jobs due to their immigrant frame of reference. Although there are some people may argue that this economic stability is still compromised when immigrants exploit government services, in
In this paper I will discuss one of the biggest issues in the United States: Illegal immigrants. Some may say that illegal immigration has a positive impact on the United States’ economy, and some think that these undocumented immigrants affect jobs and wages of people that are living in this country. I think that illegal immigrants harm the United States’ economy through their use of our country’s social services such as health care, education and social security as well as in the job market. The essay will take a look at the kind of job illegal immigrants are holding, and how they affect the economy and native workers.
In recent years, unauthorized immigration has become a focal point of public attention in the United States. The events of 11 September, 2001 have triggered multiple calls to secure our borders, and have led to the intense efforts by social actors to frame unauthorized immigration as a matter of national security. The nation is divided on the issue of immigration. Many people believe that the nation does not need and can not afford any more immigrants. Many think immigrants-especially illegal immigrants-strain the U.S. economy. Do immigrants really hurt the economy? No, immigrants do not hurt the economy, in fact, immigrants help the economy drastically.