Should Illegal Immigrants Be Allowed to Receive Social Services?

Illegal immigration has plagued the United States since immigration laws were created, and has worsened in recent history. Since Ronald Reagan’s Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 provided amnesty for 3 million illegal aliens in exchange for increased border security, millions of people have entered the country illegally. Over the past 30 years, the illegal immigrant population of the country has more than doubled from 5 million in 1986 to over 11.5 million in 2015. It has become one of the most controversial political issues in America. While not every undocumented alien is a bad or dangerous person, illegal immigrants in general are a national security threat, harmful to the economy, and a burden on the social welfare system. The best solution to the illegal alien problem is to secure and enforce the border, purge American territory of every person unlawfully trespassing upon it, and reform the immigration system to make it easier for foreigners to enter the United States legally like people have done for centuries.

The immigration patterns of the United States have fluctuated over the years, some years having little while others see a rising amount of immigrants, both legal and illegal, looking for opportunities to improve their lives. The amount of illegal immigration is a problem since many take advantage of the social services provided by the government without contributing towards the country since they are not citizens and many people see these illegal immigrants as a threat to their employment. Illegal immigrants do affect the U.S negatively in a number of ways, but if those illegal immigrants were to have a safe passageway towards gaining citizenship, the immigrants would contribute greatly towards the

Globally, the United States has been known as "a nation of immigrants" almost from its inception. Beginning in the 1600s with English Puritans and continuing today, America is a melting pot of culture and ethnicity. In fact, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, immigration was the major source of U.S. population growth. Looking over our 200+ years we find that to clearly be true, with approximately 1 million immigrants coming to America during the 17th and 18th century. Almost 3 million arrived during the 1860s, and another 3 million in the 1870s. In the next four decades, the number of immigrants rose to over 25 million people, most from various European nations, most arriving in New York or one of the Eastern seaports (Damon, 1981). Despite the politicization, as of 2006, the United States actually was the number one country globally to accept legal immigrants into the country, with a current immigrant population of almost 40 million (Terrazas and Batalova, 2009). In fact, the peak of immigration was 1907, when over 1.2 million Europeans entered the country beginning a push towards legislation limiting immigration in the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1924 and the 1921 Congressional Quota Act. These immigrants came for two sociological reasons: the push factor (wars, famine, persecution and overpopulation) and the pull factors (jobs and the promise of freedom). Most came by ship, and a passage often cost the equivalent of an entire life's savings causing many

Illegal immigrants in the United States (US) have long been a topic of debate for policymakers and the public. The rationale about them is that they do not pay taxes; they add to the costs of taxpayers and use up funds in resources meant for assisting citizens and legal immigrants (the legal citizens). Therefore, they are perceived as a threat to the US economy. The true impacts of illegal immigrants on the US economy are discussed by debating over the economic benefits as well as economic costs of these immigrants. The negative impacts, discussed first, presented the decreases in low skilled jobs’ wage rates for legal immigrants and citizens instigated by illegal immigrants, the social services such as educations and healthcare that they

The issue of immigration has become a major debate for everyone. Although people argue over the negative impacts of immigrants living in America such as overcrowding, less jobs due to immigrants taking them, drug trafficking, and threatening of American culture, immigrants still have a huge impact in the American society. The United States is by far the largest destination for immigrants, annually receiving over a million legal immigrants and about seven hundred thousand illegal immigrants. Many people come to the United States to get a better life for themselves as well as for the education system for their children.

has been an unsolved problem since the 1920's even though there are many solutions to bring down the high number of illegal immigrants certain laws and lack of restriction had kept many illegal immigrants in the country. In America there are almost 12 million illegal immigrants, these immigrants are taking advantages of freedoms that do are not meant for them and that do not apply to them. 8 million of these immigrants were taking jobs and earning less money than if they would have if they were legal citizens. Around half of these immigrants have been in the U.S. for at least a decade, even with visas they would not be able to stay here that long. If we put these laws into place, such as state based laws and increased punishments and deportation then the number of illegal immigrants would be

The issue of illegal immigration has daunted this nation for many years. Currently, there are 11 million illegal immigrants living in the United States. Immigration reform is necessary, but amnesty is not. Last year, the United States Senate passed the ‘Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act’ by a vote of 68-32. If this bill becomes law, America will still not have fixed it’s illegal immigration issue. There are many flaws to the current immigration bill in Congress, such as the fiscal costs to taxpayers, government spending, and “border triggers”. A few commonsense fixes to improve our nation’s immigration dilemma are

The other issues that have raised concern relate to national security and unfairness. In order to protect our security, some opponents want to discourage entry by increasing patrols and surveillance and raising a wall to protect our southern border. These measures have failed in the past, and will likely do so in the future. By increasing the money we spend for added patrols and surveillance, we will only increase our costs. We should recognize that the majority of the individuals that have entered our country, by slipping across the border, are, otherwise, willing to abide by our laws for an opportunity at a better life. Their primary purpose is to improve their economic conditions, not to jeopardize our security or cause controversy with people holding legal status.

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

The second concern is undocumented immigrants and the financial burden it has placed on taxpayers. According to Elizabeth Lee Vliet, MD, “estimates are that 20-40% of uncompensated (“free”) medical services are provided to people in the US illegally” (Vliet, 2010). These figures are only an approximation with a possibility of being much greater. Dr. Vliet addresses compelling evidence that points out the massive undocumented immigrants in the state of Arizona with “more than half of Arizona’s $4 billion budget deficit was the result of paying for three areas of illegal immigrants, education, healthcare, and incarceration” (Vliet, 2010). Given these

cultures, has a profound effect to level of stress an immigrant experiences in their new surroundings. These pressures become more and more apparent as an immigrant rises through the educational system.

The United States of America, a country created by immigrants, is currently facing what some consider to be an immigration crisis. As of 2012, there is over eleven million undocumented illegal aliens living inside the United States. Both the American public and the lawmakers elected to represent us are divided on the issue. Some people view the influx of immigrants crossing over the border from Mexico to America as a good thing while others view it as a disaster waiting to happen. Regardless of ones view on immigrants coming over, most people are in agreement with the idea that we must change the way we are currently dealing with illegal aliens.

The reforming of America?s immigration policy is something that can no longer be avoided and must be dealt with as soon as possible. Years of neglect by governmental agencies and policies makers have now made this issue one of the biggest in American politics. First of it must be understood that immigration does no only effect curtain areas of the country and curtain aspect of public life but rather all of American life. Both legal and illegal immigration affect major issues such as jobs availability for all citizens, wages, education in public schools system and in general, health care issues, and the homeland security.

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).

Illegal immigration has become a huge issue in the United States, it is estimated that there are about twelve million illegal immigrants living in the U.S. today and that number is growing larger every day. This issue has caused multiple social, economic, safety, and law issues within the country. The state and federal government is using billions of dollars on things such as school, welfare, and medical and receiving minimal or no money in return simply because they are giving out the money to illegal immigrants who do not pay taxes to help fund things. Even though illegal immigrants help the economy, take low paying jobs, and improve the overall image of America, the U.S. must not allow any persons who enter this country illegally to