Summary: How To Fix Illegal Immigration

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

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).

Becoming a U.S. citizen is a long process with a lot of requirements. These requirements take copious amounts of time which do not help lower the current illegal immigration population in the United States. In fact, “as of the year 2016, the United States population was 323.1 million citizens, approximately- 12.5 million of those citizens living in the United States are illegal immigrants” (Raley). In order for an undocumented immigrant to qualify for U.S citizenship they must meet very specific criteria. A path to citizenship is a long process, which in some cases can take up to ten years or longer. Before becoming a citizen of the United States, the recipient must be a green card holder for at least five years. If the

Back in 2007 there were several concerns over immigration as a whole and exploding proportions of illegal immigrants crossing the border in the Arizona area. Arizona attempted to resolve the influx of people across the border by imposing heavy fines on employers hiring illegal immigrants. At that time in Arizona there was a democratic governor Janet Napolitano that continually vetoed the Arizona’s legislature attempt to reduce illegal immigration. In 2009 the state replaced the Democratic governor with a Republican governor Jan Brewer who was supportive of reforms for immigration in Arizona. In 2010 the immigration problem was so sever that Arizona passed legislation allowing the state to enforce federal law for identification of legal immigration into the United States. This sparked a nation wide discussion on illegal immigration and immigration reform.

Not just in money but in resources, we use more resources to deport or capture undocumented citizens than we can really afford. According to Senator Schumer, Upfront magazine 2016, “ Without reform, our immigration laws threaten to tear apart families and force our government to expend precious resources to deport millions.” What Senator Schumer is making clear is that the government is spending too much money on resources to deport undocumented citizens when instead they could find a way to make some if not all undocumented citizens a path to citizenship. Some people might argue that if undocumented citizens cooperated with the law or government there wouldn’t be an issue. This might be true but maybe if the government didn’t assume that all undocumented citizens are criminals and deport them instead of giving them a chance at citizenship, there would also be no issue. The key point is that instead of focusing on kicking undocumented citizens out, we should be focusing on making it possible for them to stay as legal

But amazingly, the flow of foreign-born is so large that immigrants currently account for a larger share of labor force growth than natives (“U.S. Immigration and Economic Growth: Putting Policy on Hold”, 2003) When you do the math, it makes a good deal of sense to spend the little that we do—if not more—to keep them healthy (Karvounis, 2007). Care for undocumented immigrants represents a tiny fraction of the nation’s health care burden. They receive minimal care; some pay taxes. Between one half and three quarters of undocumented immigrants pay taxes and some work “off the books” jobs as well (What Immigration Reform Could Mean To The US Economy, 2009). Illegal aliens provide as much as 7 billion dollars a year to the Social Security Fund although they cannot claim benefits for this program (Immigrants’ Economic Contribution, 2009). Further still, undocumented workers pay sales taxes where applicable and property taxes—directly if they own and indirectly if they rent (“Undocumented Immigrants as Taxpayers”, 2007).

Imagine being an illegal immigrant in your home with your children, working hard to give your children a better life, then suddenly ICE agents barge in and raid your home,rips you from your children who are now crying and scared, and physical force are used to force you out of your home. Unfortunately this is a reality for many. Being an undocumented immigrant is challenging because their fate is in the hands of the country’s government which is ruled by the people’s decisions. Illegal immigration has been a controversial topic which has been an issue for decades, however, the options that have been offered as a solution are amnesty or deportation. Deportation is usually the more unpleasant way which is dealing with the illegal immigrants by sending them back to their home country. Amnesty is being officially pardoned from an offense, usually political or federal. Amnesty is the best solution to the illegal immigration issue, a highly debated topic amongst politicians, for the reasons of the flourishing economy and the diversity of cultures with the social integration.

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.

Historically, immigration as a percentage of the United States population has been far higher in previous years compared to where it is now. Even as far back as 1870, the foreign-born population of the US was 5,567,229 while the US population was 38,558,371, meaning that immigrants were making up approximately 14.4% of the US population. Calculating the immigration percentage in the same way, it was 13.3% in 1880, 14.7% in 1890, 13.6% in 1900, 14.6% in 1910, and 13.1% in 1920, the last year before the first immigration quota acts were passed (US Census Bureau). During those years in which foreign-born population was steadily 13-15% of the US population, the US saw some of its largest economic and industrial growth ever in a period known as the Gilded Age (Jones). Proponents of comprehensive immigration reform would then say that if we want to see economic growth similar to that time period, we should then allow immigration at a similar rate, which would have a huge benefit on American society.

There are few topics in America as controversial as illegal immigration. With the standards of living for the lower-class workers in Mexico as poor as they are, hundreds of men, women and children cross America’s southern border illegally every year in search of better opportunities for themselves and their offspring. As the 2016 presidential election has illustrated, America is very split on the issue. Republican nominee Donald Trump has stated that if elected president he will build a massive wall along America’s southern border, and that illegal immigrants will be deported en masse. Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, has stated that she will lead immigration reform if elected. While America has not yet decided who will

Robert Lynch and Patrick Oakford believe that more citizens would boost the US and state economies. In his article "The Economic Effects of Granting Legal Status and Citizenship to Undocumented Immigrants” they reminds us that illegal immigrants who become citizens are also taxpayers and consumers. We could create new jobs, expand the economy as well as increase the earnings of all Americans. After 10 years, when immigrants start earning citizenship, there will be a large leap because they will have an increase of 10 percent on their income, which will then also boost the economy more.

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

Dealing with the legal status and deporting undocumented immigrants can cost the United States a lot of money. The country would also lose a lot if they deported all undocumented immigrants. The immigration system is broken and needs to be fixed. The immigration system as of now can’t keep up with the demand of a growing economy and the diversity of the nation. The strict legal limits on green cards makes it nearly impossible for undocumented immigrants to become legal. The country should try to make it as easy as possible for those who qualify to legally come into the country on visas and green cards. A bill has been proposed a bill that would provide a path to citizenship for the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country and to tighten the security at the border. Congress and the President have worked on bills and acts to try and reform immigration. Most of the acts and bills have been rejected and some are being worked on now. Improving rights, and making the process for becoming legal easier, could help more immigrants get into the country and make an impact on the economy. What the immigrants have done so far the economy has helped a lot

Today in the United States there seems to be a problem with getting a visa for those who want to migrate to the U.S. legally and easily. If it were to be made effortless to enter then less people would risk their lives trying to enter illegally. The border is easy enough to bypass that it “encourages dangerous crossings” for people who just want in for an easy life for themselves or their children (Walker and Zuckerman 1). The simplicity of getting a visa and immigrating with it should be improving over time like technology does all over the world. If the border were to be improved it can prevent many crossings and force them to “find legal” ways on immigrating into the country (Walker and Zuckerman 2). The easier it is to cross the border, the more that will do attempt it for an easier life. This can be a problem on monitoring who is immigrating into the U.S. and if they’re peaceful beings or terrorists. If they are terrorists and they pass