The Burdens of Illegal Immigrants and Illegal Immigration
The United States was formed by the immigration of many people from all over the world. Americans take pride in knowing that we are a people of vast ethnic backgrounds and culture. However, at the present time, the flow of illegal immigration, as well as a large influx of other legal immigrants is placing a strain on our land of "huddled masses." Legal immigration to the United States can easily be handled and is welcomed by most Americans. However, the flow of illegal immigrants, especially from Mexico, must be stemmed, due to the strain it is placing on the government, (at the local, state and federal level), as well as the general population. Illegal immigrants are
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By taking jobs, illegal immigrants are placing a strain on the unemployment benefits which non-working Americans would not have to collect if there were more jobs. Another fact to consider, by taking the money illegal immigrants earn back to their own country, they cause a reduction of secondary profit. This means that money earned will be spent on products outside the United States, thereby decreasing tax profits for the government. One thing is clear, the United States cannot afford this influx of low-skilled, low paid people if it wants to remain a welfare state.
The U.S. government depends on taxpayers' money to support its programs. These programs include welfare, Medicare, Medicaid, and food stamps, as well as law enforcement. With the influx of illegal immigrants into the United States, all of these programs are facing problems. An estimated 13% of all funding to these government programs is used to support illegal immigrants (National Review 12.13.93) In addition to these previous figures, add the cost of the salaries of the more than 4,000 patrolmen used to guard the 7,582 mile border between the U.S. to the North and Mexico to the South (Fortune 9.9.93). Other expenses include a one billion dollar immigration budget for the next fiscal year (AP 3.3.95). By looking at these and other facts, it is obvious there is a large monetary burden being placed on the U.S. taxpayer. The stress created by this economic burden along with other job related stresses
Effects of immigration on the economy also raise the argument over social service abuse, which is immigrants using social services provided by the government without paying social service taxes or being in the right legal status to obtain those services. Many have argued that illegal immigrants should not be entitled to health care services and public education should be denied to illegal immigrant children. If this were to happen then family migrants would be less common, and this is counter productive to the U.S, it is much better if the immigrants arrive with their families to help them assimilate better within society and makes them better citizens.
The United States of America (USA) has been one of the traditional receiving countries of immigrants (Friedberg & Hunt, 1995), and they do not take in too lightly of allowing immigrants violate its law and entering illegally to settle in its country without consequences. To date, millions of people have violated its immigration policies. The USA is also the economic leader of the world. It has been the notion that illegal immigrants are devouring up the US economy and for that reason they should be ousted. However, illegal immigrations have rooted into society since far back in history, and realized now, it is that illegal immigrants are not damaging the US economy; they contribute to it and their services costs
Many presidents have promised to increase government regulation on the ongoing cycle of illegal immigration. However, none of them have succeeded in doing so. It does seem to be an impossible task with thousands crossing every day and many of them fooling the U.S. by getting a working visa then never returning back home. Although this task of illegal immigration seems overwhelming the government needs to be more involved by continuing to build border walls, allowing the states to pass laws to check for citizenship if prompted to, and, if all these actions are carried out lawfully, the U.S. will become a safer place to live.
At present, the U.S. immigration system is burdened both by policy and implementation challenges. It is barely able to meet the commitments required by law and policy and is ill-prepared to address new challenges and mandates. Agreement that the system is broken may be the only point of consensus among many diverse stakeholders. The Task Force believes that immigration laws and policies are broken in four ways:
Illegal immigration at the U.S. - Mexico border is a growing problem, and the death toll is rising as more people are attempting to illegally enter the United States. As a result of an increasing number of people trying to enter into the United States illegally, the border is now being guarded by an increasing number of border patrol officers. The United States implemented different laws and operations to prevent more illegal immigration from Mexico into the United States. The ‘Operation Gatekeeper’ was introduced in 1994, which increased the number of Border Patrol officers. The most recent and controversial law was passed in Arizona, which essentially ‘allows’ officers to use racial profiling to check legal status of anyone in that
Americans believe that illegal immigrants are freeloaders they come to the United States to use our Social Services. Let’s define Social Services, “organized welfare efforts carried on under professional auspices by trained personnel (dictionary.com, 2011, para.1).” Examples of Social Services are Housing which is Government subsidized and public housing, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), Food Stamps/Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Medicaid and Medicare, and Social Security Payments for the elderly, disabled, qualifying children of the deceased, etc. Illegal immigrants do not qualify for these social services, because they do not have a social security number. Illegal immigrants contribute to the economy of
The U.S. is slammed by growing numbers in population. It seems that many do not think of the long term effects of this increase. This is one of the most significant problems Americans face today, yet no one talks about the problem, when it comes to the debate over immigration. “The current world population is over 6 billion and increases at a rate of 76,570,430 people every year. Since 1950, U.S. population has nearly doubled - growing from 151 million to over 294 million today. If present trends continue, our population will exceed 400 million by the year 2050. Immigration contributes over one million people to the U.S. population annually. The total foreign-born population in the U.S. is now 31.1 million, a record 57 percent
For many years, people from all over the world have come to the United States seeking a better life for themselves, their spouse, their children and even their children's children. However, not every immigrant comes into this country legally and many of these illegal immigrants are poor, uneducated and may be carrying contagious diseases. They may arrive here via human trafficking, smuggling or other methods. There is one thing we know for sure that many of them choose to remain silence when they become victims. The three main reasons they become invisible victims are they are not aware they are victimized, they don't know the right way to ask for help and they are afraid to be fired or even deported.
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
We are now in the 21st century and like the beginning of the 20th century the United States finds itself in the throes of a period of mass immigration. More then one million immigrants enter the Unites States, both legally and illegally every single year. Many argue that this new wave of mass immigration may help sustain the success that our nation is having in regard to the way of living that many American have come accustomed to and yet others believe that although our nation was created by immigrants it is time to "shut down" our borders. The truth of the matter is that there will always be issues in regard to immigration and the policies that the government sets forth in order control who comes into this country. Also now
Illegal immigration was an issue in the past and is a pressing problem in the present. The U.S. Government has been trying to find a resolution to this issue for years. The United States approved the Immigration Reform and Control Act in 1986, which allowed the American Government to punish American companies that consciously employed illegal immigrants (Nadadur 1037-1052). The United States’ Government Immigration Reform and Control Act has been unsuccessful in controlling illegal immigration. It is estimated that illegal immigration into the U.S. has a yearly interval of three hundred fifty thousand people (Rousmaniere 24-25). It is apparent that the 1986 act was not able to keep a handle on illegal immigration. Illegal immigration
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
A specific debate regarding the impacts illegal immigration has on the U.S. is whether illegal immigrants take American jobs, or not. One would argue that they do not take American jobs with the reasoning that they occupy jobs that do not require skill, and has a low pay making them jobs that Americans do not want, therefore it does not increase the labor market competition, but actually complements it. Businesses have shown to be more exceeding when there are multiple employees
Most Americans place their pride in being apart of a country where a man can start at the bottom and work his way to the top. We also stress the fact that we are “all created equal” with “certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” (Jefferson 45) During the early 1900s white Americans picked and chose who they saw fit to live in America and become an American. “Those that separate the desirable from the undesirable citizen or neighbor are individual rather than race.”
According to the independent Center for Immigration Studies, in January 2000 there were 7 million illegal aliens living in the United States and the center estimated that number to grow by half a million a year (Peak, 2009, pg. 245). Based on this fact, the reality is that the minority has turn into a majority and has fulfilled the melting pot. Peak explains that ever since the incident of 9/11 the country has taken precaution and other measures to challenge in protecting borders. This even was a remarkable time of history for many citizens