The Economic Impact Of Illegal Immigration

The United States of America, being a country founded by immigrants, is known all over the world as the land of great opportunities. People from all walks of life travelled across the globe, taking a chance to find a better life for them and their family. Over the years, the population of immigrants has grown immensely, resulting in the currently controversial issue of illegal immigration. Illegal immigrants are the people who have overstayed the time granted on their US, visa or those who have broken the federal law by crossing the border illegally. Matt O’Brien stated in his article “The government thinks that 10.8 million illegal immigrants lived in the country in January 2009, down from a peak of nearly 12 million in 2007.”(Para, 2)

A common biased opinion on immigration is that immigrants coming to the United States are taking American jobs. According to the Immigration Policy Center, “research indicates there is little connection between immigrant labor and unemployment rates of native-born workers.” The jobs that immigrants are taking are the low-budget jobs that Americans do not want. They not only get less pay, but also less benefits in comparison to American workers. In fact, according to Forbes, “illegal immigrants actually raise wages for documented/native workers.” America is considered to be more productive when we have more trading partners, Undocumented workers with limited English skills allows more American workers

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.

The amount of money that comes out of your pocket for schooling, incarceration, jobs lost, and maintaining the medical system in the United States because of illegal immigrants may be more than people know. During the past few decades, the influx of illegal immigrants has risen dramatically. Illegal immigrants put a huge strain on our school systems, commit a disproportionate amount of crimes in this country and have taken many jobs that American citizens unemployed could do.

Like in any area of the United States, the immigration and migration of people both legally and illegally shapes our country’s population and the economy. However, there are millions of illegal immigrants that struggle to find a way to live and then there are the legal foreign-born individuals that abide by our laws and still struggle to get by. Most citizens in Texas may not truthfully admit that there is

Immigrants, coming in all shapes and sizes, from young and old, to skilled and unskilled, contribute to 17% of the population in Texas, with over 4.7 million men, women, and children Making up more than ⅕ of the labor force, immigrants support and supply local economies by partaking in jobs such as construction, manufacturing, accommodation and food service, retail, healthcare and social assistance. Consequently, emigrants have amplified the Texan economy with tens of billions of dollars and have obtained a spending power of $89.6 billion dollars.

Illegal immigrants in the United States have long been a subject of examine for policymakers and people in general. . The basis 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. Hence, they are seen as a danger to the US economy. The genuine effects 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 utilize and add to taxpayers. At that point in spite of the negative effects, the positive effects uncover advantages of low production costs, increases in the local market sales, undocumented tax generation, impact on growth and employment brought forth by illegal immigrants. These impacts, both negative and positive, are independently analyzed and weighed against each other. The discussion does demonstrate a slight net positive impact on the US economy in contrast to the normal belief about illegal immigrants.

“The economy consists of the free flow of money, goods and services as well as the production of such goods and services. Illegal immigration has a direct economic impact, though the details are a little more complicated than the storyline of they 're taking our jobs.” (Hirby). In discussions of illegal immigration strictly through only an economic perspective, a controversial issue is whether undocumented immigrants in the United States of America ultimately represent a taxation liability or prosperity. While some argue that undocumented immigrants take more out of government funded programs than they pay to the economic interests of America, specifically they don’t pay taxes that legal American citizens do and essentially are an economic burden. Others contend that undocumented immigrants consistently pay billions in taxes, and contribute much more than they are costing the government.

This argument of immigrants continues to draw out the debate in the United States. The economists have brought different view points with some arguing that the impact of immigrant workers is positive while others say it is negative. Therefore, to conduct adequate research into the topic in order to come up with an answer to the question of how illegal immigrants affect the United States economy. The power to select this topic was influenced by the ongoing debate on how to deal with illegal

The most avidly debated effects of immigration involve the United States’ economy and labor force. It is estimated that there are 12 million undocumented immigrants in the United States today, and their impact on the economy can be perceived as positive as well as negative. The overall effect is unclear, and this essay will present both sides of the debate.

Illegal immigrants not only benefit the united states; but, they are also a vital necessity for this nation’s agricultural production. Two and a half million farm workers, which makes over half of the labor force, are illegal immigrants. By forcing immigrants out of the United States, our economy for agriculture production would definitely plummet. We would lose food for export and distribution amongst ourselves and other countries. In addition, our government would have to pay more for the same services we were receiving for cheaper, which would further the nation's debt. By increasing our population of immigrants, our government would be paying less for services and receiving almost the same amount of product, if not more.

There are people coming to America out of desperation for work, food, and money. The typical illegal immigrant will work for less money and therefore it can make it difficult for someone living here legally to find work. Employers can also be enticed to hire these workers as it can save them money on salary, insurance, and allow them to undercut pricing to that of a competitor. Employers also believe migrant workers are needed for those jobs that are unattractive to a U.S. citizen (Jost, Kenneth). At a time with the economy struggling and small business owners trying to compete, this is just another avenue to legitimize their actions. In actuality, it is having the opposite effect on the economy as more and more Americans are filing for unemployment benefits and some have altogether stopped looking for work when their benefits ran out. Experts estimate that these shortfalls cost the economy 360,000 jobs in 2013 (Behrends, Sonny). Americas are paying for the health care coverage of the illegal immigrants. In the U.S. they qualify for free health care without even paying for insurance coverage. Ultimately, when they become ill or injured they will go to the hospital and the American taxpayers are the ones who are stuck paying the bills. Illegal immigrants are undocumented and therefore don’t pay taxes of any kind. Basically, they receive goods and services for free that the American taxpayer does not. In Arizona, the net yearly monetary assessment of illicit migration every year is 2.4 billion (Kobach, Kris). The greatest cost comes from K-12 education where children in illegal immigrant family units are attending school and 15 percent of inmates in Arizona detention facilities are illegal aliens (Kobach, Kris). Another element confronting Arizona is the high crime that plagues the Mexico and Arizona border. Drug cartels, sex

The idea of illegal immigrants has been tarnished by the media. The first thought that pops in to our minds when the topic of illegal immigrants has been brought up is the fact that these people take all the jobs and depress the economy of a country. They have always carried with them a negative connotation, especially in countries like America. This conservative view of illegal immigration has hijacked the minds of many. This conservative view is what prevents any sort of reform that helps the illegal immigrants in the United States of America. We are instilled with the idea that they corrupt our economy and must be banished. But, this point of view is absurd. We are looking at this issue with one eye open. The presence of illegal immigrants in an economically developed country actually improves the economy of the country; therefore, no action must be taken to expel them. This may be a point of view rarely witnessed in the world. But there are many mathematical and theoretical proofs that claim the above statement a certainty.

Simmons identified many problems that immigrants present to our economy, instead of contributing tax dollars to education, health care, and prison systems residents of California have to pay nearly $1,000.00 per household to aid in the regulation of the population of illegal immigrants (Simmons 2006). Illegal immigration has both negative and positive impacts on different parts of the economy. Wages for low-skilled workers go down, therefore that means the benefits by Americans of paying lower prices for things like meals at restaurants, produce, and construction.

“An immigrant is a person who legally comes to a country to take up permanent residence. An “illegal” immigrant is a person who does so without following the established legal procedures of the destination country and who resides in that country without proper visas or other documents.” (source 1)Illegal immigration is changing the lives of many Americans today, and although all illegal immigrants are not bad and are not here by choice, or to hurt anyone, it still affects us each and every day. Illegal immigration has been a problem for many years, and it seems as if it is impossible to control, but according to former mayor Rudy Giuliani of New York it can be controlled. Giuliani stated