The Impact Of Illegal Immigrants On US Wages

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)

The United States is a country that was built on immigration. The first settlers, Native Americans, represent less than 2% of the total population; the remaining 98% of the population are immigrants or decedents of immigrants. Today, the US still has the highest immigration rate in the world with 757,434 naturalizations in the 2012 fiscal year only (US Naturalizations 2012, Department of Homeland security). People try to immigrate to the United States for many reasons. Some people immigrate because they have been granted a refugee status or asylum and other people immigrate to fulfill their dreams. Immigration has an effect on the American society and economy. The US cannot survive without immigrants.

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.

Throughout the history of the United States immigration has become apart of our country’s fabric which, began centuries ago. Only to become a hot topic in the US in recent years with its primary focus being illegal immigrants. Illegal immigration is when people enter a country without government permission. As of 2008 the Center for Immigration Studies estimated that there are 11 million illegal immigrants in the US which is down from 2007‘s 12.5 million people. Although the Center for Immigration Studies estimates are very different from other estimates that range from 7 to 20 million. While the Pew Hispanic Center estimated in March of 2009 there are 11.1 million illegal immigrants and that number is from March 2007’s peak of 12

Immigration has been an essential but disruptive aspect of the people and the political state of the United States; however, debates related to immigration and its benefits are intensified significantly. Opposing immigration keeps ranting on how government should exercise better law to control over the people entering into the States from the foreign land. One of the most buzzed argument is that American citizen is unemployed because immigrants stole their jobs and disrupted the economy (Hoban, 2017). Also, an appeal to National security and vulnerability after several terrorist attacks all over the world and also to the government to keep track and maintain the no. of immigrants to create a safer environment (Cafaro, 2009). However, the contrary to these arguments have often been proven right. The pattern of the immigration shows that the contribution of the immigrants has resulted in an economic boost that cannot be overlooked by the government.

The immigration is an important phenomenon that exists throughout human history and the United States of America is not an exception of this “rule”. People leave their motherland to travel to different continent, country, island or state for many different reasons. Among these reasons (business, education, asylum and so on) it is very important to highlight one of the most sensitive: the economic reason or the desire to find a better job/life in order to help their families. The USA is usually considered a country the tradition of immigrants. Due to the fact that The United States of America rank the top five most rich and developed countries in the world, the flow of immigrants has been growing considerably. However, beside the millions of legal immigrants there are millions of illegal immigrants target as a struggle of the economy and a ruin of the middle class.

vital for the survival of our economy. They feed upon the myth that the U.S.

Immigration has been a problem in the United Sates, since English colonists came and took over the Native Americans land. Today immigration is much worse than it was back the. President Donald Trump plans deport more than 3 million undocumented immigrants. The president's plan of mass deportation occurs, the U.S economy will be greatly affected. The deportation of illegal immigrants does not only affect the people being deported, it will negatively affect the housing market, increase government spending, and affect the amount of work in the U.S.

In 2013, there were an estimated 41.3 million immigrants living in the United States. (Krogstad, 2014). According to present estimates, this foreign-born population consists of 18.6 million naturalized US citizens and 22.1 million noncitizens (Cenato, 2013). Among the noncitizens, approximately 13.3 million are permanent legal residents, while 11.3 million (28%) are unauthorized migrants. (Cenato, 2013). The majority of unauthorized immigrants are primarily from Mexico and other Latin American countries, they live Texas, Florida, California, New York and Arizona (Zong et. al 2015).

According to Pewresearch, there were about 11.3 million unauthorized immigrants in the United State in 2014, and half of them were Mexicans (Krogstad). The push factors that led to such high illegal immigration include gang violence and political unrest while pull factors such as more opportunities for a good education and increased job opportunities also played a role. There has been a long debate of the impact of the undocumented immigration within the United States. The main opponents said that the undocumented immigrants' drive down wages for low-skill jobs and create a unsafe environment to live (Wallace). In order to keep out the large amount of immigrants, the Republican nomination for president, Donald Trump has vowed to build thick

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.

Every year, around one million people are immigrating into the United States both legally and illegally. As of now nearly 40 million immigrants live in the United States; 11.5 million of which came to the country illegally (CNN). That is nearly thirteen percent of the total United States population. The role the United States government plays in the handling of immigration from foreign countries both legal and illegal, plays a vital role in the security of the people of the United States and

1. In this study, Giulietti (2014) examines the effects of minimum wage on immigrations. The constructs in the study are the minimum wage and immigration. In one way, the increase of the minimum wage attracts more immigrants. On the other hand, the effects deter immigration, due to employment fluctuation. The researcher compares the constructs as causal variables. The constructs are operationalized by testing the impact of changes in immigrant labor market outcome and how the minimum wage influences work location choices.

Every year hundreds of thousands legal illegal immigrants flock to America. They hope to start a new life or escape civil wars in their countries. There are approximately 12.5 million illegal immigrants residing in the U.S. This number has grown significantly in the past years. This puts a major strain on the economy costing taxpayers three billion dollars each year. Immigrants are also taking the jobs from

Illegal immigration negatively affects the American workforce. In the United States, there are over 11.2 million people here illegally. A study has shown that 71.4 percent of the 11.2 million illegal population are working. This drastically high number displaces over 8 million jobs from legal immigrants and US citizens, and the number increases by approximately 730,000 jobs to illegals every year. Low-skilled American citizens and legal immigrants can struggle to get these stolen jobs, and this can be crucial and detrimental to their lives, as it can be the driving force that determines whether their family