ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION IN THE UNITED STATES
THESIS STATEMENT
Illegal immigration is rapidly becoming a major problem in the United States and the federal government is realizing the importance of formulating strategies so as to deal with the issue.
INTRODUCTION
Illegal immigration can be defined as a situation where individual from other nationalities or countries violate United States national laws and immigration policies by entering or residing in US without legal permission from the federal government (LeMay, 2007). Statistics reveal that there are approximately 11 million illegal immigrants in the US by the year 2008. In addition, approximately 8.3 million of these illegal immigrants are in low income jobs (Camarota, 2004). Majority of these illegal immigrants constitutes Mexicans and Hispanics, though there are those who come from Africa and Europe. The issue of illegal immigration has been present for quite some time with both Republicans and Democrats not paying much attention to or putting emphasis on the problem (Falk & Falk, 2005).
ESSAY
I reside in New York City where majority of my friends and neighbors are of the minority groups. Upon asking some of these individuals if they have the same attitude towards their fellow country men entering or residing in the United States illegally as most of the American citizens, I discovered that they too had similar attitude and feelings, citing that what their countrymen were doing was not according to law. Pushed by the desire to learn more about illegal immigration in the United States, I conducted a few more interviews and went to my local library to acquire information that my neighbors and some of my friends could not provide. I realized that it is not known exactly how many illegal immigrants are in the US or when they came into the country or even where they are from. In addition, little is known as to what their characteristics are, what their demographic and family characteristics are as well as where it is exactly that they are currently residing (Horowitz, 2006).
I also learned that the issue of illegal immigrants into the US has both benefits and disadvantages for instance, since majority of them are desperate for jobs, it results in most employers employing them as they do not mind being paid low salaries and wages. This is a disadvantage in that competition becomes high with other companies having similar products and thus forces other employers to lower their wages so as to attract cheap labor (Camarota, 2004). As a result, majority of American citizens whose lifestyle is expensive are run out of their jobs as they cannot work in low paying jobs. Another disadvantage is that these illegal immigrants sent finances to their home countries as compared to having the United States government send foreign aid to their country as a means of assistance (LeMay, 2007). This has resulted in majority of neighboring countries encouraging illegal immigration as they gain more money from these individuals.
On the other hand, I also discovered that despite the problem of illegal immigration, there are a few benefits to it. For instance, as aforementioned, illegal immigration usually encourages availability of cheap labor and this is advantageous especially to employers (Falk & Falk, 2005). This in turn strengthens United States economy and improves the standard of living for majority of the native workers as it lowers food prices among other things. In addition, immigrants and their children tend to be younger as compared to American citizens and this is helpful to the countries workforce in that more work gets done by the end of the day (LeMay, 2007). Youthful individuals have more energy and strength to take on jobs that most American citizens would rather ignore such as construction jobs, house-keeping and working with sewerage companies (Camarota, 2004).
Having looked at both sides of the coin, I personally believe that illegal immigration into the United States should not be encouraged. Even though these individuals deserve the same freedom to pursue their dreams and lead better lives as compared to what they left behind back at home, I believe that by entering or residing in the United States illegally, they are affecting a number of American citizens in one way or another. Statistics have revealed that the high rate of crime and drug trafficking in America consists mostly of illegal immigrant offenders for instance Mexicans and Hispanics who may be trying to find their own means of an improved life (Horowitz, 2006). Another reason as to why I believe that illegal immigration should not be encouraged is the fact that by being in America illegally, these individuals use up resources such as healthcare facilities and education system leading to added expenses that had not been budgeted for by the federal government to begin with.
I highly recommend that the federal government and the general community make effort in curbing this menacing problem facing the United States, that of illegal immigration. I also believe that the federal government should enforce and implement immigration laws to ensure that illegal immigration is controlled or totally dealt with. Those caught within the United States and charged with being in the country illegally should be penalized or fined heavily (LeMay, 2007). In this way, the money that will be obtained from these fines will be used to improve on the economy of the country.
CONCLUSION
The American society and the federal government should come up with ways of assisting illegal immigrants to the benefit of the United States. Education facilities as well as foreign aid should be sent to such countries as Mexico in order to control the flow of illegal immigrants to the United States. In this way, foreigners will be encouraged to remain in their country as the foreign aid will improve standards of living in such countries.
REFERENCES
Camarota, S. A. (2004). The High Cost of Cheap Labor: Illegal Immigration and the Federal Budget. Balance of Tax and Cost, 1. Pp. 29.
Falk, G., and Falk, U. A. (2005). Youth Culture and the Generation Gap. New York: Algora Publishing.
Horowitz, C. (2006). New Report Examines Crime Among Immigrants. An Examination of U.S. Immigration Policy and Serious Crime, 2. Pp. 29.
LeMay, M. C. (2007). Illegal Immigration: A Reference Handbook. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.
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