Illegal Immigration
Illegal immigration is wrong and not fair to both legal immigrants and taxpayers. Illegal immigrants also referred top as illegal aliens. These people give many reasons for overstaying their visas or unlawfully crossing the borders. For example, illegal aliens could be running away from hostility, searching for jobs, being in political exile, family reunion, escaping criminal activity such for medical care being some of the commonly given reasons. Although these reasons logical and justifiable they should not be excuses for illegal immigration.
Some of the major reasons why illegal immigration is unjust are because illegal immigrants burden taxpayers in several ways. For instance, illegal aliens are characteristically free to all social services (Haines & Karen 66) like the hospital where emergency rooms are compelled to treat every person including those who do not pay for the services. These people can also receive food stamps and welfare checks. In some cases, governments are obliged to assist illegal, immigrants with job searches as well as transport to place of work. The children of these people who in most cases are illegal immigrants are entitled to education; this results to overcrowding of schools and deterioration of quality of education. Besides, it is perceived that illegal immigrants hard pay taxes compared to other residents and they should be entitled to free social services. Factually, illegal immigrants pay some taxes that are paid by legal immigrants and regular citizens (Haines & Karen 69). The actual statistics and amount of the amount not paid by these illegal immigrants are impossible to calculate.
These immigrants are attributed to job losses in low income jobs category for residents and legal immigrants. More so, increased crime rate are associated with illegal immigrants. According to Welch (43) illegal immigration are unfair to illegal immigrants since they become economically and politically restricted. In my opinion, if these illegal immigrants are caught they should be arrested and deported from the country though this comes at the cost of the tax payers.
Conversely, there are a few reasons why illegal immigration is helpful to a country. To begin with, businesses succeed more easily and earn profits with the low salaries being paid to the illegal aliens. Resultantly, local services and products lower their prices for both legal and illegal residents (Haines & Karen 75). As such other local economies are favored by illegal immigration. Nonetheless, the legal resident suffers an overall loss for tax when comparing the amount illegal immigrants contributes in taxes and the social services they enjoy. Generally, it is wealthy people and business owners who tend to benefit from illegal immigrants while the common citizens suffer more. As such, this is not fair when compared to legal immigrants who work persistently had to legally get their visas to the country. Resultantly, illegal immigration is by and large unfair to most legal residents.
In keeping with Welch (43) there are three basic solutions to solve illegal immigration issue. The first solution is to prevent illegal immigration, the second solution is to deport all illegal immigrants and the last is to allow all illegal immigrants become legal residents. Starting from the very first solution, better border security and tracking down those individual who have overstayed their visas. As such, the first solution is technically impossible to have a perfect border security more so, to a country with a vast border like the U.S. Similarly tracking all individuals who have overstayed their visas in impossible. Hence, this initial solution is not perfect but is a part of the entire plan to help in restraining illegal immigration.
The second solution, which involves deporting all illegal immigrants, has an issue on how to get these individuals can be found. According to Fix (34) the solution to this is restricting their ability to live within the country i.e. through restraining them from getting marriage certificates and driver’s licenses and any other form of identification to such immigrants as well as, issuing legal immigrants with licenses and identification that are scheduled to expire together with their visa. On such occasions when an illegal immigrant is arrested or stopped by the police with expired documents they are detained for later deportation with instantaneous effect. Stopping most social services for such individuals such as, food stamps, welfare and food stamps would not prevent other necessities like medical attention; however, all health service providers will be required to report to the authority of such immigrants. This will prevent some birthright citizenship, it would also be right to deny birthright citizenship to the children of tourists and legal immigrants since it is a legal method of giving non-citizens permit to reside in the country to take care of their citizen children. The solution may be unpopular among many individuals but it can effectively decrease to number of illegal immigrants.
The last resort is by allowing all illegal immigrants to become legal residents and eventually provide them with citizenship who would pay for their share in taxpaying. This is a solution be unwelcomed by many who strained their course to gaining full citizenship though tedious and bureaucratic procedure. Most citizen believe that illegal immigrants should be punished and by providing them with residency this is doing contrary and resultantly this solution is not popular with legal resident of any country.
Conclusively, illegal immigration is unfair for, citizens, taxpayers and even to the illegal immigrants too. Regrettably, there is no ideal solution to illegal immigration; though it is a problem that needs to be solved amicably. The faster a solution to illegal immigration of found the better for both legal and illegal residents.
Work cited
Fix, Michael. Immigrants and welfare: the impact of welfare reform on America's newcomers. New York Washington, D.C: Russell Sage Foundation Migration Policy Institute, 2009. Print.
Haines, David W., and Karen E. Rosenblum. Illegal immigration in America a reference handbook. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 2001. Print.
Welch, Michael. Detained: immigration laws and the expanding I.N.S. jail complex. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2002. Print.
