Compare and Contrast Legal and Illegal Immigrants
Compare and Contrast Legal and Illegal Immigrants
The issue of legality and illegality of the immigrants has raised several concerns globally. Immigrants are people who move away from their countries because of insecurity, hostile treatments, or civil war and any other atrocious treatment within their country. The two categories of immigrants are legal and illegal. The former are lawfully allowed to settle in a country whereas the latter are not eligible to live in the country they have sought asylum. Some policies have been adopted to regulate the number of immigrants within a confined area. Such situations may make a person escape from his country to seek asylum from a country. This paper will delve on the similarities and differences of legal and illegal immigrants.
Legal immigration dates back to 1965 when the numbers of those coming to America started increasing. This was propagated by the reforms that were made in 1965-duped Immigration Reforms. As such, the legislation made the amount of the immigrants increase from 1.1 to 1.5 million people (Moloney, 2012). Under the reforms, one would be accepted as authorized immigrants if at all some procedural means have been followed in the process of migrating. However, there are those who are critical of the idea of immigration in the state of America whether lawful or unlawful. Illegitimate immigrants are those who run away from their countries to settle in other states in the view of looking for a better and secure environment (LeMay, 2013). This implies that the migrants did not comply with the prerequisites for entering the said country for relocation. One is deemed as an illegal immigrant if upon settling in a given country the state itself had no idea about the person’s intrusion.
Permissible and illegitimate immigrants share common features. For instance, in America those who are immigrants are never distinguished because of their legality or illegality. The children of these immigrants are accorded the same services in terms of better education and other services that are very essential to the children (Dauvergne, 2008).The government has allocated a lot of money to cater for the needs of the immigrants and the welfare of their children. In the USA, the greater proportion of money has been set aside to cater for the said services, which are very essential. Moreover, the standard of education for the immigrants has been heightened. Recently, the government has put much emphasis on the quality of education granted to the immigrants without discriminating them. In fact, the government has allotted resources for maternal care of the expectant immigrants. The government funds, health services provide the requisite services to meet the needs of the infants and mothers. Similarly, job opportunities are readily available, and no employer questions the employees based on their legality. Moreover, most of the employers prefer the immigrant since they are seen as a source of cheap labor.
Another similarity is that most of the immigrants live relatively in the same place and ultimately bound together. Therefore, this makes it possible for them to preserve their cultures and, as they are not assimilated into the mother language of the country of immigration.
Differences
Many reasons may drive someone to become an immigrant. In most cases, one may need to pursue their career in a given country. In so doing, they become eligible members of the society. (Düvell & Palgrave, (2006), allude that legal immigrants have followed a procedural way in settling in a given country. On the contrary, the illegitimate settlers are not eligible to live in that country. The legal immigrants have stipulated the time in which they are going to stay in that country, whereas the illegal one may have escaped from their country due to insecurity threat that is posed on their lives. This may have resulted in them seeking refuge in that country, not knowing the time or duration that they are going to take there. The situations may have been propagated by the state of uncertainty.
Dauvergne (2008) asserts that the difference that besieges the two distinct classes of migrants is that most of them are not entitled for public services. This in the end makes them not access better services such as better education and healthcare. The situation makes the children of the immigrants do not pursue their carrier well and most probably unable to complete high school. The aforementioned circumstances have contributed negatively to the dismal performance of the student in the region where they live. On the contrary, the authorized immigrants are suitable to be granted better services. According Mason & Hayes (2012), the Reform Acts of 1986, prohibits any American citizen to employ an alien who is not entitled to live within the parameters of the America. However, the other groups of immigrants are accorded favorable conditions such as job security and other basic services that are deemed fit for them. The unlawful aliens are shielded from entering the border of any country as they are viewed as intruders to the state where they are anticipating residing. Conversely, the other group of immigrants is welcomed and given all the privileges in the state or country of their settlement. Nonetheless, some stringent policies have been adopted to fully lock the illegal immigrants from their growing numbers in America and other states, such as Canada.
References
Dauvergne, C. (2008). Making people illegal: What globalization means for migration and law. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Düvell, F., & Palgrave Connect (Online service). (2006). Illegal immigration in Europe: Beyond control? Houndmills, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.
LeMay, Michael C (2013). Transforming America: Perspectives on U.S. Immigration. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger
Moloney, D. M. (2012). National insecurities: Immigrants and U.S. deportation policy since 1882. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
Steiner, N., Mason, R., & Hayes, A. (2012). Migration and Insecurity: Citizenship and Social Inclusion in a Transnational Era. Hoboken, NJ: Taylor and Francis.
