Introduction
Hatred between Americans and foreign immigrants has greatly developed over the years. Americans are on the opinion that illegal immigrants should not be allowed in their own country. They argue that allowing these immigrants in their country will, in the long run, cause social conflicts. This, in turn, would deteriorate their economic growth and development. Due to this reason, the American government has discouraged the illegal immigrations. This paper tries to analyze the illegality of these immigrants determine whether they have been fairly treated.
According to Americans, allowing illegal immigration will only increase the number of illegal immigrants in the future. During the Reagan administration, illegal immigrants were granted amnesty and allowed to live in America. Reagan promised to beef up security in order to prevent these immigrations from happening in future. Reagan tried to handle the issue of illegal immigration with compassion with the aim of lending a help in hand to these people. However, this failed terribly. Instead, it encouraged more immigrants to move to America with the view of being granted amnesty by the American government.
Another reason why Americans have discouraged illegal immigrations is for the fear of illegal aliens taking up jobs from American citizens. This would render majority of American citizens jobless in the future. The American government has strived to create jobs for its citizens. One of the factors that has been put across for the increasing level of unemployment is the influx of illegal immigrants. Therefore, allowing illegal immigration would pile pressure on employment opportunities the government strives to create for its citizens. In addition, it would also increase strain on the resources in the country. Majority of Americans argue that providing jobs to illegal immigrants would reduce the Gross National Product as these people are not American citizens.
Consequently, allowing illegal immigrants in America would be importing poverty. Majority of the people who cross the border are either illiterate or have low education qualification. In addition, these people are poor due to lack of employment in their mother countries. When these people cross over to America they end up being jobless as the American government cannot employ them due to lack of knowledge and skills. More often, these people end up being street beggars. Some of them also turn to burglary and drug abuse due to lack of employment.
The American government has, in the recent past, discouraged illegal immigrations due to the prevalence of drug trafficking. This has been common along the Mexico border where illegal immigrants have been smuggling drugs to America. Immigration along the Mexico border has increased conflicts between the immigrants and the neighboring states. This has also raised tension between the immigrants and the border patrol police. In the recent past, these conflicts have resulted to deaths of some of these immigrants. The American government has been accused of killing innocent immigrants who flee to America for refuge in the name of eliminating illegal migration. The American government fails to understand that some of these immigrants have fled their mother land in search of peace.
According to Marxist’s social conflict theory, different groups own different material and non- material resources. Marx went on to argue that groups with more resources are more powerful hence they tend to exploit the less powerful groups. According to Marx, class conflict is the source of social conflicts in the society. The powerful groups exert their authority at the expense of the less powerful. This has clearly been demonstrated in the conflicts between America and illegal immigrants from less powerful nations. American government has been accused of treating these immigrants brutally leading to death of some of them. When these immigrants cross over to America they are denied basic public services as they are in America illegally.
Illegal citizens migrate due to several genuine reasons for their immigration. Many nations neighboring America have had constant political tensions. This tension spreads across all the citizens instilling fear in most of them. Therefore, citizens fear for their life and opt to flee in search of peace. Majority of these citizens are usually women and children, the two most vulnerable groups. When these people flee to America, they should be treated with compassion and love. Instead, majority of them are harassed by the border patrol police. There have been cases of some of the women being raped by the same people who are supposed to protect them. Majority are forcefully arrested and deported to their mother country.
Conclusion
America, as a powerful nation should strive to help the less powerful nations. As much as the immigration is illegal, the American government should try to analyze the factors that have led to these immigrations. Many immigrants are desperate citizens fleeing from political tensions and natural calamities. Such citizens are usually desperate and the American governments should show compassion and try to understand their problems. The government should also treat these immigrants with respect and compassion. However, the American government should implement strict laws for those immigrants with malicious intentions.
References
Fallon, J. (2000). Funding Hate-Foundations and the radical ‘Hispanic’ lobby. The Social Contract , 56-71.
Segovia, F. (2009). Social Factors Influencing the Immigration Policy Preferences of European Americans. Ann Arbor-Michigan: ProQuest.
