Abstract
The issue of illegal immigration in the United States is extremely polarizing to many. Some feel as though illegal immigrants take advantage of the resources of America and cheapen the American experience, taking away jobs from its citizens. Others believe that the illegal immigrant population is far too ingrained in the American economy to safely get rid of without severe economic consequences. In this paper, the issues regarding illegal immigration and jobs, as well as initiatives like the DREAM Act, are explored.
The issue of illegal immigration in the United States is an extremely polarizing issue, one which divides Americans and is a constant hot button issue in American politics. Illegal immigration can be defined as the entry of a non-legal citizen who has not gone through proper legal channels to gain residency in the United States. These individuals reside in the country and even work within it, all while not being registered or legally recognized as an official US citizen. The vast majority of illegal immigrants come from Mexico and other Latin American countries, and are found throughout the country. This has caused a debate between many Americans: what should be done with illegal immigrants? This paper seeks to explore the complexities surrounding the issue of illegal immigration.
Many anti-immigration proponents believe that illegal immigrants are stealing jobs from American citizens - by offering to work these jobs at lower pay, without insurance or benefits, employers are less inclined to give these jobs to legal American citizens at higher costs. There are also the arguments of cultural and language barriers that come from their not speaking English, making communication frustrating and difficult (LeGrain & Myers, 2007). These factors are meant to make illegal immigrants "not American" and therefore not wanted in the country.
However, despite this threat of taking jobs from Americans, the opposite is true: the existence of such low-paying labor is what allows prices to be so low for products in America. With the employment of American citizens to these same jobs, with minimum wage or greater pay and benefits, costs would rise so high as to be untenable or unsustainable for American businesses. Furthermore, this work is often actively avoided by legal American citizens, as illegal immigrants are literally taking jobs that most Americans will not take, such as sanitation, manufacturing and other labor With that in mind, it would be nearly impossible for the American economy to sustain itself if all of this undocumented labor were to suddenly vanish and be replaced by legal Americans paid the legal minimum.
The issues regarding legal and illegal immigrants are many; there are those who feel as though the difference between legal and illegal immigrants is very slim, and so even legal immigrants should be restricted in terms of their access to this country and the rights of being a citizen. Many people believe that the solution would be to legalize these existing illegal immigrants - however, some also think that would be a case where these people who commit a crime are rewarded for doing so, creating a slippery slope. After the IRCA amnesty in the 1980s took place, there was a dramatic upsurge in illegal immigration: However, there is no real legally expedient way to perform mass deportations in order to get illegal aliens out of our country. There are currently around 12 million illegal immigrants in this country, and getting rid of a population of that size would be very hard to do (Hanson, 2007). 1.1 million new legal immigrants enter the country each year as well; this often raises questions of limited resources. Is it possible that America simply does not have enough room for everybody?
However, by rights, the process to become a legal citizen should grant these immigrants full access to the same rights as natural-born citizens. For one, they have to learn a great deal about this country in order to pass entrance exams and work toward their citizenship, which cannot be said of natural-born citizens. Since there is nothing separating them from natural-born citizens in terms of status and rights, there should not be special legislation restricting their rights further.
In order to address whether or not illegal immigration is ultimately good or bad for the United States, it may be necessary to perform a cost-benefit analysis of the phenomenon. Immigration allowed American residents to have a higher overall income, due to the greater efficiency by which domestic resources are utilized. Furthermore, illegal immigrants still pay sales taxes as a result of buying goods in the United States, so they are not a complete and utter drain on taxpayer money. All the same, their contribution to the US economy through state taxes is not nearly enough to offset the cost of immigrant-provided service - though that number is still a very small fraction of the total amount spent to offer the same service to all their constituents (Congressional Budget Office, 2007). Despite their presence pushing down wages for some workers, the US economy generates additional income as a result of these workers working for less. American companies benefit from gains in productivity. Approximately .2% of the gross domestic product of America in 2004 came from this immigration surplus (Hanson, 2007).
With all of the controversy regarding the issue of illegal immigration, it is necessary to figure out how to proceed in a way that settles the issue permanently. Given the status of illegal immigrants in American culture and its economy, it is fairly certain that there is no way to effectively and safely deport the entirety of the illegal immigrant population out of the United States. As a result, they must stay here in whatever capacity is feasible - either they leave on their own accord or stay; a politically motivated initiative to push them out would be absolutely impossible to organize and justify from a political standpoint.
One of the ways in which legalization can occur is through the proposed DREAM Act, which would offer citizenship to those illegal immigrants who graduate from high schools in America, have been in the country for more than five years by the time of the enactment of the bill, and have sufficient moral character. Furthermore, their citizenship could be made possible or more expedient by way of military service; two years of active military service would allow for a six year period of temporary residency in which they could qualify for the DREAM Act's citizenship qualifications. However, some tweaking of the DREAM Act would be necessary; namely, the provision that allows for certain disqualification of illegal immigrants from receiving in-state tuition rates for higher education (Lee, 2006).
I personally believe that this is the best way to go with regards to those who seek legal citizenship within the country. Opponents to this bill do not wish to receive the benefits of permitting people who already live here to become citizens through work, good moral character and active military service. Instead, much of the illegal immigration debate can perhaps be attributed to a sense of xenophobia and racism, as illegal immigrants are typically poor Latinos who are seen as leeching off the benefits and resources of America. All that is required to allow America to benefit from this large group of people (who are already here and already work) is to have a change of perspective and view this subset of people as an opportunity instead of an invasion.
References
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