Introduction
Illegal immigration is an issue that relates to violation of law. The Sovereign right of The United states is undermined through illegal entry of foreign citizens in the country and the refusal to leave the nation at the end of an authorized stay. In America, it is estimated that the illegal undocumented population of immigrants stands at 11 million. This continues to rise annually with an influx of half a million persons. The cases of undocumented immigrants continue to rise as people from other nations fleeing from persecution and oppression in their countries continue to rise. Others are simply looking for economic opportunities so that they can raise their families. The debate about the impact of influx of such undocumented immigrants among politicians, scholars, economists and the public continues and the best way to deal with it has been ongoing for a long time. In my view, undocumented immigration is a major problem to the United States overall economic and social outlook and well as the immigrants themselves. It negatively impacts the economy, social structures of the United States and hence cannot be overlooked.
Impact of undocumented immigrants on America and Immigrants’ personhood
Undocumented immigration has varied negative impact on the American economy and the personhood of the immigrants. Undocumented immigrants crowd Native Americans out of the labor market. In recent studies, it has been determined that undocumented immigration has caused a large number of legal residents of America to be withdrawn from employment or be unemployed. This is especially for the black Americans who are less educated. In turn, it increases crime and imprisonment among the black population. It has also been determined that undocumented immigration plays a significant role in minimizing the employment opportunities of American teenagers. An Illegal Immigrant worker is likely to accept lower wage rates than a similarly skilled American worker who is a legal resident (Perez 78). This means that the natives are faced with a tough choice of accepting lower pay or they end up not working at all.
Undocumented immigrants have been determined to impact heavily the average wages of legal residents of America. Naturally, when undocumented immigrant population increases, the labor supply in the market is increased. This, in turn, drives the wages down, hurting the American workers. The American employers do not adhere to minimum wage rates and labor laws since they are profit-oriented in their businesses. The aim to produce at lower costs drives them to consider cheap labor that undocumented immigrants offer to the economy, especially on tasks that do not require skilled labor in their production lines. This makes the wage rates to be lowered as the legal immigrants, natives and undocumented migrants compete for the same jobs. They are forced to take lower wages so that they can secure a job.
In the present, people with low educational standards, especially the immigrants in American economy earn low wages and hence contribute modest taxes to the government on average than educated Native Americans. For their relatively low incomes, their dependent children become eligible candidates of welfare programs in the United States. This means, in effect, that undocumented immigrants that are less-educated consume services that cost more than the tax they pay. They, in turn, drain the national welfare system. Undocumented residents are entitled to social services such as health care, food and education with their costs being drawn from tax payers. The undocumented immigrants are also likely to send considerable amounts of their income out of the United States to their home country withdrawing huge cash flow from the United States economy. The overall effect will be low economic growth rates and strained national treasury in order to meet the welfare of all citizens.
Undocumented immigrants live with the fear of deportation if they are found out by the authorities in the United States. Perez and his companion take off when they see police drive the car near where they were standing (Perez 14). Without proper documentation, such a population is disadvantaged in realizing their full potential in contributing to the welfare of the US communities and economy. The restrictive policies in the nation to acquire driving licensees inhibit the ability of such people to integrate in to the entire community hence its growth and development as they cannot drive personal cars of their own for fear of arrest and imprisonment. In the long term, such immigrants continue to live in segregated villages marked with extreme poverty, violence and abuse. The immigrants will thus have limited opportunities to explore their social skills and talents that could be useful in making America great. Immigrants and their children are denied their meaningful opportunities for social interaction with legal residents of America and educational opportunities. This adds to their fears and social stigmatization with the government and American citizens emphasizing of their legal status as a necessary requirement before they are allowed to have access to their rights. Boaz, the immigration officer, makes us realize this when he treats immigrants unfairly on their way to crossing (Perez 24).
Immigration Policy Proposals
The United States rarely adjusts the immigration policies mainly because of the politics that surround the issue which sometimes may become deeply divisive. The ongoing debate about the effective immigration debate for the Nation is, to a large extent, disconnected with the underlying economic and social forces that play a role in driving immigration (Migration Policy Institute). The changes that have been proposed to take a long period of time to effect and legislate. One of such proposal that admittedly is well timed and most likely effective in the current situation is giving reprieve for illegal immigrants who have lived in the United States the longest and have never been convicted of illegal activities to reduce incidents of undocumented immigrants (Klein).
In this proposal, undocumented immigrants are provided with a legal framework through which they can earn citizenships hence live without fear and in shadows. They are required to pass background checks, including their reason for migrating to America, their conduct and discipline, and then they are allowed to become American citizens when they pass the tests. They are allowed to learn English, pay taxes and penalties for living in America illegally (Dwyer).
This proposal rests on an argument that the government and the people play by the same rules which in real sense may not be the case. The assumption that undocumented immigrants will show up for background tests and be confirmed as legal citizens of America is a wrong thinking. Most of the immigrants that are undocumented still are unconfident that the government will treat them fairly. Besides, they are still unsure that their coming out and earning citizenship will earn them better incomes as the natives. On the flip side, the strength in this proposal is the assumption that immigrants generate economic revenue for the country, offer cultural mix benefits, make America more productive and opens more opportunities for the immigrants (Davidson). This is because immigrants increase labor force, pay more taxes and make additional investments. This is a progressive proposal that should be implemented by the government of the United States. Below are important legislations that can be implemented so that this proposal is functional;
In conclusion, the government needs to adjust naturalization applications process so that immigrants who are married to Legal American citizens and have lived in America for a period of more than three years continuously would be eligible for naturalization provided they show commitment to live and work in America upholding the national values that guide America as a nation. The law that guides the naturalization process of refugees and asylum seekers that have lived in America without any historical violation of law should also be changed to accommodate more of such to be made natural citizens of America especially those with children born in American soil and whose native country is still unsafe for the bringing up of their children upon their return ("U.S. Immigration Reform At A Glance").
Work Cited
Davidson, Adam. "Do Illegal Immigrants Actually Hurt The U.S. Economy?". Nytimes.com. N.p., 2013. Web. 19 Apr. 2016.
Dwyer, Devin. "Obama Offers Legal Status To Some Undocumented Immigrants". ABC News. N.p., 2016. Web. 19 Apr. 2016.
Klein, Ezra. "READ: President Obama’S Immigration Proposal". Washington Post. N.p., 2016. Web. 19 Apr. 2016.
Migration Policy Institute. "Immigration In The United States: New Economic, Social, Political Landscapes With Legislative Reform On The Horizon". migrationpolicy.org. N.p., 2013. Web. 19 Apr. 2016.
Pérez, Ramón. Diary Of An Undocumented Immigrant. Print.
"U.S. Immigration Reform At A Glance". The White House. N.p., 2016. Web. 19 Apr. 2016.
