For several decades now, the United States of America has been beset with issues pertaining to immigration, whether legal, illegal, or domestic immigration. Regardless of the type of migration, all three have varied effects and implications to the country known as the land of the free. America has fought to retain its independence and pushed forward to become a super country that other nations look up to. However, it is also a country that is a haven for different nationalities. In its efforts to provide better lives for its countrymen, the United States has also attracted other nationalities. Foreigners flock to the United States in the hope of improving their lives and tasting the country’s promise of freedom, democracy, equality, and independence, among others. America, in its promise of equal opportunity to all, continues to be a magnet for people who want better economic conditions for themselves and their families. Thus, the talks on whether the country should have stricter rules when it comes to immigration laws has become a hotly contested debate topic among scholars, political leaders, and the people. With an estimated 11 million to 12 million illegal immigrants in the country who fill in the labor force gaps or fulfill low-paying jobs Americans are unwilling to take, immigrants are able to contribute to the U.S. economy through tax payments, consumption of goods and services, increased productivity, creation of job opportunities, and unrequited contributions to Medicare and social security, among others.
Considering the number of illegal immigrants in the country it only shows that immigration laws are lenient, which has caused a number of concerned groups in America to question whether the country should enforce stricter migration laws. If stricter immigration laws are implemented, this will help the Americans and non-Americans alike in terms of bolstering the wages because illegal immigrants will have access to more educational opportunities, trainings, better jobs, and creation of small businesses. Additionally, this would help in expanding economic growth because when naturalized employees earn higher salaries, naturally, they would consume more goods and services and pay their taxes, which results to increase in tax revenues for the American government. This will also add to the increase in Social Security contributions and reduce budget deficit of the federal government, which can help the millions of retirees in the country. This can also help in the creation of more jobs that will help both Americans and non-Americans (CAP Immigration Team).
In light of the points above, pushing for very strict immigration laws do not benefit both Americans and non-Americans. One of the reasons that make America great is the economic advancement of the country, including improvements in architecture and infrastructure, healthcare, and more. The jobs that these improvements require are mostly executed by foreign nationals who do not mind working odd and blue collar jobs just to ensure that they have a home for their family’s shelter, money to buy their needs, and food to eat daily. These are jobs that most Americans refuse to fill, which, on the other hand, the immigrants are more than willing to take just so they experience improvements in their family’s life. Stricter immigration laws is not an assurance that Americans will have more work opportunities especially if they are the ones who reject employment simply because they do not want to force themselves to hard labor, which immigrants do not mind doing (Caplan 7). How can America maintain its place in the world if Americans themselves do not want to work the odd jobs that most immigrants fulfill and ask these same immigrants to leave the country?
As an example, Caplan (2012) points out that imposing stricter immigration policies is perceived as a way to protect American taxpayers (9). However, the reality is that “welfare states focus on the old, not the poor” (10). Most of the immigrants are young, which makes them eligible to join the workforce. Because of this, they end up paying and supporting the old Native Americans instead of “milking the system” (10). Additionally, these people pay taxes using fake Social Security numbers, which they cannot use at all while they are on illegal status, thus, adding to the collections as serving as sure profit for the government.
Now, the United States is a melting pot of different nationalities, which makes most U.S. residents descendants of migrants who entered the country more than a hundred years ago. There were no immigration restrictions back then, which made the U.S. open to all nationalities. Not until the passage of the Quota Law in 1921 did America started thinking seriously about immigration laws as they wanted to control the number of migrants coming from eastern and southern Europe. Thus, new laws were passed that restricted the number of immigrants based on the country of origin. Subsequent amendments to these laws have then lifted the country-specific quota system, which updated the ruling to “maximum number of immigrants allowed into the U.S.” (Economics Resource Center). Instead, priority was given to individuals who have exceptional skills and those who migrate be reunited with their families who are already in the country.
In these contemporary times, there has been a call to enforce stricter immigration policies, which are borne out of various economic, political, social, and cultural concerns that Americans raised. Cafferty, Chriswick, & Greeley (1983) point out that in the economic front, the fear of losing jobs to immigrants and decreasing wages for certain industries have made more Americans promote the implementation of stricter measures. Politically, the fear is borne out of the possibility of mistakenly accepting terrorists in the country, which could result to political chaos (33). Fear of crime also drives people to rethink the benefits of immigration as immigrants are often seen as one of the sources of unrest in different states (34). Social and cultural issues are borne out of perceived fears of losing the country’s identity as immigrants attempt to practice their own cultural and social beliefs as they lead their lives. As a result, people begin to fear too much diversification in America could hurt the country’s own belief system (34).
Despite opportunities to enter America in a legal manner, still, there are many who opt to enter and remain the States illegally. This is because it takes a while for their papers to be processed, which means it will take a longer time before they are reunited with their families. However, while in the country, doing odd jobs allow them to earn money for themselves and their families. The opportunity to lead an improved lifestyle and work in companies that offer career development and advancement is already there, except for the presence of their families who are often left in their native countries. Additionally, the ever changing stand of the government on immigration contributes to the deliberate slow down in the passing of bills that would otherwise regularize the status of illegal immigrants, such as in the case of former President George W. Bush, whose efforts were thwarted by Congress (T. N. 2014). Current President Obama may be faring better than his predecessors, but as Republicans continue to resist immigration reforms, the issue will remain in unresolved. The reason these illegal immigrants stay is their trust in the government’s efforts towards reform in the hope that they will be granted amnesty, be reunited with their families soon, and avoid possible deportation.
In view of the arguments presented, I do not think that America is being consistent with what it stands for, its ideals. The United States of America has been known as a melting pot of different nations and cultures, which accounts for diversity in beliefs and ideals. America is called the Land of the Free because of how it fought for its independence and freedom. Equality has always been one of America’s battle cry as it attempted to provide equal opportunities to its people and other nations that have chosen it as their home. Thus, pushing for stricter immigration policies when these very same people, the illegal immigrants, are the ones who take on jobs that Americans refuse to do will not do any good for America’s economy. Remove the illegal immigrants from the system and America will suffer a major setback in terms of employment in the fields of healthcare (nurses, caregivers), information technology (programmers, technical writers, business analysts, quality assurance), and even in the hospitality industry (janitors, front desk personnel, housekeeping, kitchen). What should be remembered is that illegal immigrants, although perceived as nuisance to American society by some, actually contribute to what makes America great and a super country.
Works Cited
Cafferty, Pastora San Juan, Chriswick, Barry R., & Greeley, Andrew M. “The Dilemma of American Immigration: Beyond the Golden Door.” 1983. Web. 1 July 2015. <https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=ArfeHLUQQa4C&pg=PA32&lpg=PA32&dq=should+the+US+impose+stricter+immigration+laws&source=bl&ots=is4O5m1WuW&sig=165FsRObhatZcfr3OsOY84VMSbE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=fM6UVdaWI5H7oQSu3bjAAw&ved=0CEkQ6AEwBzgK#v=onepage&q=should%20the%20US%20impose%20stricter%20immigration%20laws&f=false>.
Caplan, Bryan. “Why Should We Restrict Immigration?” 2012. Web. 30 June 2015. <http://econfaculty.gmu.edu/bcaplan/pdfs/whyimmigration.pdf>.
CAP Immigration Team. “The Facts on Immigration Today.” Center for American Progress. 2014. Web. 29 June 2015. <https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/immigration/report/2014/10/23/59040/the-facts-on-immigration-today-3/>.
Economics Resource Center [ERC]. “Policy Debate: Does U.S. Immigration Policy Harm Domestic Workers?” N.d. Web. 1 July 2015. <http://www.swcollege.com/bef/policy_debates/immigration.html>.
T.N. “Why America Can’t Fix Its Immigration Problem.” The Economist Explains. 2014. Web. 1 July 2015. <http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2014/07/economist-explains-5>.
