Immigration and Social Problems - Research Paper Example

?[Your full full June 06, Immigration and Social problems Before going to study the benefits that immigrants bring to the United States of America, let us get a better understanding of the reasons, which make people migrate to other countries. There are many factors, which make people migrate to well-developed countries. Some of the most considerable reasons of immigration include unemployment issue, economic and political issues, social issues, poverty, and structural demand in the developed states. Immigration brings many benefits for the developed countries, such as, increase in the GDP, increase in the available workforce, increase in precious talent, and increase in the number of hardworking individuals. However, immigration also causes some problems for the developed countries, such as, increase in the number of crimes, increase in violence, law breaking, and decreased employment opportunities. This study will focus on the benefits that immigrants bring to the United States of America. Along with this, crimes and drug trafficking, which are two of the major problems caused by immigrants in the United States, will also come under discussion. The study will also show how people can think positively about immigrants and how they can solve problems caused by immigrants. Thesis Statement The thesis statement for the paper is that: People should understand that not all immigrants are bad; rather they play a very considerable role in strengthening the economy of the United States. Problems Caused by Immigrants A major part of the illegal immigrants living in the United States is originally from Mexico. Researches prove that approximately 13.2 million illegal immigrants living in the United States are Mexican-Americans. Increase in the number of crimes and drug trafficking are the most significant problems caused by the immigrants in the United States of America. Increased Number of Crimes Increase is the number of crimes is one of the major drawbacks associated with immigrations. Some percentage of the immigrants falls into criminal activities when they do not find jobs or any kind of work in the countries where they migrate. Some of those crimes include kidnapping for ransom, stealing money, rape, robbery, physical attacks on the local people, and harassing other people. If we talk about the United States of America, increased rate of crimes due to illegal immigrations is not an exception. Various researches show that illegal immigrants have increased the overall number of crimes in the country and the main reasons behind that increase are the social and financial issues of the immigrants. Moreover, the mindset of some immigrants is such that they like to get involved in criminal activities, such as, rape and adultery. Such immigrants are sexually frustrated and when they find easy target somewhere, they do not hesitate to fulfill their desires. However, women of illegal immigrants are also not safe and they are also the targets of smugglers and criminals. Taxin, in an article, gives a proof of such cases and states, “An 8-year-old Salvadoran girl who reported she was raped by immigrant smugglers in Mexico has been reunited with family in the United States”. Increase in the terrorist attacks in developed countries and threats of terrorism are also associated with the issue of illegal immigrations. The famous and dreadful incident of 9/11 is also an outcome of the illegal immigrants’ issue where a group of terrorists hijacked a couple of planes and hit them with the world trade center. Drug Trafficking Drug trafficking, is also one of the most critical issues associated with large-scale immigrations to the United States of America. Go states, “The US suffers an annual loss of about 70 billion dollars due to drug-related illnesses, death, and drug related crimes”. Drug trafficking is a business which earns a lot of money to the drug dealers, manufacturers, and all other people involved in this business. The immigrants involved in this business harm the roots of the society. Go asserts, “Drug use and its consequences threaten and affect the nation and its people from every socio-economic background, geographic region, and people with any level of education”. “The link between illegal immigration and illegal drug trafficking has become almost indisputable and crime-related problems for law enforcement officials” (Bailey 97). Drug trafficking is one of the long lasting issues for the United States of America. “It refers to the illegal process through which narcotics and other illegal drugs are produced, transported, and sold” (Sherman 7). Drug trafficking is a much expanded business all over the world and involves many people. People involved in drug trafficking provide money to the organizations which manufacture controlled substances, precipitate drug addiction, and launder the money earned through this business (Chatterjee 89). One of the main reasons behind increase in drug trafficking in the United States of America is increase in the number of illegal immigrants, particularly Mexican and Asian immigrants. The United States of America holds nearly 70 million legal immigrants and 10.5 to 11 million illegal immigrants (LeMay 1). A large number of these immigrants are either uneducated or less educated and they do not have any skills, abilities, or educational qualification to get jobs. About such immigrants, Kenney states that such immigrants either do not have enough money or are not aware of the US legal process, both of which are necessary to get legal immigration to the United States (12). This is the reason why such people enter the United States illegally and earn good money through drug trafficking. Impact of Immigrants’ Negative Activities on Society The impact of increased number of crimes and drug trafficking is never good for any society. In case of the United States of America, crimes such as drug trafficking, violence, rapes, and terrorist attacks cause threat and terror in the minds of the citizens. Increased rate of crimes due to immigrants put a negative impact on the minds of the local citizens and they start thinking negatively about all immigrants. Along with crimes and terrorism, drug trafficking also harms the lives of local citizens as a large number of young adults become addicted to drugs and different controlled substances. Go states, “Illicit drug users are unaware of the fact that drug abuse indirectly or directly affects their family, their neighborhood, their business, their education and their health adversely”. Some studies show that almost 50 to 60 percent of the newly registered HIV/AIDS cases include those people who are involved in using controlled substances using same needles. Moreover, drug use harms the thinking abilities of a person making him/her unproductive for the society. Law enforcement agencies of the United States need to take special measures, such as, intercepting a high percentage of illegal drugs to end all businesses related to manufacturing of illegal drugs. Researches show that at present, only a small percentage of illegal drugs are being intercepted by the agencies, which is one of the main reasons behind increase in the business of illegal drug manufacturing. Not All Immigrants Are Bad Apart from increase in the rate of crimes and drug trafficking because of some immigrants, there are also some very beneficial aspects of immigrations. People should not think negative of all immigrants because nature and activities of every person are not the same. It is only a small number of immigrants who are actually involved in criminal activities. Some reports say that 12 to 15 percent of immigrants become involved in illegal activities. The major part of the immigrants is very peaceful and does not take any step against the laws of the country. Such immigrants are very much concerned about their own image in the society as well as the image of their home nations. To maintain a good image, they follow the laws of the country and respect every individual they meet. Most of the immigrants are hardworking and careful individuals who obey the social, political, and labor laws and regulations of the foreign countries. Reports confirm that U.S. GDP may increase by 0.75 percent annually due to large-scale immigrations. “Immigrants bring innovative ideas and entrepreneurial spirit to the U.S. economy” (Griswold). They also help the countries improve their economies by helping them increase their GDPs. They work with full dedication and commitment wherever employed. They are very productive for the companies, which hire them because they have constant desire to earn money by working effectively and efficiently for they companies. Some immigrants living in the United States even do not hesitate to work for extra hours, which not only benefit the companies but also make immigrants earn good money for themselves. Another point regarding immigrants is that they apply all of their skills and abilities to become more and more productive for the companies where they work because they do not want to lose their jobs. “In order to stay on top of the rapidly changing global economy, the U.S. needs to make it easier for foreign talent to stay in the country” (Wadhwa). Immigrants are fully aware of the fact that getting employment is not an easy task in the United States. This fact makes them work hard to keep their jobs and continue earning money. They know that of they lose their jobs, they will face difficulties in surviving in the United States. Therefore, they work will full dedication for their companies and do not get involved in any sort of negative activity. Moreover, they abide by the laws of the companies and maintain brotherly relationships with coworkers. Workforce diversity is another benefit, which is associated with the presence of immigrants in the United States. Companies like to hire individuals based on the talent and qualifications of the employees instead of focusing on hiring based on race or gender. Workforce diversity brings number of benefits for the U.S. companies and organizations. Some of the most considerable advantages of workforce diversity, which occur due to presence of talented immigrants, include strengthened cultural values, improved customer satisfaction, improved corporate reputation, help in overcoming the issue of labor shortage, improved employees’ creativity and innovation, committed and productive workforce, and increased market opportunities. Another benefit, which comes from the presence of immigrants, is improvement in the economic stability. Some immigrants move to the United States to start their businesses and earn good amount of profits. The expansion of businesses plays an important role in improving the economy of the country. Kallick states, “Immigrants contribute significantly to the U.S. economy” (1). The chances of foreign investment also increase which helps in improving overall growth of the U.S. economy. People need to understand that immigrants are the main force behind improvement of the economies of the developed nations. “Immigrants contribute to the economy in proportion to their share of the population” (Kallick 1). Immigrants do such jobs, which local people hesitate to do. Some of those jobs include cab services, pizza delivery, and petrol pump services. Apart from these kinds of jobs, immigrants also do very highly technical jobs based on their high level of skills, abilities, and educational qualifications. Some immigrants are doctors, engineers, and teachers by profession and they play a very considerable role in strengthening the basis of these professions in the United States. “They make up 24% of the U.S. science and engineering workforce holding bachelor's degrees and 47% of science and engineering workers who have PhDs” (Wadhwa). These doctors and engineers overcome the overall shortage of professionals in the country. Some of these professionals include highly experienced surgeons, engineers, and professors who come to the United States to provide their high quality services to the local people. Researches prove that immigrant doctors and teachers play a valuable role in providing proper healthcare and educational needs to the local people and overcoming the labor shortage present in these professions. Some researches also prove that immigrants play a great role in shaping the overall diverse culture of the American society. America holds a large number of immigrants who come from different parts of the world to live and work in the United States. “Successive waves of immigrants have kept our country demographically young, enriched our culture and added to our productive capacity as a nation, enhancing our influence in the world” (Griswold). Their cultural values although differ from the existing culture of the United States but when they live in the country for a long period of time, their cultural values and other elements of culture mix up with the American culture forming a unique and attractive overall culture which keeps develops a strong bond between the local people and the immigrants. Along with the role, which immigrants play in shaping American culture, their role in fostering competitiveness can never be denied too. Researches show that when local people see immigrants excel in different fields of life in the United States, they also try to compete with them in order maintain their superiority over the immigrants. This competition not only results in making local people practical and well educated but also results in developing good relationships between immigrants and the local citizens. Therefore, immigrants play a great role of in fostering competitiveness and shaping the attractive, strong, and diverse culture of the United States. People of the United States need to understand that majority of the immigrants are very peace loving who do not take part in any sort of criminal activity. They come to the U.S. to earn some money not only for themselves but also for their families. Their life in the U.S. is not very easy, as they have to face many difficulties in the early stages of their immigrations, such as, language barrier, cultural barrier, and unavailability of proper housing facilities. Most of the immigrants do not understand English very well which creates problems for them. Kyoso found that learning English is critical for the success of immigrants in the United States (150). Immigrants are also unaware of the U.S. society and need a considerable amount of time to settle in the society. Most of the immigrants work positively in the society and are concerned with the mission to live and earn in a respectable manner. Therefore, local people should not view every immigrant as a criminal, a lawbreaker, or a drug trafficker; rather they should promote healthy and peaceful relationships with the immigrants because of the large number of benefits that they provide to the country. Works Cited Bailey, Rayna. Immigration and Migration. New York: InfoBase Publishing, 2008. Print. Chatterjee, S.K. Drug Abuse and Drug-Related Crimes: Some Unresolved Legal Problems. Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1989. Print. Go, Pauline. “How Drug Trafficking Affects The United States And Its Youth.” Ezinearticles.com, 07 May 2008. Web. 05 Jun. 2011. Griswold, Daniel. “Immigrants have enriched American culture and enhanced our influence in the world.” CATO Institute, 18 Feb. 2002. Web. 07 Jun. 2011. . Kallick, David. Immigrants and the Economy: Contribution of Immigrant Worker to the Country’s 25 Largest Metropolitan Areas With the Focus on the Five Largest Metro Areas In the East. New York: DIANE Publishing, 2009. Print. Kenney, Karen. Illegal Immigration. Minnesota: ABDO Publishing Company, 2008. Print. Kyoso, David. Immigrants in The United States. Tanzania: Continental Press, 2010. Print. LeMay, Michael. Illegal Immigration: A Reference Handbook. California: ABC-CLIO, Inc, 2007. Print. Sherman, Jill. Drug Trafficking. Minnesota: ABDO Publishing Company, 2010. Print. Taxin, Amy. “US lets in Salvadoran girl after rape by smugglers.” Associated Press, 17 May 2011. Web. 05 Jun. 2011. . Wadhwa, Vivek. “Let’s Keep Skilled Immigrants in the U.S.” Businessweek.com, 08 Feb. 2007. Web. 07 Jun. 2011. . Wadhwa, Vivek. “Why Skilled Immigrants Are Leaving the U.S.” Businessweek.com, 02 Mar. 2009. Web. 07 Jun. 2011. . Read More