The Concept of Illegal Immigration in the US - Essay Example

With the downfall of the United States economy, finding jobs has become a difficult and almost impossible task for many people. Many businesses are unable to afford to take on new workers, or potential employees are either underqualified or overqualified. Illegal immigrants, on the other hand, are finding no problems whatsoever in obtaining employment, finding the few jobs that are willing to pay employees regardless of their citizenship. Since these immigrants are illegal, they are either using fake identification cards to get their job or are else being paid under the table, and therefore are not contributing to state or federal taxes.

If a legal resident of this country were in that job, the money they would make would be going to taxes, which is part of being an American. These taxes also help the state of the economy. Furthermore, when these illegal immigrants take on these jobs, they are taking away job opportunities for people that legally have a right to be working in this country. Numerous news broadcasts have revealed that many places are hiring illegally, even though many legal people in this country need a job just as badly as the person who obtained the employment illegally.

Children of illegal immigrants have also been shown to put a great strain on legal Americans in the school systems because of their inability to speak the dominating language of the classroom, which is English, and this can slow down the progress of the classroom. When young illegal immigrants enter this country, they usually do not know how to speak, read, or write in English. This has caused school systems to put these children at a level of immediate priority, slowing down the progress of the rest of the class so that those children can catch up.

They are unable to keep up with the rest of the class, and instead of seeking help outside of the classrooms; teachers must use class time to ensure that those non-English speaking students understand what is going on. This slows down the rest of the students, and it is all for the sake of just a couple of students. Instead of learning the language of the country that they are immigrating to, they instead make it difficult for the rest of the students to learn as they attempt to grasp what they are being taught.

In a few of my classes, the lessons would have to be stopped so that the non-English speakers would be given the chance to either have the information translated for them or explained in a way, usually through a combination of English and sign language, so that they may understand what is being said. Similarly, colleges have begun to pay special attention to the citizenship status of students, though not in a way that benefits legal residents. Unable to afford schooling, which is something that many people can currently relate to, illegal immigrants are given the scholarships and grants that should rightfully be given to the students that legally reside in this country.

Many American college hopefuls have found it to be increasingly difficult to obtain the money they need to attend school because someone else is receiving it. More often than not, someone else is illegal and should not be receiving government funds. Finally, illegal immigrants are depleting the resources and opportunities that are reserved for legal residents.