The Creation of Structures to Integrate Illegal Immigrants - Research Paper Example

?ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION INTRODUCTION Countries all over the world have laws that protect their territories and borders. Regardless of the fact that there have been major interventions with globalization and other forms of international socialization and trade agreements that seek to break territorial restrictions, some of these major rules on entry and departure to and from a country have remained constant. The United States of America is one country that some of the world’s strictest rules on entry and departure to and from the country. These laws are generally known as immigration laws (Saskia and Alejandro, 1993). Immigration involves the legal processes through which a person enters and dwells in another country for a period of time. These people who make the entry are known as immigrant (Immigrant Assist, 2012). An immigrant who enters another country without going through the laid down laws therefore becomes an illegal immigrant. In the United States of American and in all legal jurisdictions around the world, illegal acts are offensive and punishable by law. For this reason, the fact that a person is touted as an ‘illegal’ immigrant alone renders the fellow an offender. Presently, there are very strict laws that prescribe various forms of punishments for people who are caught to be illegal immigrants. As a way of fighting against illegal immigration also, there are a lot of restrictions that have been put on people in the country who are not legal residents. Generally, the debate continues as to what should be done to people who are caught to be illegal immigrants. PROPONENTS Proponents of this debate argue on two major reasons why illegal immigrants should not be punished by the law. First, they argue on humanitarian grounds stating that people would generally travel to the United States of America by crook means because of the need to make greener pastures and alleviate themselves from the hardships they face in their countries. From a humanitarian perspectives therefore, these proponents advocate tempering justice with mercy. There also is an argument by the proponents that illegal immigrants contribute largely to the economy of the United States of America through their trade and other economic activities and thus the need to allow their integration into the United States population. In the light of the growing debate, there have been formal studies and research to confirm the quantitative contribution of illegal immigrants to the economy of the United States. For instance the White House Council of Economic Advisors (2007), reports that “U.S. natives gain an estimated $37 billion a year from immigrants’ participation in the U.S. economy, according to the President’s Council of Economic Advisors” (Drum Major Institute, 2012). This figure is by no means a small amount of money to the economic growth of the United States. For each illegal immigrant that is expelled from the country therefore, there is a percentage of this amount that is lost to the United States economy. OPPONENTS There are also those who do not agree that illegal immigration should be entertained. In the view of these opponents, illegal immigrants should continue to be sanctioned and expelled from the United States of America. These opponents argue on two major grounds. The first has to do with the argument of security reasons whiles the second has to do with improper national planning policy. First, it is argued that the continuous stay of people whose information cannot be accounted for constitutes a major security threat to the country. Especially as it is becoming clear that the United States is having more and more international enemies, it is always important that authorities in the country can monitor each and every resident and their activities. However, this is not possible if people enter the country illegally or overstay their visa dates. Again, because the country does not have any formal information on illegal immigrants, it becomes very difficult to include them in national planning policies. Such poor planning affects the country in several ways including socio-economic discrepancies (Smith and Edmonston, 1997). With time therefore, poor settlement, increased unemployment rate and high levels of robbery and other social vices are going to abound. It is for reasons like this that the debate continues among opponents of illegal immigration that illegal immigrants should be deported. FLAWS OF EACH SIDE AND THE MIDDLE GROUND There are major flaws on both sides of the arguments. First, the proponents who argue on humanitarian grounds refuse to appreciate the fact that there is nothing like reasonable evil. Clearly, simple logic does not provide that a person should steal because he or she is hungry and at the point of death. For this reason, it can never be right that because people are facing hardship in their countries, they should come and seek refuge in another man’s land through the back door. There are laws that make provisions for people who want to seek refuge and amnesty and so the legal processes need to be followed. The argument on economic contribution also refuses to appreciate the fact that desperation to be economically viable should not be the remedy for a person to make money through an illegal means. If not, the sale of hard drugs would be permitted because it contributes to economic growth. America cannot therefore continue to entertain illegal migration on the bases of the money that the practice brings into the American economy. On the other hand, opponents of the debate also refuse to appreciate the fact that America has continued to exist and remain well planned in the presence of illegal immigration. Again, they refuse to admit the fact that there remains much more to do to ensure security that fighting illegal immigration alone. This is because most illegal immigrants by virtue of their limitations to movements and restrictions of their rights are not able to operate freely to undertake high level terror and criminal acts that compromise on national security (McCarthy, 2001). Most of these acts are perpetuated by external dwellers and legal immigrants who can have the freedom to carry out their cruel activities. In conclusion, the common grounds that the writer proposes therefore have to do with the creation of structures to integrate illegal immigrants after a while. It is therefore recommended that the United States government should put plans in place to give each illegal immigrant who is arrested or found a period of 6 months probation stay. Within this time, the fellow should be monitored on his or her activities as well as create avenues for such people to acquire legal documents. It should only be people who would refuse to show compromise to the acquisition of legal documents who should be deported. REFERENCE LIST Drum Major Institute. Fact Sheet: Immigrants’ Economic Contributions. 2012. Web. April 22, 2012 Immigrant Assist. What is an immigrant? 2012. Web. April 21, 2012 McCarthy F. Y. Global Battle against Illegal Immigration. London: Alpha Press Limited. 2001. Print. Saskia, Sassen and Alejandro, Portes, Miami: A New Global City? APUS. Contemporary Sociology 22 Issue 4, p471–477. 1993 Smith, James P. and Edmonston, Barry. The New Americans: Economic, Demographic, and Fiscal Effects of Immigration. APUS Database. Washington, DC: National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences Press. 1997. Print. White House Council of Economic Advisors. Immigration’s Economic Impact. 2007. Web. April 23, 2012 Read More