Criminology and Criminal Justice: Immigration - Research Paper Example

In this paper, I had to find out whether any correlation between illegal immigrations and drug trafficking exists or not. The procedure involved giving a brief description of the issues of illegal immigration and drug trafficking in order to understand any association that exists between the two issues. For this purpose, illegal immigration and its economic causes were described. After describing illegal immigration, drug trafficking and the key issues related to drug trafficking were described. Based on the analyses of the two issues, it was concluded that illegal immigrations and drug trafficking are directly associated with each other and it was also concluded that illegal immigration is one of the main reasons behind increase in the problem of drug trafficking in the United States of America. Introduction Economy of a country plays a major role in defining the future of the country. In the today’s world, the economy of most of the countries is facing downfall, which is creating adverse affects on the living conditions of the people belonging to those countries. When the economic conditions of a country become unstable, it brings a negative impact on the living style of the people of that country. One of the most critical consequences of economic downfall is increase in the rate of unemployment which causes the people go to financially stable countries in order to find employment for them. Economic disturbances force many people to take shelter in safe and wealthy countries (Yoshida, 2000, p. 2). The dilemma here is that some people who are either not well educated or who do not possess a good character are not able to get the permission for entering some other country. Such people use illegal ways to migrate to other countries. Most of the people belonging to this category do not find employment even in financially stable countries and get involved in illegal activities such as drug trafficking for earning money. The governments of such countries have taken special measures in order to eradicate the problem of drug trafficking, but it has not been completely wiped out from those countries. Drug trafficking is one of the most critical issues being faced by many countries these days and the illegal immigration has proved to be the major root cause of this issue. Let us discuss the issues of illegal immigration and drug trafficking in order to get a better understanding of the correlation that exists between these two issues. Illegal Immigration Illegal immigration refers to the act of people to migrate to some other country illegally. There exist various economic pressures along with political and social pressures, which force people migrate to other countries (Marie, 2004, p. 11). Illegal immigrants do not possess any sort of legal document with them and they enter the premises of other countries without documents. Illegal immigrants not only include those immigrants who enter the premises of a country illegally but also those people who possess legal documents for the entrance but they overstay in those countries. For example, some people go to other countries on visit visa but stay there for more than the actual duration stated on the visa. Some people go to the developed countries for earning through getting involved in the illegal activities such as drug trafficking. Such people produce and sell controlled substances in order to earn money from the local young adults and other people involved in the use of drugs. Hanson (2007) found that rise in the number of illegal immigrants has caused a divisive issue for the United States of America (p. v). USA is one of those countries which are facing the issue of drug trafficking as it holds a large number of illegal immigrants. A major part of the illegal immigrants living in the United States of America belongs to Mexico. Some studies show that approximately 13 millions of all illegal immigrants living in the United States of America are Mexican-Americans who come from Mexico to the USA for different economic reasons. Illegal immigrants are generally known as low waged workers who agree to work on low wage for their employers because they do not have legal documents with them to work and they have a constant fear in their minds regarding their illegal presence. This is the reason why we see most of the immigrants working hard to earn their livings even in their desired countries. Illegal immigrants cannot go to their home countries whenever they want. They have to look out various security factors before planning to make a visit to their home countries. Therefore, they stay away from their loved ones in order to earn a better future for them. Illegal immigration is a very divisive and controversial issue for the whole world, particularly for the United States of America, which holds a major part of the total illegal immigrants. Illegal immigrants do not obtain the legal documents that are required to enter a country. They are either ineligible for those documents or they do not have enough money that is required for the processing of the visa applications. One of the misconceptions related to illegal immigration is that only developed countries face the problems caused by the illegal immigrants. Financially unstable and under developed countries also face the problems caused by the illegal immigrants. Some criminals cross the boundaries of underdeveloped countries in order to find a safe place because the laws and regulations in small and underdeveloped countries are not generally very strict as compared to the laws of developed countries. Such criminals cause many social, political, and economic problems for the country to which they migrate. There are different factors, which force people migrate illegally to foreign countries. Some of the most significant causes of illegal immigration include political or economic issues, social issues, unemployment issue, strict immigrations laws, unsecured borders, overpopulation, poverty, and structural demand in developed states. Lack of employment opportunities and scarcity of resources are the major factors behind illegal immigrations. Apart from unemployment, social or political violence is another big reason that forces a person migrate to a peaceful country. If we talk about the United States of America, we can say that illegal immigrants have caused many critical problems for the United States, which include increase in diseases, increase in crimes, increase in drug trafficking, less employment opportunities for the local people, and many other problems. Increase in crime rate and unemployment are two of the most significant outcomes of illegal immigration. Robbery, rape, and physical attacks on the local people are those issues that are often seen in those countries, which hold a large number of illegal immigrants. Employment opportunities for the local people become less, as employers prefer to give jobs to the immigrants on low wage rates. Drug trafficking is also one of the most critical issues associated with the issue of illegal immigration in the United States of America. Let us discuss drug trafficking in detail in order to get a better understanding of how it is associated with the issue of illegal immigration. Drug Trafficking “The link between illegal immigration and illegal drug trafficking has become almost indisputable and crime-related problems for law enforcement officials” (Bailey, 2008, p. 97). Drug trafficking is one of those problems which is being faced by the United States since many years. “It refers to the illegal process through which narcotics and other illegal drugs are produced, transported, and sold” (Sherman, 2010, p. 7). Drug trafficking is basically exchange of drugs between different drug dealers. It not only includes manufacturing of different drugs but also includes selling of drugs to the related people. Drug traffickers provide money to the drug manufacturing organizations, precipitate drug addiction, and launder drug-based money (Chatterjee, 1989, p. 89). Drug trafficking has become an international issue these days. We hardly find any country completely free of this hazardous problem. If we talk about the United States of America, we come to know that the government of the USA has implemented various mechanisms including interdiction in order to restrict drug trafficking industry from flourishing. However, the problem of drug trafficking still persists in many parts of the United States of America. Law enforcement agencies need to intercept a high percentage of illegal drugs in order to reduce the manufacturing and selling of illegal drugs. Not only the United States of America, but also all countries need to take action against drug trafficking as it has become an international issue. The Drug Enforcement Administration also needs to improve its strategies regarding reduction in drug trafficking. At present, only a small percentage of illegal drugs, which is nearly 15 to 20 percent of all illegal drugs, are being intercepted and this is the main reason why the industry of illegal drug manufacturing has increased up to a great extent. One of the main reasons behind the increase in drug trafficking is increase in the number of illegal immigrants present in different parts of the United States. Most of the illegal immigrants are usually uneducated and they do not have any educational certificates to get a good and respectable job. Such people do not have time, money, and an understanding of the US legal process, which are necessary to get legal immigration (Kenney, 2008, p. 12). Therefore, they enter the United States illegally and get involved in Criminal activities, which are able to earn them good money. Drug trafficking is one of those activities which is generally carried out by illegal immigrants. Some studies reveal that almost 60 percent of the total illegal immigrants are involved in drug trafficking all over the world. The network of drug trafficking industry has expanded not only to the United States but also it possesses associated networks in many other countries. For keeping the network intact and grow, people involved in the business of illegal drugs send their representatives to other countries in order to expand their illegal activities to those countries. But the point here is that no country voluntarily permits such individuals to come there and carry on with their illegal activities. Therefore, such people use illegal ways to cross the boundaries of other countries. The dilemma is that the people belonging to the drug trafficking industry do not have any social or moral obligations. They do not care about other people and play with their lives just for making money. They have just one purpose, which is to expand their business of illegal drugs to other countries in order to earn more money. Adolescents are the main targets of the people related to the business of drug trafficking. It is because of the fact that young adults or adolescents are more easily attracted towards the use of drugs as compared to adults. Drug trafficking is basically an unrespectable and an illegal activity carried out by those people who are either unskilled or not educated enough to get a good job. Such people look for such businesses, which are able to earn them good money with little effort made for it. Drug trafficking is one of those activities which earns a lot of money to the people involved in this business. Some reports from the CNN new channel reveal that most of the illegal immigrants who come from other countries to the United States of America have a single purpose to smuggle drugs to the drug dealers who are already present in the United States. However, there are some people who go abroad to get good jobs but due to lack of documents, they fail to get jobs and get involved in drug trafficking. “Many are simply coming to the United States to look for work but are accosted, and they become subjects of the drug cartels” (CNN, 2010). Drug smugglers transport a large quantity of drugs to the United States. The drug cartels give directions to the immigrants regarding exchange of drugs inside the United States. “Criminal groups operating from South America smuggle cocaine and heroin into the United States via a variety of routes” (U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, 2004). Some of the main routes include maritime routes along Mexico, land routes through Mexico, and sea routes through the Caribbean. Many of the illegal immigrants come to the United States through these routes with the purpose to smuggle drugs to the local drug dealers. Drug trafficking is one of the most profitable businesses of the world which is also one of the reasons why majority of the illegal immigrants from Mexico and the Caribbean are involved in drug trafficking in the United States. “As the boundaries between American border states and Mexico remain porous and drug trafficking continues virtually unfettered” (Cochran, 2010). The Mexico/U.S. border is the main point of entry for the drug smugglers who smuggle drugs into the United States of America. “High-purity Southeast Asian (SEA) heroin dominated the market in the United States during the late 1980s and early 1990s” (U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, 2004). It shows that people belonging to the Southeast Asian countries are also involved in smuggling drugs to the United States of America. These people are neither educated nor they posses any legal documents, so they enter the United States illegally in order to smuggle heroin and other drugs to the local drug dealers present already in the United States. The drug trafficking networks are so powerful and well organized that it is very hard for the government of any country to tackle with them in an appropriate manner. In the United States of America, drug dealers make use of illegal immigrants for the manufacturing and exchange of drugs. The drug dealers are aware of the future uncertainty fear, which illegal immigrants have in the minds, and the dealers make use of that fear for making the immigrants work for them. Drug trafficking is considered as one of the most critical drug offenses all over the world. The US government has implemented appropriate measures and has incarcerated many drug dealers, but still there are many drug dealers present in the United States who are working effectively for the cause of expanding their network in the country. A major part of illegal immigrants living in the United States of America belongs to Mexico and the Caribbean. Mexican Immigrants make up 60 percent of the total Hispanic immigrants (Le May, 2007, P. 9). The people associated with the business of drug smuggling earn millions of dollars each year and that is the reason why a large number of people including illegal immigrants get involved in the act of drug trafficking. Illegal immigrants find it a perfect way to earn money, as they do not have any other way to earn a good amount of money for them. Conclusion Summing it up, the unstable and poor economies of the underdeveloped and unindustrialized countries create critical situations for the citizens, which force them move abroad in order to find employments. When less educated or poor people do not find a way to move abroad through legal documents, they cross the borders illegally and get trapped in the network of drug smugglers who use those people for the cause of drug trafficking. Therefore, we can say that the issues of drug trafficking and illegal immigrants have a very close relationship with each other as most of the illegal immigrants are directly involved in the business of illegal drugs in the United States of America. References Bailey, R. (2008). Immigration and Migration. New York: InfoBase Publishing. Chatterjee, S. (1989). Drug Abuse and Drug-Related Crimes: Some Unresolved Legal Problems. Dordrecht, Kluwer Academic Publishers. CNN Wire Staff (2010, Jun. 25). Arizonas Brewer: Most illegal immigrants are drug mules. CNN U.S. Retrieved from http://articles.cnn.com/2010-06-25/us/arizona.immigrants.drugs_1_drug-cartels-drug-trafficking-smuggling?_s=PM:US Cochran, S. (2010, Nov. 19). Just Hardworking Illegals? Immigration, Drug Trafficking and the Mexican Drug War. Yahooo News. Retrieved from http://news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20101119/us_ac/7230510_just_hardworking_illegals_immigration_drug_trafficking_and_the_mexican_drug_war Hanson, G. (2007). The Economic Logic of Illegal Immigration. USA: Council on Foreign Relations, Inc. Kenney, K. (2008). Illegal Immigration. Minnesota: ABDO Publishing Company. LeMay, M. (2007). Illegal Immigration: A Reference Handbook. California: ABC-CLIO. Marie, C. (2004). Preventing Illegal Immigration: Juggling Economic Imperatives, Political Risks and Individual Rights. Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publishing. Sherman, J. (2010). Drug Trafficking. Minnesota: ABDO Publishing Company. U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (May 2004). Drug Trafficking in the United States. Policyalmanac.org. Retrieved from http://www.policyalmanac.org/crime/archive/drug_trafficking.shtml Yoshida, C. (2000). Illegal Immigration and Economic Welfare. Heidelberg: Physica-Verlag. Read More