Illegal Immigration to the United States of America - Coursework Example

Illegal immigration in the United s of America al Affiliation) Introduction Illegal immigration is the movement of people across the national border in a manner that is against the laws of the destination country. Illegal immigration is often overwhelmingly upward and from the poorest country to the richest county. Illegal immigration usually becomes an option when the immigrants feel that chances of successful migration are greater than the risks that are involved1. The paper will describe the illegal migration. The paper will describe illegal migration and its relations to border security in the United States of America. Illegal migration and border security in the United States of America Illegal immigration in the United States of America is also referred to as undocumented migration by the media. It is the act of foreign nationals entering the country without the permissions of the government officials2. Such individuals are said to have violated the county’s immigration laws. The Obama administration spends over $18 billion on immigration enforcement programs in the year 2012. The number of illegal immigrants keeps on increasing with the latest data indicating that over 12 million individuals are in the country illegally. For the past twenty years, the United States of America has been putting programs in place to help prevent illegal immigrants from entering the country. Most of the initiatives have focused on enhancing border security. Both republican and democrats have continued to stress on the same issues and have increased the number and size of border patrol to more than twenty-one thousand agents, built nearly seven hundred miles of fencing along the Mexican border and deployed sensor cameras, pilotless drones and other expensive technologies aimed at preventing illegal crossing of people at the boundary. In addition, the government has instituted extensive background checks for many of those individuals who wish to travel to the United States of America to visit families, do business or study. Moreover, the government has overhauled the Visa system to require interviews for the new applicants3. Border officers have also been trained to run screening measures and take fingerprints on all travelers coming to the United States of America by air or water in order to identify terrorists, criminals and other individuals who are considered a threat to the United States of America. The approach is aimed at ensuring that only persons who are legally permitted to enter the country are allowed to do so, and are to leave the country when their time expires. Initially, the country had loosest sort of border control. The country however registered an increase in the number of people of entering the country without permission from the government officials. Mexico border was one of the routes that were widely utilized. It was then followed by the political outcry of most Border States such as California. The border control initiatives were increased after the 9/11 attacks. Border control is the primary mission of the homeland security that was created in the year 2003. Despite the initiative, the country is still experiencing challenges in the border aimed at ensuring that illegal immigration is taken care off4. Border control has remained a work in progress ever since with most American citizens remaining unconvinced that there is improvement in the boundary security. A research conducted in the year 2011 revealed that almost three-quarters of the public believed that the Mexican border was unsecure. The Congress and the Obama administration are, however, determined to tighten border control issues as well as reduce illegal entries into the United States of America. The challenges faced in prevention of illegal immigration into the United States of America The United States border is currently far harder to cross illegally than any time in the history of the country. Moreover, the number of individuals entering the country by illegal means has declined sharply. Escaping border enforcement has turned out to be more expensive, more complicated and more doubtful compared to the previous years. However, border control will always stay imperfect; it is not likely for any country to thwart illegal migration completely. More people are willing to migrate to the United States even when the country is registering high unemployment rates and a weak economy5. One issue that has made a challenge to deal with the immigration issue is the development of increasingly sophisticated criminal networks who earns high income after helping immigrants to enter the country. The development has contributed to the insecurity problem at the borders of the country. Tightening of border control measures has not only affected or discouraged the illegal border crossers, but legal travelers too. Business travels, tourism, border crossing and other legal entries into the country have all been falling or flat over the past ten years. Skilled immigrants have been discouraged and in the process have moved to countries that are more hospitable. The economic effect of such changes is extremely high and may impact negatively to the country. Foreigners from many countries in the world can enter the United States of America in various legal ways6. They can visit for a long time period to work on short-term visas; they can come temporarily as students, business travelers or as tourists or immigrate permanently as a result of sponsorship by family members who are already in the United States of America or on the basis of employment skills. The primary goal of border security initiative is to ensure only those individuals who are permitted to enter the country are allowed to do so. Expanded enforcement o land security has been matched by similar efforts in the air environment. People who are entering the United States of America by air are screened at the airport with the main focus being directed at identifying potential illegal immigrants, as well as individuals connected to terrorist and criminal organizations. Entry into the United States of America for overseas now entails going through high technology security screening that is considered extraordinary and constructed in the last fifteen years. Visa applicants are required to give digital photographs and fingerprints, present themselves during interviews, as well as wait for lengthy background screening. Consequences of illegal migration to the United States of America The passing of a stringent immigration bill by the state of Arizona in the United States of America has raised more attention to an already heated illegal immigration issue. The promise of the American dream has drawn many people around the world to the United States of America. These individuals come by sea, air as well as across the border. But as the requirement of legal status and citizenship grows more stringent, the incidence of illegal immigration especially between the United States and Mexico border has continued to increase. The United States census bureau revealed indicated that approximately 10.8 million individuals were living in the United States illegally. In addition, the department of homeland security guarding the Mexican Arizona portion had registered six hundred and fifty arrests each day in 2010. The result shows that illegal immigration is real and is even increasing in rate. Perhaps issues that are never discussed are the positive effects of illegal immigration. The positive outcomes are often identified from an economic perspective. Illegal immigrants often provide cheap labor forces from restaurant pricing to construction costs. The population also provides markets to products produced by the United States of America and therefore impact positively to the economy of the country even paying up to 1.9 billion US dollars in taxes every year. In addition, the tasks that these people are willing to perform are often brutal, menial and never appealing to the other citizens. Having such people who are prepared to do these tasks enables the rest of the workforce to focus on getting higher quality jobs and higher skills7. Despite the positive impacts of immigrants in the United States, their adverse consequences cannot be ignored. One of the disadvantages of illegal immigrants is that they compete with the locals for jobs hence raising the unemployment rate in the county. Their willingness to work even for those below the minimum wage and low wages make them attractive to many business workers. Such jobs could have paid more if the immigrants were willing to accept such low wages. The movement of people across the Mexican –US border has resulted in inflow of terrorists and other people of interest who enter the country undetected. Additionally, some of the illegal immigrants into the United States of America have been linked to violent crimes. Studies have also indicated that other illicit immigrants have been associated with sexual offences as well as gang activity8. Increased number of traffic accidents, negative cultural effects and higher incidences of infectious diseases has been related to the presence and continued movement of people into the United States without permissions. There is no doubt, that the immigration issue has to be stopped. However, the means of addressing the challenge has become difficult to determine. It is unrealistic to think that the government can be able to identify all the 10.8 million illegal immigrants currently in the country and deport all of them. Legalizing all the immigrants currently in the United States may seem irresponsible and may not be a solution towards control of the entrance of illegal immigrants into the US. There are various initiatives that have been put in place to monitor these activities, even though the vice is still ongoing. Many people believe that the country’s administration should mainly focus on strengthening the borders while at the same time rounding up individuals who entered the United States of America illegally. Border security is the core element of homeland security department’s efforts that are aimed at controlling illegal immigrant from entering the country with the US border patrol within the boundary protection and bureau of customs as the leading agency along the borders. The agency has a mandate of ensuring that only those individuals with the legal documents are allowed to enter the country. The real immigration problems and solutions The United States of America’s exceptional status as an immigrant nation is being challenged by globalization, which is making both terrorism and migration much easier. The significant challenge for the administration and the policy makers is distinguishing real problems from illusory migration. Both the members of the House of Representatives and the Senate are working closely to generate practical measures that will help deal with the issue. The immigration policy received high attention in 2005 from both sides of the decision makers. Their various efforts focused on changes in policy, which entailed strengthening employer verification of employment, improving border security, offering some amnesty levels to illegal immigrants who were already in the country as well as establishing a new temporal guest worker program. The real problem is that the illegal immigration in the United States is at a high rate. Over 10 million immigrant workers are residing in the country, and the population is increasingly growing each year9. Even though the majority of them may not pose direct security threat to the country, the presence of millions of such individuals distract resources, distort the law and actually creates a cover for the terrorists. Typically, illegal immigrants come to the country for better jobs and in the process; they can add value to the economy. However, they also take away value by weakening the national and legal security environment. Security problems emerge in situations where the number of undocumented people in the country is increasing. The real issue that is presented by the high number of illegal immigrants in the country is security and not necessarily the impact on the economy. The security of the country can only be enhanced if the immigrants can enter the country legally and making it easier for the administration to track their activities. The argument that illegal immigrants harm the economy of the country has to be dismissed. This is because the alien provide cheap labor as well as market for the products and services produced in the United States of America. The current economy of the country is high, with higher GDP per person and gross domestic products, yet the number of foreign-born Americas who have contributed to it remains high10. Whether high skilled or low skilled, immigrants can boost the national economy, provide net economic benefits and enhance specialization. The benefits of illegal immigrants are said to exceed the costs. The United States of America will continue to be a country with strict and tight border security. The political coalitions that are support of strict border control measures is probably durable and still stable; the threats from transnational crime and terrorism are severe enough to promote effective border measures and the desire by many individuals to migrate illegally into the country are still high such that prevention through border security is significant. The only challenge for the government is how to make sensible immigration system compatible with the border safety in order to strengthen the economy of the country rather than weakening it. The move, however, seems to seems to be a long way off. A more sensible future direction would entail various components. Constructive and honest discussion on the border security goals should be encouraged. Conclusion Although it may be difficult to achieve a total control over border security, the Obama administration together with other leaders should be able to set goals and targets as well as working closely to ensure the objectives are achieved. Given the advantages of the immigrants towards the economy of the country, the administration should come up with temporary worker program initiatives that can be afforded by most of the immigrants thereby reducing the number of individuals who are entering the country illegally11. There are a number of challenges that are associated with implementation and designing of the program, but it would have a positive impact on reducing illegal migration. The people’s understanding about border control and national security should be considered. The close link in the minds of most citizens is often associated with particular circumstances of the 9/11 in which the terrorists entered the United States from overseas. Although terrorist organization have shifted their recruitment strategy to the citizens of the united states, strict border control will be of the essence in preventing excessive influx of terrorists and materials they can use in attacks. It is indeed true that a perfect secure resident will reduce the number of illegal immigrants entering the United States of America. Bibliography Benson, Rodney. [Book Review: Color Lines: Affirmative Action, Immigration, And Civil Rights Options For America And Public Attitudes Toward Immigration In The United States, France, And Germany]. Public Opinion Quarterly 67, no. 2 (2003): 304-310. Conversations Across Our America: Talking About Immigration And The Latinoization Of The United States. Choice Reviews Online 50, no. 05 (2013): 50-2979-50-2979. Crowe, Susan, and Jamie Lucas-Vergona. What Should Be Done About The Illegal Immigration From Mexico To The United States?. Mathematical and Computer Modelling 46, no. 7-8 (2007): 1115-1129. 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