Reasons for Illegal Immigration - Assignment Example

Running head: ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION Illegal immigration Insert Insert Grade Insert 13 December Illegal Immigration Introduction Illegal immigration is one of the most politicized issues in most countries. Primarily, most of the countries in Europe and in America are trying to devise methods to reduce the practice, by putting in place several legislative mechanisms to help in averting the situation. However, the problem of illegal immigration is not a recent issue. Illegal immigration has been an issue in various countries for very many years. In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of illegal immigrants who enter into the countries. America is one of the countries with the highest number of illegal immigrants in the world. Almost half of the illegal immigrants come from Mexico. A large percentage of the rest illegal immigrants come from the Latin American countries of Guatemala, Bolivia, and Venezuela. There are also illegal immigrants who come from some Eastern Europe countries and East Asia. Different people usually have different views regarding the issue of illegal immigrants. Some people say that it is beneficial to the government and the economy in general whereas there are people who strongly oppose the illegal immigration. However in order to clearly understand the issue, understanding of the definition of the term would be of utmost priority. An illegal immigrant is a person who enters or resides in a country without necessary requirements; this person may be referred to as an illegal immigrant if he enters the country without the necessary paperwork, or if he overstays his visa. An illegal migrant is also a person who may have entered the country legally, but after residing in the country for sometime, he committed a crime and was therefore subject to deportation. However, this person failed to go back to his original country, hence become an illegal immigrant (LeMay, 2007, p. 2). Causes of illegal immigration The sources of illegal immigration are usually varied. They range from the economic, social, and even political. Most of the people are mainly concerned at the economic causes of immigration and tend to ignore the other causes of immigration. The reason for the immigrant moving from their countries and illegally residing in another country will depend on the “push” he will get from his native country. The “push” involve are the features which the immigrant is not comfortable with and therefore contemplates moving to another country which has better conditions. Immigration is also dependent on the “pull” by the country where the immigrant intends to seek residence. The “pull” is the favorable conditions in the other country, which attract the person. The push may be low income, poor political conditions, or natural calamities. Whereas the pull may be higher income in the other countries, better working conditions and freedom of the citizens. Economic pull One of the main causes of illegal immigration is the difference in the affluence between different countries. The illegal immigrants usually perceive the country as having better economic conditions than their original countries. They will therefore use all means to get into the countries as they are guaranteed of finding employment, which will offer them better pay and hence enable them to have higher standards of living (Laçiner, Özcan and Bal 2005 p. 96). Most of the illegal immigrants usually leave their original countries and move to countries, which generally have better economic conditions. They will leave the countries and move to the countries where there is ready employment, which offers a higher pay than the original countries. In the US, the minimum wage is usually far much higher than the other countries, which are adjacent to it. The employers will also pay higher pay for the same kind of work which in the other countries is far much low (Johnsons, 2006 p. 5). Most of the people are usually unskilled and usually work in employment areas, which are not liked by the local citizens of the country. However, there are also some of the migrants who are highly skilled and move to the countries in search of better pay for their skills. Research has shown that there is a relationship between the number of immigrants moving into a country and the economic stability of the country. When the economy is strong there will be many illegal immigrants moving into the country, and when the economy is not performing so well, there will be few migrants moving into the country (Johnsons, 2006 p. 6). During the 1990s when the US economy had a rapid growth, so many new illegal immigrants moved to the US since they were guaranteed of getting employment. The growth of the US economy has since slowed down resulting in fewer numbers of illegal immigrants entering the US (Johnsons, 2006 p. 6). Family pull Illegal immigrants may move from their countries to other countries to reunite with their family members. The family members usually host them for the duration they are in the countries. These family members may even pay for the costs of smuggling the illegal immigrants into the countries (Johnsons, 2006 p. 6). The family members, who host the illegal immigrants, provide information on how the illegal immigrants can get employment in the host countries. These illegal immigrants may then apply for legal residency in the countries based on the existing legislation, which may allow them to be legal residents of the countries (Johnsons, 2006 p. 6). Political push The political condition in a country may lead to its citizens moving to other countries to seek residency. The presence of dictatorial leadership in the origin countries may push the residents to other countries. Another political condition may push the citizens out of the country is low human rights standards and poor systems of government e.g. a government which practices communism. The political factors have made many Cubans to leave their countries and go into the US due to the presence of dictatorial leadership in Cuba. In addition, the government uses communism principle to govern the country. The limited freedom of the citizens has also made the citizens to detest living in the country (Meza, p. 3). Most of the citizens of the country usually move into the US to escape from the conditions in the countries. The US has far much better political conditions than Cuba hence the citizens will all it takes to ensure that they get residency of the country, whether legally or illegally. Effects of illegal immigration Most of the countries are of the view that the illegal immigration exerts undue pressure on the countries in which the illegal immigrants reside. The effects range from the employment and labour force, crime rates to the provision of certain vital services by the government such as healthcare and education. This has made of the citizens to strongly oppose illegal immigration and encourage the governments to take measures, which will prohibit it and significantly reduce it. However, there are people who are of the view that the illegal immigration should not be prohibited, as the illegal immigrants are just victims of various circumstances, which are usually beyond their control, hence necessitating the need for them to seek residency in other countries whether legally or illegally. However, a clear understanding of illegal immigration will determine the real effects of the practice. Effects on employment and labour force In most countries, the illegal immigrants form a sizeable proportion of the workforce. In the US, 4 percent of the workers are illegal immigrants. Most of the workers do not usually have any work skills and they are therefore employed in the low skilled labour force. These areas include construction, manufacturing (especially meat processing firms and textiles) and domestic services (Johnsons, 2006 p. 9). These jobs are not usually high paying and are usually disliked by most of the residents of the countries involved. However regardless of whether the illegal immigrants take up the jobs of the local residents of the country, the immigrants are expected to provide a sizeable amount of the labour force as most of the developed countries have an aging population. Immigrants are expected to fill the deficit in the labour force in both the skilled and the unskilled jobs (Marger, 2008, p. 339). The immigrants whether legal or illegal will therefore help in fueling the economy by providing the much-needed labour. Effects on provision of certain services by the government The illegal immigrants usually place undue stress on the government’s ability to provide healthcare services and education to the citizens. However, various people argue that he illegal immigrants are entitled to access the services as they also pay the taxes to the government. However, most of the illegal immigrants are usually in low paying jobs. Therefore, the illegal immigrants pay comparatively lower taxes than the other citizens do. Hence, the illegal immigrants can be said to a drain to the public funds (Johnsons, 2006 p. 10). However the illegal immigrants are not necessarily a burden to the government, the illegal immigrants may at times be of importance to the government. In some countries, the illegal immigrants pay for social securities and yet they do not get their benefits since they are not legally allowed to live in the countries (Davidson et al 2010 p 4). Illegal immigration continues to provide heated debates with several people opposing it and others advocating for it. However, a common consensus agreed by both parties is that the illegal immigrants should be given some of the privileges, which are usually given to the local citizens of the country. These include provision of certain healthcare services and education to their children. Most of the countries also allow the illegal immigrants to apply for residency in the countries. Most of the governments usually have stringent measures to prevent the illegal immigration. They usually heavily man and patrol the areas that are perceived to be the entry points of the illegal immigrants to prevent the illegal immigrants from getting into the countries. References Davidson, L. et al (2010). Fact or fiction? The myths and realities of illegal immigration. Deseret News. Retrieved December 13, 2010, from http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700043538/Fact-or-fiction-The-myths-and-realities-of-illegal-immigration.html?pg=4 Johnsons, H. P. (2006). Illegal immigration. CA, Public policy institute of California, retrieved December 13, 2010, from: http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/atissue/AI_406HJAI.pdf Laçiner. S., Özcan, M. and Bal, İ. (2005). European Union with Turkey: the possible impact of Turkeys membership on the European Union. Ankara, USAK Books. Retrieved December 13, 2010, from: http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=e8-ewl_L10gC&pg=PA96&dq=causes+of+illegal+immigration&hl=en&ei=dtcFTfSbCdSB5Aah_K2GCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=causes%20of%20illegal%20immigration&f=true. LeMay, M. C. (2007). Illegal immigration: a reference handbook. CA, ABC-CLIO, retrieved December 11, 2010, from: http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=QssG_CgW46kC&printsec=frontcover&dq=illegal+immigration&source=bl&ots=-kcrUKMVTt&sig=7Ws2wFkmkI8pvBiIGqz-4E51DAk&hl=en&ei=Y3QDTemUAo2H4Qb3lL2hCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=20&ved=0CKEBEOgBMBM#v=onepage&q&f=false. Marger, M. N., (2008). Race and Ethnic Relations: American and Global Perspectives. CA, Cengage Learning. Retrieved December 13, 2010, from http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=TXP78beGTpcC&pg=PA339&dq=illegal+immigration&hl=en&ei=Z4kDTZLNCcrk4gap69DCCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CEUQ6AEwBjgo#v=onepage&q=illegal%20immigration&f=false, Meza, S. E. O. causes of illegal immigration. Retrieved December 13, 2010, from: http://www.scribd.com/doc/16089999/Causes-of-Illegal-Immigration# Read More