Illegal Immigration - Term Paper Example

Certain individuals may be interested in settling within the US just so that they could benefit from the health and social facilities in the country. The essay shall look at the reality of free riders and how this is linked to illegal immigration. Some individuals argue that illegal immigration is becoming a very serious problem in the US. Some of them attribute this to the open border policies that the US has adopted. Others claim that the real reason why illegal immigrants enter the US is so that they could use up the country's resources and then leave it for dead. (Beck 94) These proponents assert that these immigrants have no intention of ever becoming US citizens or upholding the law.

Instead, they enter the country to access easily available employment opportunities. Usually, these people come into the country so that they can offer cheap labor for those respective industries or people that need them. In fact, a number of immigrants enter the country in order to pack industry products or do such duties. (Shapiro A8) These proponents also believe that all the latter micro-economic arguments do not hold much water. According to them there is a need to revise the country's immigration laws because of the fact that citizenship is worth very little to these people.

Most of them may be merely interested in getting whatever little they can and then send it back to their own countries. Since such individuals are not well documented, then they are usually not obliged to respect the constitution as much as other groups do. (Shapiro A8)Proponents of this argument also claim that many illegal immigrants do not play by the rules. Since they are not US citizens, then they are not required to contribute directly to the country. Additionally, most of them may not offer their services for the betterment of the US.

This school of thought also puts forward the fact that many illegal immigrants are actually flooding the country and causing situations in which locals are running out of work. The following industries heavily rely on illegal immigrationThe restaurant industryHousekeepingConstructionTruck drivingetcThese proponents argue that illegal immigrants who are coming in for a free ride (through the social amenities in the country) are actually harming locals who may be required to pay their dues while at the same time compete with some of these illegal immigrants.

Proponents of these ideas cite a series of statistics to support their claim. For instance, in the New York Times, it was stated that illegal immigrants who enter the country for a free ride are actually ruining the opportunities for other types of workers especially those ones who may not be illegal. It has been shown that most janitors in Los Angeles get close to nine dollars per hours; in other parts of the country, it could be slightly higher but not so far from this figure. What has happened is that some of these illegal immigrants have ended up dominating the profession.

Most employers these days prefer using such illegal immigrants because they are sure that they will save up on substantial wage costs. However, the overall effect of this rush towards illegal immigrants