Illegal Immigrants and Their Effects on Crime in America - Research Paper Example

USA, illegal immigrants represent a relatively high percentage of the population – if compared with other countries with similar political and economic frameworks. The reason is probably that job market in the USA is highly developed – following the high performance of the country’s industries; another reason could be also the fact that the countries surrounding USA – referring especially to the countries cited in the south, especially Mexico – have weak economies– compared to that of USA; therefore, USA is considered by immigrants as an exceptional chance for improving the quality of life; under these terms, immigrants decide to enter USA even illegally – most of them do not meet the requirements for entering the USA legally.

This practice has led to the increase of the number of illegal immigrants across USA; at the next level, the increase of criminal activity developed in most states has been related with illegal immigrants. This issue is set under examination in this paper; it is proved that the rate of illegal immigration in USA has started to be decreased; however, the crimes in which illegal immigrants are involved have not been particularly reduced; it is concluded that measures need to be taken by the USA government so that immigrants are discouraged from entering the country illegally; in other words, preventive measures should be rather developed instead of punitive ones.

The population of illegal immigrants in USA is high; in accordance with a recent report the illegal immigrants in USA are estimated to 11.9 million – a figure reflecting the country’s illegal immigrants population for 2008 (Americans for Legal Immigration Political Action Committee, ALIPAC, 2010); it is also noted that ‘the nations immigrant population (legal and illegal) reached nearly 38 million in March 2007, one-third of which are comprised of illegal immigrants’ (ALIPAC, 2010). In a series of statistics presented by the Center for Immigration Studies, the