US Immigration Issues - Essay Example

Your full full October 23, Introduction In today’s world, economy of most of the countries is facing recession, which is creating adverse affects on the living conditions of the people. 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 people migrate to financially stable countries to find employment. Large-scale immigrations produce benefits as well as harms both for the economy and for society of a country. Skilled immigrants such as doctors, engineers, and business entrepreneurs play a vital role in improving the economy of the developed countries. The thesis statement for the paper is that: People should understand that not all immigrants are bad; rather they play a very considerable role in strengthening the economy of the United States. History of Immigration to the United States The history of immigration to the United States dates back to 1607 when a large number of European people came to the United States to develop new colonies. After them, many other groups of people also started coming to the United States to live there. Since then, immigration to the United States never stopped and people continued coming to the U.S. However, the government of the U.S. began official counting in 1819 because that was the era, when mass immigration started to occur. At that tome, almost 24 million immigrants to the United States belonged to European countries. “Immigrants came from a range of places, including the German-speaking area of the Palatinate, France (Protestant Huguenots), and the Netherlands” (Diner). Most of the immigrants came to the United States either for the religious freedom or to earn money by adopting the profession of farming which was on rise in the earliest era. In that era, men and women from Europe used to come to the United States as indentured servants. Immigrants came from almost every part of Europe. “Most immigrants of this era tended to hail from the British Isles, with English, Scottish, Welsh, and Ulster Irish gravitating toward different colonies (later states) and regions” (Diner). Immigration to the United States experienced both rise and fall in different eras. In every era, from colonial times until now, a large number of people from all around the world have opted to adopt American way of life. “They arrived as foreigners, bearers of languages, cultures, and religions that at times seemed alien to America’s essential core” (Diner). It is due to the presence of a large number of immigrants in the United States that, today, the American culture has become a real diverse culture, which respects the religious and cultural beliefs of every person living in the country. Benefits of Immigration to the Economy Let us now discuss, the benefits associated with the presence of immigrants to the economy of the United States of America. There are a large number of considerable benefits of immigration for the economy of the United States. Some of the major benefits include increase in the GDP, increase in the available workforce, increase in precious talent, and increase in the number of hardworking individuals. Advantages for Economy One of the major benefits that come from the presence of immigrants is improvement in the economic stability. “Migrant workers often work longer hours and for lower salaries, and while that is controversial, sometimes exploitive, it benefits the host country” (Shah). Some immigrants move to the United States to start their businesses and earn good amount of profits. The expansion of businesses plays an important role in improving the economy of the country. Kallick states, “Immigrants contribute significantly to the U.S. economy” (1). People need to understand that immigrants are the main force behind improvement of the economies of the developed nations. “Immigrants contribute to the economy in proportion to their share of the population” (Kallick 1). Immigrants do such jobs, which local people hesitate to do. Some of those jobs include cab services, pizza delivery, and petrol pump services. Apart from these kinds of jobs, immigrants also do very highly technical jobs based on their high level of skills, abilities, and educational qualifications. Some immigrants are doctors, engineers, and teachers by profession and they play a very considerable role in strengthening the basis of these professions in the United States. “They make up 24% of the U.S. science and engineering workforce holding bachelors degrees and 47% of science and engineering workers who have PhDs” (Wadhwa). These doctors and engineers overcome the overall shortage of professionals in the country. Some of these professionals include highly experienced surgeons, engineers, and professors who come to the United States to provide their high quality services to the local people. Researches prove that immigrant doctors and teachers play a valuable role in providing proper healthcare and educational needs to the local people and overcoming the labor shortage present in these professions. Most of the immigrants are hardworking and careful individuals who obey the social, political, and labor laws and regulations of the foreign countries. Reports confirm that U.S. GDP may increase by 0.75 percent annually due to large-scale immigrations. Griswold states, “Immigrants bring innovative ideas and entrepreneurial spirit to the U.S. economy”. They also help the countries improve their economies by helping them increase their GDPs. They work with full dedication and commitment wherever employed. They are very productive for the companies, which hire them because they have constant desire to earn money by working effectively and efficiently for they companies. Some immigrants living in the United States even do not hesitate to work for extra hours, which not only benefit the companies but also make immigrants earn good money for themselves. Another point regarding immigrants is that they apply all of their skills and abilities to become more and more productive for the companies where they work because they do not want to lose their jobs. “In order to stay on top of the rapidly changing global economy, the U.S. needs to make it easier for foreign talent to stay in the country” (Wadhwa). Immigrants are fully aware of the fact that getting employment is not an easy task in the United States. This fact makes them work hard to keep their jobs and continue earning money. They know that if they lose their jobs, they will face difficulties in surviving in the United States. Therefore, they work will full dedication for their companies and do not get involved in any sort of negative activity. Moreover, they abide by the laws of the companies and maintain brotherly relationships with coworkers. Workforce diversity is another benefit, which is associated with the presence of immigrants in the United States. Companies like to hire individuals based on the talent and qualifications of the employees instead of focusing on hiring based on race or gender. Workforce diversity brings number of benefits for the U.S. companies and organizations. Some of the most considerable advantages of workforce diversity, which occur due to presence of talented immigrants, include strengthened cultural values, improved customer satisfaction, improved corporate reputation, help in overcoming the issue of labor shortage, improved employees’ creativity and innovation, committed and productive workforce, and increased market opportunities. Advantages for Society People should not think negative of all immigrants because nature and activities of every person are not the same. It is only a small number of immigrants who are actually involved in criminal activities. Some reports say that 12 to 15 percent of immigrants become involved in illegal activities. The major part of the immigrants is very peaceful and does not take any step against the laws of the country. Such immigrants are very much concerned about their own image in the society as well as the image of their home nations. To maintain a good image, they follow the laws of the country and respect every individual they meet. Some researches also prove that immigrants play a great role in shaping the overall diverse culture of the American society. America holds a large number of immigrants who come from different parts of the world to live and work in the United States. “Successive waves of immigrants have kept our country demographically young, enriched our culture and added to our productive capacity as a nation, enhancing our influence in the world” (Griswold). Their cultural values although differ from the existing culture of the United States but when they live in the country for a long period of time, their cultural values and other elements of culture mix up with the American culture forming a unique and attractive overall culture which keeps develops a strong bond between the local people and the immigrants. Along with the role, which immigrants play in shaping American culture, their role in fostering competitiveness can never be denied too. Researches show that when local people see immigrants excel in different fields of life in the United States, they also try to compete with them in order maintain their superiority over the immigrants. This competition not only results in making local people practical and well educated but also results in developing good relationships between immigrants and the local citizens. Therefore, immigrants play a great role of in fostering competitiveness and shaping the attractive, strong, and diverse culture of the United States. People of the United States need to understand that majority of the immigrants are very peace loving who do not take part in any sort of criminal activity. They come to the U.S. to earn some money not only for themselves but also for their families. Their life in the U.S. is not very easy, as they have to face many difficulties in the early stages of their immigrations, such as, language barrier, cultural barrier, and unavailability of proper housing facilities. New immigrants are usually less aware of the U.S. society. They need a considerable amount of time to settle in the society. Most of the immigrants work positively in the society and are concerned with the mission to live and earn in a respectable manner. Therefore, local people should not view every immigrant as a criminal, a lawbreaker, or a drug trafficker; rather they should promote healthy and peaceful relationships with the immigrants because of the large number of benefits that they provide to the country. Disadvantages of immigration “Immigration can have positive and negative impacts on both the host (recipient) country, and the original country” (Shah). Let us discuss the negative impact of immigrations on the United States of America. Disadvantages for Society “Immigration can become a social/political issue, where racism can be used to exploit feelings or as an excuse for current woes of local population” (Shah). Along with racism, increase in drug trafficking and crimes are also associated with large-scale immigrations. “The current high rate of immigration into the United States of America has adverse environmental impacts upon America” (DinAlt). The impact of increased number of crimes and drug trafficking is never good for any society. In case of the United States of America, crimes such as drug trafficking, violence, rapes, and terrorist attacks cause threat and terror in the minds of the citizens. Increased rate of crimes due to immigrants put a negative impact on the minds of the local citizens and they start thinking negatively about all immigrants. Along with crimes and terrorism, drug trafficking also harms the lives of local citizens as a large number of young adults become addicted to drugs and different controlled substances. Drug use harms the thinking abilities of a person making him/her unproductive for the society. Law enforcement agencies of the United States need to take special measures, such as, intercepting a high percentage of illegal drugs to end all businesses related to manufacturing of illegal drugs. Researches show that at present, only a small percentage of illegal drugs are being intercepted by the agencies, which is one of the main reasons behind increase in the business of illegal drug manufacturing. Disadvantages for Economy Large-scale immigrations also produce a negative impact on the economy of the United States. Some of the most obvious economic impacts of immigrations include less job opportunities, increased poverty, increased educational costs, decreased foreign investment in immigrant-populated areas due to increased fear of crimes, and less number of skilled employees in the original countries of the immigrants. It is a fact that when the host country starts hiring immigrants on low salaries, the number of available jobs decrease for the local citizens. It also results in increase in the graph of poverty because when people will not have good jobs, they will not have money to spend which will ultimately increase poverty. Moreover, low salaries for the immigrants also increase poverty. “Their wages are low and they are more affected by downturns in the economy” (“Immigration Policy”). Similarly, when people start going abroad to earn good amounts of money, shortage of skilled labor occurs in the original countries of the immigrants. Large-scale immigrations also increase the educational costs for the local citizens. “Immigrant children and the children of immigrants account for a disproportionate amount of public education costs than do natives” (“Immigration Policy”). Moreover, if crime statistics start rising in an area where large groups of immigrants live, foreign companies hesitate to invest in that area, which ultimately affects the economy of the host country. Why Do People Immigrate To The U.S.? Reasons There are many factors, which make people migrate to well-developed countries. Some of the most considerable reasons of immigration include unemployment issues, economic and political issues, social issues, poverty, and structural demand in the developed countries. Increase in the fear of crimes and poor economic conditions is also one of the reasons behind large-scale immigrations to other countries. Facts on Why People Migrate “Overwhelmingly, the reason people migrate to the U.S. is to improve their standard of living” (DinAlt). In some countries, the law and order situation is so much dreadful that people do not find it easy to live in those countries whereas in some countries, people do not find it easy to fulfill their religious responsibilities. Such kinds of problems make them migrate to culturally diverse and developed countries where they can enjoy the real essence of peace and religious independence. Moreover, poor employment conditions and poverty are also two of the most considerable factors, which force people migrate to financially strong countries. “Some are forced to move, due to conflict or to escape persecution and prejudices, while others may voluntarily emigrate” (Shah). Conclusion Summing it up, unstable and poor economies of the underdeveloped and unindustrialized countries create critical situations for the citizens, which force them migrate to developed countries, such as, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Immigration brings many benefits for the United States, such as, increase in the GDP, increase in the available workforce, increase in precious talent, and increase in the number of hardworking individuals. However, immigration also causes some problems for the developed countries, such as, increase in the number of crimes, increase in violence, law breaking, and decreased employment opportunities. However, the harms, if dealt properly, are not big enough to overshadow the benefits associated with immigrations. Therefore, people should not disregard immigrants because they play a considerable role in strengthening the economy of the United States. Works Cited DinAlt, Jason. “The Environmental Impact of Immigration into the United States.” 1997. Web. 23 Oct. 2011. Diner, Hasia. “Immigration and U.S. History.” America.gov, 13 Feb. 2008. Web. 23 Oct. 2011. Griswold, Daniel. “Immigrants have enriched American culture and enhanced our influence in the world.” CATO Institute, 18 Feb. 2002. Web. 23 Oct. 2011. “Immigration Policy Issues.” Newsbatch.com, May 2010. Web. 23 Oct. 2011. Kallick, David. Immigrants and the Economy: Contribution of Immigrant Worker to the Country’s 25 Largest Metropolitan Areas With the Focus on the Five Largest Metro Areas In the East. New York: DIANE Publishing, 2009. Print. Shah, Anup. “Immigration.” Globalissues.org, 26 May 2008. Web. 23 Oct. 2011. Wadhwa, Vivek. “Let’s Keep Skilled Immigrants in the U.S.” Businessweek.com, 08 Feb. 2007. Web. 23 Oct. 2011. . Wadhwa, Vivek. “Why Skilled Immigrants Are Leaving the U.S.” Businessweek.com, 02 Mar. 2009. Web. 23 Oct. 2011. . Read More