Illegal Immigration - Essay Example

Illegal or undocumented immigration elevates a number of concerns related to public rights. During 1990s, it so happened that public confrontations had come up that had focus on the status of the illegal immigrants. Poor financial circumstances in Mexico and military aggression in Central America had led the populations of these areas to immigrate to regions like California, Arizona, and Texas. Anti-immigrant reactions had developed in these areas. In order to discourage the entry of illegal immigrants, the voters of California had passed the Proposition 187, which would bring to an end public social service to them.

The services terminated included schooling, food aid, and medicinal care. However the legislation was instantaneously confronted by the court system. Although the proposition was a beginning to limit the services to illegal immigrants, the measure was killed by arguments that arose against the legislation citing the civil rights of education and food facilities. Thus this led to a crisis as human sentiments would not accept such illegal activities within their country. (Segal, 117-118). The majority of illegal immigrants who enter a country without any authorization are in general not eligible for welfare grants.

However, certain social services and health care programs are available to illegal immigrants as well. Health care services to small children or poor people are provided to all immigrants, be they legal, or illegal. Public education is also another service that is provided irrespective of the child being an illegal immigrant. A country like the United States has no identity card system which makes documentation of individuals difficult. However, various laws are amended that intend to exclude several social services to those individuals who do not form part of the legal documented system of a country.

Elimination of supposed illegal students from schools or colleges has been tried in the country. However, not only did this policy face challenges from the court, but this led to individuals creating false documentations to prove that are legal citizens of the country. (Ono & Sloop, 170-172). The use of several social services also leads to huge losses of funds. If services could be denied to people who are unable to produce legal documents of their citizenship in a country, then much of the country’s funds could be saved.

Moreover, much of the funds are lost in the verification processes that are required to verify such immigrants. The medical services that are provided are also funding huge amounts, irrespective of the fact whether a citizen is legally or illegally settled, especially small children and pregnant women are always given special care. Basic food and medical services are also provided to poor residents who do not have any insurance or are not covered by any other program. Naturally, denying such services to illegal immigrants would provide huge savings on the part of the government funds.

(Ono & Sloop, 170-173). Conclusion: Illegal immigration evidently has defects. Ongoing high levels of