Illegal Immigration in the United States of America - Research Paper Example

Illegal Immigration in United States of America Introduction Immigration in general is the act of moving into a country or a specific region for a longer span of time than a routine traveler or visitor would stay. Immigration brings with it a broad spectrum of problems. But one cannot ignore the brighter side of immigration. Immigration is a huge phenomenon such that the governments have to keep renewing their immigration policies, the step being two headed; to earn the benefit that gain from the mass influx and to ensure the security and betterment of their people. All in all immigration is such an inevitable process that greatly influences a country’s economy and society bringing about good and bad changes all at the same time. These changes will be considered in the paper along with their impact on society. Illegal Immigration Illegal immigration points towards the access to the open entrance across the borders for all those who have been deported from other countries or have been into crimes or simply people who have always wished to get themselves a life they yearn for and are unable to make a livelihood in their own countries. This fact relates more to the living conditions in the poorly developed countries where education is not for all, if any. This in turn has a deep rooted relation to all the countries of the world, indicating that low living in one country will somehow affect the neighboring affluent country so that all countries in the long run experience differences in their economies and cultures. And illegal immigration is a phenomenon so huge that the governmental agencies just cannot eradicate it from the very roots. The Brighter Aspect of Immigration in USA Mass influx of people belonging to different cultures and social backgrounds provide a diversity which is a very important factor for growth of the American society. This has given a whole new meaning to the language that the natives speak, the food that they eat, the clothes that they wear and the overall life style that the Americans have opted in this new era. Cultural dynamicity has brought forward the best of American lifestyle everywhere from the restaurants to the shopping malls to the new car models that the American automobile companies introduce in the growing market and nevertheless on the ramp. Over the last few years the American government has been worrying over the pension rules for the retired civilians as well for the unemployed citizens. Where does the entire budget come from? With a slow rate of native graduates, the American government is bound to take benefits from the immigrants who work hard and pay taxes. Many of the illegal immigrants who are mostly Hispanics, Asians and Mexicans have a doctorate degree which is what the American society badly needs. Many illegal immigrants who are not highly educated readily want to work where the natives do not want to work. They do all the petty jobs that the Americans do not want to do. This provides them a fair chance to make a living in the United States than they have in their native country. Other than this, a very important situation is when an illegal immigrant is ready to work on a wage one tenth the wage demanded by the Native American or a legal immigrant. This provides a better path for the corporate companies hiring the illegal immigrants to flourish which in turn offers stability to the American economy. Another reasonable discussion is that not all groups of illegal immigrants are violent and terrorists. After all, the 9/11 terrorists were proper green card holders as the newspapers endorsed. Psychological studies show that the act of moving can either push the individuals to express their oppressive natures or their submissive and hard working natures realizing the living standards the American state has to offer. Over all there is an absolute increase in the American workforce which is a blessing for the already wobbling economy of the USA. The Dark Aspect of Illegal Immigration: Sociological Implications There are many facts in the growing American society that have aroused major concerns all over the country and not just Washington, DC. Illegal immigration has brought with itself many proliferating issues that have badly affected the lives of the natives. Among all the issues the most affecting ones have been diffusion of diseases all over the country, illegitimate births and attacks on women, decreased job opportunities, increased budget due to amenities offered to the illegal immigrants and above all decreased rate of native graduates from the universities. The most important sociological implications are discussed in detail below: Transfer of Diseases: Since the legal procedure makes it compulsory for the immigrants to pass through a proper screening test in order to prevent regional diseases from other parts of the world, the illegal immigrants bypass these tests due to which the American society now has to face problems regarding the health scene. In 1940’s American government had eradicated the malaria in American society, however in recent years patients with malaria have been reported in quite a few states. Similarly, Dengue was never a disease known to USA however with passage of time there had been reports of dengue as well. An absolute rise has occurred in the patients of leprosy as well from a 900 to 9000 cases over few years only. Hepatitis A and E are also liver diseases which have spread widely across the country and most of the sources had been illegal immigrants and lastly tuberculosis which was once considered as a fatal disease but now curable, is the disease that is air borne and caused by bacteria called bacilli. Tuberculosis like malaria was completely eradicated from the United States of America; however that was a story five years ago. Now the hospitals have reports about people suffering from the disease (Wooldridge, F. 2003). Even when the rate of spread of this disease is least in USA, the danger that the new drug resistant strain of this bacteria is posing to the American society is immeasurable. This can have detrimental consequences on society. Also other diseases like HIV, Schistosomiasis, Guinea worm infection and whopping cough are huge factors. The major problem is that the government cannot just order people who are suffering from these diseases into prison but they definitely are victimizing the American people. So who will save them? Provided the illegal entrance of patients is not kept under control, the disease will take its toll. Harmful Effects on Education: The most detrimental effect that the young Americans, in particular, have to face is when they are not really pushed for technical studies by parents at home. As a result all those illegal immigrants applying to the universities offering important courses like vital sciences including engineering and medicine get enrolled in the state universities. They take up the positions which are meant for Americans. Now how huge a problem is that? Just imagine with a percentage as low as 12% of Native Americans passing out from the universities, the American society is being crippled each year with most of the graduates being illegal immigrants who at a later stage leave the country to flourish somewhere else which purely means that they take away an important asset of the country with them, that is, educated people! Not just that, these illegal immigrants have acquired great power into the politics too which indirectly affects the education scene because the political parties which call out for the so called Hispanics and Latinos have been working on increasing the seats for these minorities, the quotas, which means increased Hispanic and Latino graduates when the young Americans are doing average jobs and not studying. Decreased Job Opportunities: Firstly, when most of the highly educated people in the United States are not Americans, there is no way that the Americans can land highly paid decent jobs. Secondly, all the corporate companies looking out for and hiring laborers at a low wage will always no doubt hire illegal immigrants who are ready to offer their services at a wage way too low than their American counterparts. This leads to decreased job opportunities for the people of America. It points to the fact that when one African black or Hispanic is making a living, an American is looking for a job that will pay him the way he deserves. Well this is the case with an average American with a high school academic life. Think about the Americans who are highly educated. Only because the American companies have easy access to the scientists and science persons from other parts of the world, the Americans have to bear the loss. Though many officials are actively trying in favor of the Americans and the legal immigrants, one of the ranking members put forward a solution that 15 million Americans are jobless only because their jobs have been taken over by illegal immigrants, so the immigration laws should be enforced and amnesty should be opposed for 12 million illegal immigrants. A good sign is that Ranking Members of The House Judiciary, Lamar Smith and Gary Miller have recently formed a Reclaim American Jobs Caucus. No doubt the illegal immigrants are a potential threat to the American society and they are aggravating the job scene in the United States of America. The fact that millions of illegal immigrants have taken over the rightful jobs of the legal citizens highlights that the law forming and implementing bodies should take a step forward in this regard and provide jobs for the Americans. One of the ranking members said that the major step towards a better society can be that the proper monetary funds should be given to the related departments to ensure proper security at the borders. And then measures can be taken against the people who still remain in the country illegally. They can be identified, arrested and finally deported and with secure borders it can be ensured that the illegal immigrants will be unable to get through the borders undetected. The total estimated value of jobs taken up by the illegal immigrants is around 12 to 15 million (Justich, R. & Betty, N. 2005). Sexual Harassment and Child Molestations: A study proves that most of the illegal immigrants are more likely to commit sexual crimes. Researcher Deborah Schurman Kauflin of the Violent Crimes Institute has analyzed 1500 crime cases and it has been concluded that most of them were committed by illegal immigrants. Since most of the sex offenders are males and most of the illegal immigrants are males, the relationship is directly proportional! Out of these 1500 cases 525 cases were of child molestations, 358 were rape cases and 617 were serial murders and homicides (Kauflin S. Deborah, 2006). According to this study there are 240,000 sex offenders in the alien population. Now if this estimate holds true, it means that 93 sex offenders and 12 serial sexual offenders are crossing the border to enter USA each day. Another factor related to these illegal immigrants is that most of them belong to conservative backgrounds. When they come and live in a society where freedom is everything they show their misogynist natures and victimize females. If these predators are not kept at bay, over years even the American society will not remain a fair and guarded society especially for women. The threat is not just for women according to an estimate one illegal immigrant are a threat to nine girls (Gibson, D.2009). Provided the government had taken adequate measures against the illegal influx of people from all over the world most of these vicious incidents could have been prevented and a safer environment could have been provided to the American society. Even when these criminals, when caught, are deported, does not solve the problem because these criminals nevertheless return back through illegal passages. Not just the human loss the American society has to face due to these illegal immigrants but they are also a sheer cause of economical loses. That is injury cases such as rapes costs the American society an average of $ 97,205 in a year. And this is only about rape cases, the more vicious cases of murders costs a lot more than the rape cases. Now only deporting these illegal immigrants and that too only after they have caused the damage means that they are given a second chance to silently invade the society and cause serious damage again and again. Anyone with brains can truly realize the potential damage the illegal immigrants are causing and what a serious threat they are for the American society and people. Also these immigrants smuggle drugs across the borders. The operations against them have directed the illegal immigrants to more isolated areas of the country where they are active (Marek, A. 2005). All Time Increase in Budget: The government has to regularly update the budget. Not because they will help opening new schools or welfare projects but due to the fact that 12 million illegal immigrants are utilizing all the facilities provided by the government for its people and the legal immigrants. The hospitals are burdened by the surge of these illegal immigrants and the medical staff has to pay due attention to all of them. Think about the expenses of the children of these illegal immigrants. According to an estimate the American government has to spend billions of dollars each year to provide the illegal immigrants education. Had the government taken care of this deep rooted problem this money could have been more than enough for the betterment of the already existing schools for the Americans and the legal immigrants. For instance, $ 7.7 billion are released to a state’s educational institute where 15% of the students are children to illegal immigrants. Also according to an estimate the amount of money spent on the education and medical facilities of these illegal immigrants in just one state is $ 10.5 billion (Longley, R 2004). This money could have been utilized in any welfare project for the Americans. Instead this money has been wasted on the people who have nibbled on to the American society and are eating away the resources of the country. Also this money could have made hiring of additional teachers needed each year possible. If not that at least new text books could have been brought or new janitors could have been hired. The money could have been used in any work but in providing amenities to people which are chewing the American economy. Increased Accidents: Another factor that has been observed is that most of the accidents that are encountered result due to the illegal immigrants driving unregistered cars or other vehicles due to which the vehicles cannot be traced. For example in an area where the total Hispanic population is a mere 5%, the accidents with Hispanic involvement are 25 %. Taking into account the Latinos, it is estimated that the Latinos are found to drive when they are drunk more than people from any other ethnicity (Osborn, C. & Alford, A. 2003). More Sociological Implications Other sociological implications of illegal immigration are discussed now. Since these illegal immigrants belong to diverse backgrounds which are in due contrast with the American society they fail to adjust in the society. These people have absolutely different ideas about behavior, culture, living and education in the American society. The worst part is when they try implementing their perspectives in the society while living in an area which has different meanings for different acts totally different from the meanings that are perceived in the regions the illegal immigrants belong to. A difference in the thought process of the illegal aliens is the ground from where all the social problems erupt. Why no one in Washington DC is stopping it? The government will have to secure the borders in order to prevent the infiltration. The government has taken steps such as standard immigration laws but due to certain reasons the problem cannot be eradicated. The infiltration is so heavy with many of the illegal immigrants enrolled in educational institutes. After a certain time period they become an asset to the country because they work hard to make a living and they pay the taxes. Later these taxes become the sources through which the unemployed, the old citizens and the disabled are paid to carry on with their lives. With a low graduation rate the government cannot let go of the formerly educated people because they help stabilize the economy. They are an incredible way of adding to the American workforce and economy is benefitting from them. Conclusion Immigration across the borders without proper documentation and process which includes medical screening is illegal. A country as powerful and prosperous has to face the damage caused by illegal immigration of people all around the world with most of them being Hispanics, Mexicans and Latinos. After years they have gained access to all the amenities a legal American citizen has. They have done some good to the country such as easy labor, increased workforce , cultural diversity and additional doctors and engineers but the harm the major portion of illegal immigrants are causing cannot be ignored. They have brought with them diseases that were previously alien to the American land, the government has to release additional funds to the schools and hospitals to cater them better, they get enrolled into schools decreasing the American graduated and lastly, they get the jobs which should be taken up by the citizens and legal immigrants and lastly the harm they are causing by committing crimes in all parts of the country. It is high time that the government should take steps to stop the infiltration across the borders because it is clear that they are causing more harm than any good. References Gibson, D. (2009). One illegal alien...nine little girls molested! The Examiner. Retrieved from http://www.examiner.com/crime-in-norfolk/one-illegal-alien-nine-little-girls-molested Justich, R. & Betty, N. (2005). Border Wars. USA News. Retrieved from http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/051128/28border.htm Kauflin S. Deborah. (2006). The Dark Side of Illegal Immigration: Nearly One Million Sex Crimes Committed by Illegal Immigrants in the United States. Violent crimes institute. Retrieved from http://www.drdsk.com/articles.html#Illegals Longley, R. (2004). Illegal Immigration Costs California Over Ten Billion Annually. About.com. Retrieved from http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/immigrationnaturalizatio/a/caillegals.htm Marek, A. (2005). The underground labor force is rising to the surface. Political Filures.com. Retrieved from http://www.politicalfailures.com/Immigration%20Effects.htm Osborn, C. & Alford, A. (2003). A troubling trend: Hispanics and DWI. Statesmen.com. Retrieved from http://www.statesman.com/specialreports/content/specialreports/dwi/0720drunkdrive.html Wooldridge, F. (2003). Illegal Aliens Spreading Diseases Across USA. Retrieved from http://www.frostywooldridge.com/articles/art_illegal_aliens_spreading_diseases.html Read More