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

Module Illegal Immigration in the United s of America There are many issues affecting America such as, unemployment, terrorthreats, violence, health care reforms, drug abuse and trafficking, and Illegal immigration. The latter seems to be a contentious issue among Americans as some choose to believe that it poses a threat to their jobs, security and freedoms, while others such as the economists, believe that it helps the economy by providing of cheap labor (Solano-García 397). Many illegal immigrants view America as the land of opportunity while others are running away from conflicts such a wars and political strife. This means that not every illegal immigrant means to bring harm to the Americans. However, the greatest concern is the small percentage of illegal immigrants that bears bad intentions and the implications of illegal immigration to the United States of America (LeMay 2). Illegal immigration poses considerable threats to the United States because it leads to security breaches, health concerns, economical burdens, upsurge in crime and violence, drugs trafficking, human trafficking, undermining American values, overpopulation and job losses for Americans. The United States of America has been a haven for many people seeking a better life for their families and themselves. Some of the immigrants come to America to attain the American Dream without going through the right procedures, therefore, being declared illegal immigrants or aliens. History shows that the first immigrants to the United States of America were Europeans from Germany, France, Holland and England. Asians then started immigrating to the United States mainly from Japan and China. Currently, the largest number of illegal immigrants come from Mexico and make up at least sixty percent of the illegal immigrants. America currently hosts eleven million illegal immigrants and many experts believe that the number could be larger nearing up to twenty million (Haugen and Susan 23). With such a high number of illegal immigrants, there are more adverse implications developed than the benefits derived. These effects will be discussed further as the paper unfolds. Unemployment Many Americans complain that their jobs are being taken by the illegal immigrants without fully understanding the process. However, illegal immigration and unemployment in America are related. Illegal immigrants largely provide unskilled labour. This means that they perform many of the jobs that average Americans do not want because they are cumbersome, undesirable or dangerous. The illegal immigrants are forced to take certain jobs in certain in industries. The corporations make more profits from employing the illegal workers who are willing to work at lower wages than the average Americans. This shows that there is a significant contribution made by the illegal immigrants as the corporations are forced to pay more taxes from the higher profits that they make (Solano-García 406). However, the illegal immigrants contribute indirectly to unemployment. This is because they are exploited by the corporations there forcing the corporations to force the American worker out of the jobs. Nevertheless, no matter which perspective one uses to look at this problem, it still does not change the fact that these jobs would have been awarded to the American and at a better pay, therefore, providing job opportunities and decreasing the unemployment rates in America. According to the Labour reports presented in 2013, there are eleven million Americans that are unemployed owing to the non-American who are in the country illegally (LeMay 17). Taxes The illegal immigrants usually live anonymously to avoid being identified for deportation or to face the law. This means that they also do not pay taxes, thus making minimal contributions to the development of the United States of America. They also provide labor for the underground economy characterized by prostitution, illegal fighting, human and drugs trafficking among other illegal activities. These activities are prohibited in the United States; therefore, operate without being detected by the law. They also do not pay taxes to the government, thus contributing negatively to the development of the United States of America. Illegal immigrants aid in the survival of the underground economy, which undermines the effectiveness of the revenue collecting organization in the United States of America. A huge amount of money that is supposed to be collected by the Internal Revenue Services is lost or withheld within the underground economy. Statistics show that the budget deficits could be covered if the underground economy was effectively taxed. Since illegal workers fuel this economy, illegal immigration can be said to contribute to the tax money lost by the Internal Revenue Services (Crowe and Lucasvergona 1115). Security Security is one of the main concerns in this topic of illegal migration. The country cannot defend itself if it left its border open for every person to pass through. Through illegal immigration, terrorists and criminal find their way into the United States of America, therefore, causing harm and loss of lives to the Americans. Many of the terrorist attacks that happen in the country can trace back to illegal immigrants who cross the boarders with the intentions of hurting others. The reports from the 911 terrorist attack show that some of the people who assisted in the attacks had crossed the border illegally from Canada (LeMay 34). Since the illegal immigrants’ population is increasing in the United States, it has resulted to overpopulation in some of the urban areas of the United States of America. Since overpopulation causes crime rates to rise, there has been an upsurge in the crime rates of areas such as Los Angeles owing to the number of illegal immigrants in the area. Other illegal immigrants move into the United States to expand their businesses which include drug trafficking. This causes feuds between them and local gangs resulting to increased violence in the cities. Other illegal immigrants fail to find employment or find the need to make more money, therefore, engaging in criminal activities to increase their incomes. This results to increased crime and violence from the illegal immigrants (Crowe and Lucasvergona 1115). Drugs A large percentage of drugs such as cocaine and marijuana from South America find their way into the United States through the Mexican border. As seen in this paper, sixty percent of the illegal immigrants are from Mexico and they are used by the drug cartels to pass drugs through the border to their associates in the country. This means that a significant percentage of drugs are trafficked by the illegal immigrants. The United States of America has tried to combat these activities by erecting fences and setting up a special police task force that deals exclusively with drugs. However, the illegal immigrants have found other routes into the country by using other means such as tunnels. These routes can also encourage the passage of criminals and terrorists into the country, therefore, posing a threat to the country’s national security (Crowe and Lucasvergona 1124). Although illegal immigration seems to make adverse contributions to the United States, there are some benefits that can be derived from the unpopular activity. Firstly, illegal immigration has enhanced vigilance in the police force, therefore enabling them to handle different kinds of crimes effectively. They have received extra training for the terrorists that might pass the border, therefore, combating other situations in the process. By following the illegal immigrants’ trails, the police have identified drug dens and traffickers, thus reducing the amount of drugs and drug traffickers in the streets of America (Haugen and Susan 31). It is apparent that not every illegal immigrant moves to the United States to engage in criminal activities, therefore, there is a significant percentage that plays a role in the development of the country. The people in the agribusiness, hospitality, construction, meat-packing and landscaping businesses find the illegal immigrants very helpful (Nadadur 1037). They provide unskilled labor for these businesses, which are physically oriented rather than skill oriented. They are industrious and hardworking than the normal American employee therefore, providing fast and reliable services (Bandow). CONCLUSION The paper shows that illegal immigration causes more adverse effects than the benefits. The paper shows that illegal immigration promotes drug trafficking, job losses, negative development to the country and increase in criminal activities. However illegal immigration helps the police to identify drug traffickers and drug dens, therefore, assisting in the removal of drugs in the streets. It also contributes certain businesses such as the hospitality, landscaping and construction among others (Nadadur 1037). This paper proves that Illegal immigration poses considerable threats to the United States as it contributes to security breaches, health concerns, economical burdens, upsurge in crime and violence, drugs trafficking, human trafficking, undermining American values, overpopulation and job losses for Americans. Works Cited Bandow, Doug. "Immigration Benefits The U.S., So Lets Legalize All Work." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 16 Sept. 2013. Web. 9 Feb. 2014. http://www.forbes.com/sites/dougbandow/2013/09/16/immigration-benefits-the-u-s-so-lets-legalize-all-work Crowe, S. & Lucasvergona, J. "What Should Be Done About the Illegal Immigration From Mexico To The United States?" Mathematical and Computer Modeling 46.7-8 (2007): 1115-1129. Print. Haugen, David M. & Susan Musser. Illegal Immigration. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press, 2011. Print. LeMay, Michael C.. Illegal Immigration a Reference Handbook. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC CLIO, 2007. Print. Nadadur, Ramanujan. "Illegal Immigration: A Positive Economic Contribution To The United States." Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 35.6 (2009): 1037-1052. Print. Solano-García, Ángel. ‘Legal or Illegal? Preferences on Immigration.’ International Journal of Social Welfare 18.4 (2009): 395-406. Print. Read More