Illegal immigration reforms - Essay Example

?Illegal Immigration Reforms Introduction Over the years it has been witnessed that the problem of illegal immigration has increased in the developedcountries. Illegal immigration is the unlawful migration of individuals from one country to the other without notice to the authorities. The problem of illegal immigration is usually seen to be limited to the developed nations. United States of America is also suffering from the same problem from many years. Many argue that illegal immigration has proved to be a blessing in disguise whereas the opponents state that the country is plunging deep into problems. Reforms have been introduced in the country since the late twentieth century but so far it has been argued that these reforms are not successful. Some argue with different reforms and provide different opinions on solving this problem (Duignan 2004). Problem of Immigration At first the United States itself was in the stage of developing and it was seen that no such immigration reforms were introduced in the country. The requirement of workers in America allowed easy immigration of individuals from other countries in the early twentieth century. It was in 1986 that the immigrants in the country had increased to alarming numbers and a reform was introduced by President Ronald Reagan. The immigrants living in United States were allowed amnesty through this reform which was known as IRCA. It was here only that another policy against the employers was implemented through which they could not hire illegal workers residing in the country for low wages. But this policy could not be maintained for a longer time and the immigrants in the country kept on increasing. It was in 2000 that the number of illegal immigrants increased by around eight million (Couch et al 2004). Moreover the situation was analyzed in 2009 and it was found that the number of illegal immigrants was around 10.8 million in January 2009 (Reuters 2010). Most of the immigrants coming into the country belong to Latin America, Central America and Mexico. Solving Immigration Problems Over the years it is seen that many bills have been passed in the legislation to curb the problem of illegal immigration. So far it has been seen that these efforts have not been successful enough and people put forward different views regarding these reforms. According to some people illegal immigration can be stopped through amnesty programs. The program implemented by Ronald Reagan promoted these amnesty programs through which the illegal immigrants were kept under surveillance by the authorities. However it is believed that these amnesty programs are providing a way through which the numbers of illegal immigrants are increasing in the state. The opponents of Amnesty reform propose that the illegal immigrants are being rewarded for their cause rather than being punished. After these illegal immigrants become legal they bring about their family members which are strictly opposed by the opponents. They believe that by increasing the number of illegal immigrants these amnesty programs are diluting the American society. The ruling class of the American society wants to promote these amnesty programs only because they are getting enough workers to work on low wages (Couch et al 2004). Barack Obama in his current government has proposed plans to increase the raids upon the employers who are hiring these workers. In 2007 raids were carried out on the chain of McDonalds to wind up around 56 workers on the suspicion of illegal work. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) planned out 1000 new audits on the workers. Moreover the Department of Homeland Security proposes the E-verify software program for the employers which can help them to detect as to which employee enjoys legal immigration in the country and who does not. However many argue on these reforms that these employee check reforms still do not completely eradicate the illegal workers from the American society. Moreover the conservatives argue that these workers are not being deported after they are caught through these efforts (Scherer 2009). Different Viewpoints Illegal immigration is a serious cause of concern for the American society as found by the study of Federation of American Immigration Reform (FAIR). FAIR found out that the government is spending almost $113 billion annually on these illegal immigrants. The proponents of the illegal immigration put forward these statistics when building up on their base. Thus they believe that America is being affected economically because of illegal immigration (FOX News 2010). The opponents of the illegal immigration reforms put forward that these workers are helping to build up the economy of America rather than demolishing it. They put forward different researches carried out by organizations to check out the potential of illegal immigration. Perryman Report of 2008 is cited by them which propose that the illegal immigrants are helping to build up the GDP of the nation. The employers are taking advantage of the wages that these workers avail and this is helping the service sector of United States. The wages that the illegal workers take from their employers is quite less as compared to the wages written in the constitution and this is because it gives an edge to employers. The proponents believe that illegal immigration can create a lot of jobs which naturally other citizens of United States would not be willing to take. It is because of their courtesy that all the sectors of the United States are working in an organized manner (FOX NEWS 2010; Illegal Immigration). The proponents put forward the fact that many illegal immigrants are entering from the states of Asia, Mexico and Caribbean and this is providing a basis for bilingual education in United States. Bilingual education if successful can prove to be efficient for the American system as America is a global power and it has adjust in all norms of the society. The jobs that the Mexican and Muslim workers do in America are not usually taken by the legal citizens of America and hence the proponents deny the argument given by the opponents that the illegal immigrants are taking up the jobs of the legal citizens (Duignan 2004). Both the proponents and opponents of the reforms have a point to prove when they cite these researches in arguing. In any case both of them believe that a solution should be sought out to solve the problem of illegal immigration. The illegal immigration reforms are cited by both the sides as without these reforms the crime rate, national security, terrorism and the economy of the state are at stake. The side which promotes amnesty programs should be encouraged along with the other side which believes that strict policies regarding the immigrants should be implemented too. It is important that the views of both these sides are implemented for a solution to the problem of illegal immigration in the United States. Solutions I believe that there are certain measures that the state authorities can take with regard to the points given by both the sides. The amnesty programs proposed by one side should be promoted whereas the strict policies against illegal immigration should be enhanced on the other hand. This can be done to ensure that the amnesty programs are not promoting the migration of illegal immigrants into the state. Strict policies as implemented by the Obama administration should be further enhanced so that the employers cannot hire the illegal immigrants for their low wages. Borders should be kept a check upon by the relevant state authorities along with enhancement of laws regarding these immigrants. Checking by the police forces in the state should be further enhanced so that the illegal immigrants are caught on the very instance that they enter the territory. I believe that these suggestions can prove to be effective for both the sides as it would help to keep the existent immigrants in the state to boost the economy along with the stoppage of further immigrants into the state. Both the sides can only be satisfied if some of these policies are implemented by the state. The crime rate by these immigrants should be monitored and any immigrant who is involved in such activities should be deported after his caught. The policies of deportation should be enhanced upon so that the illegal immigrants who are caught can be sent back to their states. These issues need to be addressed and a solution needs to be considered for this problem. It is not economically favorable for the United States to deport all these workers because it will lead to a loss of valuable employees and a considerable reduction in workforce. At the same time, it will also not be economically feasible to arrange for transport for the evacuation of the millions of immigrants. Hence, a better solution would be to actually legalize the workers who are already working in the country. The immigrants who come in search of job opportunities should be given work permits so that they continue their work legally. It has been seen that they are more devoted and hard working than the American laborers. Hence they deserve proper payback in return for their services (Welsh, 2007). The border should definitely be strengthened but if work opportunities do exist, legal work permits should be given to the immigrants. After this process is accomplished, the last check should be on the employers that they do not hire illegal workers. All these measures are interdependent and the implementation of these needs to be done in a logical order so that this issue of illegal immigration can be coped up with. Conclusion Illegal immigration has become a huge problem for the United States but is also serving a purpose of boosting the economy as shown by different researches. However the surge in the number of immigrants in America is alarming and may now harm the integrity of the state. The culture and language of the state are being harmed through the set up of these illegal immigrants. It is the need of the hour that the state announces a reform set up for the people who are migrating in the United States. Programs such as amnesty reforms should be promoted so that the current illegal immigrants can be legalized and the surge of further illegal immigration be stopped. The policies regarding illegal immigration should be enhanced by the state so that the problem of immigration can be stopped. Reforms against immigration should only be sought after taking down the views of both the sides for the best possible solution. References Couch, J. F., Barrett, D., & Williams, P. M. (January 01, 2004). SPECIAL REPORT -- IMMIGRANTS AND AMERICA - Total Amnesty for Illegal Aliens?. The World & I, 19, 2, 26. Top of Form Duignan, P. (January 01, 2004). SPECIAL REPORT -- IMMIGRANTS AND AMERICA - Do Immigrants Benefit America?. The World & I, 19, 2, 20. Factbox: Illegal immigration in the United States. Reuters. 2010 Illegal Immigration Costs U.S. $113 Billion a Year, Study Finds. Ed Barnes. 2010. FOX NEWS. Illegal Immigration Welch, Bryan. “Putting a Stop to Slave Labour.” UTNE READER (2007). < http://www.utne.com/2007-03-01/PuttingaStoptoSlaveLabor.aspx> Fight on Immigration Reform Looms for Obama. Michael Scherer 2009. TIME. Read More