Illegal Immigration - Essay Example

YourFirst YourLast 13 March Introduction Illegal immigration has become a major cause of disagreement in the United States in the recent past. Individuals who oppose illegal immigrants’ presence in the United States argue that these individuals are a major social and economic burden on the United States economy. These arguments have caused a systematic change of legislation, which have not been cost effective. Most studies that have attempted to determine the economic effects of illegal immigrants in the United States have concluded that the income collected by government agencies in form of taxes both indirect taxes, illegal taxes and the authorized taxes exceed the costs of the rendered services they receive, in the long run (Marceli and Heer 281). Usually, these studies factor together the spending and income collected at the county level, the state level, and the federal level. Analysis Conversely, numerous studies reveal that the costs realized in providing the social and public amenities to the illegal immigrants at the county and state levels outweighs the revenue collected from the population in the form of taxes. The effects of illegal immigrants on the federal fiscal planning are significantly different from the budgets at the county and the state level (Taylor and Espenshade 230). The difference is because some services provided by the federal government are not available for use by such immigrants. For example, most illegal immigrants are not able to access most of the services provided under the umbrella of Social Security. Therefore, such individuals receive assistance at the county level in the form of food stamps and medical aid provided at the local level. The state and the county governments are also responsible for providing temporary assistance for all needy families. In addition, it is a federal requirement for all county and local governments to make sure that certain services are availed to the public, not considering their citizenship or color or their ability to afford the said services (Fujiwara 82). In addition, some government policies and court rulings prohibit the county governments to limit their spending on the illegal immigrants, especially services related to provision of education and law enforcement and provision of medical aid and health care. Within the state of California, unauthorized immigrants are located in most of the towns and large cities, including the rural areas. The distribution of unauthorized immigrants in the state of California is uniform unlike in many other locations where immigrants are concentrated in few urban locations (Bhimji 24). According to a study carried out in the year 2004, Los Angeles County was found to host the illegal immigrants. The California State carries a huge economic burden because of illegal immigrant’s population. These individuals are estimated to be in excess of three million individuals. The yearly spending on the provision of Californias state services was averages at $25 billion. Almost half of the amount spent on these services is resultant of provision of education services for the unauthorized immigrants. The huge figure is comprised of direct illegal immigrants and those born to illegal parents in the US. The cost of providing education is compounded by the need to assist the illegal immigrants with English classes since most of them are from the neighboring non-English speaking nation of Mexico. In total, the education services expenditure accounts for an estimated 60% of the Californias state expenditure (Public Policy Institute of California). Other costs associated with the management of the unauthorized aliens include the costs of keeping law and order. Law enforcement is also a big economic spender because the law cannot be enforced selectively. It is also believed that illegal immigrants contribute directly to incidents of crime, as most of them engage in gang activities. Medical health care expenses also add on to the general expenses because the federal law requires some medical services such as ambulance assistance be provided to all citizens (Fox 488). In the Los Angeles County, it is estimated that unauthorized immigrants contributed approximately $200 million according to a study carried out by the county of Los Angeles internal services department. Consequently, the research estimated a total cost of $ 987 million for the same group of unauthorized individuals. The total fiscal deficit of the illegal immigrants on the county was extremely huge given the figures. The research however identified that only approximately 10% of the collected revenue in form of taxes went to the county government, with the state government of California and the US federal government taking up the rest of the revenue (PPIC report Cited in Marcelli and Heer, p. 294). However, the research came under huge criticism of overstating the costs incurred and understating the revenue significantly. There have been numerous debates of the possibility of illegal immigrants replacing the American natives in labor spaces. A study by Taylor and Espenshade (233) shows that illegal immigrants have insignificant effects on the salaries and the employment opportunities of the American native workers. It is argued that most illegal workers are unskilled and uneducated; therefore, they are only eligible for work in employment opportunities that do not require a high level of skills. Some research study estimates that the highly educated native workers realize minimal gains because they do not directly compete with the illegal immigrants for employment opportunities (Vogel 29). The Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) produced a report that concluded that since there was no significant increase in wages for legalized illegal immigrants. Policies that would lead to legalizing unauthorized workers would not affect competition in any way between natives and illegal immigrants. It is a widely accepted fact that unauthorized immigrants add on to the total fiscal output of the State and the country. This is because most unauthorized immigrants are required to pay Social Security and other direct and indirect taxes, yet in return, they are prohibited from collecting benefits offered by the federal and state governments. Different conflicting studies have generated varied results. Some studies argue that unauthorized immigrants participate in low-paying jobs and, therefore, do not contribute tax income in large quantities. Therefore, proponents for prohibiting illegal immigrants argue that since their incomes are low, they do not spend as much and, therefore, lead to US economic drain because of their minute incomes and supposedly low contributory incomes from tax revenues. Opponents of this view, however, argue that direct labor input from these immigrants affects the US economy positively. They provide readily available cheap labor. It is also argued that they contribute more to tax incomes than they spend in public amenities offered by the government. The residents of the state of California tend to welcome the illegal immigrants more than they would by the general American public. Most California citizens do not view the illegal immigrants as a threat. The Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) reports indicated a positive attitude towards illegal immigrants by the Native Americans in the state of California, and more so to the smaller county of Los Angeles. The push by the federal governments adoption of amnesty bills, such as the Senate legislation S.774 commonly referred to as the "Gang of Eight" legislation would be an economic impediment to the state of California. The individuals pushing for the legislation argue that such amnesty laws would significantly reduce the costs of managing unauthorized immigrants. However, such laws would significantly put new and unmanageable constraints to the economic resources of the County, as they would be liable and qualified for general public assistance offered to the native and legal Americans. Conclusion Providing citizenship to illegal immigrants has been mirrored to a strategy of doing away with the highway speed limits as methods of dealing with the speeding menace. The move would surely get rid of issues related to speeding. However, the dangers associated with over-speeding would be increased. Providing citizenship would deplete national resources even more, and it would encourage individuals from the migrating countries to want to move to the US just to gain citizenship. Works Cited Bhimji, Fazila. Undocumented Immigrants Performances And Claims Of Urban Citizenship In Los Angeles. Journal of Intercultural Studies 35.1 (2014): 18-33. Web. Fox, Cybelle. Three Worlds Of Relief: Race, Immigration, And Public And Private Social Welfare Spending In American Cities, 19291. The American Journal of Sociology 116.2 (2010): 453-502. Web. FUJIWARA, LYNN H. Immigrant Rights Are Human Rights: The Reframing Of Immigrant Entitlement And Welfare. Social Problems 52.1 (2005): 79-101. Web. Marcelli, Enrico A., and David M. Heer. The Unauthorized Mexican Immigrant Population And Welfare In Los Angeles County: A Comparative Statistical Analysis. Sociological Perspectives 41.2 (1998): 279-302. Web. Taylor, J. Edward, and Thomas J. Espenshade. Foreign And Undocumented Workers In California Agriculture. Population Research and Policy Review 6.3 (1987): 223-239. Web. Vogel, Richard D. Harder Times: Undocumented Workers And The U.S. Informal Economy. Mon. Rev. 58.3 (2006): 29. Web. Read More