Demographics of Illegal Immigration in the US - Coursework Example

Demographics of Illegal Immigration in the US In specific, this paper is in the division of two main parts. First part will emphasize on the introduction and statistical data available about the people who move from other countries to United States without the proper permission from the government and thus, causes of this movement. Second part will deal with the facts that how these immigrants settle in the different parts of the country and affect US economy badly, presenting challenges to US law enforcement agencies and to the public life as well. With the advancement of media and culture, national boundaries are left with very less importance. People make most modern and developed countries as their destination; they settle at these places along with their families and try to merge in that environment, ultimately becoming a part of this life cycle. People, who are entering the country without documentation, or staying their unauthorized, or live there more than the authorized period, or violate the rules of legal entry are illegal immigrants. Although this process occurs in all other countries as well but the volume and frequency of this immigration of unauthorized people is very much noticeable in America. Mostly these people come from Philippines, India, Korea, and many other parts of the developing world. They prefer to do arranged or telephonic marriages, the purpose is to make their stay safe, and it is not that they want to pass a good life with that partner. Once settled, they are involved in many crimes, violence, drug trafficking, and terrorism, and thus, presenting tough challenges for the US government (Edmonston, pp. 45-50). It is an observation that these aliens enter USA as legal immigrants as students, businesspersons, or tourists and once their visa is expired; they become illegal immigrants for this country. Statistics show that although they contribute only 1 to 1.5 percent of the total US population; however, they are making a huge difference in the US economy. This is a fact that US needs some experts from all over the world in specific fields. For instance, researchers in many areas, foreign professionals with advanced degree and expertise, skilled workers etc, and illegal immigrants seem to be fulfilling such requirements effectively. In other words, strong and attractive economy and the developed environment of US do not let illegal immigrants to go back. Overwhelmed with these factors and living after their visa date ends, they become illegal residents of this country (Silvastava, pp-18). Increase in variety of minority groups of Americans is evident from the fact that many people as member of different racial groups and different native country are settled here from a long time. A large number of foreign-born immigrants are observable in different states of USA, although questions are always there about the authenticity and reliability of available data. However, the figures, which are obtainable from statistical research, are always helpful. Following table shows how different states of America have given shelter to these members belonging to different parts of the world. Names of the State Number of Immigrants California New York Texas Florida New jersey Arizona Georgia Virginia Washington North Carolina Michigan 343,693 159,126 134,597 122,430 60,361 28,918 28,376 28,340 27,301 26,903 24215 (Hansen, pp-64) According to the results, California is the state having largest number of the immigrants, and studies have indicated that many White Americans are of the view that immigration poses a serious hazard to American’s health and security. Demography “Demography is a science, which specializes in the study of population”. US Bureau of Census collects the population data for the country, and data is under maintenance timely by the bureau. It is seen that number of people who are above 65 is increasing that means old population in America is surviving at a high rate, and that is because of the most effective and advanced health care facilities, which are provided for free to these people. In the year 2002, only seventy-five percent of the Americans were White and after them, the largest group was Hispanics or Latin Americans and African Americans. These immigrants contribute to the rest of American population. US population by Ethnicity Group Number of person Percentage of total White Black American Indian Asian Asian Indians Chinese Filipino Japanese Korean Vietnamese Other Asian Native Hawaiian and other pacific islander Chamorro Samoan Other pacific islander Hispanic Mexican Puerto Rican Cuban Other Hispanic total 211,460,626 34,658,190 2,475,956 10,242,998 1,678,765 2,432,585 1,850,314 796,700 1,076,872 1,122,528 1,285,234 398,835 140,652 58,240 91,029 108,914 35,305,818 20,640,711 3,406,178 1,241,685 10,017,244 274,595,68 75.1 12.3 0.9 3.6 0.6 0.9 0.7 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.5 0.1 __ __ __ __ 12.5 7.3 1.2 0.4 3.6 100 (US Bureau of Census, 2001) (LaVeis, pp-32) According to the US bureau of Census, the Hispanic population is rising very quickly. Studies show that by the year 2030, these people will contribute to one fifth of the total US population and one-third in the year 2070 (LaVeis, pp.35-40). Fertility Rate It is an observation that White and American Indians show least population increase. In specific, lowest fertility rate has been seen amongst them. That is approximately 60 births amongst 1000 women of childbearing age. Highest increase is observable in Hispanic population that is 100 births. For Blacks, it is about 70 births per 1000 women of childbearing age in year 2000 (LaVeis, pp-39). Response of Americans Native-American people are not very much welcoming to immigrants. Even those Americans, with parents or grandparents as immigrants are not in favor of immigrants. This insecurity at the part of these Americans is because they feel that mostly these people steal jobs and affect economy badly. In this regard, there have been instances of some movements from these Americans to reduce or completely diminish the process of immigration. Their point of view is that these immigrants are involved in drug smuggling, terrorism, some violence act, and other crimes. It is evident from the facts that some of them grow drugs in parks and sale them later on to earn money. American people are either happy, unhappy, or do not have any concern about these illegal aliens is shown in the table below: Immigration perceived as September 2000 December 2005 March 2006 Burden because of less accommodation, jobs and health facilities 34 percent 44 percent 54 percent Making US economy strong with their hard work 50 percent 55 percent 51 percent Do not know 12 percent 11 percent 7 percent Table shows that negative response for these people has consistently increased amongst American from 2000 to 2006 (Healey, pp-329). Unemployment Crises Analysis has indicated that the Black population of the United States is unemployed because of this overcrowding. Different employers hire immigrants on many jobs. Mainly, these are very poor people and do not hold a recognized degree. This presents them as a very attractive work force for some businesspersons. They hire them on a very low salary range, leaving other people who are native to this country unemployed. Economic Factors US economy is very strong and most of the businesspersons and entrepreneur from all over the world prefer to come and invest money here. These international investors, along with the local ones try to find people who can work on low wages. Hiring the immigrant workers is most suitable option for them. Low salaries, thus, rendering many American nationals jobless. Hence, these unauthorized people contribute to benefit rich and middle class Americans. Thus, widening the gulf between rich and poor community of the US. Racial Makeup of USA Immigrants from different cultures, natures, genetic makeup and of different races come from all over the world. These people sometimes migrate in bulk from other areas and live in colonies directly influencing the other people already living in that area. Immigrants who are large in number become dominant and more influential as culture, norms, and lifestyle of the dominant group is learnt by other people living with them, damaging the identity of the Americans. They result in a different racial makeup of US. See the table below. Hispanic of any race 13.4 percent African Americans (Black) 13.3 percent Asian and Pacific Islanders 4.9 percent American Indians and Alaska Natives 1.5 percent Whites other than Hispanics 66.9 percent (Sirvastava, pp-16) Deportation USA immigration authority determines the time limit for which a foreigner can stay in the country. Once this limit exceeds, they become illegal, and authorities trace them, resulting in confrontation of the process of deportation. Deportation costs high to both the United States, as well as and the destination country, as illegal immigrants need to be kept in special detention areas, and providing them facilities cost a lot to authorities. Studies have shown that deportation from US has exceeded up to 60 percent in last few years (Sirvastava, pp-21). Environmental Factors People moving from various cultures and ethnic groups have different ways of lifestyles and different problems. If anyone belongs to a pandemic area, he or she will carry infection in blood and serves as a vector to transfer this infection to other places. For instance, AIDS is very common amongst the Africans, and from here, it has moved to America through human trafficking. It is true for other less common infections as well. Urbanization Illegal human trafficking pushes people who are native to that area to other parts because of the social and economical crises, poor schools, unemployment, lack of resources, and other fiscal problems. Chain immigration is also another factor, somebody who migrated from a backward environment and living successfully in the destined area will call his other friends or relatives by telling them about the stories of his successful adventures. This becomes an ongoing process and a large number of people from the same community gather at the destined place making their own colony, and becoming more dominant and powerful (Sirvastava, pp-6). In addition to all above discussed factors, illegal immigrants can harm their lives and even their death can occur while crossing borders. They start their journey unplanned, move through long deserted areas, they may fall ill badly, dehydrated and victimized by many infectious agents making them weak and lethargic and finally death can occur. Moreover, if they confront arrests, they have to pass through long and painful period of imprisonment. On the other hand, in search of money and residents, they undergo many serious crimes and while resisting the arrest, their death occurs. Therefore, US law enforcement agencies should take this issue seriously. They should take strict actions to stop all kind of visa frauds. Undocumented entry of anyone should immediately result in checking and once the authorities confirm illegality, it is important that the person should confront depuration as early as possible. Work Cited Edmonston, Barry. Statistics on US immigration. National Academies Press, 1996. Hansen, Susan B. Globalization and politics of pay. Georgetown University Press, 2006. Healey, Joseph F. Diversity and society. Pine Forge Press, 2009. LaVeis, Thomas Alexis. Minority population and health. John Wiley and Sons, 2005. Srivastava, Sushil Kumar. Study job and immigration made easy. Atlantic Publishers & Distributors, 2008. Read More