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Causes and effects of immigration
The negative and positive implications of immigration
Effect of illegal immigration
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America as a whole has come to be defined by a single phrase, “Give us your poor, your tired, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…” written by young immigrant from Portugal, Emma Lazarus, and engraved on the Statue of Liberty. With more and more people entering the country, the United States quickly evolved into the ultimate melting pot that it is today. As time has moved on America remains welcoming to the millions of immigrants. However, entry into the United States has become much more complicated. This complication resulted in a new type of immigration: illegal immigration. Ignoring American laws, these immigrants enter the country unnoticed and assimilate themselves into American Culture. With large borders and citizens who fail to abide by the law, the government basically allows them to actually cause some major damage.
To fully understand the issues developed from illegal immigration, the history of illegal immigration in the U.S. must be understood first. At the country’s start few policies were in place regulating immigration. Conforming to most information, the only people denied entrance to the country were those considered criminals, anarchists, or disease carriers (Eyewitness to History). Protection of this country and its people remains the primary purpose. Still today, near any foreigner has the ability to legally reside in this country. However, through the years, the process of becoming legal in the United States has become much more difficult. The United States zero tolerance policy means when illegal’s are found they must be deported. Being that today’s system is much stricter, many argue that the policy’s are very proactive and efficient. The policies are strict on paper but one question remains...
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Nadadur, Ramanujan. "Illegal Immigration: A Positive Economic Contribution to the United States." Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 35.6 (2009): 1037-052. Print.
Wallace, Andrew, Matthew Kretman, and Scott Strogatz. “The Immigration Debate: Economic Impact.” umich.edu University of Michigan, Web. 26 Feb. 2014
The economy is a huge debate when it comes to immigration. Many discrepancies that arise when the topic is brought up is that immigrants mooch off The United States taxpayers, but the numbers show that
Competing for jobs against native Americans, immigrants are not only using valuable government resources from welfare and other programs, but they are also increasing the rate of unemployment. True, the jobs immigrants are tak...
Avendano, Anabruce, Victoria.”The Labor Movement’s Solution To Illegal Immigration.” Social Policy 39.1 (2009): MasterFile Premier. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.
The. Serrano, Alfonso. “Why Undocumented Workers Are Good for the Economy” TIME. CNN, 14 June. 2012. The. Web.
The United States cannot afford to lose the economic gains that come from immigrant labor. The economy would be suffering a greater loss if it weren’t for immigrants and their labor contributions, especially during the 2008 U.S. recession. The U.S. economy would most likely worsen if it weren’t for the strong labor force immigrants have provided this country. Despite the mostly negative views native-born Americans have towards immigrants and the economy, their strong representation in the labor forces continues today. Immigrants aren’t taking “American” jobs, they are taking the jobs that Americans don’t want (Delener & Ventilato, 2008). Immigrants contribute to various aspects of the economy, including brining valuable skills to their jobs, contributing to the cost of living through taxes, and the lacked use of welfare, healthcare, and social security when compared to native-born Americans, showing that the United States cannot afford to lose the contribution immigrants bring into the economy.
The United States of America, being a country founded by immigrants, is known all over the world as the land of great opportunities. People from all walks of life travelled across the globe, taking a chance to find a better life for them and their family. Over the years, the population of immigrants has grown immensely, resulting in the currently controversial issue of illegal immigration. Illegal immigrants are the people who have overstayed the time granted on their US, visa or those who have broken the federal law by crossing the border illegally. Matt O’Brien stated in his article “The government thinks that 10.8 million illegal immigrants lived in the country in January 2009, down from a peak of nearly 12 million in 2007.”(Para, 2).
Ruark, Eric A., and Matthew Graham. "Immigration Is Increasing Poverty in the United States." Poverty. Ed. Roman Espejo. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2012. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from "Immigration, Poverty and Low-Wage Earners: The Harmful Effect of Unskilled Immigrants on American Workers." FairUS.org. 2011. 3-17. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 21 Apr. 2014.
Jordan, Miriam. “Latest immigration wave: retreat: an illegal worker realizes dram, briefly; fewer are sneaking in.” Current 507 (November 2008): 27-29. Academic OneFile. Web. 21 March 2011.
Thompson, Art. “Illegal Immigration Hurts the Economy.” Opposing Viewpoints: Immigration. Eds. David M. Haugen, Susan Musser and Kacy Lovelace. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press, 2009. 30-35. Print.
Stern, Gary M. "Taking a Fresh Look at Illegal Immigrants and the Role they can Play in Restoring the American Economy." The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education Nov 01 2010: 19-20. ProQuest. Web. 24 Nov. 2013 .
The lack of enforcement of immigration policies will cause the greatest impact on America’s economy. One of the most controversial topics is how immigrants affect jobs and wages. Many argue that immigrants help the economy by working for the people that will not, but in reality they are taking Americans jobs and legal immigrants that have earned their rights. The main issue is wages: illegal immigrants are desperate for jobs and will do anything. Businessmen will take advantage of this and pay them significantly lower wages. Cheap labor negatively affects other workers. Studies show that immigrants push down wages and may cause other workers to leave a certain industry.
...ol.” Debates on Immigration. Ed Judith Gans, Elaine M. Repogle, and Daniel J. Tichenor. Thousand Oaks, CA SAGE Reference, 2012: 144. Gale Virtual Library. Web. 22 Apr, 2014.
One of the major issues surrounding border security is illegal immigration, “For the past two decades the United States, a country with a strong tradition of limited government, has been pursuing a widely popular initiative that requires one of the most ambitious expansions of government power in modern history: securing the nation’s borders against illegal immigration” (Alden, 2012). Many people are trying to enter the United States without the proper documentation and everyday they risk their lives and others just to make it across these borders. To avoid this law enforcement and other border security has threatened these illegal immigrants with detainment and arrest and different forms of punishment. In the efforts to deter the problem, it has been far beyond feasible because they still manage to get across and it does not change their intention...
Lynch, R., & Oakford, P. (2013, March 30). The Economic Effects of Granting Legal Status and Citizenship to Undocumented Immigrants. American Progress. Retrieved July 2, 2014, from http://americanprogress.org/issues/immigration/report/2013/03/20/57351/the-economic-effects-of-granting-legal-status-and-citizenship-to-undocumented-immigrants/
Gerking, Shelby, and John H Mutti. Costs And Benefits of Illegal Immigration: Key Issues For Government Policy. 61.1 (June 1980): 71-85. Print.