Immigration has been around ever since people have chosen to move around to different lands other than their own to settle and live on. The United States is one big melting pot of immigrants; it is made up of immigrants from everywhere in the world: people from Ireland, Germany, China, and everywhere else. According to bbc.co.uk immigrants migrate because of “pull factors” which are reasons why people immigrate somewhere new. Some examples of pull factors are higher employment rates, more money, better help, better climate, the feeling of more security, and freedom (Migration). Lately immigration has become a big issue with the United States and many people have different opinions on the subject. Some of the issues have to do with jobs, taxes, and the economy and has made the topic of illegal immigration a big deal. Immigration has become an overwhelmingly heated debate in the United States because our country is involved and as a result, our people have many different outlooks on the matter. This is why it is imperative to be well educated on the issue of illegal immigration.
Becky Akers, a historian and freelance writer, believes that illegal immigration has a positive effect on the economy. Akers makes the argument that immigrants actually do not drain tax money and that they significantly improve the United States economy. In other words, Akers believes the economy strengthens by immigrants working here in America. As Akers further explains that they actually help the workforce, she states: “…falling wages raise profits. And higher profits are the soil from which better wedges grow” (25). Akers goes on explaining that as the workforce grows, more jobs are created, which then improves the economy. Akers believes that America ...
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...cause both sides have strong opinions; it is good to educate ourselves on any topic that is highly debated or that has highly influenced us in one way or another. It is best to always remember to keep our eyes open at all times, before we know the whole story. If we do not know something, we should look it up and educate ourselves because when people throw things at us that we do know about, we become susceptible to their opinions without knowing both sides of the story. That is why it is important to know before we get hit in the face with a topic that we do not understand so that we can protect ourselves from them.
Works Cited
Haugen, David M., Susan Musser and Kacy Lovelace. Opposing Viewpints; Immigration. Farmington Hills: Greenhaven Press, 2009.
Migration. 11 March 2011 .
In Pia Orrenius and Madeline Zavodny’s article, “The Economics of U.S Immigration Policy,” Orrenius and Zavodny state that Americans’ are split between those who believe immigrants (legal and illegal) positively impact the economy and those who believe immigrants negatively impact the economy. Pia Orrenius and Madeline Zavodny’s argue that the United States needs to implement an “immigration policy that addresses the concerns” about low-skill, unauthorized “immigration’s labor market and fiscal impacts” (954). The article may appeal to experts or those who have a higher interest in immigration due to the academic diction and the genre of the article, while discussing the public concerns with immigration, how immigration impacts the economy,
Immigration has been prevalent in The United States of America since the days of colonization in the 17th century. Masses of migrants around the world have sought a place in which to escape persecution, gain economic fortunes, and live their lives in freedom. America has always symbolized the land of opportunity everyone has been looking for, as exemplified by the inscription on The Statue of Liberty:
It has been said that immigration is as old as America itself. Immigration traces back as far as the 1500's when the West faced the coming of the Spanish. At that time, the Americas had been settled by the Indians, who were soon threatened by the first immigrants of America. These Spanish conquerors threatened to undermine the culture of the Indians as well as their way of life. Evidently, immigration started from the beginning of our country's time and has had an everlasting effect on America today.
Immigration has been going on for a while now. When talking about it, it can have its ups and downs. In my opinion the main reason why people come to the United States is to have a better opportunity. A lot of countries now in days have a lot of issues including poverty, little job opportunities, and education. When talking about immigration it has a lot of push and pull factors. Push factors are circumstances that generally push people out of their native country. Pull factors are reasons or actions that attract people to another location.
In 2007, the White House issued this statement in hopes to influence a Congressional debate: “Immigration has a positive effect on the American economy as a whole and on the income of native-born American workers” (Pear). This statement relates to the idea that immigrants actually enhance the productivity of American workers and increase their earnings in a significant amount, estimated at $37 billion a year (Pear). This is just one way in which immigrants support economic development in the United States. Since the U.S. is an i...
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.
Taking a look at National Journal, “Left and Right Agree: Immigrants Don’t Take American Jobs,” one can observe the facts that depict the true impact of immigrants on our society. Chokshi states that “Legalization and citizenship allow the undocumented to be more productive and earn higher wages. The increased earnings can then be spent on food, clothing, housing, and other purchases. ‘That spending, in turn, will stimulate demand in the economy for more products and services, which creates jobs and expands the economy.’” There has been extensive research on our economy that proves the impossibility of immigrants taking jobs from
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.
The spark in the number of immigrants entering the United States began in the late nineteen sixties to the early nineteen seventies. People came to the United States because the United Farm Workers movement got jobs to provided higher salaries, improved working conditions, health benefits, minimizing segregation within the work environment, retirement plans, and even formed a credit union specifically for farm workers and immigrants. These were all factors which contributed to the increase in immigrants in the United States. (As life began to improve for immigrants within the United States, others thought the same could happen to them). Many immigrants thought of this as an opportunity to form a new and improved lifestyle. To this day the number of immigrants continue to grow, and their lives increasingly improve.
The United States of America is the best place for immigration. The history proved that the United States was the dream land, the place of chances. That started when Europeans escaped form their countries because there were no jobs and no safe places to live. America became the best choice for people who were looking for political asylum, jobs, or freedom, but after a few generations something changed the Americans look to immigrants as strangers and they forgot where they are from because America is multicultural place and immigration movement should be understandable, but this is not the case. Governments should develop good laws for immigrants by giving rights to immigrants to stay in America, to protect them, and to allow people who deserve to come to America.
Should Illegal Immigrants Have?. Ed. Lori Newman. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2006. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Houston Community College. .28 Sep. 2011
...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.
7. Little, Cheryl. "The War on Immigrants: Stories from the Front Lines." Summer 2008. Americas Quarterly. 29 March 2001 .
Williamson, Chilton. "The ideology of unrestricted immigration." Modern Age 58.3 (2016): 19+. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 17 Oct.
Haines, David W and Rosenblum, Karen E.: Illegal Immigration in America: A Reference Handbook. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press. 1999. EBook. , Database: eBook Collection (EBSCOhost).