Introduction Chomsky’s goal in Undocumented: How Immigration became Illegal is to show the complex, inconsistent formation of illegal immigration. She looks at contributing factors of this flawed system, which range from individuals to governments; states to the global economy. The book also depicts how changes in the past and present global economy have created illegal immigration through a “dual labor market which some workers become upward mobile, while others are structurally stuck at the bottom” (9). Chomsky specifically shows how the United States has created reliance on cheap labor throughout the decades and how American presence has made Latin American workers dependent on migration. On a larger scale, the book shows that global economies …show more content…
With the current shift of globalization, many jobs are being outsourced overseas. Illegal immigration is being seen in jobs that cannot be outsourced, rather jobs that are insourced. These include jobs in the large scale agriculture, construction and meatpacking industry; which require labor to be done within the country. It also includes jobs in service industries where demand has seen a recent incline such as nannies, food service and landscaping (119). The sharp increase of demand roots from consumers’ dwindling free time; a result of more females working and a general longer work day. The change of labor structure has further created a demand for insourced …show more content…
There is an immense global need for illegal immigration in countries around the world. Consumers benefit from illegal immigration in three ways. First, they are able to get goods and services at an appealing low price (125). Illegal immigration labor also fills undesirable jobs that have a hard time being filled. These illegal immigrants do a more efficient job, creating a higher quality of product/service. In an experiment done in Georgia, Latino workers picked six truckloads of cucumbers in the same time that American workers picked just four bins (127). Without their labor addition, goods and services would be much more expensive, of lesser quality or maybe even
In the article “Illegal Immigrants Do Not Harm America's Economy” the authors, Brian, Grow, et al used issues to portray current illegal circumstances in American, the situations which demonstrated the necessity of undocumented aliens. Although, the articles lacks of evidence from the other side, but it had a well organized structure and logical supporting evidence; however, the writers did create a remarkable view at the illegal refugees’ benefits on the economy for the others.
While the legal citizens are complaining about illegal immigrants taking up jobs in the low wage sector, this is not true. Undocumented immigrants are able to access those jobs because of the immobility of the American citizens working in the low wage sector (Nadadur 1048). On the other hand, the efforts of undocumented immigrants are not only realizable in the low wage sector, but also high wage sector that provides for white-collar jobs. Some of the illegal immigrants that reside in United States are highly qualified professionals and their input is significant in driving the U.S economy to greater heights. Within the population of undocumented immigrants,
The critics argue that significant numbers of illegal immigrants harm the economy by displacing low-skilled natives, and depressing the wages but in reality, who works in farming occupations? Who works in cleaning occupations? Who works in food preparation occupations? Last but not least, who works on constructions and countless other heavy and dangerous jobs? The immigrants do. If one is truthful and honest, he/she will agree with one on that. The majority of the native Americans do not like to work on these jobs. As for some of the companies, it will be tough for them to sustain without illegal immigrants. According to Peter Katel in his article “Illegal Immigration,” it states that, “Indeed, some sectors of the economy might have a hard time functioning without illegal workers,” which supports Pilardi’s stance.
Illegal immigration has many diverse effects on the United States economy. Some people argue that the negative outweigh the positive, but there is no doubt that immigrants do carry a critical role.
Out of the 11 million illegal immigrants currently residing in the United States, 8 million of them are currently working. Employers in America who want inexpensive workers, hire illegal immigrants and pay them under the table. Since the system does not have an efficient way of identifying and penalizing these employers, this has been an ongoing dilemma. As a result, the American economy suffers because illegal immigrants are not paying taxes like the rest of the legal citizens. Americans who are citizens consequently have difficulties finding jobs because employers would rather pay under the table so they can make higher profits. In my perspective, the employers are at fault here if they knowingly hire workers who are not eligible to work here. However, if the employer did not know about an immigrant’s illegal status than the immigrant is at fault for cheating the system. These are just some of the current issues related to illegal immigration t...
Various housekeeping jobs and yard work is done by immigrants, both legal and illegal. Immigrants are a necessity in the United States Labor Market; between 7 and 8 million of the 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States are working, contributing to the economy and contributing to America’s growing work force (Jacoby 22). Unemployment is above 8 percent, and some American’s would argue that these jobs could be filled by U.S. workers, but they can’t. The reason being that unemployed United States workers are usually selective as to which jobs they are willing to take, and many of them do not want to be dish washers or housekeepers. Americans have also become more educated over time, and they strive for higher positions with a larger income. The lower positions do not disappear and unskilled worker...
While some argue that illegal immigrants burden the United States of America and its economy, others believe that they have become essential and are an important part of the US, economy. Illegal immigration has helped in the nation’s economic growth by enabling businesses to prosper, as the illegal immigrants have provided cheap labor and long hours of hard work. Businesses benefit from illegal immigration by saving a large amount of money since they are not providing insurance, both medical and retirement plans for their illegal workers. This results in a lower production cost for the companies and lower prices for goods and services for everyone. Although illegal immigrants may not contribute directly to the economy of the nation in the aspect of paying taxes like income tax, they contribute to the economy in the form of sales taxes by purchasing the supplies they need in the same way native citizens or legal immigrants do in order to survive and live comfortably....
Ngai, Mae M. 2004 “Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America” Publisher: Princeton University Press.
The American dream, as some may call it, is a cherished idea by those who may lack opportunities. For those in Mexico, it is something that is sure to have crossed their minds sometime in their life. The United States, to foreigners, has been looked at as a sign of opportunity and freedom from oppressive governments or unfortunate living conditions. The Other Side of Immigration takes a look at the Mexican nation and provides thought-provoking interview segments about the people still living in the nation who experience and observe the effects of immigration to the United States.
Ngai, Mae M. Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America. Princeton, N.J. [u.a.: Princeton Univ. Press, 2004. Print.
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...
Recently, the U.S. government has been cracking down on illegal aliens and employers are in danger of raids and lawsuits for hiring illegal immigrants. Many employers either do not require any documentation or accept copies of documents (Rousmaniere 24-25), regarding legalization. Immigrants are desired employees and companies continue to hire them even with the risks. By working for lower wages, they keep the costs of goods and services down; the illegal alien work force helps improve the U.S. economy (Nadadur 1037-1052). However, illegal immigrants can have a negative effect when they encroach on American job opportunities (Carter 8). Some economists argue that illegal aliens actually help the host-country’s economy by adding to the labor force. However, other economists state that too many illegal...
Those who support immigrants being protected by the law believe that immigrants help the economy by creating lower wages which enables companies to make better profits. According to Becky Akers and Donald J. Boudreaux, immigrants “should be allowed to contribute to the United States economy in the Constitutional and legal precepts that guarantee all immigrants the opportunity to pursue life, liberty, and happiness in the United States” (22). If immigrants were not here in the United States, the jobs they do might not even get done by anyone else (Isidore 103). Immigrants fill up the jobs that many Americans do not want. “Specialization deepens. Workers’ productivity soars, forcing employers to compete for their time by offering higher pay” (Akers and Boudreaux 25). As researcher Ethan Lewis said, “Economics professor, Patricia Cortes, studied the way immigrants impact prices in 25 large United States metropolitan areas. She discovered that a 10-percent increase in immigration lowered the price...
Considering the ideas that both authors have brought to the table, I have concluded that in order to make progress in solving the problem of undocumented immigrants, we as a country must decide what’s best for our country. We either look at undocumented immigrants as an asset or a parasite. America is the ‘land of opportunity’ where millions of people want to live there and pursue the ‘American Dream’. We should not let people stop from achieving their dreams. But on the other hand, a quantity of immigrants leave their country because it does not have “stable democracies and free markets” that “ensure economic growth, rising standards of living and thus, lots of jobs”, because the countries of these immigrants “birth rates and native populations fall”.
Nadadur, Ramanujan. "Illegal Immigration: A Positive Economic Contribution to the United States." Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 35.6 (2009): 1037-052. Print.