Illegal Immigrants Cause High Unemployment in Califorina

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California is one of the United States’ largest producers of agricultural goods. As a result, there has always been a demand for more labor to meet the quantity demanded. In order to fill the demand for labor, workers from Mexico or other countries south of the United States border crossed the border into California illegally, hoping to find work. In other cases, citizens from other countries will apply for visas in the United States and then overstay their visas. These workers become undocumented migrant workers, roaming from farm to farm, hoping that they can make enough money to send home. Farmers hire these workers and pay them illegally with cash. A recent report by Leon F. Bouvier states that “Since 1979, legal immigrants have averaged 566,000 a year; newly arrived refugees approved have averaged 135,000; and the "settled" illegal immigrant population may be growing by up to half a million a year. Many illegal immigrants entered the United States legally and then overstayed their visas, and there has also been a sharp increase in illegal border crossings from Mexico and Central America.” (Bouvier 3) There are also many extraneous costs that come with hiring undocumented migrant workers. There must be increased border control, more workers to enforce U.S. policy, and new legislature that must be introduced to offset the increasing illegal immigrant population within California. These immigrants are not legal residents or citizens of the United States; instead, they are illegally working and living in California, earning wages that are far below the standard legal minimum wage. On average, an undocumented migrant worker from Mexico that works in the agricultural sector in California will earn around $4.54 an hour. However,... ... middle of paper ... ...eynesianism to neoliberalism: Shifting paradigms in economics. Pluto Press, 2005. Palerm, Juan Vicente. "A season in the life of a migrant farm worker in California." Western journal of medicine 157.3 (1992): 362. Palerm, Juan Vicente. "Immigrant and migrant farm workers in the Santa Maria Valley, California." (2006). Porter, Eduardo. "Illegal immigrants are bolstering Social Security with billions. “New York Times 5 (2005): A3l. Preston, Julia. "Illegal Workers Swept from Jobs in ‘Silent Raids,’." New York Times (2010). Sumner, Daniel, José E. Bervejillo, and Nicolai V. Kuminoff. "The measure of California agriculture and its importance in the state’s economy." California Agriculture: Dimensions and Issues. J. Siebert (2003). Vergati, Jessica A., and Daniel A. Sumner. "Contributions of Agriculture to Employment and the Economy in Southern California." (2012).

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