Immigration in Usa

   Immigration

With millions of illegal immigrants already in the United States and at least half a million being able to gain access into the country annually, it is no doubt that they have an extensive effect on the country. It has been argued that illegal immigrants put a strain on the economy of the country and can be a social nuisance. They also have a major influence on the various decisions and policies that are made in the country. Whether the net effect of illegal immigration is positive or negative is still subject to debate. The various effects that illegal immigration has on the United States of America will be examined. These effects include social effects, economic effects, and political effects. Illegal immigration can be defined as disobeying the immigration rules of a destined country by disregarding the right protocol of moving into that country. It involves crossing international political borders through water, land, and air improperly. Illegal immigration can also include entering another country in the right manner but refusing to leave after the expiry of one’s visa. Illegal immigrants are sometimes referred to as aliens. Most of the illegal immigrants to the U.S have two popular ways of entering the country. The first is through crossing the U.S Mexico border, the other is through over staying their visas. Most of the illegal immigrants in the U.S are from Canada, Mexico, Europe and Africa. The effects of immigration are felt more intensely in states where large numbers of immigrants have settled in relation to others. Such states include New Jersey and California.  Illegal immigration impacts the Nation and the lives of the natives in different ways and to different degrees depending on their social status and interests.

The government usually has to bear the costs of illegal immigrants when they utilize social services. In relation to citizens, most illegal immigrants heavily rely on government social services such as schools.  On the other hand, they do not utilize other government services as much such as health insurance. This is due to poverty and in trying to avoid leaving behind a trail which can be followed by legal authorities. Some parts of the U.S border are very remote, and can sometimes be used by immigrants to smuggle people and controlled substances into the U.S. state. About 50, 00 people are smuggled into the U.S every year with most of them coming from Asia and former Soviet Union. Since most illegal immigrants have no legal documents or have their papers and identification documents taken by those who smuggle them in, they, especially women and children, end up being exploited. They can be used as sex slaves or forced to do physically demanding jobs with meager pay under appalling working conditions as argued by. The young children are commercially traded in the market for adoption with Russian mafias coordinating the activities. A majority of the children are trafficked from Mexico to be sold off to people who are not interested in going through the lengthy process of legal adoption. Most of the trafficked people end up in larger cities such as Carolina, California and New York. A number of illegal immigrants end up dying or seriously injured while on transit. This is usually due to difficult conditions since they pass through places that are isolated in a bid to avoid detection by legal authorities, and the nature of the journey which is usually long. Also, they suffer from shortage of food, water, medicine and other supplies. Illegal immigrants get deceived by coyotes who promise to get them safely into the U.S and in some instances end up dumping them in harsh undesignated areas such as deserts. Often, illegal immigrants travel in overcrowded vehicles which may be mechanically defective. During the journey they stand the risk of being robbed, sexually abused, violently assaulted and used as ‘mules’ to transport illegal substances into the U.S.

Illegal immigrants provided competition to the U.S citizens on the few job opportunities that were available. Considering the fact that illegal immigrants who had low skill levels flooded the job market, this subsequently led to depreciating working conditions and reduced compensation for legal immigrants and U.S citizens. In Five Myths about Immigration by David Cole states “Immigrants take jobs from U.S. citizens. There is virtually no evidence to support this view, probably the most wide-spread misunderstanding about immigrants. As document by a 1994 A.C.L.U. Immigrants’ Rights Project report, numerous studies have found that immigrants actually create more jobs than they fill. The jobs immigrants take are of course easier to see, but immigrants are often highly productive, run their own businesses and employ both immigrants and citizens. One study found that Mexican immigration to Los Angeles County between 1970 and 1980 was responsible for 78,000 new jobs. Governor Mario Cuomo reports that immigrants own more than 40,000 companies in New York, which provide thousands of jobs and $3.5 billion to the state’s economy every year” (Cole 616). This is because illegal immigrants were usually willing to accept less than the required minimum compensation and do without other benefits such as insurance cover. Subsequently, illegal immigrants made U.S employers to develop a lax attitude towards their employees and seriously limited future career growths of citizens.  On the other hand, illegal immigrants usually had the required job skills that are demanded by the market, making industries to expand further. Moreover, illegal immigrants are expanding and diversifying into other industries. While traditionally most of them were centered in the agricultural industry they are now in the manufacturing, food and construction industries. Immigrants lead to changes in the wages patterns of most U.S citizens with the wages of citizens decreased by up to three percent with low skilled workers with less than a high school education falling by at least 9 percent according. Illegal Immigrants also cause competition for public services due to their large population which causes overcrowding for instance in schools. Illegal migrants do most of the work in the U.S economy that other citizens are not willing to do. This means that the economy is dependent on them. Most immigrants do a lot of work, thus end up contributing significantly to the gross domestic product of the country. Also, illegal immigrants are suitable for the labor market as they are the most flexible and are willing to move to different locations as demanded by the labor market. If there are no illegal immigrants, the labor force will be reduced by five percent and low skilled U.S labor force by ten percent. If this labor is lost, the prices for goods and services will significantly increase, and the income of employers and income of other citizens will reduce. Again, illegal immigrants help in facilitating natives to join the work force. For example women who did housework are freed to join the main work force and pursue careers. A lot of time and money has been spent in manning the U.S borders, especially the U.S. Mexico border. This is because   in the last couple of years the number of illegal immigrants have increased from five to twelve million. This led Congress to tighten security measures along its southern border by increasing border patrols. Congress has increasingly increased the amount of finances budgeted for the U.S borders to try and seal them off. The cost of curbing illegal immigration increased substantially. This cost includes detention and deportation of large groups of immigrants which could rise to about five hundred thousand in a year.