The Trouble With Illegal Immigration

One of the more difficult and complicated issues to discuss is illegal immigration. I believe that illegal immigration is an important enough topic to warrant serious conversation and the realization that something must be done to slow it down and eventually stop it. This massive flood of illegals into the U.S. has created numerous problems and conflicts with the existing population of native born Americans already living here.

It has mostly been in the last decade that illegal immigration has become the popular topic of discussion that it is today. It's one of those rare arguments that can instantly divide people into two separate groups, those that support illegal immigration and those that are completely against it. It has the power to separate people into these two polar opposite groups because it seems like everybody has something to say on the issue and it never fails to evoke at least some kind of response from the listener.

The current flood of illegal immigrants into the country is an open wound in the side of the U.S. that is slowing weakening the nation and causing many people to lose their sense of unity as Americans. This has lead to the U.S. losing some of its internal stability and a sort of general withdrawal of the American people into individual groups instead of the great collective that it once was. This is a direct result of the huge influx of illegal immigrants that have been entering the country in recent years. The 1990 census revealed the fact that native born Americans, both black and white, were fleeing the immigrant favored areas of the country, where they were being replaced by immigrants, and moving to other parts of the nation (Brimelow). This constitutes a growing trend that endangers the possibility that America might one day be a single united nation of like minded citizens.

One of the major arguments against immigration, both legal and illegal, concerns the strain that it places on the environment. It doesn't take a genius to realize that if you only have a limited number of resources you really need to try and conserve them. Our current population growth is compromising the environmental future of our own country as well as the many other countries that we extract resources from. Once you consider the fact that almost 1.7 million illegals enter the country annually and the fact immigrant women give birth to almost 750,000 children a year you realize that these illegals are a major part of the problem and that the facts aren't being exaggerated (SUSPS). As our resources continue to dwindle you have to wonder why the people in charge are not taking notice and doing something about this problem. This can be even more puzzling when scientists like biologist Garret Hardin points out the fact that the current population growth is unsustainable. "Growth is ultimately limited by the environment, a truth that ecologists encapsulate in the concept of 'carrying capacity'" (SUSPS). The 'carrying capacity' that ecologists speak of is ideally between 100-200 million people. The thing that people have to realize is that we'll only be able to work towards a solution to this dilemma if we admit that illegal and legal immigration lies at the root of the problem.

One of the prevailing arguments for immigration is that our country benefits from these immigrants skills. This is an unfounded argument that is actually a major falsehood. In the National Review, Camorota points out the fact that roughly two-thirds of all Mexican immigrants are high school dropouts, and only about 4 percent have college degrees. In truth they actually