11/13/20

By: Anthony Mangano

An illegal immigrant is seen as a person of a foreign nationality fleeing or immigrating to the US illegally without the permission of the government. Many people within the United States view immigrants who do come to the US illegally as an “Illegal Immigrant”. Some people may argue that these illegal immigrants are viewed by others as criminals, but nothing makes them criminals until they take the action to do something. The US, still today, is having many debates and conflicts regarding our borders and border security of the United States. Many political figures view their opinions differently as well as different beliefs within the American people are prevalent throughout the nation and has been a hot topic that is still looking for a solution to this day.

 Obtaining Citizenship 

Illegal immigration can be seen both positively and negatively affecting our country in different ways. There are an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants currently living and providing for their families in the United States. It is very unrealistic and inhumane to deport these individuals from their families and lives in the United States. According to Allan Jokerst’s “Can the government allow immigrants who are here illegally to become US citizens” article, these immigrants “should be offered a path to legal status and eventually earned citizenship, as well as this path to citizenship be realistic, rather than unsafely” (AJC). This quote proves the fact that there should be a safe way to attain citizenship in the United States because many of these immigrants flee their natural-born homes to find a new life, and experience the “American dream” they they have heard about, and talked about their entire lives. This is something these people work for and ultimately dream for to be free, and to be free in a very united nation.

As seen negatively, “immigration reform should focus heavily on enforcement and upholding the rule of law, and including the intention of use of force and action to better the country” (Goodlatte). This quote directly proves a more conflicting and dangerous way to handle the immigration problem by using force and enforcement of the rules and laws. This may seem like the favorite to use, and it is. But using violence and force is not the correct and the most effective way to deal with this on going issue. The ability to do it peacefully, while still upholding the law is the most effective way to go about dealing with it. These examples are both positive and negative effects of illegal immigration and how one should be able to attain citizenship in the United States.

 Affecting Economy  

Illegal immigration has many effects regarding our economy and workforce throughout the United States. There are different views on how these immigrants promote and provide for our economy, while also seeing them intruding and potentially harming our economy. Positively, these immigrants have “helped the economy overall, the benefit is largely in certain industries. Immigrants with advanced degrees gravitate toward scientific and technical jobs that don’t require high communication” (Amadeo 1). The benefit that these immigrants bring to the US is high advanced skills in certain industries that can help and support our economy. These immigrants provide goods and services for the American people without posing a threat or harming the economy in any way. Using these skills, these immigrants provide jobs with high efficient working, while doing it for a low wage over a longer period of time. This directly helps with our economy and positively influences the efficiency of the good or service to the consumer overall.

While oppositely, some of these immigrants take advantage of having a place in the work force and negatively affect the economy overall. These people who do come to America looking for a job “lower the price of goods and services for everyone. That’s because they provide low-cost labor that allows companies to reduce the prices of consumer goods” (Amadeo 2). These immigrants not only lower the price and quality of the goods for the company, but for the American people as a whole. Instead of having young hard working Americans, these people are taking away jobs from others and wasting their time by producing bad to below average goods and products. They do have the necessary skills for the job, but not the necessary attitude or work ethic like young Americans have and that drive to be the best. Both of these quotes and points of views support how immigrants can both positively and negatively affect the US economy by their negative mindset, but amplified efficient work skills.

Debate

The debate about Illegal immigration has been going on for decades and still, people see two different sides to this issue facing our country.  These two sides and points of views are split between the democratic and republican parties which do not see eye to eye. The Democratic Party, who favor “ see it as a moral and economic imperative—millions of undocumented immigrants risk abuse and poor working conditions . Those with families are afraid to seek health care and cannot enroll their children in school. They cannot call the police if they are robbed, assaulted, and/or raped “ (Passel 1). These illegal immigrants can not escape the dangers of simply living because they can’t reach out for help when in need. Due to them immigrating here illegally, it forces them to fly under the radar and not bring attention to themselves, only to focus on helping and providing for their families. This is dangerous for them because they are not getting the necessary protection that normal citizens do, but the trade off, they cannot ask for help because then they will get caught and eventually deported back to the place they came from, and thats what makes this issue so complex.

The other point of view, coming from the Republican Party, expresses dislike and uneasiness with letting these illegal immigrants into our country. The Republican Party advocates “that the influx of immigrants drives down wages and displaces hundreds of thousands of native workers each year. They also argue that because the quality levels for most illegal immigrants are so low, they create a drain on the economy by increasing the burden on social programs “ (Passel 1). As stated in the quote, the dangers and worry come from how these immigrants affect not only the country, but society as a whole, and the citizens within it. Because these people are being let in daily, million of workers are displaced each year and they drive the economy down. In order to be a successful nation, the economy must be reinforced and strong to help maintain the American people, and if it crashes, so does the country. As seen, this political battle has affected our country for so long, and it’s paved its way for even more debating in the future without the process of finding a solution.  

 Lasting Effects

Illegal immigration has taken an affect on our countries population, financial state, and employment. The door to our country has not always been wide open, but hasn’t been completely shut either. Stated by Smith regarding immigrants into the country, “As long as there is a virtually unlimited supply of potential immigrants, the nation must make choices on how many to admit and who they should be” (Smith 2). Regarding who is accepted and at what rate, the United States government has always had a problem with this idea of acceptance and who should/should not be. Again, there are many different viewpoints on this topic but all have similarities in trying to better the nation as a whole. The United States has about 1 million immigrants a year who receive green cards and are allowed permanent legal residence status’s. Immigrants live with 16 million American-born children who are US citizens. These immigrants, who are documented, make up 25 percent of the US residents. Concluding, immigration has a lasting and big impact on our countries population, financial state, and employment and the numbers keep rising year to year as more crowd in.

Conclusion 

In conclusion, illegal Immigration has an affect on our nation that is viewed differently amongst different people. Illegal immigration has taken a role on our economy, the way we live, and the conditions we live in for not just the American people, but society as a whole. Many people may view this problem differently and have different opinions, but that has only shaped our nation into who we are, what we are, and how we handle our problems as a country. Immigration can provide many positives for our country but at the same time many negatives that affect people everyday and ultimately will affect what our future will look like as a united nation.

Works Cited 

“Can the Government Allow Immigrants Who Are Here Illegally to             

   Become US Citizens?” What Are the Solutions to Illegal

           Immigration in America?, Allan Jokerst, immigration.procon.org/. 

 view.answers.php?questionID=001362.

“How the Pro & Con Arguments shape us.” What Are the Solutions 

          to Illegal Immigration in America?, Dave Passel, immigration.procon.org 

Krogstad, Jens Manuel, et al. “5 Facts about Illegal Immigration in 

         the U.S.” Pew Research Center, Pew Research Center, 28 Nov. 2018

Kendal Smith. “The Economic Logic of Illegal Immigration.” Council 

         on Foreign Relations, Council on Foreign Relations, report/economic-logic-illegal-immigration.