Illegal Immigration the United States

Illegal Immigration The United States has a long and tumultuous relationship with immigrants from other nations. This nation was born out of the minds of immigrants, yet today we face a huge population of illegal immigrants which has depleted the country's resources and strained many citizens' morale. Despite legal and government efforts to curb this wave of illegal immigrants from entering into the nation's borders, data from 2006 reports that around ten to twelve million immigrants live within the country illegally, (Rector, 2006).

A similar study conducted in 1997 showed around five million illegal aliens in the country, representing the shocking increase within the past decade. With an average of 4% of the population of the United States representing an illegal population, the country has found itself in the midst of a huge problem. Although this nation should embrace immigrants for bringing further diversity into the country, immigration itself cannot go completely unchecked.

This presents a threat to the economy as well as society as a whole, "There is, of course, a legitimate argument for some limitation upon immigration. We no longer need settlers for virgin lands, and our economy is expanding more slowly than in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries," (Kennedy, 1964). Many illegal immigrants drain the nation's resources through facets such as Medi-Care and incarceration. In fact, 33% of those in America's prisons are not full citizens, (U.S. Immigration, 2006).

American tax dollars allocated to the care of inmates are covering the costs of housing illegal immigrants, an average of $31,000 annually for each inmate incarcerated. With America's economy already plummeting, how are average citizens supposed to take on the extra burden of caring for a population that resides within the country illegally? Rising illegal rates also affects the people of the local states and cities in various ways.

As stated before, the economy of the United States is in poor shape, and therefore many people's jobs are being placed at risk. Yet, millions of illegal residents work within thee boundaries of the country. This is a further risk to American jobs, "if the number of jobs is fixed and immigrants occupy some jobs, there are fewer available jobs for natives," (Cato, 2008). Many illegal immigrants work under the table, without paying much needed taxes.

Therefore, they are not only occupying needed jobs, but also draining the resources of the Federal government and agencies such as the IRS as well. With limited numbers of illegals actually paying taxes, "taxes paid by immigrants do not cover the cost of services received by them," (FAIR, 2003). According to a study conducted by Rector in 2006, the Federal government spends around $500 billion dollars annually on assistance costs, (Rector, 2006). This then creates a further dependence on the American welfare system.

Many large name companies have recently been exposed as employing thousands of illegal immigrants which further complicates the matters of available jobs as well as the integrity of American companies. As many illegal immigrants are willing to do lower skill jobs, many working class Americans find an even tougher time," "job competition by waves of illegal immigrants willing to work at substandard wages and working conditions depresses the wages of American workers, hitting hardest at minority workers and those without high school degrees," (FAIR, 2003).

One potential resolution is a dual action step of tightening border control combined with reforming the process of becoming a citizen to allow easier access for immigrants to enter into the nation legally, rather than illegally. Tightening control of the nation's borders is crucial in the development of a more lenient immigrant processing solution.

With "the major source of illegal immigration from illegal border crossings, and most of these immigrants are from Mexico," (Meese & Spaulding, 2006), the United States must curb this blatant illegal method of entering into the United States. With this risk minimized, it allows government officials to craft more available immigration procedures which would allow more immigrants to enter into the country legally.

Leaving our borders wide open presents a dangerous threat to all citizens around the nation, "Secure borders, especially in a time of terrorist threat, are crucial to American national security," (Meese & Spaulding, 2004). Current potential legislation is looking to grant 9 to 10 million illegals amnesty, (CIRA, S. 2611). Since this mind set is already in planning, reforming the path to citizenship will encourage other potential immigrants to take the legal route to residing within the United States.

This evokes the other major problem, that of "the other source of illegal immigration from those individuals who stay in the United States after their non-immigrant visas expire," (Meese & Spaulding, 2004). Although providing a simpler and more reliable path to citizenship, current liberal legislation in planning stages could further drain the already strained economy. Federal reserves may.