Illegal Immigration it Is Generally

Illegal Immigration

It is generally believed that there are more than 11 million illegal immigrants currently living in the United States. (Yen) While they come from many countries around the world, the vast majority come from Latin America, and of those, the majority come from Mexico. Whether legal or illegal, immigration can provide definitive benefits to both the United States and the Latin American countries from where people emigrate from. For instance, "immigration increases the incomes of the U.S. residents by allowing the economy to utilize domestic resources more efficiently." (Hanson 19) It also increases the total number of laborers, which in turns increases the amount of resources that can be successfully exploited. Fruits and vegetables can be harvested more efficiently leading to cheaper overall prices for the consumer. But it is not only the United States that benefits from the productivity of the illegal immigrant, their home countries, particularly in Latin America, benefit greatly as well. Billions of dollars, earned by Mexicans who are illegally working in the United States, are sent back to Mexico each year; besides the petroleum and tourism industries, this is Mexico's largest influx of capital. While many see illegal immigration as a problem, it can have positive benefits to both the United States and the home country of the immigrant.

But there are those who see illegal immigration as a problem and point to the many negative aspects which accompany it. Many Latin American villages have been all but deserted, and local culture and society destroyed, by the emigration of the people to the United States. And the journey across the border is a dangerous one where criminal gangs take advantage of illegal immigrants, force them to transport drugs, and even leave them to die in the dessert. (Orrenius 2) Instead of positively impacting labor and wages, some claim that illegal immigration has a "negative wage depressing effect" which keeps wages in the United States artificially low. (Liu 3) Because of the problem with illegal immigrants, the United States is forced to spend billions of dollars monitoring and guarding the border, as well as tracking down illegal immigrants inside the United States. And since many illegal immigrants are used a "drug mules," many of those entering America illegally are also transporting drugs and other illegal substances into the country. And with the inclusion of drugs, there is the ever increasing problem of violence being associated with illegal immigrants as different drug gangs compete for access to the United States.

Those illegal immigrants who already hold jobs in the U.S. should be given legal status because of the fact that they are already in America and contributing to American society. If they have jobs then they already pay income taxes, as well as paying all the state and local taxes involved in the purchase of food, gas, clothes, rent, etc.. Secondly, if illegal immigrants who hold jobs and pay taxes are not given legal status, the American government will be forced to spend billions of dollars tracking them down, holding them, and transporting them back to their home countries. This will not only cost Americans money, but will disrupt the workplace of these illegal workers, their homes, as well as the local businesses that depend upon them for the purchase of necessities. And finally, many illegal immigrants have legal children who were born in the United States and are American citizens, if not granted legal status, the United States runs the risk of splitting families, or even forcing American-born citizens to live in foreign countries.

In 2010 the Department of Homeland Security undertook immigration enforcement actions involving "the arrest, detention, return, and removal from the United States of foreign nationals who are inadmissible to or removable from the United States…" ("Immigration Enforcement Actions 2010") The United States government spends billions each year patrolling and guarding the U.S. border, interdicting drug and human smugglers, investigating domestic employers, conducting raids for illegal immigrants. While the federal government has been battling illegal immigration for years, individual state governments have recently begun to implement their own actions toward curbing the flow of illegal immigration. Arizona recently passed a controversial which required local law enforcement officers to verify the immigration status of anyone they suspected of being illegal. (Arizona Senate Bill 1070)

A recent article, which first appeared in "The Daily Caller," but since has been republished by the CATO Institute is "The Realities Behind the Immigration Debate," by Jeffrey Miron. This article is a no-nonsense look at the issue of illegal immigration which discusses a number of its effects. The author began by describing the new Arizona law and how illegal immigration is a major issue in America, but then delves into solutions to the problem. Firstly, the authors assertion that restricted legal immigration is what stimulates the flow of illegal immigration; and that a loosening of restrictions on legal immigration is good for America and can alleviate the problem. Next the author discussed the effects of restrictions which are costly, generate violence, create black markets and spawn corruption. (Miron)