Illegal Immigration in the United States - Essay Example

Illegal immigration is a threat to America’s economy because of the rampant lawlessness that plagues our corrupt politicians. Since taking over the office by the current US president, His excellent Baraka Obama the magnitude of immigration problems has escalated. The increase in the number of aliens is especially high in unaccompanied migrant children, arriving at the United States Southwest border and the various facets of US labour migration policy. This has heightened the issue of immigration that has faced Americans for a long time, for instance, current statistics estimate that 11.7 million unauthorized immigrants live in the United States translating into about 3.7 per cent of the total US population and about 5.2 per cent of the labour force (Alexseev, 2013). Moreover, the aliens contribute a larger share of the labour force than of the total population because the vast majority of illegal immigrants are working-age adults, who take over manual jobs. The paper expands on the effects of illegal immigration on the country’s economic status.

Immigration is one of the major problems facing developed countries, the United States being one of them. A huge fraction of the American immigrants are widely non-Hispanic, Blacks, Asian and other ethnicity while the majority of illegal migrants are Latino, primarily from Mexico and Central America, Europe and Canada and some from the Caribbean (Giddens, 2006). The rapid rate of illegal aliens in the United States has been on the rise since 2012, stirring protests among the natives and some leaders. Reports from the media and accredited sources such as the census have released information indicating increased cases of illegal migrants. Since October last year, nearly 57,000 illegal immigration children have flooded across the border and the figures are expected to rise to at least 150, 000 during the next fiscal year says federal officials (Schain, 2012). The size and population composition of the immigrants affects the economy of the nation even worse the security. The impact is evident in the tax because most illegal immigrants are incapable of paying taxes because of restrictive federal policies that require proof of citizenship and fear of being caught and deported.

Issues of illegal immigration were minimal with a few cases reported but concern rose when a private media reported photos of illegal migrants housed in a go-down. Previously, such cases were term as claims and the media house was punished for deceiving the public but the news was viral causing the national media and other trusted outlets to cover the issue. A report done by Matt Drudge’s Drudge, one of the only other outlets that had focused on illegal immigration issues before those photos were published honed in on the immigration issue even more espousing the current situation (Alexseev, 2013). The problem of Illegal immigrants has widened causing fear among the native because cases of petty crimes such as insecurity among the community increased. Citizens organized demonstration-requesting deposition of the aliens back to their countries and fought the federal government for claims of secretly dumping the illegal migrants in their community. Apprehension engulfed natives for the routes used by illegal immigrants were used by terror attackers and drug dealers.

Other problems of illegal immigrants include taking up job opportunities because most of them lack education and take up any job earning little wages. Most companies with a desire to save money and operate on low-budget employ immigrants withholding benefits accorded to credited workers. The situation burdens the country’s economy, however, has a few positive effects in the event of slightly reducing native employment because the economy takes time to adjust to new immigration. Significantly, the consequence of immigration varies among different countries and States according to the broader economic environment and security wings. For instance, when the economy is at the budding stage and the labour market is adding jobs. However, during economic downturns, the economic situation takes time to adjust because the financial system is weak as new immigration has a small negative impact in the short run on the employment of native-born workers influencing the on economy.

Contemporary research reveals that illegal immigrants are filling gaps in fields where there is low job demand among American workers because of low pay. According to a 2010 report by the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association, Georgia farmers suffered because of a state regulation requiring illegal immigrants to be reported and not hired. The farmers lost more than 50% of their labour and crops because of the limited labour force (Rudolph, 2010). To boost the economy forward, the government has decided on to embrace a more flexible system that allows more potential workers to enter the country legally. This will benefit foreigners eyeing greener pastures in the job industry, which will see broader job opportunities and reduce illegal immigration. The state has further made a rational attempt of designing a better immigration policy, one that accounts for the financial costs of immigration and allows immigrants to enter and leave depending on economic conditions (Giddens, 2006).

Illegal immigration is vast and rampant in developed countries as most aliens sought for a better life. The vice has been on the rise in recent years due to a lack of strict measures and corruption around borders with national media houses dodging to cover the problem. This has many negative effects on the economy with a little positive influence that takes a long time to manifest in situations where the market is developed. As a sovereign country, the United States has adopted measures and strategies on immigration to address the current situation. The overall cost of supporting immigrants is higher than the allocated funds. Read More