The United States of America has long been known as the “nation of immigrants”. As a matter of fact, since 1820 the United States has accepted around twice as many immigrants and various refugees as other world countries altogether. Totally, the number of people that come legally and illegally has varied based on a historical period, turning points in the legislation, as well as economic growth rates. These days, illegal and legal immigration to the country constitute up to nearly 36% of its annual population growth (Miller & Spoolman). A “nation of nations”, the United States differs from all other countries by the degree and extent to which it has absorbed members of other nations. Overall, the U.S. has a population which consists of people that ethnically represent more than 170 nations (Hanson). This paper discusses the issue of illegal immigration to Texas.
Texas, the U.S. state that accounts for almost a half of the border between the United States and Mexico, has been subject to the outcomes of the illegal immigration. Texas has seen an unprecedented growth in illegal immigration recently. By the Census Bureau data, Texas is home to 15% of all illegal immigrants who stay on the territory of the country (Bernsen 1). The recent estimates published in Texas Monthly equal the number of the illegal immigrants in Texas to 1.68 million undocumented residents. This is the second highest number of illegal immigrants found in one state, after the state of California, which has a leading position. The number of illegal immigrants living in Texas (1.68 million people) is huge compared to the overall number of illegal immigrants on the territory of the country (10.8 million people) as of 2010. Interestingly, this figure is lower compared with the number of illegal immigrants in Texas back in 2007 (Salamon).
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With reference to the origin of illegal immigrants, they represent different countries. Most of them, however, traditionally are from the neighboring Mexico (Solis). They make up 62% of immigrants from all other countries. In numbers, 62% equals more than six million illegal immigrants. The remaining countries the immigrants come from are (by 2009 estimate) Guatemala (480, 000 people), Honduras (320, 000 people), the Philippines (320, 000 people), India (200, 000 people), Korea (200, 000 people), Ecuador (170, 000 people), Brazil (150, 000 people), and China (120, 000 people) (“Tribpedia: Immigration”).
Why the debates about the financial cost of illegal immigration have lasted for a long time, the following figures provide a controversial result. Specifically, back in 2006 a report was published that provided the amount paid by illegal immigrants that year through taxes was $424.7 million. That was the net gain for Texas. At the same time, the financial burden if the illegal immigration on local governments and local hospitals was around $1 billion (“Tribpedia: Immigration”).
The impact of the illegal immigrants on job market in Texas has been generally not that dramatic. Illegal immigrants are accountable for slight wages’ decrease, by 10%. At the same time, they may be “dangerous” only for people of the lower classes doing blue-collar jobs. While this has been considered a negative impact on the job opportunities for the U.S. citizens, in general, the economy of the state benefits through immigrants’ buying clothes, attending restaurants, using cell phones, etc. Besides, immigrants who come illegally often take up jobs that the U.S. citizens would not do: jobs at constructions sites, within the service industry, and at construction sites. Therefore, in an ongoing public debate, the advocates of illegal immigrants argue that their labour is critical to the economy of the state. If anti-immigration legislature gets adopted, the businesses are said to suffer first and other companies will, predictably, be discouraged from locating their enterprises in Texas.
Today, the one of the greatest burdens of illegal immigration on Texas is that of housing them in federal detainers. For instance, Texas county jails have spent over $ 156.6 million to jail 131, 000 immigrants who came illegally between 2011 and 2013. As for the numbers of detained immigrants across the counties, Harris County is leading with its 30, 000 illegal immigrant prison population and the cost of housing up to $50 million (Grissom). Also, Dallas County reportedly spent $22 million on illegal immigrants housing, while Travis County spent over $15 million on the same cause. While the costs are high, the authorities insist on imprisonment, since, as they explain, “you just deport them, they beat the bus back to where they were” (Grissom).
Another heavy burden on the state budget is illegal immigrants’ deaths (Sherman). Apart from the cost of burial, the corpses found at the highways and in other places are to be sent for a DNA expertise for identification. For example, on average, 50 to 60 bodies are found and have to undergo the aforementioned procedure in Brooks County annually; the number of the deceased illegal immigrants found in other counties are even higher (in Pima County, 177 corpses were found over 2012). Usually, immigrants die when they are crossing some checkpoints (Nelson & Buch). For example, in Brooks County they are dropped off together with their guides southwards from the checkpoint and made to hike for either two or three days to a certain pickup spot which is located north of the checkpoint (Associated Press).
Overall, the question of the benefits and burdens of illegal immigration on Texas and its economy remains open. While illegal immigrants bring revenues to the state in the form of money paid through taxes, they also require costs spent on education, medical services, etc. Besides, the state has to pay huge costs for detainment and burial/identification procedures of the illegal immigrants. Thus, some measures should be taken that could take into account the interests of all parties.
- Bernsen, James. “The Costs of Illegal Immigration to Texas”. The Lone Star Foundation. N.d. Web. 16 October 2013.
- Associated Press. “Rising illegal immigrant deaths put burden on Texas county”. Foxnews.com. 23 September 2013. Web. 16 October 2013
- Hanson, G. The economic logic of illegal immigration. 2007. Web. October 16, 2013.
- Grissom, Brandi. “Texas spending millions to jail illegal immigrants”. Star-Telegram. October 16, 2013. Web. October 16, 2013.
- Miller, T. & Spoolman, S. Living in the environment. Cengage Learning, 2011. Print.
- Nelson, Aaron & Buch, Nelson. Immigrant wave pours into Southern Texas. My SA. April 13, 2013. Web. October 16, 2013.
- Solis, Dianne. “Illegal immigration into Texas increasing slowly, says Pew Research Center.” Dallasnews. 23 September 2013. Web. 16 October 2013.
- Salamon, Jeff. Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Illegal Immigration (But Didn’t Know Who to Ask). Texas Monthly. November 2010. Web. 16 October 2013.
- “Tribpedia: Immigration”. The Texas Tribune. N.d. Web. 16 October 2013.
