Illegal immigration is an ever prevalent issue within the United States, with people firmly sitting on both sides of the fence in regards to how they feel about the matter. There are two primary, opposing viewpoints in regards to the matter. The first viewpoint argues that this is what the country was founded upon, and that illegal immigrants are providing certain benefits to the communities that they attempt to infiltrate. The alternate viewpoint is that they are a drain on society in every possible shape way and form; after reviewing both sides of the issue will be possible to see that not only is illegal immigration a drain on society, but that any seemingly positive benefits are in fact negative as well.
Illegal immigration is defined as “all foreign born non-citizens who are not legal residents” (Center for Immigration Studies, 2013). There are over twelve million illegal immigrants in the United States at this time, “nearly half (of which) arrived legally with temporary, non-immigrant visas” (Center for Immigration Studies, 2013), and simply never left when their visas expired.
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Those who argue that illegal immigrants provide a benefit to the community state this because they “contribute…to public coffers in taxes,…through their investments and consumption of goods and services, (through the) filling of millions of essential worker positions, resulting in subsidiary job creation, increased productivity and lower costs of goods and services” (Procon.org, 2013). It may be seen, however, that the vast majority of these do not actually contribute to society in a positive manner when viewed in light of the fact that they are illegal immigrants. By working as undocumented laborers, many issues arise with illegal immigrants; many homeowner’s insurance claims are denied as a result of an issue arising from an illegal immigrant being associated with a botched job, by a renovation company, for example. If any of those illegal immigrants who have been hired on as undocumented workers, paid under the table, steal anything, there is no true recourse for the homeowner. By hiring illegal immigrants and paying them under the table causes the business not only to become liable, but in doing so they are evading taxes, which in turn hurt the economy. The amount of taxes that may be paid to the IRS do not equal the amount they are taking away by being undocumented laborers, furthermore, the jobs rightly belong to those who are legal citizens of the country itself.
As the Colorado Alliance for Immigration Reform stated that illegal aliens have cost billions of taxpayer funded dollars for medical services…(Illegal) immigration is a net drain on the economy; corporate interests reap the benefits of cheap labor, while taxpayers pay the infrastructural cost. $60 billion dollars are earned by illegal aliens in the U.S. each year. One of Mexico’s largest revenue streams (after exports and oil sales) consists of money sent home by legal immigrants and illegal aliens working in the U.S. This is a massive transfer of wealth from America, essentially from America’s displaced working poor, to Mexico” (Procon.org, 2013).
It states on the tablet held by the Statue of Liberty, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, yearning to break free” but this does not mean that the country is setup the way that it was in 1776. There is a system and process setup in regards to immigration for a reason, to control the influx of persons into the country. Immigration is well and good, however illegal immigration is a blight on the face of the nation. There are those who argue that the best solution to the illegalities of the situation is to simply allow them to become legal citizens, bypassing the majority of the processes that are setup in order to be able to work to incorporate an immigrant into United States society, going so far as to have a piece of legislature that will be submitted on the 16th of April by the Republican party detailing a process to legalize these illegal immigrants, including a “points-based system for determining who gets an immigrant visa in the future” (McLaughlin & Dinan, 2013), though this does not appear to be a valid solution at all.
It is argued by those who support illegal immigrants that there is no possible way to be able to locate them all to deport them, and yet, going back to those very same person’s arguments that many of these illegal immigrants do pay taxes, it would be a simple enough event to go to the IRS, obtain the information as to their current listed residence, and pick them up and deport them. Other viable solutions include going to places that are known for their gatherings of illegal immigrants hoping to work as day laborers and simply rounding them up for deportation, with the admonition that if they are to return to the country, they should do so in the proper manner.
With the country being so divided on this particular matter, it is unlikely that a resolution will be reached by either faction any time soon, however, the basic argument that these people are illegal, and as such, by very definition, breaking the law through their presence here, it hardly seems a valid course of action to reward them for their criminal behavior by granting citizenship willy-nilly. Through a brief review of just some of the different issues that are associated with this issue, it is easy to see that “aliens who have entered the United States without authorization and who are deportable if apprehended, or who entered the United States legally but who have fallen “out of status” and are also deportable” (Procon.org, 2013) should be deported. If we are unable to uphold this most basic premise of the law, what belief do we have that they will do the same for the country that they have chosen to invade?
- Center for Immigration Studies. “Illegal Immigration | Center for Immigration Studies.” Illegal Immigration | Center for Immigration Studies. Center for Immigration Studies, 2013. Web. 15 Apr. 2013. http://cis.org/
- McLaughlin, Seth, and Stephen Dinan. “Allowing Illegal Immigrants to Stay Gains Support, Led by Republicans.” The Washingtion Times. The Washington Times, 15 Apr. 2013. Web. 16 Apr. 2013. http://www.washingtontimes.com/
- ProCon.org. “Immigration ProCon.org – What Are the Solutions to Illegal Immigration in America?” Immigration ProCon.org – What Are the Solutions to Illegal Immigration in America? Procon.org, 2013. Web. 16 Apr. 2013. http://immigration.procon.org/
- ProCon.org. “Top 10 Pros and Cons – Illegal Immigration – ProCon.org.” Top 10 Pros and Cons – Illegal Immigration – ProCon.org. ProCon.org, 2013. Web. 15 Apr. 2013. http://immigration.procon.org
