Friday, December 7, 2007

What To Do About Immigration

The United States of America is a country that was built on immigration. Throughout the years, group after group has migrated to the United States in hope for freedom, or a chance at a new life. It is not until now, that the subject of immigration has been so greatly questioned. Our country has now set numerous laws concerning immigration, and has defined a process to become an American citizen. Since these complicated regulations have been put in place, there have been problems with illegal immigrants entering this country. The majority of these immigrants come across our southern border from Mexico looking for gainful employment and a shot at the American dream. This is where the topic becomes debatable. A large portion of the American population believes that these immigrants are hurting our economy, and we should block off our borders to prevent these aliens from entering our country. The remainder of the population believes that these immigrants are helping out country, or at the least not hurting it, and we should allow them to enter our country to help themselves as well as us. This issue has been debated back and forth by countless politicians, and citizens alike, with no solution achieved. From our point of view, there is only one way to fix this problem. Border security should be strengthened to prevent illegal immigration, but the process to obtain citizenship should be greatly simplified.

Many American citizens believe that immigrants are a drain on our economy. This side of the argument is mainly justified by the fact that illegal immigrants are not paying taxes. Immigrants sneak over the border, obtain jobs, earn money, and send a great deal of their money back to Mexico. This is taking money out of the US economy and putting it into the Mexican economy. Also, this side of the argument believes that illegal Mexican immigrants are taking jobs from deserving American citizens. Immigrants come across the border looking for work, and every one of them ends up working a position that could go to one the unemployed American citizens. While taking jobs from American citizens, it is also believed that these immigrants are raising our crime rates. By being forced to live under the radar, it is believed that these immigrants are stealing or using violence to obtain their needs. Lastly, this side of the argument believes that immigrants are draining our social security funds. They are not paying into the funds through taxes, but they are taking money out of it when they get injured or sick. These beliefs lead to a simple list of solutions. The first solution is to increase border security. Build a huge fence, and increase the number of guards stationed at the border to protect it. The next part of the solution is to track down every illegal immigrant in the country and send them back to their home country. With combining the two measures, the number of immigrants, and the effect that they have on the American economy could be drastically reduced.

The other side of the argument also has a very valid set of beliefs. This side believes that immigrants actually help our economy. These immigrants are taking jobs that American citizens refuse to do. Immigration does not cause more US citizens to be unemployed, it actually causes citizens to get higher paying, and more skilled jobs than they would if there were no immigrants. Immigrants also fill in a large void that is becoming more and more present in the American work force. As the baby boomers reach the age when they are to elderly to work, there will not be enough workers in the American workforce to support them. People are now living considerably longer than they have in the past, and families are having fewer children. Due to these factors, the group of people at working age is far smaller than it needs to be. With the influx of new immigrants, more workers suddenly become available to support this large group outside the working age. Without immigrants, the elderly and children would be forced to take part in many tasks simply to supply the needs of our nation. Immigrants not only balance out this void, they also help to keep our everyday costs low. As our nation becomes more and more technologically advanced, there are fewer people who are willing to farm. The farmers who do stay in the business are having more and more trouble finding workers to assist in their fields. This is where immigrants are very beneficial to the farmers. Immigrants are willing to farm and work very hard for their money. These immigrants are also willing to work for lower salaries than American citizens would be willing to work for. American citizens do not see the amount of money offered to be worth the strenuous labor that is required for farming. Mexican immigrants are willing to work for these wages, because it is still significantly greater than what they could make in their home country. By accepting to work for these wages, these immigrants keep our foods at prices that we can afford. If American farmers had to pay the wages that American citizens demand for that type of labor, the prices of our food would skyrocket our economy would plummet. Farmers only survive because they have immigrant labor that they can depend on to work for wages that they can afford. These immigrants are not only helping us, their most important task in this country is to help themselves, and their families. These immigrants have risked their lives entering our country simply to find a job. If work is not available for them in their home country, how can we just send them back for their families to starve to death? The United States helps countries all around the world with whatever problems they might face, why can we not help the Mexican citizens who cannot find a job to support their families? Even if we could somehow answer yes to these questions, it would be extremely costly to track down these illegal immigrants and send them back to their home country. This would be far more costly than this nation can afford, and would be a gigantic hit to our economy. This so called problem is very likely to work itself out anyways. Mexico is a developing country, and as it develops, more jobs are becoming available. As more jobs develop in Mexico, fewer people will be forced to immigrate to the United States, and many of the immigrants already here will return to their home country and obtain a job. From this point of view, immigration is helping our country and the immigration problem will work itself out in time. There is no need to waste tax money to send these immigrants back to their home country.

Each of these two sets of beliefs has a strong basis, and could be right in numerous aspects. Unfortunately, both sets of beliefs cannot be followed at the same time. This is where it becomes necessary to mediate to determine a solution. While this does mean that each side must give in on some of their beliefs, it also means that both sides have an equal say in the situation. In this situation, there is truly only one way to compromise between the two sides. Each side has very firm beliefs, and neither one will be completely satisfied with the result, but some type of compromise must be made to bring this debate to an end.

Illegal immigrants are taking money out of our economy by sending it back to Mexico, but we do need the extra work force. We do not need to be giving these immigrants tax free money, but we should be giving them a chance to better their own lives, and the lives of their family. There is only one true way to make this happen. The United States needs to greatly simplify the process to become an American citizen. The long waits to be accepted or even considered as a citizen need to be done away with. If immigrants could be accepted legally without the long wait and the countless difficult processes, then immigrants would be less hesitant about applying for citizenship. If these immigrants were made legal citizens, they would still add the crucial numbers to our work force, as well as continue to help the diminishing farming market, but they would be paying taxes. Along with making the process to become a citizen easier, border patrol should be increased. Whether it is in the form of a wall, or more guards, this would prevent the number of illegal immigrants from entering, and would encourage the immigrants to apply for citizenship instead of risking their lives. The simplified process of becoming a citizen should also be advertised in the US. This way, the immigrants that have already entered could apply for citizenship and stop operating under the radar. This provides the immigrants with every opportunity to succeed in America, but gives the American government the opportunity to monitor and keep track of what is going on in our country.

Illegal immigrants may or may not hurt our economy. It is true that there are positive and negative consequences of having these immigrants in our country. While there is no way to truly get rid of every negative consequence while keeping the positive aspects, this solution does come close. If this plan were to be carried out, our country would become more united, and although the plan does not perfectly follow either side, it is something that both sides could support. Immigration built this country, and with the proper changes, it can continue to help the US thrive today.

Sources:
Websites:
· "Illegal Immigration." Center for Immigration Studies. 14 November 2007.
· ImmigrationCounters.com. 1 December 2007. 1 December 2007 .
· Sullivan, Bob. "The Voice of Identity Theft Victims." 31 March 2006. The Red Tape Chronicles. 14 November 2007.

Newspaper Articles:
· Pinkerton, James. "ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN; Zero tolerance, major impact; End of 'catch and release' on border strains courts and jails, but proponents applaud effort." The Houston Chronicle (Houston, TX) (Nov 20, 2007): 1. Custom Newspapers (InfoTrac-Gale). Gale. Clemson University. 3 Dec. 2007 .
· Waldmeir, Patti. "Home-baked solutions to illegal immigration LEGAL COUNSEL Patti Waldmeir. (BUSINESS LIFE)." The Financial Times (June 13, 2007): 12. Custom Newspapers (InfoTrac-Gale). Gale. Clemson University. 3 Dec. 2007 .

Books:
· Long, Robert Emmet. Immigration to the U.S. New York: H.W. Wilson, 1992.
· Fairchild, Henry Pratt. Immigration, a world movement, and its American significance. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1913.

Scholarly Articles:
· Hebel, Sara. "McCain Reverses Position on Immigrant Tuition. (John McCain)(Brief article)." The Chronicle of Higher Education 54.11 (Nov 9, 2007): NA. Expanded Academic ASAP. Gale. Clemson University. 3 Dec. 2007 .
· Church, George, and Laurence Barrett. "Send back your tired, your poor...." Time 21 June 1993: 26.

No comments: