Illegal Immigration Issues

Illegal immigration is having a negative effect on local economies, health care services, public schools, and public safety all across the United States. One of the most controversial and debated political issues of today is that of illegal immigration from Mexico. Immigration is generally welcomed in the United States; however illegal immigration is a different situation. Illegal immigration from Mexico harms the legal, taxpaying citizens of America, so the government and it 's agencies must increase national security.

Immigration and illegal immigration are two very different issues. Illegal immigration bypasses the nations policies and controls; whereas, legal immigration is welcomed by the government:

"Hispanic and immigrants ' rights
activists respond that the vast majority of immigrants who cross the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border illegal (an estimated 50 percent of whom are Mexican nationals) do so to escape poverty or repression in their native countries. These advocates argue that illegal immigrants believe America offers the best opportunities for them to better their lives. "(Cozic)

This is one reason immigration is a troubling issue. Most immigrants claim to be leaving their home country for the United States because they have a better place for them to live and for their families to work.

Illegal immigration has been a problem for many years.
Christopher Walton, Chief Executive of Kruse & Associates Immigration services, explains that illegal immigration into the United States has been a problem ever since agencies were set up to control immigration. (Walton) It is tough to control immigration because it is virtually impossible to protect all thousands of miles of boarder the United States has.

There are millions of illegal immigrants living in the United States. The INS has projected numbers from five million to as high as eleven million. This is a very substantial number of individuals which causes it to be such a substantial problem. (Cozic)"Most immigrants are poor Hispanics which contribute very little to society."(Williamsen) It might be a different situation if illegal immigrants actually contributed to society and offered something valuable to the nation. They waste millions that should be going to the legal taxpaying citizens of the United
States.

"The pro-immigration lobby also errs in claiming that immigrants pay more to government in taxes than they use in government-provided services. In fact, large-scale waves of poor immigrants are devastating our country 's coffers through their use of means-tested programs (government handouts), causing hardships for Americans. Because low-wage workers qualify for most welfare programs and over 74 percent of illegal Mexican immigrants and their children are living in or near poverty, an inordinate percentage of them use welfare." (Williamsen).

This is one major problem with undocumented immigration. The illegal immigrants are not required to pay taxes because the government essentially has no idea they are there to tax. They manage, however, to receive many different government services such as welfare and public education.

The victims of illegal immigration are the millions of taxpaying Americans.
Illegal immigrants are a huge drain of economic resources. They contribute very little to the economy but take a lot out of it. Many immigrants already have criminal records and continue to commit crimes in the United States. "Maverick County Sheriff Tomas Herrera and Val Verde County Sheriff D 'Wayne Jernigan say they constantly are seeking more money to protect residents from crimes involving illegal immigrants, including burglaries, vandalism and cattle thefts. "(Williamsen) Illegal immigrants steal, rob, and burglarize the legal citizens of the United States as well as each
other.

Illegal Immigrants use all of the public and governmental services that the citizens use; however, they do not pay taxes to support them. Their use of services costs the tax payers billions directly. Illegal Immigrants in the Public School systems of California cost the state a staggering 1 Billion USD a year. "One Billion dollars is enough money to put a computer on every 5th graders desk." (Cozic) This is a huge waste of taxpayer 's money. The only people who suffer from it are the ones who do not deserve to suffer.

One suggested solution has been to build heavily guarded fences along the Mexican-American border to prevent immigrants from simply walking across the border. These fences are extremely expensive but fairly effective. "Supporters of the plan, including Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., say the success of a fence along 10 miles of the border south of San Diego suggests that fences at other heavily traveled crossings would help curb illegal immigration."(Johnson) Many people do not like this idea because citizens of the southern states believe it will limit interaction between the two countries. " In Eagle Pass, a city of 25,000 that is 95% Hispanic, it 's also seen as a rejection of the region 's tradition of shared cultures and open ranges."(Johnson) This solution doesn 't carry much support from the people of the areas where the fence would be built.

Another extreme measure is to issue every citizen a card that tells the employer that the applicant is legal. The card would have your legal work status along with a picture identification. It is basically a green card that would be issued to every citizen of the United States. (Cozic) There are several big problems with the Working identification card solution. It would eventually be counterfeited, not every employer would check after it, and not many people would want to carry it around with them at all times.

Cracking down on employers who actively and knowingly hire illegal immigrants is one implemented plan that has had great success. This would be the best solution on many levels because it would limit the possibility for success of illegal immigrants and encourage immigrants to go through the legal process to a green card or full fledged citizenship. (Cozic) If the immigrants cannot get jobs, then they cannot provide for themselves or their families; therefore, they could not survive any better in the United States as they could in Mexico.

The United States must crack down on illegal immigration because it is hurting the legal American citizens. Immigration has always been welcomed in the United States; however, only as long as it is legal and law abiding. This nation cannot afford any more economic drains with all the problems the U.S. faces today. Illegal immigration has been a problem for hundreds of years and needs to be curbed and eventually stopped. The United States of America was built on immigration and many radical ideas which came from the immigrants. Illegal immigrants however are a completely different situation and hurt the country greatly, rather than help it.

Works Cited:

Williamsen, Kurt."Immigration has it 's Costs." The New American. Dec. 2005: 44.

Johnson, Kevin. "Fence plan alarms landowners." USA Today 28 Nov. 2006: A-1.

Proquest. Proquest Direct. South High School Library Fargo, ND. 15 Sep. 2003

Murray, Mark. "Border Games." National Journal. 1 Sep. 2001. Electric Library. Proquest Learning Co. South High School Library, Fargo, ND. 1 Dec. 2006

Cozic, Charles. Illegal Immigration. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1997.

Walton, Christopher. Personal Interview. 12 Dec. 2006.