Immigration Law in the United States
Outline
Introduction
There have been several arguments about the new immigration policy and the temporary ban on citizens of the 7 countries. Loopholes in the United States’ immigration policy have seen the nation face several challenges, for instance, the security threat, economic downturn, cultural eradication and employment crisis among others. The nation needs to put in place effective immigration policies that will ensure that the challenges are addressed in an efficient manner.
Thesis Statement
The new immigration policy is significant in addressing the flaws in the immigration policies and the temporal ban is also important for the nation to address the problems with effective measures and strategies with good motives without discrimination.
Arguments Defending the Immigration Law
The immigration policy is important for the United States to save itself from unscrupulous activities that undermine its economy and laws.
- The illegal immigration and refugees in the United States have also had a negative implication on its social costs.
- Despite the fact that there would be a negative economic impact of implementing a ban on immigration laws, stricter laws on immigration will enhance inflow of efficient and balanced immigrants.
- The increased illegal populations in the United States have also raised the costs involved in monitoring them.
- Despite the fact that the new policies on immigration seem to be discriminatory against the immigrants, they are significant to the illegal immigrants and the United States.
- The immigration law in the United States is also significant in promoting the national security and inhibiting the physical threat of the nation.
In Favor of the Temporary Ban
- The government should take into account proper immigration policies and effective measures.
- The process should not be discriminatory
Introduction
Recently, President Donald Trump signed into effect one of his immigration policies that was aimed at barring people from seven Muslim-majority nations entering the United States, which was an implementation of one his immigration policies. Nonetheless, this decision was overturned by a judicial court. The matter is still in the corridors of justice with each side presenting its views. Illegal immigration has remained a thorny issue in the United States for a long time. This problem is not new and millions of illegal immigrants have penetrated into the US, mainly through the Mexico border and the Pacific Ocean. Some immigrants have entered the nation legally through a visit visa, but they have overstayed and are now undocumented. Several arguments have been put forth, either supporting or against the new immigration law. Despite the fact that immigration provides the local economy with cost benefits since illegal immigrants provide cheap labor, it also causes other major harms to the United States. Therefore, the new immigration policy is significant in addressing the flaws in the immigration policies, and the temporal ban is important for the nation in addressing the problems with effective measures and strategies with good motives without discrimination.
There is a difference between immigration and illegal immigration, concepts that many people tend to confuse. Immigration entails the movement of people across borders from one nation to another while illegal immigration is the undocumented movement of people from one nation to another. Thousands of illegal immigrants continue to stream into the United States mainly through the Mexican border from the Central and Southern America and other routes because of flawed immigration policies (Laque 25). Conferring to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), the illegitimate immigrants in the nation grow by 275,000 annually. Currently, the nation already is a home to an approximate population of around 11 million illegal immigrants (Lipman 9). These immigrant populations look for ways of getting employment in the United States besides education, welfare as well as unemployment compensation. In most cases, since most of the immigrants are in the nation without proper documentation, their wages are paid under the table, hence totally avoiding taxes or paying less. Furthermore, the illegal immigrants are easy prey for deceitful employers and politicians who end up exploiting them. Generally, the U.S. population is predominantly increasing because of the high birth rates among the minority and immigrant communities. Without basing on political lines, it is apparent that the minority and immigrant populations mostly take up low-wage jobs in agriculture and manufacturing while those without choice in the white-collar world of employment take up services. Exclusively, when employment opportunities do not need language ability, immigrants are historically known for quickly taking them up as a means of getting income. The United States native-born citizens who are unemployed are not willing to perform any job for the sake of it. They consider remunerations offered before making the final decision. This implies that illegal immigrants have a competitive advantage in such cases. Based on the recent developments in the United States from both the Americans and their leaders, it is in public domain that illegal immigration is becoming a threat to the nation and it should be completely assessed. This notion is supported by Bells sentiments:
As President Barack Obama considers sidestepping Congress to loosen U.S. immigration policy, a Reuters/Ipsos poll shows Americans are deeply worried that illegal immigration is threatening the nation’s culture and economy. Seventy percent of Americans – including 86 percent of Republicans – believe undocumented immigrants threaten traditional U.S. beliefs and customs, according to the poll. (Bell)
Issues of immigration in the United States are under the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), a law that guides the policies and regulations about the employment of immigrants. This edict was ratified in 1986 for several reasons, which comprise the fact that many illegal employees are hired in the United States. The IRCA entails two main components, which are to employ only persons approved to work in the United States and not to discriminate the populations based on nationality status or national origin. One of the requirements that make a person eligible to work in the United States is the completion of the I-9 form and the proof of authorization to work in the nation for all employers. This means that all employers in the United States are required to consider competent persons with work authorization, whether citizen or non-citizen.
The immigration policy is important for the United States to save itself from the unscrupulous activities that undermine its economy and laws. Currently, there are more than 10 million illegal personnel in the nation, not including their families as a result of defective immigration policies. Despite having spread across the whole nation, the majority of such illegal workers are concentrated in California and Texas. Furthermore, more than 75% of the immigrant population in the United States enters the nation through the US/Mexican border. Because the US establishments employ such illegal immigrants as undocumented workforces, the pact between employers and employees is done in secret and incorporate less pay than the required minimum wage. Moreover, most of the illegal immigrants’ populations are hired to work in the fields of agriculture, manufacturing, and construction industries, or in backroom occupations. These employees are also not accorded any form of health benefits or other aids (White).
For instance, most unauthorized immigrants are prohibited from receiving many of the benefits that the federal government provides through Social Security and such need-based programs as Food Stamps, Medicaid (other than emergency services), and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. (Merrell 1)
Therefore, such employment opportunities are typically opened illegally by the United States employers as a way of saving taxes and costs by paying the immigrant employees less than the minimum wage. It is for such reasons that I believe a new immigration policy and the ban on the refugee’s policy is important for the immigration reforms to take shape since it will make it harder for employers to cheat the government of paying taxes.
The illegal immigration and refugees in the United States have also had a negative implication on its social costs. It is because when illegal immigrants cross to the United States for greener pastures, for instance, job seeking, they do so without any legal or proper documentation (Warner 56). It implies that there is no record of where such people come from or the nature of their background. Such populations might be carriers of communicable diseases such as polio and tuberculosis among others. The ailments can spread and cause many problems to the American populations. There are also other social cost implications that arise because of these populations that are an added burden to the nation, which it has to cater for like their education. In programs that are underfunded, it becomes challenging for the state to deal with the provision of such services, which are already burdensome. Generally, the Republicans, even before the Presidency of Donald Trump, had reached an agreement among themselves on the legislation intended for combating illegal immigration in the United States. However, the move has delayed in several instances because of postponing tactics from Senate Democrats and a veto from the presidency, such as President Barrack Obama’s administration.
Despite the fact that there would be a negative economic impact, particularly in implementing a ban on immigration laws, stricter laws on immigration will enhance allow only vetted immigrants. Many Americans are worried about the impact of immigrants (Bell). If the labor market in the United States was to be strictly monitored and protected from illegal immigrants crossing the Mexican border, such positions would still have been filled by other people. If the nation were to bring in additional agricultural and service workforces through a legalized process, the subsequent body of immigrants would be less Mexican and more of other races and nationals across the globe. It would have impacted the nation positively, given the consideration of other immigrants’ factors, for instance, education and language as it is the case in Europe. Furthermore, it would also be significant in enriching the United States’ culture, language, and religion. It is apparent that the current Mexican culture does not match well with the Anglo-Protestant culture under which the U.S. has flourished over the years, hence, affecting its economy.
Increased illegal populations in the United States have also raised the costs involved in monitoring them. If the illegal immigrants, for instance, the Mexicans were not entering the nation illegally, there would be an effective process aimed at keeping track of all immigrants. The Citizenship and Immigration Service, which is a successor agency to the Immigration and Naturalization service under the new Department of Homeland Security would have a simple role monitoring the immigrants in the nation. It would be cost effective as compared to the roughly 11,000,000 illegal immigrants in the nation (Fitz and Madura Wijewardena 4). Therefore, no other action other than deportation of all illegal immigrants and ban policy would be cost effective for the government agencies intended for monitoring them. Effective policies for deterring illegal immigration will enhance proper strategies aimed at discouraging all immigrants in the nation, comprising those needed largely. Nonetheless, the idea behind new policies on immigration is aimed at screening the immigration system for applicants who have required skills in the United States. Many American citizens have made several claims that illegal immigrants’ children are exploiting the education system in the nation. Nonetheless, with all these immigrant populations, the US has continued to produce the same system of expertise, forcing it to import technical capability from other places, for instance, India and East Asia.
Despite the fact the new policies on immigration discriminate against the immigrants, they are significant to the illegal immigrants and the United States to a larger extent. There have been several arguments about immigrants with some people insisting that they are human beings like others and they should not be discriminated against regardless of whether they enter the nation legally or illegally since the borders are open (Hosein 610). Moreover, many people have argued that illegal immigrants are skilled menial laborers and they increase the local production of the United States. Another group also argues that most organizations in the United States pay illegal immigrants lower than minimum wages, which means that the cost of production, as well as the prices decrease. It implies that the citizens of the United States will be the great beneficiaries. When the immigrants are compensated, it is also argued that most of them send their US dollars outside the nation to their families, which strengthens the value of the dollar, making it more prized. It also makes the U.S. economy stronger. Nevertheless, it is apparent that such benefits are far overshadowed by the costs that the illegal populations have on the nation, besides their own welfares. Therefore, policies on immigration reforms are a good practice for the immigrants, and more significantly, for the nation. It is because the illegal immigrants pose many challenges to the United States, thus, they should not be allowed to get into the nation the way they want to but through a proper procedure that will benefit them and the nation. Since it can be hard to implement all procedures in attaining the new policy in immigration, measures need to be put in place to reduce the illegal immigrant influx into the United States and the first step should be the implementation of immigration reforms as spearheaded by President Trump. Despite the fact that what such illegal populations earn is sent to their homes in their nations, the US economy is deprived of their taxes. Their continued stay in the nation implies that they are spending each second taking part in an illegal act in the same way their presence inside the US borders is a prohibited act.
The immigration law in the United States is also significant in promoting the national security and inhibiting its physical threat. Generally, the national security is one of the indispensable issues that need to be addressed in the United States with all the essential tools. Additionally, the national security provides the basis for economic, political, and social stability in the United States. Immigration generally entails the movement of people into the nation, either legally or illegally. Illegal immigration poses the national security problem in the United States since it overpowers the efforts to monitor security threats and constructs massive immigrant communities that continuously yield and incubate terrorists. Therefore, it makes immigration a central issue of national security concerns in the United States. Illegal immigrants generally appeal to terrorism, violence, crime, drug, and human trafficking, which make up serious security threats to the United States (Warner 56). Through Illegal immigration, terrorists, criminals, drug, and human traffickers penetrate to the United States. Because of unrestrained illegal immigration, the federal government is experiencing an upsurge in imprisoned charges allied to immigrants who break the laws through petty theft, violence, murder, and drug trafficking among other crimes. Furthermore, Illegal immigrants are also a threat to political security in the United States since they create several antigovernment groups, which contradict the laws obligatory within the nation. As a way of retaliation, such groups take part in attacks through engaging in violence, riots, and protests. The immigrants’ activists also employ more pressure on the government authorities, thereby making it difficult for the government to implement the laws.
In addition, flawed immigration laws have contributed to an increased rate of illegal immigration. This has enabled the illegal immigrants to negatively exploit the law enforcement defects and undertake illegitimate activities. In some instances, the United States leadership has also treated immigrants with more respect, particularly before the 9/11 terror attack that has damaged the security systems in the nation (Alen 28). Criminals have exploited the loopholes in the immigration policies. This is demonstrated by incidence that took place in Washington DC:
Following 09/11 but unrelated to it, the greater Washington DC area was almost paralyzed during October 2002. Eleven apparently random sniper attacks on innocent citizens ranged from just north of Richmond, Virginia to the Washington D.C. suburbs of Montgomery County, Maryland. Following an intensive search over the Virginia and Maryland countryside adjoining Interstate 95 (I-95) corridor, a sniper ‘pair’ was captured. Afterward, authorities revealed that the primary trigger-man of the duo, Lee Boyd Malvo, happened to be an illegal immigrant following his mother who also illegally entered and remained in the country. (Smith and Luther 5)
The southern border of the nation has also seen an increase in cases of disorderliness and criminal activity, for instance, rape and robbery ascribed to an illegal immigrant. Such actions have also endangered the civilian border patrol and law enforcement personnel. This mayhem by illegal immigrants is demonstrated through an augmented drug activity that has offered income to drug cartels and financed terrorist operations. There has been increasing evidence relating free foreign gangs, for instance, Mara Salvatrucha-13 (MS-13) that operates along the border and inside the U.S. cooperation, with terrorist organizations. The MS-13 has expanded its criminal reach from the border of the United States into the interior states, such as South Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland. These groups main intention is to have a personal gain and attracts youth through offering a sense of belonging (Rosenblum, Bjelopera and Kristin 7). These explanations along with preceding investigative reports demonstrate the way criminals continue to exploit gaps in the immigration and law enforcement policies, which have significantly raised the security concern in the nation. Additionally, concerns have been made on increased crime and violence caused by gangs in areas with high concentrations of immigrant populations. This has raised an alarm over the U.S. government’s policy on the admission of illegal immigrants, which has been enlarged by revelations on how the 09/11 terrorists took advantage of security flaws in the immigration system. Therefore, the United States needs new immigration policies as spearheaded by President Trump to address the security threat being exploited because of the flaws in the immigration policies.
There are several arguments and even judicial injunction because many people tend to think that eliminating illegal immigration is impossible. Nonetheless, it is not true. Illegal immigration can be addressed if the government establishes proper immigration policies and effective measures. As it is apparent in the United States, some of the measures require finances while others need a political will, which can be accomplished by the sitting President’s good will without new lawmaking. Nonetheless, adopted as part of an inclusive approach, such measures are bound to be effective. If implemented selectively, they will fail. However, at the initial stage, existing policies and regulations must be simplified.
Generally, the immigration policies in the United States need a complete overhaul. The failed policies have contributed to the current influx of illegal and legal immigrants in the nation. The end result of such flawed policies has seen the nation pay the highest price, particularly in terms of security and economic depreciation among other elements like culture influx and issues in the employment sector. There is a general recognition in the nation that immigration policies need to be altered. Therefore, I support a change in the immigration law in favor of the immigration policies but the temporal ban is important for the nation to address the problems with effective measures and strategies with good motives without discrimination.
Works Cited
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Bell, Alistair. Americans worry that illegal migrants threaten way of life, economy. August 2014. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-worries-idUSKBN0G70BE20140807 .Accessed 25 February 2017.
Fitz, Marshall, Gebe Martinez, and Madura Wijewardena. “The costs of mass deportation: Impractical, expensive, and ineffective.” Center for American Progress and Rob Paral and Associates (2010).
Laque, Erick C. “Immigration Law and Policy: Before and After September 11, 2001.” Social Sciences Journal 10.1 (2011): 10.
Lipman, Francine J. “The taxation of undocumented immigrants: Separate, unequal, and without representation.” Harv. Latino L. Rev. 9 (2006): 1.
Merrell, Melissa. “The impact of unauthorized immigrants on the budgets of state and local governments.” Congress of the United States, Congressional Budget Office, 2007.
Rosenblum, Marc R., Jerome P. Bjelopera, and Kristin M. Finklea. “Border security: Understanding threats at US borders.” (2013).
Smith III, Luther B. Illegal Immigration: Is It a Threat To National Security. ARMY WAR COLL CARLISLE BARRACKS PA, 2006.
Warner, Judith Ann. “The social construction of the criminal alien in immigration law, enforcement practice and statistical enumeration: Consequences for immigrant stereotyping.” Journal of Social and Ecological Boundaries 1.2 (2005): 56-80.
White, Deborah, “Analysis of Immigration Reform Proposal,” Liberal Politics: US. http://usliberals.about.com/od/immigration/i/BushImmiReform.htm. Accessed 25 February 2017.