With over 11 million immigrants in the United States illegally (as of 2012), the issue of illegal immigration continues to divide Americans. Many people have different opinions dealing with illegal immigrants. "Illegal immigration (also referred to unauthorized or undocumented immigrants) refers to the migration of people across national borders in a way that violates the immigration laws of the destined country." and a "Immigrants are persons admitted as legal permanent residents (LPRS) of the United States. The conditions for the admission of immigrants are much more stringent than nonimmigrants, and many fewer immigrants than nonimmigrants are admitted. Once admitted, however, immigrants are subject to few restrictions; for example, they may accept and change employment, and may apply for U.S. citizenship through the naturalization process, generally after 5 years.
Like everything else, people either agree or disagree with illegal immigration. I personally I cant choose a side. An illegal action is illegal and is not right and these people are living here without paying taxes yet they are very hard working and take jobs that most Americans would not do. There are two very strong arguments dealing with illegal immigrants.
They include:
Illegal immigration benefits the US economy through additional tax revenue, expansion of the low-cost labor pool, and increased money in circulation. They contend that immigrants bring good values, have motivations consistent with the American dream, perform jobs that Americans won’t take, and that opposition to immigration stems from racism.
Opponents of illegal immigration say that people who break the law by crossing the US border without proper documentation or by overstaying their visas should be deported and not rewarded with a path to citizenship and access to social services. They argue that people in the country illegally are criminals and social and economic burdens to law-abiding, tax-paying Americans.
Since these two sides and both convincing and persuading, will we ever just ignore illegal immigration? Or will it always be a problem?
I agree with Gabrielle because it is fairly difficult to put myself in the situation of an illegal immigrant because i can't personally fathom being in their shoes.Living in America today is a very hard place to make a living when you aren't fluent in the english language. Hearing all the disputes about illegal immigrants makes me wonder what side i am on; but the truth is, its hard to pick a side. i try to imagine what it would be like standing in front of a 7-11 and praying someone will ask me to work for them for a day; just because it is so simple for a girl like me to get a steady job. Appearance is everything now a days and for an illegal immigrant to try to find a job is difficult due to the fact that most of them cannot speak fluent english or can not afford decent clothing.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to the two views expressed at the end of this post, I believe that regardless of your opinion on illegal immigration, what needs to be addressed is the present existence of many undocumented workers in this country right now.
ReplyDeleteRecently, I have been researching issues with healthcare that surround illegal immigrants, which tends to be a rather heated topic in this realm. Many people claim that they are presently clogging the emergency rooms of the nation’s hospitals, seeing as hospitals are required by law to treat those who direly need medical care, regardless of whether or not they have the proper paperwork. This does happen often, but why? Can’t undocumented workers seek non-emergency care?
Sure, but they have to pay out of pocket - which many of them can’t do. And, under the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), clinics and health centers are required to ask for more paperwork, so they are, naturally, deterred.
But doesn’t Obamacare make it necessary for everyone to have health coverage? Not illegal immigrants, no - in fact, not only does it not require them to have it, it doesn’t offer them coverage at all. And with reason, sure - they’re not here legally.
But they are here - and deporting them is certainly not the first way of handling it. Perhaps the issue lies in Obamacare, or a lack of government funding to hospitals, which can’t seem to keep up with unrecoverable costs due to treatment of undocumented workers who can’t pay their bills.
In the end, if we don’t help these people now, they are going to be a detriment to our country, even more so than some claim they already are. They are draining hospitals and public facilities of some of their money and taking up room in ERs that should be available for people with more pressing conditions. So why not offer them healthcare? Not only will they be paying into it, but perhaps offering them a hand may give them more of incentive to acquire citizenship. Otherwise, they may as well just continue living under the radar.