Illegal Immigration Essay

The United States of America, the land of the free and the home of the brave, where opportunities were vast, and people migrated in seek of a greater life; however, the American way of living has since then become obsolete and in it’s stead a country facing extreme fiscal burden due to a high influx of illegal immigration which has a resulted in a dramatic tax increase for the American people, a decrease in the quality of life and job availability, and the overall state of America and the economy. Furthermore, a nation penetrated every year by some 300,000 illegal aliens†¦is not a nation experiencing ‘immigration’, but rather, a nation experiencing an invasion. For centuries, our nation has been a safe haven for people of different cultures and nationalities to inhabit. However, that which we have prided ourselves in, will ultimately contribute to our greater downfall; for the negative effect illegal aliens are having on the U.S economy and society, is so gre at, it will eventually surpass and reach the point beyond resuscitation. As stated above, many as a safe haven have considered the United States, thereby, resulting ongoing struggle of people fighting their way into the country for decades. However, as the decades pass, the issue continue to rapidly escalate in gravity. With the United States border being so close to Mexico it is now seeing the highest population of illegal immigrants to date. The rising population is due to the lack of jobs in their country, poor pay and ill work environments. However, it has become the issue which it currently is due to the US having problems with high taxes, steep insurance costs and new laws. Even though the United States is a free country, immigration has changed over the years because of an increase in illegal immigrants, stricter laws and harsher penalties. In the last few decades the United States has had to increase the taxes for their American citizens due to the increase in the illegal immigrant population. â€Å"Even with the national government pouring billions of dollars into the education of LEP students, state and local taxes provide the lion’s share of the funding needed to hire bilingual teachers, purchase non-English textbooks and instructional resources, and hire other professionals or paraprofessionals  who can communicate with non-English speaking parents.† Education is where a major portion of money goes to help illegal immigrants learn to speak English. â€Å"Local taxpayers continue to expend more money to support education; and in communities that serve high numbers of illegal immigrants, such taxpayers will have to provide even more money to public school districts. Universities have been petitioned by local education agencies to prepare more educators to work with LEP students, so additional funding for research and curriculum development will be required at the university level.† Many illegal immigration sympathizers attempt to portray illegal immigration as a victimless crime, when in actuality, not only do they willfully and knowingly cross the border, but the act also causes substantial harm to American citizens and legal immigrations- more specifically, those which reside in the more vulnerable and impoverished areas of our population. They not only cause an enormous drain of public funds, but in addition, as proven by the National Academy of Sciences, the taxes they seldom pay do not even partially cover the cost of services they receive. Of which include, education, health care, and other services intended for legal Americans. More so, they entering into the country has severely affected job availability for minority workers and those without high school degrees in America. Furthermore, illegal aliens pose a great threat to national security seeing as by it creates greater opportunities for terrorist to attempt to blend in within those crossing the bord er. However even though, this is a small issue in the overall greater problem which is illegal immigration, the main issue truly resonates in the deep negative effect they are having our economy and quality of life. As stated in the article, â€Å"Do Illegal Immigrants Actually Hurt the U.S Economy† from the New York Times, the author described the story of Pedro Chan, an illegal immigrant from Guatemala who crossed the border in hopes of â€Å"a better life in America†. He explained how said illegal alien earns up to $25,000 a year working as a handy man, but furthermore, claimed that these illegal immigrants despite the money they send to their native countries, in fact spend most of their earnings here in America, therefore, allowing the money to circulate within our economy. The author even stated that as all economists, of all political  persuasion, have proven that illegal immigrants –regardless of their legal or illegal standing- benefit the overall economy. When in actuality, the fiscal burden that caused by illegal aliens on U.s Taxpayers is estimated at the federal, state, and local level to be about $113 billion; nearly $29 billion at the federal level and $84 billion at the state and local level. Furthermore, the annual outlay that illegal aliens cost U.S taxpayers is an average amount per native household of $1,117. More so, this number varies greatly depending on the size of illegal alien population in that locality. However, e ducation for illegal aliens undoubtedly constitutes the single largest cost to taxpayers, with an annual price tag of nearly $52 billion. Even though, at a federal level, about one-third of outlays are set to par by tax collections from illegal aliens, at a the state and local level, an average of less than five percent of public costs associated with illegal immigration is recouped through illegal alien tax collections. For the truth of the matter is, the majority of illegal aliens do not pay income taxes, and the few who do, are refunded the revenues collected through tax returns, in addition to claiming tax credits which results from payments from the U.S treasury. With many states, such as California and New York, facing state budgets being in deficit, policymakers are desperately seeking way to reduce the fiscal burden of illegal immigration. With California’s budget deficit being $14.4 billion in 2010-2011, with an estimated $21.8 billion in annual expenditures on illegal aliens, and New York with $6.8 billion deficit and nearly $9.5 billion in yearly illegal alien costs. While these statistics were gathered from the fiscal year of 2010-2011, the profound negative effect of illegal immigration continues to escalate and further accentuate the already enormous fiscal burden it has placed on the American people. Furthermore, if amnesty for the illegal alien population were fully implemented, while tax collections from illegal aliens would marginally increase, the new legal status would make them eligible for receiving Social Security retirement benefits, in addition to numerous social assistance programs for low-income populations. The r esult of this would ultimately be catastrophic and result in the fiscal burden to increase 10fold. As shown by Federal Expenditures on Illegal Aliens chart, they American government divides Illegal Alien expenditures by: education, medical, law enforcement, public assistance and general expenditures. In 2010-2011, the education subtotal was that of $2,107,800,000; medical was $5,949,900,000; law enforcement, $7,838,700,000; public assistance being $4,564,600,000; and general expenditures at $8,184,400,000. Thereby, bringing the grand total of illegal alien expenditures to $28,645,400,000. While this number represents the grand total of 2010-2011, it is a clear indicator of the negative impact they are having on our economy, in addition to playing a vital role in the impeding of the economic resuscitation. Furthermore, the most part, is that said persons who are negatively impacting our country in actuality should not even be in the position to create such casualties, seeing as they should not reside in the country to begin with. For many, such as Vice President Joe R. Biden, feel that illegal immigrants are as part of the American country and culture as the American Revolution. However, despite Mr. Biden’s ostensible statement to the U.S Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, â€Å"you know, 11 million people live in the shadows. I believe they’re already American citizens. These people are just waiting, waiting for a chance to contribute fully. And by that standard, 11 million undocumented aliens are already Americans, in my view.† Well, much like the Vice President’s previous statements, this was also a near nonsensical and politically befuddling statement. For even though Supreme Court Justice, Sonia Sotomayor, has said illegal aliens should be referred to as undocumented workers, in actuality they are neither the former nor the latter. Illegal Aliens, as defined by the IRS, is an individual who is not a U.S citizen or U.S national, and violates our nation’s laws by unlawfully cr ossing U.S borders. Thereby, such illegal entry is a misdemeanor, and, if repeated post initial deportation, become punishable as a felony. Therefore, if their entering of the country is a crime, thereby, making them criminals, why should 1.) Illegal alien amnesty considered an option and 2.) They be referred to as undocumented workers, let alone â€Å"Americans†. The harsh truth being, they are not Americans, in any sense, they are illegal aliens, who have willfully illegally crossed U.S borders, and are now causing unrectifiable damages. Although Border Patrol plays a crucial role in the ongoing war against illegal immigration, this issue cannot be controlled solely at the border; drastic measures by the United States government and more importantly Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) must be taken to bring this epidemic to a halt. Those, which overstay their visa, in addition to the EWI’s who pass by Border Patrol unscathed, must be identified and immediately removed by interior immigration inspectors of ICE, and deported to their country of origin. Unfortunately, ICE currently is constrained from detaining and deporting any illegal aliens that do not possess criminal convictions or pose as a threat to national security. The main issue with this, is since the topic of illegal immigration is associated with morality and treatment towards humanity, people often forget or choose to stay blind towards the fact that all those which illegally enter the borders of a country are by default criminals. Therefore, if they knowingly, and willingly, entered the country illegally, they should have to face the repercussions of their actions. The only way to bring about the termination of this grand influx of illegal immigration is to make a united and conscious effort to bring about its demise; that which requires ensuring illegal aliens do not obtain any form of public assistance benefits, public education, public housing, employment, or any other form of taxpayer-funded benefit without detection. Furthermore, focusing on the three major components of immigration control, which are: deterrence, a theory that criminal laws are passed with well-defined punishments to discourage individual criminal defendants from becoming repeat offenders and to discourage others in society from engaging in similar criminal activity; apprehension, the seizure and arrest of a person who is suspected of having committed a crime; and removal, the transfer of a person or thing from one place to another or the transfer of a case from one court to another. In this sense, removal generally refers to a transfer from a court in one jurisdiction to a court in another, whereas a change of venue may be granted simply to move a case to another location within the same jurisdiction. The country must unite, and demand Congress and the Executive Branch to strengthen these three components and reestablish their focus American people, not illegal aliens, as their main focus point- for our government is meant to govern â€Å"by the people, for the people† (i.e. American citizens). In order to effectively control illegal immigration, it requires a balanced approach with a myriad of enforcement improvements that extend far beyond the border; including: procedural reforms, an increase in investigation capacity, asylum reforms, document improvements, limitations on judicial review, improved intelligence capacity and state/federal cooperation, and major reforms in detention and deportation procedures. Even though the cost of these extensive reformations that will result in effective control and management of the laws against illegal immigration are high, it ultimately will cost the US government, economy, and people, far less than allowing illegal immigration to run rampant. In conclusion, it appears that the debate over the future stance over illegal aliens has been brought to two options: pursuing a strategy that discourages future illegal immigration and increasingly diminishes the current illegal alien population through denial of job opportunities and deportat ions, or the more probable and highly detrimental, to adopt an amnesty that further invites continued illegal immigration. The America that our predecessors once knew has become obsolete, and merely a figment of our imaginations. The once great empire that we were, ceases to be, as we have been stricken by a myriad of things, and of those being illegal immigration; of which has been a great problem of ours for decades, more so greatly due to the 1986 amnesty which resulted in a further escalation in the fiscal burden they cause. Furthermore, if the 2014 amnesty of illegal aliens is passed, then the fate of this once great country has been sealed, seeing as it will only result in a higher influx of illegal aliens crossing the border- an event which will greatly contribute to the demise of the once â€Å"American Empire†. Works Cited 1. â€Å"Illegal Immigration | Center for Immigration Studies.† Illegal Immigration | Center for Immigration Studies. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2014. < http://cis.org/Illegal> 2. Davidson, Adam. â€Å"Do Illegal Immigrants Actually Hurt the U.S. Economy?†The New York Times. The New York Times, 16 Feb. 2013. Web. 12 Apr. 2014.< http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/17/magazine/do-illegal-immigrants-actually-hurt-the-us-economy.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0> 3. â€Å"Immigration Issues.† The Fiscal Burden of Illegal Immigration on U.S. Taxpayers (2010). N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2014. < http://www.fairus.org/publications/the-fiscal-burden-of-illegal-immigration-on-u-s-taxpayers> 4. Chantrill, Christopher. â€Å"Compare States Growth And Debt.† For 2014. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2014. < http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/state_debt_rank> 5. Chumley, Cheryl K. â€Å"Joe Biden: Illegal Immigrants Are ‘already American Citizens’ to Me.† Washington Times. The Washington Times, 28 Mar. 2014. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.< http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/mar/28/joe-biden-illegal-immigrants-are-already-american-/> 6. â€Å"Immigration Issues.† Illegal Immigration Is a Crime (2013). N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.< http://www.fairus.org/issue/illegal-immigration-is-a-crime