Immigration, damaging or helpful? Immigration has been a problem in the United States since before the country was established. Many citizens and politicians claim that illegal immigration is a hindrance to the country’s economy because immigrants take American jobs and that they don’t pay taxes. They also agree that our government spends too much money in keeping them out. People on the other side of this argument claim that immigrants help by taking unwanted jobs with very little pay, and in doing that they are helping keep the prices of domestic goods down across the country.
Businesses also suffer when massive layoffs occur. When spending by households decreases, incomes decrease for the businesses. Governments are not immune from the effects of massive layoffs of employees either. When households spend less, and businesses are selling less, there is less sales tax to be collected by the government. Also, when employees are laid off there is less income tax to be collected and to make things even worse, former employees can collect unemployment benefits from the government.
Take back your tired, your poor, and your huddled masses! America was once known as the “melting pot” of the world, where any and all were welcomed. However, under the new pressures of a recession, a growing population, and the unemployment issue, many immigrants, both legal and illegal, are being turned away. Harsh, unequal immigration regulations undermine America’s founding principles and contribute to the tensions and discriminations that continue to occur regarding a citizen’s national origin. A standard, across-the-board policy would allow America to continue its “melting pot” legacy while maintaining a feasible economy for all.
Every country still has its laws and its borders and thus the flow of people who leave or arrive within it is an ongoing debate on the policies, the pros and cons and every other aspect of it. Immigration is something that is happening around, even faster lately because of the world economical crisis that makes people search for better opportunities. For some countries it is a new phenomenon, but in others it is the normal way and dream. People run amazed by American Dream or any other ideal living in a state that they have in mind or have heard of. Sometimes it is just the opposite, sometimes it works well.
Therefore, the United States has so many economic issues. The American citizens who pays taxes are the ones paying for illegal immigrants to stay and live in America. The number of jobs that illegal immigrants take deceases the availability of jobs for the legal US citizens. If the illegal immigrants work for very low wages and in unfit working conditions, a legal citizen wouldn’t get because they wouldn’t work for so cheap pay. It’s becoming harder and harder for a US citizen without a high school diploma to find a job.
Sure, immigration can have a real positive impact to the U.S but there are flip sides to the positives. Illegal immigrants can surely bring their skills and abilities, but they can also bring illegal drugs and crime as well. They also bring low cost work force, but is that right? The flip side to that is they take jobs of Americans because they are willing to work for a lower cost. When the illegal immigrants make money, they spend a little in the U.S, and that helps our economy.
Another reason for the disparity is that some economies are unable to provide substantial skills to participate actively in the global economy. Such countries provide obsolete and low valued talents such as weaving and farming, hence leaving them with limited opportunities for abundant economic growth. As a result, this has led to a misallocation of wealth as the rich constantly improve and develop themselves to enjoy the benefits of globalization, often capitalizing on the low skills and poorly paid workers. As such, in 2003, the richest fifth of the world’s population received 85% of the world’s income, while the poorest fifth received only 1.4% of the global income (Infoplease, 2005). One possible solution to ease inequality in the globalized world is through progressive taxation.
Many Americans are blinded by the image of success; they will do anything to portray that image even if they can’t afford it. Americans have become so accustomed to loans; they will take our high interest loans in order to live the new American dream. While America is falling deeper and deeper into debt, corporations and high ranking officials are living in a booming society. They are doing this by laying off their workers in masses. With fewer workers they force their employees to work harder with the same pay.
Therefore they have limited rights when it comes to employment and their desperate nature to support themselves or their families leads them to hazardous working conditions and wages much lower then the minimum wage. In Mexico city some workers earn 20% less then the minimum wage. The poorest workers are the pepenadores or the rubbish collectors. They earn a living from selling salvaged bits of metal and plastic. There is also a huge discrepancy in the distribution of income as the poorest 40% of the population control less then 12% of the country's personal income.
Most of these workers are hired to work in the agricultural, manufacturing, and construction industries. These workers are not given any kind of health care or any other benefits and can easily be mistreated or discriminated against since they do not have any legal rights. This can cause hardship for the illegal immigrants and also put strain on the government at a local, state, and federal level due to the evasion of taxes. The general population is also affected by illegal immigrants since these immigrants are taking jobs away from the legal citizens and driving up the unemployment rate of our country. The United States has a right to limit and control immigration into the country and I feel that every attempt possible should be taken to minimize this ongoing problem of illegal