The Negative Effects of Illegal Immigration on America
"57 percent of all households that are led by an immigrant (legal or illegal) are enrolled in at least one welfare program." – Michael Snyder |
“According to the California Hospital Association, health care for illegal aliens is costing state taxpayers well over $1 billion a year. Eighty-four hospitals across California have already been forced to close because of unpaid bills by illegal aliens.” – Ann Coulter |
Terms:
amnesty: a pardon for committed crimes. immigration reform: the changing and improvement of the immigration policy Federation for American Immigration Reform(FAIR): a non-profit organization working towards immigration reform and a stop to illegal immigration. |
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Population:
Economic and Fiscal Impact:
- The United States does not have a population policy. However, this does not mean that our country can easily support the illegal aliens. They use valuable, sometimes scarce resources needed by citizens.
- The estimated population of illegal immigrants in the Unites States in 2012 was approximately 11.43 million. That counts for about 3.7% of the US population (Passel 2).
- Illegal immigrants make up 5% of America's workforce (Passel 4).
- According to the Census Bureau in 2007, the rat of net immigration into the United States is around 1.25 million a year. At this rate 105 million people will be added to the whole population by 2060. This includes illegal and legal immigrants (Camarota 1).
- Steven A. Camarota of the Center of Immigration studies states that, "Supporters of low immigration point to the congestion, sprawl, traffic, pollution, loss of open spaces, and greenhouse gas emissions that could be impacted by population growth"(1).
Economic and Fiscal Impact:
- Illegal aliens take jobs that would otherwise go to legal citizens.
- An article written about Gordon Hanson, a Professor from University of California, explains, "By focusing on the economic costs and benefits of legal and illegal immigration, Professor Hanson concludes that stemming illegal immigration would likely lead to a net drain on the U.S. economy—a finding that calls into question many of the proposals to increase funding for border protection"(Hanson 1). Illegal immigrants are already draining our funds yet we have to spend even more money to try and keep them out of the country.
- Illegal immigrants create a huge burden for taxpayers. Taxpaying citizens should not be responsible for funding the lives of illegal aliens yet according to the Federation for American Immigration Reform, "illegal immigration costs U.S. taxpayers about $113 billion a year at the federal, state, and local level"(FAIR 1). It also states that the majority of the taxes that natives pay come from the public schooling of the children of illegal immigrants, costing around $52 billion dollars each year.
- Illegal immigrants typically have low wage jobs that cannot fully support them, therefore, they need government assistance such as welfare. The Director of Research at the Center for Immigration Studies, Steven Camarota explains in an article that "We estimate that 52 percent of households with children headed by legal immigrants used at least one welfare program in 2009, compared to 71 percent for illegal immigrant households with children. Illegal immigrants generally receive benefits on behalf of their U.S.-born children"(Camarota 1). The illegal immigrants are taking advantage of their native-born children and reaping the benefits. And who pays for this? Taxpayers of America.
- The act of illegal immigration is a crime itself.
- The United States has a strict border patrol system. If someone is caught crossing the border illegally, it is a misdemeanor on the first account but then becomes a felony if the deportee repeats the offense(FAIR 1).
- According to the Federation for American Immigration Reform(FAIR), illegal immigration is not a "victimless crime" but "causes an enormous drain on public funds(1).
- Illegal immigration is often linked with drug crimes, gang activity, and identity theft. The smuggling of cocaine and marijuana is a constant struggle between the border of the United States and Mexico. Often times, drug smuggling is related to gang activity and most of the gang members in the United States are illegal aliens(Taylor).
- In order to make a life in the United States, many illegal immigrants steal the identities of American citizens. Mike Baker of Forbes magazine said, "Many illegal aliens are also resorting to identify theft. During a recent raid at Smithfield Foods in the Bladen County town of Tar Heel, investigators found that 86 percent of workers arrested for immigration violations had also stolen identities from American citizens. Warns U.S. Attorney General George Holding, “It’s an epidemic problem”(Taylor).
List of crimes committed by illegal immigrants: http://www.fairus.org/issue/examples-of-serious-crimes-of-illegal-aliens
What is being done currently?
President Obama does not think that it would be right to ship all of the illegal immigrants out of the country. He has a common sense plan to try and reform the immigration policy and solve the problems that we are facing.
4 elements of the plan:
-Strengthening border security.
-Simplifying the legal immigration process.
-Providing a way for illegal immigrants to legally earn citizenship and stay in the country by paying taxes and a penalty. (basically amnesty)
-Verification of legal employees within companies.
President Obama does not think that it would be right to ship all of the illegal immigrants out of the country. He has a common sense plan to try and reform the immigration policy and solve the problems that we are facing.
4 elements of the plan:
-Strengthening border security.
-Simplifying the legal immigration process.
-Providing a way for illegal immigrants to legally earn citizenship and stay in the country by paying taxes and a penalty. (basically amnesty)
-Verification of legal employees within companies.