Mekkaoui 1

Mohamad Mekkaoui Professor Deborah Taracuk ENG 101 02/28/2012 Illegal immigration in todays America Every year hundreds of thousands of people from around the world attempt to enter illegally the United States primarily from its southern border with Mexico. It is a problem that affects all Americans especially in the Border States. The main reason these immigrants come to this country is to escape poverty so it is an economic reason. There are more than 10 million illegal workers in the United States. Most of these illegal immigrants are living and working in four states:California,Arizona,Nevada and Texas. Because illegal immigrants outnumbered legal ones, the consequences of this illegal immigration have many negative impacts. And less positives outcomes .The 2008 economic slowdowns made the situation worse because the immigrants are now competing with the American work force for fewer jobs. Unemployment has been a recent important issue everywhere in the United States. The news shows every day more and more companies are laying off. Illegal immigration escalated the unemployment situation because these undocumented workers are taking jobs away from the citizens. One group Who defend immigration argue that immigrants do jobs that the citizens dont approach because it is low paying or they taking unwanted jobs .Statistics and recent reports estimated that these jobs taken denying all entry level applicants such students,
1

Mekkaoui 2

retired and part time job seekers from the opportunity to land any entry positions because these jobs are already filled by immigrants. The issue is not about high skilled or low paying jobs it is about that in a slow economy or recession every opportunity count and every job opening has great consideration. The only sector which may need or benefit from undocumented immigrants is the agriculture industry especially in California. The nature of agriculture sector requires flexible and seasonal workers and demand intensive manual labor. The federal government will suggests immigration legislation organize, control and apply the laws concerning hiring seasonal agriculture workers. Illegal immigrants (I dont like to use the word Aliens) will cause more pressure on the public services due to the fact that majority of them bring their families with them. The illegals families and children will apply at least for free public schools and they will not been denied under United States constitution from the education process. Enrolling their kids in public schools will intensify the burden and strain the financial position of so many school districts which will raise property taxes in order to fund the education process. Immigrants children special programs like teaching in Spanish will require more funding. The other public assistance which will be affected is the free healthcare under emergency situation. As the immigration level rises, concerns are growing over the extra burden immigrants place on the government through their use of services such welfare, health care, and schools.(Smith P.13). The cheap labor supplied by immigrants has positive effect and negative one. Many people argue that cheap labor provided by workers help the economic cycle and production. It is about reducing cost for businesses and then passing the savings to consumers. So a pizza

Mekkaoui 3

franchisee that will pay an illegal worker minimum wage, it will cost the consumer less to buy the pizza.Most of these illegal immigrants work in construction and lawn maintenance. When the market takes into consideration this cheap labor supply, it will tend to take down Americans workers wages and provide them with fewer benefits. The social costs for illegal immigration are enormous and it is not for the best interest to the United States to keep the influx of illegal immigrants without control. All past experiences and plans have failed to address this controversial issue. The problem of illegal immigration is very difficult to solve. The residents of the states that has the majority of illegal immigrants refused to provide any welfare services because it exhausts their financial resources. Although some illegal immigrants engaged in criminal activities like gangs, theft and narcotics, most of them are in this country to earn decent living, support their families and find better opportunities. The human factor is very crucial in dealing with this issue and centered around assistance from organizations and churches. They are people after all and they be treated without prejudice. Recently the state of Arizona, defying the federal government authority in dealing with immigration policy, legislated and applied harsh laws that discriminate against the basic rights of these immigrants. Arizona deny them the right to apply for drivers license and to enroll their children in public schools. They could be arrested and treated like criminals without going to the federal immigration courts. Alabama the second state started to apply the same measures against any undocumented workers. Some families were obliged to take their kids off schools for safety measures and moved to another state.

Mekkaoui 4

It can be concluded that a major immigration policy which consider the human factor and place the interest of all citizens should be legislated so soon to end this issue from starting any future national controversy. And to ensure that immigration laws will be respected.

Works cited Smith, P, and Barry Edmonston. The Immigration Debate. 2. Washington: The National Academies Press, 1998. 168. Print .

Mekkaoui 5