The Immigrant Question

Dante Guevara English 1302.2504 November 23, 2010

Dante Guevara ENG 1302.2504 Research Paper November 23, 2010 Thesis: Upton Sinclairs The Jungle is relevant today because it concerns about he importance of immigration into the United States. Audience: The intended audience is my classmates in English 1302 and Mr. Humphreys. Purpose: To research the importance of immigration, legal and illegal, into the United States and possible solutions to reduce illegal immigration.

OUTLINE The Immigrant Question

Thesis.- Upton Sinclairs The Jungle is relevant today because it concerns about the importance of immigration into the United States. Introduction: A. Upton Sinclairs The Jungle B. Relation to Immigrants I. Plot Summary: A. What The Jungle is about B. What Sinclair intended with The Jungle C. Illegal and Legal Immigrants D. Impact of Illegal Immigration II. Possible Solutions A. What can be done in the US B. What can be done on the countries of origin III. Conclusion IV. Works Cited

The Immigrant Question Upton Sinclairs The Jungle is as relevant today as it was on January 25, 1906 when it was released as a book because it touches an important issue in modern society and is particularly applicable towards the importance of immigration, legal and illegal, into the United States. The Jungle is a delineated image of the life and misery of a Lithuanian family who came from overseas to pursue their dreams of becoming wealthy and prosperous in the United States of America. Throughout the book, Sinclair details the astonishing procedures of the meat packing industry; however, Sinclair also depicts the tragedy of immigrant workers, Jurgis Rudkus and his family (Sinclair 1) at the Packingtown" factories in Chicago. Jan Whitt in his article argues that what [] Sinclair intended when he published The Jungle was to alert the nation to the conditions under which immigrants and others worked and lived in a capitalistic state, but he had no intention of inspiring public health reforms (1). As noted in an article by Newshour Extra about Sinclairs The Jungle turns 100, Today the meatpacking workforce is largely made up of immigrants from Latin America. Charlie LeDuff, a reporter for the New York Times who went undercover in a North Carolina meat plant, says that these workers, many undocumented or illegal, are often the only people willing to work this job. And because they're illegal they are reluctant to unionize, afraid they'll be deported [] wages have fallen to between $8 and $12 per hour. Safety remains a concern: Last year, Human Rights Watch, draw attention to human rights violations worldwide, issued a report criticizing the industry for increasing production at the cost of workers' health. Many of the workers' injuries are not reported."Workers are under constant pressure

from managers and supervisors not to report injuries (many managers get paid bonuses for low reporting rates), and fear losing their jobs if they report injuries. Immigrant workers especially are vulnerable to pressure not to file such reports (2). Immigration, especially illegal continues to be a dividing topic, not only in the U.S. but throughout the world. It is a problem that starts at countries where a big portion of its population experiences hunger, unemployment, oppression, and violence, and these people clandestinely cross the borders of countries that are prosperous, peaceful, and rich in opportunity. Although this is not only a problem facing the United States and Europe, few people realize the impact that can have on both countries, the labor surplus countries of origin and the countries of destination where this labor is needed, and the impact can vary depending on whom you ask. According to New Mexicos state representative Stevan Pearce in a congressional testimony said, [] illegal immigration is impacting four key areas of my constituency: residents, local law enforcement agencies, local hospitals, and the Federal court system because of increased criminal activity. These criminal cases place a massive burden on the local departments particularly because the officers must process the criminals and detain them until they can appear before a judge at a cost of approximately $50 per day per inmate; massive amounts of debris left behind by the illegal immigrants had to be cleaned by residents and Federal mandate to provide emergency care to illegal immigrants is pushing my district's local hospitals' resources beyond their capacity to cope (1). On the other hand, Gene Zaleski from the Times and Democrat Newspaper argues [] that a wholesale crackdown, in the state of South Carolina, on illegal immigration would adversely impact the state's agricultural industry 2

and that the government should not disrupt any industry now dependent on this labor force. If we tighten our borders and we go to mandatory verification, you would see farms go out of business immediately (1). Once in the foreign country, legal and illegal immigrants gravitate towards becoming employed in what is known as "low skilled jobs." The benefit for legal immigrants is that once they learn the language of their new home, it becomes easier for them to leave that low skilled job scale, especially if some type of professional degree is achieved. However, for illegal immigrants the low skilled job level becomes somehow a lifestyle. These jobs are regularly labor intensive and don't tend to appeal many employees. As Steven A. Camarota of Center of Immigration Studies points out that "[l]ow levels of education create deficit [...] and this study show that the primary reason illegal households create a fiscal deficit at the federal level is that their much lower levels of education result in low incomes and tax payments that are only 28 percent that of other households. Thus, even though the costs they impose are estimated to be only 46 percent those of other households on average, there remains a significant net deficit. Whether one considers their use of services low is a matter of perspective. Because illegals are not even supposed to be in the country, many Americans are angered by the fact that they receive any services at all. This is especially true of transfers to households like food stamps or cash payments from the Child Tax Credit. Although many Americans are upset about their use of public services, there is little evidence that illegals come to America to take advantage of public benefits. Most illegal aliens come for jobs, and the vast majority are in fact employed. But low levels of education mean they unavoidably create large 3

costs for taxpayers (1). In the United States for example, the landscaping and construction sectors tend to be popular with immigrants as there is habitually no requirement to be articulate in the English language. Other employment segments that attract illegal immigrants comprise restaurants, hospitality, prostitution, agriculture and domestic services. Some adduce that illegal immigrants are inclined to take on the jobs that residents or citizens reject while others argue that illegal immigrants take away jobs in general. So what can be done to reduce the illegal immigration from one country to another? As stated by Michael T. Lempres illegal migration can be reduced without using the Army for law-enforcement purposes or amending the Constitution. It merely requires that we clarify and enforce the law. And once illegal immigration has been reduced, the U.S. can hold a meaningful discussion on levels of legal immigration (Lempres 2). Immigration is an issue of homeland security and an international challenge, with measureless human implication important to the lives of so many individuals and families. It points to the center of questions of citizenship and American distinctiveness and address an important role in framing both Americas essence and its representation in the world. Also, the countries from where people are crossing borders illegally can reduce the outflow of their citizens by improving education, increasing job opportunities specially among young people and reducing corruption. The article Many Hands, Few Jobs by Bouvier and Simcox asserts that Mexico must create jobs at almost half the pace of the U.S., [] Low wage jobs in labor intensive industries may be insufficient to hold many restless young people who see richer returns in the U.S. continued political 4

stagnation, increased repression, or internal strife could send hundreds of thousands of additional Mexicans northward in search of safety or economic relief. Surging growth and growing youthfulness of the population have fed the region's soaring immigration to the U.S. in recent decades (1). The governments who find themselves in a situation where its young people dont feel included in the economic prosperity will have a population unsatisfied and very likely to cross borders legally or illegally. By having access to education, non discriminatory job environment, and a good financial stability, illegal immigration can be reduced substantially. Also, it will be more beneficial that the so called rich countries instead of sending monetary donations to poor countries, establish programs where people in the poor countries can learn new skills or improve their output capacity so their own people can become more self sustainable. In the article The Continuing Failure of Foreign Aid by James Bovard said, Instead of breaking the "endless cycle of poverty," foreign aid has become the opiate of the Third World. AID and other donors have encouraged Third World governments to rely on handouts instead of on themselves for development. No matter how irresponsible, corrupt, or oppressive a Third World government may be, there is always some Western government or international agency anxious to supply it with a few more million dollars. By subsidizing political irresponsibility and pernicious policies, foreign aid ill serves the world's poor. American foreign aid has often harmed the Third World poor. In Indonesia, the government confiscated subsistence 5

farmers' meager plots for AID-financed irrigation canals. In Mali, farmers were forced to sell their crops at giveaway prices to a joint project of AID and the Mali government. In Egypt, Haiti, and elsewhere, farmers have seen the prices for their own crops nose-dive when U.S. free food has been given to their countries (1). As Withley and Berhman of Bloomberg Businesweek wrote about a comment made by Carlos Slim, [t]he only way to fight poverty is with employment. Trillions of dollars have been given to charity in the last 50 years, and they dont solve anything(1). Immigration, even if reluctantly, welcome or unwelcome, there is no way to stop it for a very simple reason that in their home countries, the incentives for them to leave are more powerful than the obstacles put in their path to dissuade them from coming. In other words, there is work for them where they are headed. This may seem a very pessimistic essay to those who hold an opinion that immigration, especially black, brown or yellow skinned immigrants, convey an uncertain future for Western democracies. But for those like myself that are convinced that immigration of any color or flavor represents an injection of life, energy, and culture and that countries everywhere should consider it a blessing. Also, this is what we are. Our families, all of our families, came from somewhere else. If that is acknowledged, there is no choice but to try to work towards a more pluralistic, a more tolerant, and a more connected future.

Works Cited Bouvier, Leon and David Simcox. Many Hands, Few Jobs Population, Unemployment and Emigration in Mexico and the Caribbean. Center for Immigration Studies.December 1986. < http://www.cis.org/node/34> Bovard, James. The Continuing Failure of Foreing Aid. Cato Institute -Policy Analysis. 15 Nov. 2010. <http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa065.html> Camarota, Steven A. The High Cost of Cheap Labor: Illegal Immigration and the Federal Budget. Center for Immigration Studies. August 2004. < http://www.cis.org/ node/54> Lempres, Michael T. Getting Serious about Illegal Immigration. Demistifyng Multiculturalism. National Review 21 Feb. 1994. Page 2. Sinclair The Jungle Turns 100. Newshour Extra. 10 May, 2006. <www.pbs.org/newshour/extra> Pearce, Stevan. Representative United States. Impact of Illegal Immigration. FDCH Congressional Testimony; 11/10/2005. < http://0-search.ebscohost.com.library. dcccd.edu/login.aspx? direct=true&db=mih&AN=32Y0285773277&site=src-live> Sinclair, Upton. The Jungle. Literary reading and writing. Brookhaven College, Class materials. Farmers Branch: Fall. Semester:2010. Pages 1-15. Withley, Angus and Elisabeth Behrmann. Carlos Slim Prefers Job Creation to Giving Money Away. Bloomber Business 29 Sep. 2010: C1 Whitt, Jan. From The Jungle to Food Lion. Journalism History; Fall2008, Vol. 34 Issue 3, p170-173, 4p. <http://0-search.ebscohost.com.library.dcccd.edu/login.aspx?dire ct=true&db=wdh& AN=35117450&site=src-live> Zaleski, Gene. Solutions to Illegals must not ignore impact on farming, officials, farmers say. Times and Democrat, The (Orangeburg, SC); 08/21/2006. < http://0search.ebscohost.com.library.dcccd.edu/login.aspx? direct=true&db=nfh&AN=2W62878163705&site=src-live>