Illegal Immigration: Threat to Economy

Introduction: Illegal Immigration in the United States

Illegal immigration is a part and parcel of modern world, and there is nothing one can do about it. Partially, it is the process of globalization to blame; once one lets the boundaries between the states down, it is expected that people start moving in search for better places. As a rule, illegal immigration is often viewed as a negative process and is linked to a range of negative phenomena in the state economy, such as high unemployment rates and undercut wages. However, researches show that the rest of the effects of illegal immigration may be viewed as surprisingly positive, whereas the aforementioned economic issues are, in fact, triggered not by illegal immigration, but the economic and political strategy chosen by the state government.

Hypothesis: Addressing the issue

Although illegal immigration is often viewed as a phenomenon having a most deplorable effect on the state economy, the actual link between illegal immigration and the economic success of the state is, in fact, much more complex; as a rule, it is not the illegal immigration that triggers an economic downfall of the state, but a combination of the actions carried out by the state in order to address the problem, including the funding of illegal immigrants by the government, poor education standards and the following abundance of unskilled workers, etc. Designing a visa, which will allow immigrants for working in the state legally and creating a tax revenue to the government can be an efficient solution to the situation.

Method: Qualitative Research

As far as the means of data collection are concerned, the pragmatic approach has been utilized. To conduct a different type of research, a range of different types of data, including the information about the unemployment rates among the American citizens and the immigrants, the enrollment statistics, the graduation rates, etc. had to be calculated. Seeing that the information used in the paper embraces the rates among the U.S. citizens in general, and that the exact number of illegal immigrants had to be defined in order to design a different research type, it was decided that a general research should be taken for the sake of accuracy and veracity of the research results.

Literature Review: What Scholars Have to Say

The concern for a major increase in illegal immigration with the advent of the globalization process has been discussed thoroughly in a range of papers. While most researchers outline the key problems with illegal immigration and specify its negative influence on the evolution of the U.S. SMEs, many researchers point at the obvious inconsistencies in the arguments of the former. Indeed, the idea of illegal immigration being the key to the current deplorable state of the U.S. economy is a bit weird; claiming that the increased competition rates for specific jobs have brought the U.S. economy to its decay are a bit far-fetched. There are a number of other factors, which have a nonetheless intense effect on the financial and economic well being of the U.S. citizens. Ottaviano and Peri support this idea, mentioning that the negative effects of immigration are often exaggerated: “The empirical analysis of a cross-city and cross-state evidence in the United States has consistently found small and often insignificant effects of immigration on the wages of native workers” (Ottaviano and Peri 15).

Moreover, some authors go as far as claiming that some effects of immigration are beneficial for the U.S. economy (Ottaviano and Peri 15). It is assumed that, with the increase of migrant workers for the jobs that the residents of the United States neglect as low-paid, every single element of the U.S. infrastructure will be maintained at the proper level (Ottaviano and Peri 16).

In addition, the methods of controlling immigration and its effects are also researched rather thoroughly. While many researchers support the idea of introducing stricter measures for immigration rates regulation (Giordani and Ruta 924), many researchers suggest that immigrants should be provided with an opportunity to work in the USA. As a matter of fact, many researchers support the suggestion made by George W. Bush, i.e., the introduction of an “immigrant visa” (Shane 4), the creation of specific taxes for immigrant labor and the provision of the environment, in which immigrants can work and have a positive effect on the U.S. economy (Shane 4).

Discussion: Illegal Immigration and Its Positive effects on Economy

Though the issue of illegal immigration is often viewed solely through the perspective of the state government and the interests of its residents, the phenomenon, in fact, deserves to be viewed through the lens of immigrants as well. First and most obvious, it has not only negative, but also positive effects on the state economy. For example, illegal immigration sets the standards for the U.S. employees rather high by creating an impressive competition for a range of jobs (Olney 142).

In addition, proponents of more stringent immigration laws often disregard the fact that immigrants often take the jobs, which the citizens of the U.S. dismiss as an employment option. Low paid jobs are rarely viewed as an employment opportunity by most residents of the United States, whereas people immigrating to the USA from other countries fill in the “gaps.” According to the official statistics, the amount of people obtaining a degree and, therefore, aimed at applying for a well-paid job has risen by 32% over the last decade (Institute of Education Sciences para. 1). Hence, it is assumed that more options for people emigrating from other states to the USA have opened in terms of employment. By applying for the jobs that are glanced over by the residents of the United States, immigrants contribute to the progress of the state economy.

Moreover, claiming that immigrants’ refusal to pay taxes ruins the economy of the United States would also be quite a stretch. A closer look at the situation will reveal that immigrants, in fact, do pay taxes using fake Social Security numbers (Schepers 3). Moreover, such immigrants do not get a tax return due to the obvious reasons. Hence, illegal immigrants also contribute to the evolution of economy, though in a rather original manner. Claiming that illegal immigrants cause only harm to the financial, political and economic state of the country is wrong – they, in fact, do have a positive impact on the aforementioned areas; it is just that the state authorities will have to find a way to maximize the impact and eliminate the negative effects (Schepers 3).

It should also be born in mind that the U.S. economy rates have not been stellar over the past few years, and the current policies chosen for addressing the key economic concerns leave much to be desired. In the current situation, it is very easy to find a scapegoat and blame every single economic, social and political problem on it. Illegal immigration seems to have become such a lightning rod for the United States; instead of analyzing the factors that affect the degradation of the U.S. economy, people prefer to lay the blame entirely on the phenomenon that the government does not seem to have a full control over (Berry 617).

Naturally, there is no use denying that an influx in the rates of illegal immigration into the United States also has a range of negative consequences on the U. S. economy. Illegal immigration does have a negative effect on the financial state of the country, seeing that most immigrants refrain from paying taxes (Ottaviano and Peri 18). Moreover, illegal immigration prompts the increase in the number of non-English speaking members of the service system; consequently, the quality of these services drops impressively due to the lack of understanding between the customer and the employee. While in some fields, like in car maintenance, for instance, this might be seen as a mild annoyance, in such fields as medicine, the abundance of the staff that does not understand English puts people in a serious peril (Berry 616).

Solution: Supporting Illegal Immigrants

There is no need to stress the fact that illegal immigration is impossible to stop. No matter what measures are undertaken, people will always find a way to sneak into the country in order to find a job and provide for their family or earn their own living. More to the point, it is unreasonable to make illegal immigration cease, as it may lead to a considerable economic benefit for the state. Consequently, it will be much more reasonable to restrict the negative effects that illegal immigrants have on the U.S. economy, at the same time reinforcing the positive ones (Ottaviano and Peri 17).

As it has been stressed above, these are the financial issues, i.e., money fraud and the refusal to pay the taxes that poses a major threat to the well-being of the state and setting the U.S. population against immigrant workers. Therefore, creating an immigrant visa can be a viable solution and a reasonable compromise. It can be suggested that the visa in question will allow illegal immigrants to work in the United States, therefore, creating a tax revenue for the state. Meanwhile, the state will not have to apply stringent laws in order to reduce the immigration rates. The solution provided above is not new; it was suggested during the presidency of George W. Bush, yet was not implemented for a number of reasons, the political conflicts being the key one (Shane 4).

The solution, though clearly quite old, still holds up as a viable and efficient one. It sets the background for testing the strategy of sustainability in economy and foreign policy; in a way, the concept of “illegal immigration visa” suggested above is a ground-breaking attempt at solving one of the most topical problems of the 21^st century. The solution complies with the basic principles of human rights, particularly, the right to work; it allows for managing the immigration process; finally, it addresses the issue of competition between the U.S. residents and the migrant workers (Shane 4).

Naturally, such a solution is not a silver bullet, and it will not improve the current state of affairs immediately. Moreover, a few issues can be expected once illegal immigrants are provided with a chance to work legally. For example, the fact that immigrant applicants for a position will be considered in the same way as the legal ones or the local population may contribute to a slight increase in competition (Berry 616).

Regardless of the questionable effects on the competitiveness of job applicants, providing immigrants with an opportunity to settle and work in the state on a legal basis will do wonders for the state economy, particularly, the tax issue. With the creation of the visa, it will become possible to tax immigrant workers, which will improve the state of economy considerably. Certainly, there will always be an amount of immigrants refraining from paying taxes; however, it is expected that most people immigrating to the united states will use a chance to become legal workers and receive legal salaries, thus, avoiding the conflict with migration services and the law (Ottaviano and Peri 18).

Conclusion: The Steps to Be Taken

Immigration contributes to the emergence of the factors that have a versatile effect on the U.S. economy; some are admittedly harmful, yet others are undeniably positive. Therefore, preventing immigration from taking place is an unreasonable and even dangerous step to make; it will jeopardize the operation of the services, which most American citizens disregard as employment options. The idea of creating a visa for immigrants, therefore, making their work legal and contributing to the enrichment of the state is a hypothetically perfect solution to the problem.

Works Cited

Berry, Michael. “A Psychology of Immigration.” Journal of Social Issues 57.3 (2001), 615–631. Print.

Giordani, Paolo E. and Michelle Ruta. “The Immigration Policy Puzzle.” Review of International Economics 19.5 (2011), 922–935. Print.

Institute of Education Sciences. “Fast Facts: Enrollment.” Institute of Education Sciences. 2014. Web.

Olney, William W. “Immigration and Firm Expansion.” Journal of Regional Science 53.1 (2013), 142–157. Print.

Ottaviano, Gianmarco I. P. and Giovanni Peri. “Rethinking the Effects of Immigration on Wages.” Journal of the European Economic Association February 10.1 (2012), 152–197. Print.

Shane, Michael. “IMMIGRATION LAW UPDATE: Bush signs border security, visa entry reform bill.” Caribbean Today 4.1 (2002), 4. Print.

Schepers, Emile. “Immigration ‘Compromise Bill’ is a Fraud.” People’s Weekly World 2006: 3, 16. Print.