Undocumented Workers Essays

Undocumented immigrants make up a large portion of the workforce doing jobs that are undesirable to many people. They leave their stable live in search of better opportunities for their family. The people who come to the united states do not come because of their own benefit. They come in search of benefitting their next generation. Immigrant workers know that the position that they are in is not the best and is more difficult to change their own path in life, so they put their focus on raising children in an environment where their children can see the benefit if certain commodities like an education. Although they have difficult jobs with small compensations and no benefits, they continue to work to serve as an example that hard work is the

Many would consider illegal immigrants as cheap laborers who increase money circulation since they are being paid under the table. On the other hand, deportation costs are paid by the government and with that at the tax-payers expense. Some would also say that illegals do not pay income taxes and therefore could harm the U.S. economy.

has been an unsolved problem since the 1920's even though there are many solutions to bring down the high number of illegal immigrants certain laws and lack of restriction had kept many illegal immigrants in the country. In America there are almost 12 million illegal immigrants, these immigrants are taking advantages of freedoms that do are not meant for them and that do not apply to them. 8 million of these immigrants were taking jobs and earning less money than if they would have if they were legal citizens. Around half of these immigrants have been in the U.S. for at least a decade, even with visas they would not be able to stay here that long. If we put these laws into place, such as state based laws and increased punishments and deportation then the number of illegal immigrants would be

There are many pros to this topic, such as the fact that the government would earn more taxes. Most illegal aliens are paid under the table because of the law. If we provided the undocumented workers with amnesty, they could be paid legally and pay taxes. This would contribute to Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, the NLCATP reported. Another positive would be that welfare dollars would be going toward American legal residents. So much money is going to illegal immigrants every year. What if we made them legal residents? The money would then be contributing to the welfare of Americans, no longer the foreigners. (“Pro and Cons of Amnesty for Illegal Immigrants.”)

In the United States illegal immigration benefits the economy and growth, but also creates more problems such as inviting more immigrants. According to the article Undocumented Immigrants Should Receive Social Services by Melissa Marietta confirms “Immigrants to this country are not fighting for a student loan or access to a free clinic; they are fighting for the opportunities that they are denied in their native country” (Marietta). Most people look for a better future and head towards the opportunities illegal immigrants recognize United States as a land of opportunities. There are many working opportunities such as mining, railroad, lumbering, and construction in the United States. For example, a common job for illegal immigrants is the construction field. The

Employment of illegal immigrants in the United States, as well as other countries has been a highly controversial subject for many years now. There are many people living in various countries around the world that are unhappy with the way they are living, and want something more out of life than what their country can offer. Due to their unhappiness, they decide to immigrate to another country, and this is usually done illegally. Once they are in their preferred country, which a lot of the time is the United States, they are forced to work in low skilled jobs because higher skilled jobs require people to speak fluent English and show proof of residency. Although many people view illegal migrants as a

However, the main reason to support the undocumented immigration is that they do works that Americans do not want to do.Thus, since the most Americans do not compete with illegal workers for jobs, there is not a significant shift in the wage rate. But there is a small portion of the population who can be still hurt by immigrants doing their jobs for example, those without high school diplomas.

Illegal immigration has plagued the United States since immigration laws were created, and has worsened in recent history. Since Ronald Reagan’s Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 provided amnesty for 3 million illegal aliens in exchange for increased border security, millions of people have entered the country illegally. Over the past 30 years, the illegal immigrant population of the country has more than doubled from 5 million in 1986 to over 11.5 million in 2015. It has become one of the most controversial political issues in America. While not every undocumented alien is a bad or dangerous person, illegal immigrants in general are a national security threat, harmful to the economy, and a burden on the social welfare system. The best solution to the illegal alien problem is to secure and enforce the border, purge American territory of every person unlawfully trespassing upon it, and reform the immigration system to make it easier for foreigners to enter the United States legally like people have done for centuries.

The US labor force would not survive if it was not for illegal immigrants. If there were no illegal immigrants our labor force would decrease by four percent (Isidore 5). “We could not have grown as much as we did in the 1990s if we did not have immigrants… our growth would have been slower (Isidore 5).” Having illegal immigrants in our labor force increases the amount of resources we have, which increases the amount of production in the country. “Some economists discuss that not only do U.S. consumers benefit from lower prices as an outcome of the low wages most immigrants are paid, but that the convenience of lower-wage labor helps create more work for higher-skilled, higher-paid workers who are generally born in the US (Isidore 14).” Illegal immigrants are opening up higher wage jobs, because they take over the lower wage jobs. Many immigrants take jobs in the field of construction, agriculture

Dealing with the legal status and deporting undocumented immigrants can cost the United States a lot of money. The country would also lose a lot if they deported all undocumented immigrants. The immigration system is broken and needs to be fixed. The immigration system as of now can’t keep up with the demand of a growing economy and the diversity of the nation. The strict legal limits on green cards makes it nearly impossible for undocumented immigrants to become legal. The country should try to make it as easy as possible for those who qualify to legally come into the country on visas and green cards. A bill has been proposed a bill that would provide a path to citizenship for the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country and to tighten the security at the border. Congress and the President have worked on bills and acts to try and reform immigration. Most of the acts and bills have been rejected and some are being worked on now. Improving rights, and making the process for becoming legal easier, could help more immigrants get into the country and make an impact on the economy. What the immigrants have done so far the economy has helped a lot

Next, a study by Raúl Hinojosa-Ojeda states that using a comprehensive immigration plan that involves giving current undocumented immigrants legal status would benefit the country with 1.5 trillion dollars in additional GDP growth over 10 years while increasing wages for all workers. Additionally, tax revenue would be increased by 4.5+ billion dollars over three years. The same study shows the cost of mass deportation, which is 2.6 trillion dollars in lost GDP over 10 years while increased wages for less-skilled workers. These undocumented immigrants certainly have a heavy influence regarding the economy, and it may be beneficial to incorporate them by granting amnesty as opposed to other solutions such as mass deportation. With legal status, the 11 million undocumented individuals can be more productive and help further strengthen the U.S. economy.

Illegal immigrants help boost the United States economy by paying some taxes. Like American citizens, illegal immigrants may pay local, state, and federal taxes including sales tax that helps support government services that they may not be able to access (Ewing 9). Since more American citizens are becoming aware of the benefits of an education, openings are being created for illegal immigrants in low paying jobs (Nadadur 1037-1052). Americans, unlike illegal immigrants, have more diverse careers. Aliens are more concentrated in specific job areas, resulting in a decrease in immigrant labor cost. This helps boost the United States’ economy (Carter 777-795). Of the approximate eleven million illegal immigrants in the U.S., most work in labor intensive jobs. Careers such as construction and agriculture tend to attract illegal aliens and they account for about twenty-five percent of the work force in these areas (Ewing 9). Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve admits that illegal immigrants help improve the United States economy and does not suggest turning them away (qtd. in Quindlen 90). Anna Quindlen, in her article “Newcomers By Numbers,” agrees with Bernanke and believes that immigrants are the factor that helps keep prices low. She also adds that immigrants are not causing American citizens unemployment, but are simply taking the low wage jobs that citizens are not willing to do and even boosting the economy (90).

be issued a temporary worker card that will allow them to travel back and forth

This expansion of low cost labor pool assisted in increase money circulation. As mentioned in the article, “Should Labor Unions support an Immigration Amnesty?” The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007, this legislation states that for the first time in 40 years, deviate from the long-held Americans have earned a middle class life style and Congress should be working to protect it not take it away. From an economic viewpoint many of these low paying jobs have also had to deal with being exploited and forced to work under harmful conditions. Although illegal immigrants are exploited in many ways, American citizens feel that illegal immigrants are the primary cause for the high rise in unemployment in the United States. However, many of our hard paying labor workers do not have to live in our country to compete with our citizens. Today many our jobs are being performed internationally in many countries. Also with many of our citizens struggling with their small business low paying, illegal immigrants are very beneficial to the economy. Illegal immigrants are well known for their low pay and hard work that they offer. Many of these illegal immigrants are willing to take jobs that many of our citizens would not consider working for. On the other hand not allowing for illegal immigrants to work, would not resolve the economic struggle of unemployment.

While, misinformation about the role of undocumented workers and the effects that they have is one problem with the immigration system of the US, there are other programs at fault. For example, The Guest Worker Program was created to provide seasonal non-agricultural jobs to foreigners and was made to give opportunities for people that need it. However, this program has some defects. After workers had been recruited they can only be working for one person; there is no opportunity for them to look for different job opportunities. This is a problem because it can lead to abuse from the employers. One instance of that is when Tim Fernholz on his article about the guestworker program says, “Moreover, workers who participate face serious abuses, often because the program permanently links them to a single employer giving them little power to demand their rights”(1).