Illegal Immigration In America

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Pages: 8

Illegal immigration has been an unsettled issue for decades in America. According to United States Code, Title 8, §1101(a)(3), the term “alien” means any person who is not a citizen or national of the United States. The definition of an “illegal” immigrants is also defined in federal law, Title 8, §1365(b), stating, “an illegal alien is any alien whose most recent entry into the United States was without inspection, whose most recent admission to the United States was as a nonimmigrant, whose period of authorized stay as a nonimmigrant expired, or whose unlawful status was known to the Government, before the date of the commission of the crime for which the alien is convicted”. Moving to U.S. with various reasons, some immigrants move to escape …show more content…
This increase contributes to America’s huge population growth. Before 1900s, illegal immigrants were mainly from Europe; after 1900s, most of them were from Western Hemisphere and Asia. As reported by 2000 census, in early 1990s, there was an estimated number of 3.2 million unlawful immigrants from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Haiti, and in 2001, between 5 and 6 million illegal immigrants resided in USA. Others also arrived from Poland, Canada, Ireland and China (Profile of the Unauthorized Population – US). Some people, including President Obama, claim that immigration increases the Gross Domestic Product and outweighs all other considerations; in fact, they do not concern deeply with the problems that were caused by illegal immigrants (Ruark). Apologists of illegal immigrants additionally argue that illegal settlers are innocent and victimless since they do not physically injures anyone. However, illegal immigration does bring damaging effects to different aspects of United States and should definitely be categorized as a harmful misdemeanor. Illegal immigration should not be tolerated or appreciated since it challenges the economy of the country, lowers countrywide standard of living and living quality, and undermines national …show more content…
has experienced the highest level of immigration in history and wages in the nation have been stagnant or falling for decades. Illegal immigration contributes and adds on to the severity of the issue. As the amount of illegal immigrants pouring into U.S. augments, the country’s economy size expands since there are more people working. However, these immigrants are low-skilled and uneducated workers who are willing to work for low payments and they steal jobs from low-skilled labors within United Stated. 25% in farming is shared with unauthorized immigrants, 19% in building, 17% in construction and 12% in food serving (Corn). With large supply of workers, employers are allowed to cut down the price of workers and these workers who previously receive low wages get even lower earnings. As a result, they become low-income earners. Illegal immigrants drive these people into lower class and worsen income inequality. During years of growing illegal immigrants, the income gap rises from 14.5 percent to 36.8 percent (Martin). The organization FAIR supports the view that illegal aliens are the main cause by saying, “Income inequality grew faster in states with high numbers of foreign-born residents, especially where there were high shares of illegal aliens.” Researchers in Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco also describe immigration as a significant reason for growing income inequality by stating, “Economists have pointed to three particularly important drivers of the recent