Introduction
Immigration is the movement by people from one country to another with the motive of permanent settlement in another country. Across boarder movements are majorly facilitated by unfavorable conditions in some countries as compared to others. This paper seeks to carry out an argument that strict measures should be adopted in order to counter illegal immigration. The paper will look into the negative impacts that are suffered by the host countries in order to form the ground on which illegal immigration must be stopped.
Arguments for Control of Illegal Immigration
Immigration has been a global factor on a variety of bases that range from family based immigration in which individuals move to join their relatives in other countries to humanitarian grounds which include cases of refugees. Most of the reported illegal immigration has majorly been based on social security which sums up to economic factors in different countries. This leads to higher flow of populations from developing countries to developed countries whose economies are perceived to be better.
This direction of flow is associated with the hardships in countries of origin which drives the immigrants into seeking better lifestyles in economies that are recognized to offer better opportunities. One of the impacts of such immigration is the financial burden that is laid on the government in terms of making provisions for the immigrants.
The basic responsibility of government to provide to its citizenry will be extended to the immigrants, which implies increased government spending. The economic strain is worsened if the immigrants are not productive to the economy. The United States of America has, for example, realized a large number of immigrants that calls for more than ten billion dollars in government expenditure with respect to social security on the immigrants.
Though the immigrants at times contribute to the economy through their paid taxes, their contribution has not been sufficient to cover for their needs. The taxes that immigrants in the United States of America pay are for example reported to be way below their needs in the health care alone. An independent consideration of budget with respect to immigrants thus has a deficit that is then transmitted to the federal’s annual budget.
The strain is further realized with respect to the emergency services that the immigrants are entitled to under government funding. This strain on the government resources that puts native citizens at risks of not getting such services due to scarcity thus calls for adequate measures to ensure that the number of immigrants is reduced (Meissner, Meyers, Papademetriou, Demetrios and Fix 1).
The economic impacts as realized from immigration are similarly felt by individual legal citizens in a number of ways. The fact that the immigrants are mostly driven by economic factors is a disadvantage to the natives in terms of job competition. Their level of desperation together with remuneration rates in their native countries that enable the immigrants, especially on their arrival, to accept relatively lower wage rates creates unfair competition to the natives in the job market.
This follows the fact that employers will seek a relatively cheaper labor with the aim of reducing operational costs. There is therefore a potential risk of job losses by legal citizens to the cheaply available labor provided by the illegal immigrants. Though the immigrants are normally characterized with lower pays upon their arrival, this change with time and they get equal treatment as the other citizens.
The impacts that are felt due to the incorporation of the immigrants are particularly serious due to the fact that cases of unemployment are also significant even in the developed countries. A considerable assimilation of immigrants into the labor market thus has the direct impact of increasing the unemployment crisis that the governments have not been able to handle. A considerable approach to at least maintain the unemployment rates would be an effective control of the infiltration of the job markets with immigrants.
This can be achieved by discouraging any further influx of immigrants. This can either be achieved by taking more strict measures to ensure that immigrants to not cross boarders into the host countries. Actions against existing illegal immigrants can also be employed to act as an example for discouraging other people from illegal immigration (Sari and Kerr 18).
Legislative provisions in some countries have also been identified to promote illegal immigration. A consideration of laws that have been enacted in the past by congress in the United States of America can for example give hopes of legalization of immigrants. The provisions have been realized to have a lot of leniency that immigrants seemingly take advantage of.
Past legislations that offered amnesty to illegal immigrants in the year 1994 and further extension of such amnesty can for example be interpreted to send a wrong message that illegal immigrants in the United States of America can be protected rather that be prosecuted for getting into the country illegally.
There have also been provisions that selectively allow individuals, bases on specified factors such as geographical and humanitarian, to freely move into the United States and be accorded permanent residence. This has also offered a loop hole into immigration as the provisions can be used by any individual to gain entry into the United States.
The fact that the American constitution has been interpreted by the supreme court for the government’s responsibility to protect and be responsible for any individual who is within the nation’s boarders thus adds to the need that an avenue needs to instituted to ensure that the level of immigration is curtailed. This provision is for instance realized in the fact that once immigrants are in the United States of America, they are subject to government services that include federal funding at higher education levels.
Services that are provided in academic institutions have also been greatly liberalized in many states to allow for equal treatment for both legal citizens and illegal immigrants. The economic attachment that are again realized with respect to these provisions thus forces the need to stop the immigration before the immigrants gain access into the nation.
According to Nilsson, immigration is characterized by a wide variety of setbacks that calls for its regulation. Immigration is characterized by population increase in the regions in which the immigrants settle. This has the direct impact of straining resources that are in most cases scarce. Natural factors such as land and other economic resources that can not be reproduced are thus subjected to faster depletion due to increased population.
Increased demand for commodities which leads to scarcity also forces prices up thus contributing to higher costs of living. Increased population which leads to increased utilization of land for housing also restrains other economic activities for which the land could have been used. Agricultural activities as well as industrial investments may thus be compromised in order to offer land for accommodation.
Another impact of immigration especially in cases where governments are charged with the responsibility over the immigrants is the inefficiency in service provisions due to scarcity of resources relative to demand. High population can significantly overstretch provisions such as transportation, education, health care and other essentials such as water and power. This leads to poor standards of living that can be transmitted to legal citizens who are living in the same region.
Allowing illegal immigrants to settle in a country to the disadvantage of the country’s citizen thus strains the relationship between governments and their citizens over the responsibilities of the governments to safeguard the well being of its citizens. Scarcity of resources that has been evidenced by unemployment rates and budget deficits thus leaves governments with the only option controlling immigration (Nilsson 1).
Arguments for immigration
There are however some arguments that have associated immigration with economic success in nations such as the United States of America. It is also claimed that immigration can be a key to achieving key interests in America in the twenty first century. Such opinions suggest that immigration helps host countries in coping with economic challenges as well as enriching the host countries in terms of diversity (Meissner, Meyers, Papademetriou and Fix 13).
Conclusion
Immigration is characterized with a number of impacts on the citizens and even governments of host counties. Impacts such as increased unemployment rates, reduced wages and strained social facilities that are reflected in the countries’ economies outweighs the claimed benefits of immigration especially due to the current global economic crisis. Strict measures should thus be taken to control illegal immigration.
Works Cited
Meissner, Doris., Meyers, Deborah., Papademetriou, Demetrios and Fix, Michael. Immigration and America’s future. Migration Policy Institute, 2006. Web.
Nilsson, Tomas. Negative economic impacts of immigration and population growth. Tasmanian Branch of Sustainable Population Australia, 2005. Web.
Sari, Kerr and Kerr, William. Economic Impacts of Immigration: A Survey. Harvard Business School, 2011. Web.