People have been migrating since prehistoric times. How and why would they choose to immigrate? What are the effects of immigration? In this essay about immigration causes and effects, you will discover the current debates surrounding immigration, such as issues related to national security and the economy. Mentioning the three main causes of immigration – political unrest and wars, freedom and rights violations, and poverty – the author concludes that immigration brings many benefits. However, it is vital for governments to carefully consider the consequences and develop policies that balance the needs of all parties involved.
Introduction
The issue of immigration has been in the limelight for a long period of time now. The most affected region being the United States of America which forms the destination of most immigrants. Immigration generally entails people moving from their native lands to other destinations where they end up settling (Williams 83). There are various reasons as to why people decide to leave their land and move to other regions. Some of which include search for employment, political uproars and natural disasters just to mention but a few.
The immigrants who get into another country are broadly classified into two groups that are the legal and illegal immigrants. Legal immigrants are those seek the authorization from the immigration department of the state’s government on entering the nation. That way, they possess legal documents and become just like the citizens of that nation.
Illegal immigrants on the other hand are people who enter the borders of a nation without proper immigration procedures and choose to remain in that country without permission (Williams 83). Therefore the problem of immigration is usually caused by the illegal immigrants and not the legal ones. This paper is therefore a synthesis of the issue of immigration especially in the United States where it is most prevalent.
Illegal Immigrants
The United States of America is one of the most preferred destinations for most illegal immigrants in the world because of its open border policy. As a matter of fact, the United States has procedures in its constitution that allow the presence of illegal immigrants in the country. Thus it is deemed to have the highest number of immigrants according to research done by the Department of Homeland Security where the population of illegal immigrant was 10.8 million in 2009 (Espenshade 195).
Illegal immigrants in the United States of America have led to both negative and positive impacts in terms of economic and social status. For example, they have created problems of a bilingual society, drug trafficking, traffic congestion and the free-rider problem. However, illegal immigrants contribute greatly to the society by performing tasks that the civilized Americans would not perform such as the construction industry.
Causes of Immigration
The reason as to why people flee from their country is because of different problems that may have cropped up in those regions. Thy therefore decide to move to safer and more comfortable regions. Some of the major causes of immigration in the current world include;
Political unrests and wars
This is one of the common causes of immigration in various regions of the world. The fact that most people live in regions where the governments and politicians practice corruption hence being inefficient in their duty of work leads to people moving to other regions in search of peace and harmony (Swanson 1). At the same time, in nations where they are experiencing civil wars with their neighboring nations, people will therefore flee to the peaceful regions.
Freedom and Rights reasons
Every human being desires to have freedom and rights to do whatever they would wish as long as it is in accordance with the law. The deprivation of rights has been another cause of immigration. In areas where people are prosecuted because of their religion or culture, they tend to run away from such thus finding places where they will be accepted.
Poverty
People are forced to move in search of greener pasture when the pain of hunger grows stronger than they can hold. This occurs as a result of areas that have been draught stricken or flooded such that getting food is a problem. That way people move to areas that have food for them to consume lest they die of hunger.
Effects of Immigration
Immigration has both negative and positive impacts on the nation in which the immigrants settle. However, the cons of immigration outweigh the pros with the only benefit being a source of cheap labor for the informal employment (Swanson 1). The negative effects of immigration therefore include;
To begin with, immigration is major cause of overpopulation in the United States of America. As a result the resources are constrained since they have been overwhelmed by the increasing population.
The overpopulation issue is what now leads to other problems such as increased crime rates, pollution, congestion in housing and use of public amenities (Beck 165). In other instances, if the immigrants are left to grow in numbers, then they may at one time cause wars with the natives as they fight to possess the lands they have settled in for a long time.
Immigration Policies
The fact that immigration is not acceptable both socially and economically, it should be curbed out. Some of the ways through which immigration could be reduced to minimal levels is through enactment of strict rules governing the immigration issue.
For instance the government of the United States has put in place The Secure Fence Act of 2006 as well as the Comprehensive Immigration form at its border with Mexico. This was initiated by the former president Bush in a bid to reduce the number of immigrants coming from Mexico to the United States.
This act enabled the construction of a fence along the border with Mexico at the south. Other than this, the Act led to the authorization of additional vehicle barriers, checkpoints and increased lighting at the border so as to ensure that only legal migration took place. On the other hand, the Comprehensive Immigration form has increased the funding allocated for border security thus ensuring that safety was enhanced at the border as a result of additional border patrol agents and guards.
Conclusion
From the above discussion, it can be clearly seen that the issue of immigration is a cause for most societal and economic problems. However, the immigrants cannot be blamed for their acts since they do so in search of peaceful regions. It would therefore be against the human rights to chase and reprimand the immigrants. As a matter of fact, some of the immigrants enter the border for genuine reasons such as being safe and getting cheap employment to sustain their livelihoods.
Thus assist in industries such as the construction, restaurants, truck driving, and masonry among others which heavily depend on the labor from the immigrants. It has been noted that most of the employers prefer using labor from the illegal immigrants because they end up saving so much on the cost of wages. Therefore, despite the fact that the illegal immigrants do not pay taxes to enjoy the public goods and services, their contribution to the economy counterbalances the argument.
References
Beck, Rita. The case against immigration. (2001) Oxford, UK: Norton Publishers, Shapiro, Richard.
Espenshade, T. “Unauthorized Immigration to the United States” Annual Review of Sociology. (1995). Volume: 21. pp. 195.
Swanson, Marisa. The causes and effects of Immigration. 2010-2011. Web.
Williams, Mary. Immigration. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2004. Page 83.