Essay on "Effects of Illegal Immigration on the North America"

Essay 5 pages (1600 words) Sources: 8 Style: APA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Illegal immigration is tearing apart the United States. According to Katel (2005), "More than 10 million illegal immigrants live in the United States, and 1,400 more arrive every day." Immigrants are changing the social and cultural composition of the United States of America. Because most of the illegal immigrants are poor and purposefully enter the United States to find jobs, they are lowering the economic class status of the nation as a whole. The illegal immigrants are also an extraordinary drain on the United States economy. Illegal immigrants take jobs away from real Americans and are making it harder than ever to get the American economy back on track. Another major problem related to illegal immigration is crime. Although most statistics show that crime is down in most border areas and that illegal immigrants do not cause crime spikes, the perception is that illegal immigrants are a threat to American security (Whitaker 2010). Fear alone is a sufficient reason to blame illegal immigrants for causing terrorism. Illegal immigration is putting a major strain on white America. White Americans would soon be outnumbered if illegal immigrants from Central America were permitted to enter the country and proliferate. The situation with illegal immigration has gotten too out of hand, which is why some states have taken major measures to combat illegal immigration. Unfortunately, the Federal government seems to be on the side of illegal aliens instead of Americans. The government must understand the repercussions of illegal immigration. Illegal immigration has security, cultural and economic effects on the North American countries.

The security impact of illegal immigration is huge. Now that Osama bin Laden is dead, Americans can turn to the greatest threat to safety and security: Mexicans. Illegal immigrants are threatening domestic security. They are causing crime and contributing to terrorism. The fact that illegal immigrants are already breaking the law by crossing the border proves that they are inherently and by definition criminals. Any law-abiding citizen would respect the laws of other nations. Therefore, Mexicans do not respect the laws of the United States. Whitaker (2010) shows that illegal immigrants "represent 14% of all inmates jailed for manslaughter and murder, and 24% of inmates on drug charges."

Their illegally crossing the border suggests that Mexicans do not respect other American laws and might be willing to break them too. When illegal immigrants are caught, they are placed in jail and hopefully deported. They are breaking the law, making them criminals. According to the Federation for American Immigration Reform (2007), "those who sneak into the country undergo no form of screening for criminality or any other grounds for exclusion... illegal aliens... end up being co-opted into criminal activity." Because illegal immigrants cannot always make enough money due to the fact that honest Americans will not hire them, many will turn to organized crime and drugs as a means to make money.

The illegal immigrants might also be networking with crime syndicates in Latin America to create drug smuggling rings that can be considered international terrorist threats. No longer is Osama bin Laden the main threat to the United States. Now it is time to focus valuable criminal justice system resources and counterterrorism resources on illegal immigrants. Illegal immigrants may even be killing more Americans than the war in Iraq did ("Does illegal immigration relate to higher crime incidence?" 2008). The fact that illegal immigrants cause crime and increase terrorism is absolutely true, in spite of the fact that the FBI disagrees. For example, crime data shows that "in San Diego violent crime is down 17%. In El Paso, Texas violent crime down 36%…In Phoenix major crime has dropped 10% from 2000 to 2009," (Whitaker 2010). These statistics mean nothing when Americans know for a fact that illegal immigrants are the best scapegoats after Muslims.

Another core reason why illegal immigrants are tearing apart America is that they are changing the social demographics and culture of the nation. A complete distortion of Western culture is taking place because of illegal immigrants. The Mexicans are imposing their culture and lifestyle on Anglo Americans. If polka music blasting from cars is not sufficient proof of the degradation of American culture, then San Francisco should be. San Francisco, the den of American iniquity, has just proven that it is the enemy of the United States by providing sanctuary for illegal immigrants. Proudly calling itself "one of the first sanctuary cities in the nation," San Francisco "plans to end its cooperation with federal immigration officials and start releasing illegal immigrants arrested for minor offenses before they can be picked up for deportation," ("San Francisco to Stop Detaining Arrested Immigrants for Deportation" 2011). Nothing could be more dangerous to the national security and culture of the United States than pot smoking gay Mexicans: and where else would pot smoking gay Mexicans come from than San Francisco.

Illegal immigrants are also reducing the tolerance of good Christian people in America and making America too liberal. For example, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, believes that illegal immigrants should be granted amnesty. "Lawmakers should…extend visas to allow more high-tech and agriculture workers to enter the U.S.….and Congress should give young people who were brought to the country illegally when they were children more leeway to remain." ("Napolitano urges federal immigration overhaul" 2011). Illegal immigrants are changing the essentially Christian conservative character of America and their influence must be stopped.

One of the most important reasons to oppose illegal immigration is that immigrants are a drain on the economy. Although some people believe that the United States was a nation founded by immigrants, and that immigrants have always contributed to the economy, apparently the opposite is now true. Illegal immigrants are costing taxpayers money that would be better spent elsewhere. The Colorado Alliance for Immigration Reform (2007) found that, "the economic and social consequences of illegal immigration... are staggering... Illegal aliens have cost billions of taxpayer-funded dollars for medical services... Immigration is a net drain on the economy; corporate interests reap the benefits of cheap labor, while taxpayers pay the infrastructural cost," (cited by "Top 10 Pros and Cons" 2009).

Already there is a high unemployment rate among citizens. Yet illegal immigrants are willing to work for low wages, in many cases lower than the minimum wage (Katel 2005). This takes away the opportunity for many Americans to work during the summer picking tomatoes or to barter for lower wages with their employer. Americans have the right to work for lower wages. Another reason why illegal immigrants are draining the American economy is that they are breathing our air, filling up our landfills, and contaminating our drinking water. Instead, the illegal immigrants should remain in their home countries and destroy the environments there. The government is footing the bill for illegal immigrant children to attend school. Actually it is the taxpayer who funds illegal immigrants. According to the unbiased source Illegal Immigration Statistics (2011), "the average amount you and your family paid in taxes this year to support illegals" is $1,117.

In spite of the overwhelming evidence that illegal immigrants are bad for the economy, bad for American culture, and the cause of crime and terrorism, some people still believe that illegal immigrants are not bad. Gardner (2011) claims that, "many illegal immigrants pay into the system, including sales, property and income taxes." Even if that were the case, it does not offset the enormous drain illegal immigrants present to the system. For example, Illegal Immigrant Statistics (2011) states that the cost of educating the children of illegals is "by far the single largest cost to the American taxpayer." The United States government under Barack Obama is pro-immigration because of the DREAM Act, which allows illegal immigrants to have a pathway towards eventual citizenship. Such ideas are… READ MORE

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