Illiegal immigrant

Illegal Immigration Very few s or topics in the United s elicit as much emotion and finger pointing as the debate about immigration reform. However, to obtain a clearer and realistic view of this discussion, the topic will be evaluated from a vantage point of information which is derived from non-partisan and reputable sources such as government agencies/ institutions and reputable journals or books. In the United States, there are currently about 11 million illegal immigrants. While the illegal immigrants affect the unskilled American workforce negatively, researchers and economists tend to believe that the American economy benefits in general from the presence of illegal immigrants. As such, the economic growth and subsidization of social security are the primary factors which will be used to support this view.
The Pew Research Hispanic Trends projected that there are approximately 8. 4 million undocumented workers in America (Passel et al 2011). When compared to the total American labor force, they represent only 5. 2 %. Thus, illegal immigrants form a significant part of the American labor force. In acknowledging the significance of illegal immigrants in America, Susan Combs (Texas comptroller) implied that the illegal immigrants make up about 6. 3 % of the Texas workforce. As such, an exit of the undocumented workers would decrease the gross state product of Texas by about 2. 1 %. Additionally, some parts of the American economy depend entirely on the labor provided by the illegal immigrants. In fact, the US department of agriculture and the United States department of labor state that illegal immigrants are very beneficial to the American economy.
More than half of workers employed in the agriculture industry in America are illegal immigrants, mostly from Mexico. The department of labor quoted their figure to be about 53% while the labor unions put the percentage at 70. Although proponents of immigration reform argue that an influx of illegal immigrants reduces the number of jobs available for Native Americans, research has shown that most of these immigrants are unskilled. Thus, they tend to only affect a small percentage of Native Americans who are school dropouts and with no skills. Therefore, the argument that illegal immigrants are taking over jobs meant for American citizens is not true. On the other hand, if these illegal immigrants were to be expelled from the United States, there would be an acute labor shortage in America. This sentiment was echoed by the USDA and the department of labor.
A lot of immigration reform activists or proponents argue that illegal immigrants skip to pay income taxes, hence they tend to benefit more than the cost of services they are given by the government. In contrast, the IRS stated that nearly 6 million illegal immigrants pay income taxes each year (Lipman, 2006). Furthermore, the congressional budget office in its report claimed that around 30-50 % of illegal immigrants tend to pay local, state or federal taxes. In fact, the Texas comptroller stated that illegal immigrants contribute nearly 18 billion dollars to the state’s (Texas) budget. Additionally, they inject nearly $7 billion into social security yearly. The illegal immigrants don’t benefit from this service (social security benefits) since they are not eligible. However, older Americans benefit from the services. Thus, the illegal immigrants support older American citizens.
Conclusion
Thus, illegal immigrants tend to have a positive impact on the American economy. Although they affect negatively a small percent of Native Americans, their aggregate economic effect benefits more Americans. Illegal immigrants enable American citizens to enjoy lower prices of consumer goods since they offer cheap labor.
Works Cited
Lipman, Francine J. ” Taxation of Undocumented Immigrants: Separate, Unequal, and without Representation, The.” Harv. Latino L. Rev. 9 (2006): 1. Print
Passel, Jeffrey S., and Senior Writer DVera Cohn. Unauthorized immigrant population: National and state trends, 2010. Washington, DC: Pew Hispanic Center, 2011. Print