American Population and Illegal Immigration

America has always been known as the country who invites those less fortunate in, but at what cost? At what point will there be an end? There have been millions of people coming to the United States every year, fleeing from war torn countries and poverty, and the United States lets them in. They are supposed to be the country of freedom, but at a certain point it will need to stop. That point is now, the U.S. can no longer let people illegally immigrate into the United States.

Illegal immigration in the United States is causing major problems in today’s world due to the rise of conflicts in neighboring countries.

Many people in the United States don’t realize the impact of Illegal Immigration, or they just don’t care enough to pay attention. For the past few decades, it has been a enormous problem. One reason being all the gang members bringing in illegal drugs and putting them on the streets, causing gang violence. Then there’s the people coming in running from poverty trying to create a better life for them and their family. Reading this you might not think that would be a big problem right? It really is though, you have to think those people coming in are not only making the population grow severely but they are also taking jobs. Many companies (especially construction and factory jobs) would rather hire and Illegal Immigrant because they can pay them less, and they don’t have to file them for taxes, aka more money in their pockets.

Immigrants have been coming to the United States since the 1950’s.The percentage of immigrants from the following countries has changed since that time.When looking at where illegal immigrants come from up into the 1990’s, research has show that the those coming from Europe has dropped from 50% to only 15%. Those arriving from Asia rose from 6% to 30%, and immigrants from Mexico has has risen from 12% to 25%. Changes have occured since the 1960’s considering where immigrants come from due to the United States immigration laws and Acts put into place in the 1960’s and the 1970’s.

Immigration poses a threat to the United States when looking at violence and gangs. Gang members from South America can be viewed as some of the most dangerous and most threatening to the United States. The concern for this threat became even worse after 9/11. These gangs known as pandillas arrive to the United States from South America with a mission to actually control the government by causing violence. With technology and communication becoming so much easier, gangs throughout the world can communicate and makes the spread of their violence even easier, posing an even bigger threat to the United States.

Many people leave their own countries to find work in the United States. As stated in the the article, Migrant Workers and Their Occupational Health and Safety, search of work is the biggest drive to leave their own country. Migrant workers are one of the most taken advantage groups of workers there are. Working for less pay, and longer hours they are subjected to what is known as the 3-D’s – dirty, dangerous, and demanding. According to the NY Times article from April 5, 2005 Angel Martinez has been doing backbreaking work at times working as many as 70 hours per week in asparagus fields and only making $8.50 to $12.75 an hour.

Through payroll deductions he has paid nearly $2,000.00 to Social Security and $450.00 for Medicare, but because he is here as an illegal worker he will never receive any of the benefits from Social Security or Medicare that Americans do upon reaching retirement age. In fact the money that the government receives from taxes withheld from illegal immigrants payroll and that is paid into social security and medicare makes up a large percent of what is being paid out in benefits to those currently retired Americans.

Another problem the United States faces when it comes to immigration is overpopulation. In a country that is ever growing due to immigration Philip Cafaro and Winthrop Staples III provide an argument that immigration has a profound effect on the environment. In addition, Joe Bish provides yet another argument that “With climate change and other global ecological threats looming, the last thing the world needs is more Americans.” Yet another argument against immigration when looking at overpopulation, Amy Gulick expresses a reminder of what is at stake concerning the environment after studying the diminished rainforests in southeast Alaska due to an ever growing population.

When looking at conflicts that illegal immigration contributes to. The MS-13 and M-18 gangs cause a huge threat on the society. The government is worried that these gangs are teaming up and using their skills and criminal networks to smuggle terrorists into the United States. People seem to think that these two gangs have a more likely chance of being able to become more organized criminal enterprises capable of coordinating illegal activities across national borders. Evidence shows that deported alien MS-13 and M-18 gang members have established a “revolving door” migratory pattern of repeat illegal reentry into the United States, raising concerns that these “migratory” alien gang members may become involved in narco-trafficking, smuggling, and other criminal activities along the U.S.-Mexico border.

According to the research done by Aaron Chalfin, U.S. population that has been born in another country has doubled since the 1980’s. The number of immigrants from Mexico has quadrupled in that time period. In studying the crime rates in that same time period it was found that that they have actually lowered, surprisingly they have lowered drastically. Americans public opinion is quite the opposite however, and their belief is that increases in crime is a direct effect of immigration. He further states that in fact, immigrants are actually selected based upon ability to contribute and face higher consequences of punishment a deportation if caught breaking laws. Finally his research states that Mexican immigration tends to be neither associated with higher or lower levels of crimes.

In conclusion Immigration is causing many problems in the United States at this day and time which is causing the government to play a bigger role in trying to stop it. The government is making more laws everyday to try and stop the illegal immigrants from crossing the border. While we can look at all of the negative effects of immigration,we must also take into consideration that the the United States was founded upon open borders accepting anybody that wanted to come and make a better life for themselves and their families.

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