Illegal Immigration: Big Problems for America

Illegal Immigration: Big Problems for America

Benjamin O. Gerlach

COMM/215

04/21/2011

Dannelle Shugart

Illegal Immigration: Big Problems for America

Illegal immigration is one of the more controversial issues in American politics and will be for years to come. Illegal immigration is an alarming crisis that swarming the United States. Immigrating to the United States illegally is not only a crime it is a federal offense. Even though some think that the laws regulating illegal immigration are unjust, illegal immigration is a major problem in the United States because it adversely affects the United States economy and is associated with high crime rates, expressly in bordering states. The individuals opposing stricter guidelines and fortified enforcement of immigration laws may not be aware of the disturbance on the United States caused by the influx of illegal immigrants. Although heightened border enforcement probably has contributed to the reduction of the number of individuals illegally crossing into American territories, a huge problem still remains.

Economic Drawbacks

The United States economy is in dire straits, needless to say. However, complicating issues further are the vast amounts of illegal immigrants working in America. Illegal immigrants make up about four percent (11.2 million) of the American population and about five percent (8 million) of the United States workforce (Yen, 2011). Many employment opportunities for Americans are unavailable because employers are hiring illegal immigrants at an extremely low pay rate that most Americans cannot afford to live off. Many of these immigrants send the wages they accrue here in the United States back to their country to support their families. The money taken out of circulation in America also adversely affects the economy. According to Jewell (2011), “The failure of illegal immigrants to contribute to the tax pool, coupled with the fact that those who employ illegal...