Essay/Term paper: Immigration

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Immigration

Immigration should be restricted in the United States. There are many political, social, and economic reasons why restrictions should be put on immigration. The United States Government and the welfare of its citizens are chaotic enough, without having to deal with the influx of thousands of new immigrants each year. Along with the myriad immigrants to the U.S., come just as many economic problems. Some of these problems include unemployment, crime, and education. There are numerous amounts of U.S. citizens who are currently receiving welfare benefits from the government, many of whom are immigrants. The unemployment rate has been on a steady decline, which has started to level off in the past few years. With the addition of all these immigrants, the amount of people unemployed and on welfare is sure to increase geometrically, as the number of open work positions increases merely arithmetically; therefore contributing to our nations national debt, tax, and unemployment rates. The rates at which immigrants are willing to work at further burden the citizen's hope of finding a "good paying job". Business and industry owners do not care who they have working for them, as long as they hustle. So why, one may wonder would anyone hire an American worker at a higher rate, when an immigrant will do the same work for less pay? This increased competition for jobs is certainly related to the saturation of unemployed immigrants in the U.S. In addition to the economic problems that arise with immigration, there are also many social issues as well. Some of these issues include education, communication, and assimilation. The public school systems of the U.S. today are inadequate enough, without the hassle of trying to cope with immigrants. Assuming that the immigrant children are bilingual(most of which are not), they will still have much trouble adjusting to the curriculum, and most likely will need to be taught in separate classes; this requires more teachers, space, and desperately needed money. It can not be expected of teachers, the backbone of society today, to coach all immigrants through their troubles, and set aside extra class time to the soul purpose of further explaining matters to the ignorant immigrants. A large percentage of these immigrants will drop out of high school, about 33.1% of recent immigrants. Many immigrants are also criminals. Almost eighty percent of all aliens in prison were incarcerated for drug charges. Another problem that arises from immigration is racism. "The melting pot is melting down. The ethnic strife is tearing the country apart....This is destroying the social fabric of America. It's causing ethnic warfare."(Connif,24) Along with the economic and social quandaries of immigration, political obstacles must also be conquered. The amount of money spent on keeping just Mexicans out of the United States is astronomical, about three hundred and sixty eight million dollars, on the border patrol alone. The government spending on just the illegal alien problem is about two billion dollars, in just California alone, not to mention the rest of the country. Dr. Donald Huddle, and economist at Rice University, concluded in his study that "immigrants cost the United States $54 billion a year in social services". Anti-immigration activist groups such as STOP-IT and FAIR, have been speaking out against immigration for years; most members are either concerned citizens or ranchers, who watch aliens fleeing through their property daily. One politician, Muriel Watson organized a group, in which hundreds of cars were lined up facing the Mexican border at Tijuana, and shined their headlights so the any incoming aliens could be spotted and sent back. In conclusion, more measures should be taken to restrict immigration in the United States. Policies such as the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, or the Alien Contract Labor Laws of 1885,1887,1888, and 1891. Certainly the economic, social, and political reasons prove that immigration should be restricted in the United States.