The issue of illegal immigration has been one of the primary debates in the United States mostly involving unauthorized entry in the Southern border. The account will focus on offering an argument that the US should construct a wall on the Southern border to regulate illegal migration since it results in detrimental impacts in the country. The account indicated that the opponents objected construction of the wall on the ground that illegal immigration brings in cheap labor and culture diversity. However, building a wall along the Southern border is essential since illegal migration negatively impacts the country's economy and employment dynamic besides leading to overpopulation and threatening the sanctity and security of the general public. Therefore, putting in place effective approaches to enhance safety on the country's border is a matter of urgency.
Illegal Immigration
Introduction
The U.S. is grounded on the principle of rights and liberty of every individual. Freedom, life and pursuit of peace are words that dominate the country’s constitution. The aspects have not only attracted immigrants into the nation, but also, they have structured the US to what it is today. When compared to other countries in the globe, migration has diversified America engendering a vast blend of cultures. Today it is not uncommon to witness small towns across the nation establishing their countries culture and grouping such as Little Italy in New York. However, there exist controversies regarding the maximum number of immigrants that the government can hold up. Also, it is not apparent on how the US can identify itself with no borders and the impacts that illegal immigrants have on the country. In this view, the analysis will support the argument that the US should construct a wall along the Southern border since unregulated illegitimate migration is detrimental to the economy, promotes lawlessness, and can pose threats to the citizen’s security and sanctity.
Background
Currently, immigrants account to approximately 14% percent of America's populace which is more than 43 million out of the 323 million individuals living in the US (Young 25). Out of this number, some illegal immigrants have stayed in the US for more than ten years, and this has raised much debate concerning the impacts that they have on the country. Most of these undocumented immigrants entered the US through the Mexican border and the Pacific Ocean. Initially, the majority of the undocumented migrants arrived in America legally through study or visit visa, but they failed to renew their status following the expiration of their permit.
The growing number of immigrants has become the cornerstone of the political debate in America for the last decades. Often, when developing immigration policies, Congress has been forced to address financial, humanitarian, and security concern which has always raised controversies. The policymakers have therefore not been in a position of concluding an ample immigration reform for decades. However, despite that majority of the policies developed to minimize undocumented migration, they have not been active since individuals who arrive the nation legally tend to overstay their permit. Recently, the country elected President Donald J. Trump following a pledge that he would put in place robust approaches to curb unauthorized migration by constructing a wall bordering Mexico and deporting the undocumented immigrants living in the US (Young 30). However, in some areas, his plans individuals have supported his proposals while in other areas they have drawn public protest.
The Opposition
The oppositions of building a wall along the Southern border in the US believes that illegal immigrants bring overall advantage to both the nation and the citizens since employers will be in a position of acquiring a workforce at a lower wage. In doing this individual will easily outsource manual workers to carry out various tasks at a cheaper cost as compared to obtaining services from registered citizens (Jones 7). However, this is not always the case since the increased number of workers alters employment dynamics. In the event of an increase in the supply of workers, the number of wages that organizations are willing to pay to the worker's decreases. Therefore, due to the increased number of illegal immigrants, most employees in the US correlate to depressed wages.
The opposition argues that migration has engendered cultural diversity in the US which has brought a variety of positive outcomes to the country. In bringing this postulation forward, the opponents were on the view that immigrants have brought new perspective and ideas which has contributed to the growth of the nation. On the contrary, the increased number of illegal immigrants from diverse cultural background has not impacted the country positively, but instead they have led to overpopulation in the US. The increased population has led to detrimental economic impacts in the US. For instance, the unregulated employees have lowered the rate of wages in most regions in the US (Davidson 11). Besides, on average, illegal immigrants from other cultures usually have large families who have strained resources in public school. Thus, it is apparent to assert that illegal immigrants have brought more harm than good in the US and thus building a wall in the Southern border will be significant in minimizing the adverse effects of undocumented immigrants.
The opponents opposed the construction of the Southern border on the argument that the immigrants came to the US with a mindset of enhancing their personal lives as well as those of their family members. Thus, according to them, the immigrants should be allowed in the US since anybody experiencing financial constraints would do the same. Nonetheless, the outcome of the practice is damaging to both the US and the immigrant’s country of origin. Individuals in various professionals migrate to the US and leaving their nations in poverty (Peters et al. 741). The immigrants occupy scarce jobs available in the US and for this reason; the Americans view them as competitors and a risk to the social fabric.
My Argument
Illegal immigration threatens the security and sanctity of US citizens. Due to illegal immigration, America is facing national security threats such as terrorism. Undocumented immigration offers opportunities and means for terrorism and crime to occur. Although the majority of illegal immigrants might adhere to US laws, some of them might engage in activities that are against the country's regulations. According to the current data, criminal immigrants constitute 27% percent of the total number of national prisoners (Brandys, Laurent and Knox 123) Therefore, creating a wall in the Southern boundary is significant in enabling the US to combat the security threats that are currently facing the nation.
Illegal immigration promotes an environment of lawless. In most cases, the illegal immigrants tend not to be aware of the country’s existing laws which make them commit crimes because of failing to understand the standard codes. America is gradually morphing into a lawless nation as more and more illegal immigrants continue to enter the country. The high level of multiculturalism, religious, and linguistic diversity have created chaos in the American civilization given that it is challenging to develop laws that are compatible with this level of diversity (Jones 172). The immigrants also enjoy immunity from paying tax and thus they utilize the services offered by the government using tax payer’s money. In this case, building a wall would be crucial in instilling sanity of the law system in the US.
Unauthorized immigration creates negative ramifications in the United States of America. In an attempt to regulate illegal migration, the government uses much of the nation's resources in deportation and border patrol (Young 29). The government also uses the tax payer’s money to cover medical expenses for the poor immigrants living in the US. Unauthorized immigrants occupy more job markets creating unemployment in the country which deteriorates the country’s economy. The willingness to provide services at a lower wage causes changes in the employment dynamics which has also been detrimental in the country’s economy. In this context, constructing a wall would be essential in the economy and employment dynamics.
Unauthorized migration has led to overpopulation in the United States. As undocumented immigrants continue to enter the country, the results have been an influx in the population which makes the state unable to address the need of the general populace adequately (Brandys 47). As a result, there have been upheavals and an increased resentment from the citizens as the taxpayers fail to access a variety of public services. Consequently, implementing effective strategies to prevent illegal immigration through the construction of the wall in the Southern border is a matter of urgency.
Conclusion
From the discussion, it is apparent that the issue of illegal immigration has become one of the most heated debates in the US with the government putting in place various strategies to combat the practice. One of the suggestions which have received controversies is to build a wall in the Southern border. The opponents believe that migration is beneficial to the country since it brings cheap labor and cultural diversity which can bring positive impacts to the state. On the contrary, illegal immigration has been found to cause overpopulation, security threat, lawlessness, and negative implications for the US economy. Therefore, optimism that America will be able to combat illegal migration lies on their ability to protect the border by building a wall.
Works Cited.
Brandys, R. R., Laurent, N. P., and Knox, B. A. UNITED STATES-MEXICO BORDER WALL: THE PAST, THE PRESENT AND WHAT MAY COME. Real Property, Trust " Estate Law Journal, (2018) 53(1).
Davidson, Adam. "Do illegal immigrants hurt the US economy." The New York Times 12 (2013)
Jones, Reece. "Borders and Walls: Do Barriers Deter Unauthorized Migration?" Migration Information Source 5 (2016).
Peters, R., Ripple, W. J., Wolf, C., Moskwik, M., Carreón-Arroyo, G., Ceballos, G., ... and List, R. Nature Divided, Scientists United: US–Mexico Border Wall Threatens Biodiversity and Binational Conservation. BioScience, 68(10), (2018) 740-743.
Young, Yvette, Peter Loebach, and Kim Korinek. "Building walls or opening borders? Global immigration policy attitudes across economic, cultural and human security contexts." Social Science Research (2018).
