ENG 103 – Writing for Effective Communication
Professor Trimigliozzi
November 24th, 2014
Illegal immigration has been a hot-button issue in the United States for many years. The issue of undocumented people entering the United States is getting worse with each passing year, affecting almost every single citizen in the country. This particular issue has been allowed to get worse because it has become such a sensitive subject to discuss, especially by politicians who would lose supporters by trying to strengthen the regulation of people immigrating in the United States. Nevertheless, like all issues, immigration has sparked much discussion and debate on the subject. Though people argue that in some cases illegal immigration is helpful, its benefits clearly do not seem to outweigh its negative aspects. Illegal immigration is shown to be hurting the less fortunate of the communities in the United States, who end up losing employment opportunities to workers who come here illegal and work for very little money. This is not the only way that illegal immigration affects our economy. Illegal immigrants tend to make use of the government's, or in other words, the taxpayer's money. Illegal immigrants are still able to receive the health care benefits from the government, among other government services, that are given to deserving, taxpaying citizens due to under regulation of who receives these services. This would not be a problem if illegal immigrants paid taxes, but because the people who immigrate here illegally are undocumented by the government, they can get away with not paying taxes, which enough avoid doing to burden the United States economy. Aside from an economical viewpoint, illegal immigration can also affect United States society. The influx of undocumented people entering the United States causes the country's population to grow faster than it normally does, and because they are here unbeknownst to the United States government and other forms of authority, it can pose as a particularly dangerous threat to public safety. In the United States, there exists lower-class communities that struggle from day to day that require the attention of a supportive government to help them regain their financial footing. Instead of assisting these citizens in need, those struggling financially become an afterthought, a blind eye turned on them by their own government. This is because of the problem of illegal immigrants moving into the country without the government's knowledge and taking the jobs of citizens, making it important to realize that illegal immigration is in no way a victimless crime (Beck). Evidence to support this claim includes the results of a study of the United States economic history for the past 160 years, showing that" high immigration nearly always is accompanied by wage depression and increased gaps of inequality". However, the immigrants themselves are shown to not be the primary source of this issue and do not deserve most of the blame. Sure they come here illegally, which is a crime in itself, but only to better their own lives and perhaps are not coming here with the intention of harming the United States. Who is really to blame is the United States government and, more importantly, the big businesses and corporations that are allowed to get away with hiring these immigrants for miniscule wages. In the United states exists these industries that live and thrive off of cheap, immigrant labor, keeping the knowledge of their employment unknown to the government and playing off the common immigrant's desire to create a better life for himself or herself in America (Reno; Brown). Without proper government regulation to keep these industries that use immigrant labor in check, they will surely abuse illegal immigrant labor so that they can better satisfy their greed at the cost of the well being of United States citizens. And hope for the
