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Pros And Cons Of Undocumented Immigrants In The United States

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Summary:

The following research paper will focus on the difficulties faced by undocumented immigrants in the United States whom are attempting to obtain quality healthcare coverage. It is estimated that there were over eleven million undocumented immigrants residing in the United States as of 2010, which has since slowly increased overtime (Wallace, 2012). Research has found that undocumented immigrants are less likely to impose burden on the United States healthcare system for various reasons including the feel of lack of authority due to their citizen status (Wallace, 2012). According to a recent research study, immigrants were found to be higher at risk of severe and long-lasting illnesses due to avoiding the process of attempting to receive …show more content…

The term “illegal immigrant” has become extremely controversial among a variety of groups because a person cannot be illegal, only actions can be (VISANOW, 2013). The term "illegal" is not only offensive to undocumented immigrants but it is also considered dehumanizing. The term “undocumented immigrant” is more widely used because it fits the understanding of being a native-born person from a country other than the United States without the proper forms of government documents …show more content…

There were no federal laws in place that put a restraint on immigration until the late 1800s (VISANOW, 2013). There was freedom to immigrate to the United States without questions asked, unless the government could prove an individual had committed criminal acts. As years continued, the Chinese Exclusion Act was put into place by the government in 1882, which prohibited all immigration of Chinese workers (VISANOW, 2013). During the early twentieth century, the Quota Act had been passed which focused more specifically on certain countries. The Japanese and Mexican populations seemed to be the main focus of restriction for immigrants. The Immigrant and Nationality Act of 1965 repealed the Quota Act. This new immigrant act focused closely on immigrant job skills and reunification of families (VISANOW, 2013). After the immigration act of 1965, the Immigration Reform and Control Act, passed in 1986, allowed four million undocumented immigrants into the United States to access legal citizenship (VISANOW, 2013). As one can understand, the laws and restrictions on immigration have been greatly changed over time. Comparing the past to the present, immigration was widely more accepted in the past with fewer restrictions and laws. As time has continued, the government focused greatly on being less accepting of undocumented immigrants by putting more restraints and laws into

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