The Pros And Cons Of Immigration In The United States

Immigration: America’s Downfall Immigrants have been a part of American culture since it has existed. But over the years, studies have begun to show a decrease in positive aspects of immigration. The hard truth is simply that immigrants – legal and illegal, have a negative impact on the United States. For many reasons, immigration just isn’t the opportunistic and hopeful picture the leftist media paints it to be. The initial issue in dealing with immigration is simply the vast number of illegal immigrants already living in the country. According to the data from the Pew Hispanic Center and other research organizations (2006), “the number of illegal immigrants in the U.S. [in 2006] was as high as 11.5 million … compared to the country’s total

Illegal immigrants don’t pay taxes, and while they are unable to access these services specifically, they do receive other benefits and services through the government. According to Robert Rector and Jason Richwine (2010), “the average unlawful immigrant household received around $24,721 in government benefits and services while paying some $10,334 in taxes. This generated an average annual fiscal deficit…of around $14,387 per household” (para. 14). This shows that illegal immigrants are always tax consumers (Rector & Richwine, 2014, para. 34). And should the government grant amnesty, this deficit would only worsen. A new study from the Heritage Foundation (2014), estimated that “granting a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants will cost US taxpayers at least $6.3 trillion” (Dann, para. 2). It is important to think of those true American citizens (such as the homeless and those serving in the armed forces) who deserve this money far more than the people who broke the law to illegally enter the

America runs on labor, and cannot afford immigrants taking jobs from hardworking U.S. citizens. One problem is that immigrants on average are less educated, therefore less skilled. According to Erik Ruark and Matthew Graham (2012), “illegal immigrants are the least-educated group, with nearly 75 percent having at most a high school education. Overall, 55 percent of the foreign-born population has no education past high school, compared to 42 percent of natives” (para. 8). This will seriously affect American workers in the labor force, specifically those lacking a high school diploma. In supporting statements of immigration lies the myth that there are jobs Americans won’t do. This is simply untrue. Basic observation of existing data will convey that natives and immigrants fight for the same jobs and immigrants reduce native pay (Ruark & Graham, 2012, para. 21). According to Ruark and Graham (2012), “no job is an immigrant job” (para. 23). In fact, less than 1% of job categories that are usually seen as immigrant jobs (such as housekeeping, construction, janitorial work, etc.), have a majority of workers being immigrants; in reality they’re usually filled by native workers (Ruark & Graham, 2012, para.11). How can America say that it is ethical or moral to prioritize these illegal