Difference between revisions of "Illegal immigration"
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| − | This has become a major issue in the [[United States]], because of foreigners living in the U.S. illegally. | + | This has become a major issue in the [[United States]], because of foreigners living in the U.S. illegally. Illegal immigrants pay sales taxes and gasoline taxes; most are too poor to pay income taxes. Many use fake Social Security numbers and pay Social Security taxes but are not eligible for any benefits. Many use tax-payer funded services such as health care and schools. Pew estimates about 12 million illegal immigrants lived in the U.S. in 2004.<ref>Higher estimates run to 20 million; [http://immigrationcounters.com/ see high estimate]</ref> However, many are afraid to use available services, such as domestic violence shelters, out of fear of deportation. Many illegals cannot speak English. |
| − | + | Illegal immigrations is defended, saying that they are simply coming to rake unskilled jobs that better educated Americans avoid, such as picking fruit and lettuce, making hotel beds and working in slaughter houses. Some come illegally to escape political oppression, as legal channels are not open to them.<ref>http://www.immigration-usa.com/george_weissinger.html immigration Usa</ref><ref>www.uscis.gov Immigration and Naturalization Services</ref><ref>www.dhs.gov Department of Homeland Security</ref> Marriage to a U.S. citizen does not automatically gain one citizenship. When Army Spc. Alex Jimenez was captured by terrorists in [[Iraq]], his wife was almost deported by the government. Strong public opinion allowed her to stay.<ref>[http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/06/20/national/main2956093.shtml Missing Soldier's Wife Faces Deportation]</ref> | |
| − | Many Mexicans have to come to the United States to work because for many years the Mexican government was under the control of the [[socialist]] [[Institutional Revolutionary Party]] (called PRI from its initials in Spanish), which limited economic opportunity and growth. | + | [[Mexico]] is the source of the about half of the recent illegal immigrants to the United States. Most arrive legally and over-stay their visas. Others cross the border mostly through the desert southwest or less often by swimming across the Rio Grande. The United States receives constant criticism from the Mexican government for its efforts to curb illegal immigration. |
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| + | Illegal entry is a misdemeanor in U.S. law, at the level of speeding. Those who are caught are promptly sent back without penalty. Multiple illegal entries can lead to felony convictions. | ||
| + | Ironically, one of Mexico's harshest criticisms was a plan by the United States to make illegal immigration a felony offense, which would impose harsher penalties on illegal Mexican immigrants. Mexico's own laws make illegal immigration a felony offense in that country.[http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1602610/posts][http://www.vdare.com/awall/060518_memo.htm] | ||
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| + | Many Mexicans have to come to the United States to work because for many years the Mexican government was under the control of the [[socialist]] [[Institutional Revolutionary Party]] (called PRI from its initials in Spanish), which limited economic opportunity and growth. Before 2001 there was frequent movement across the border. It was common to work in summer jobs in the U.S. and spend the winter in Mexico. Border security has become much stricter and it is far more difficult to cross repeatedly. Therefore the tendency was to remain in the U.S. -- an unintended consequence of the tighter border security is that millions stayed in the U.S. and did not return. Most Mexicans who come are religious and culturally conservative. They communities do not encourage homosexuality, abortion or teenage promiscuity. | ||
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| + | Like all immigrant groups many illegals send money to their families remaining in the old country. In Mexico this funding is the second largest source of foreign income, after crude oil sales. It represents as much as 2.5 percent of the nation's Gross Domestic Product <ref>[http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:20724214~pagePK:64257043~piPK:437376~theSitePK:4607,00.html] World Bank Report on Migration and Welfare</ref> | ||
As the [[Bible]] exhorts people to be compassionate towards illegal immigrants (Exodus 23:9 and Leviticus 19:34), and as more Americans are [[Christian]] than any other religion, many Americans feel compelled by their religion to show compassion and caring for illegal immigrants, many of whom are trying to escape tyranny or poverty in their homelands. | As the [[Bible]] exhorts people to be compassionate towards illegal immigrants (Exodus 23:9 and Leviticus 19:34), and as more Americans are [[Christian]] than any other religion, many Americans feel compelled by their religion to show compassion and caring for illegal immigrants, many of whom are trying to escape tyranny or poverty in their homelands. | ||
| − | Some conservatives oppose illegal immigration because it allows for immigrants to fall between the cracks of society thus making them more likely to commit crime or experience poverty. Other conservatives view illegal immigration as an exercise in a basic [[individualism|individual]] [[human rights|human right]] to pursue happiness. Illegal immigration is also economically damaging to countries because illegal immigrants will often work illegally for below minimum wage, resulting in job loss for legal citizens. | + | Some conservatives oppose illegal immigration because it allows for immigrants to fall between the cracks of society thus making them more likely to commit crime or experience poverty. Other conservatives view illegal immigration as an exercise in a basic [[individualism|individual]] [[human rights|human right]] to pursue happiness. Illegal immigration is also economically damaging to countries because illegal immigrants will often work illegally for below minimum wage, resulting in job loss for legal citizens. |
==Crimes Committed by Illegal Immigrants in the U.S.== | ==Crimes Committed by Illegal Immigrants in the U.S.== | ||
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*[[Elvira Arellano]] | *[[Elvira Arellano]] | ||
*[[Reno v. Flores]] | *[[Reno v. Flores]] | ||
| + | ==Bibliography== | ||
| + | * Pierre Hauser, ''Illegal Aliens'' (1990) | ||
| + | * Jeffrey S. Passel, "Unauthorized Migrants: Numbers and Characteristics," Pew Hispanic Center Reports and fact Sheets. (June 14, 2005), [http://pewhispanic.org/reports/report.php?ReportID=46 online] | ||
| + | * Claudia Sadowski-Smith. "Unskilled Labor Migration and the Illegality Spiral: Chinese, European, and Mexican Indocumentados in the United States, 1882–2007," ''American Quarterly,'' Volume 60, Number 3, September 2008, pp. 779-804 [http://muse.uq.edu.au/login?uri=/journals/american_quarterly/v060/60.3.sadowski-smith.html in Project Muse] | ||
| + | * Aristide R. Zolberg, ''A Nation by Design: Immigration Policy in the Fashioning of America'' (2006) | ||
==External Links== | ==External Links== | ||
Revision as of 13:44, September 23, 2008
Illegal immigration is when people without legal permission from a country cross the border and proceed to dwell there. Therefore, illegal immigration is the act of immigrating to a country without having the right to do so.
This has become a major issue in the United States, because of foreigners living in the U.S. illegally. Illegal immigrants pay sales taxes and gasoline taxes; most are too poor to pay income taxes. Many use fake Social Security numbers and pay Social Security taxes but are not eligible for any benefits. Many use tax-payer funded services such as health care and schools. Pew estimates about 12 million illegal immigrants lived in the U.S. in 2004.[1] However, many are afraid to use available services, such as domestic violence shelters, out of fear of deportation. Many illegals cannot speak English.
Illegal immigrations is defended, saying that they are simply coming to rake unskilled jobs that better educated Americans avoid, such as picking fruit and lettuce, making hotel beds and working in slaughter houses. Some come illegally to escape political oppression, as legal channels are not open to them.[2][3][4] Marriage to a U.S. citizen does not automatically gain one citizenship. When Army Spc. Alex Jimenez was captured by terrorists in Iraq, his wife was almost deported by the government. Strong public opinion allowed her to stay.[5]
Mexico is the source of the about half of the recent illegal immigrants to the United States. Most arrive legally and over-stay their visas. Others cross the border mostly through the desert southwest or less often by swimming across the Rio Grande. The United States receives constant criticism from the Mexican government for its efforts to curb illegal immigration.
Illegal entry is a misdemeanor in U.S. law, at the level of speeding. Those who are caught are promptly sent back without penalty. Multiple illegal entries can lead to felony convictions. Ironically, one of Mexico's harshest criticisms was a plan by the United States to make illegal immigration a felony offense, which would impose harsher penalties on illegal Mexican immigrants. Mexico's own laws make illegal immigration a felony offense in that country.[2][3]
Many Mexicans have to come to the United States to work because for many years the Mexican government was under the control of the socialist Institutional Revolutionary Party (called PRI from its initials in Spanish), which limited economic opportunity and growth. Before 2001 there was frequent movement across the border. It was common to work in summer jobs in the U.S. and spend the winter in Mexico. Border security has become much stricter and it is far more difficult to cross repeatedly. Therefore the tendency was to remain in the U.S. -- an unintended consequence of the tighter border security is that millions stayed in the U.S. and did not return. Most Mexicans who come are religious and culturally conservative. They communities do not encourage homosexuality, abortion or teenage promiscuity.
Like all immigrant groups many illegals send money to their families remaining in the old country. In Mexico this funding is the second largest source of foreign income, after crude oil sales. It represents as much as 2.5 percent of the nation's Gross Domestic Product [6]
As the Bible exhorts people to be compassionate towards illegal immigrants (Exodus 23:9 and Leviticus 19:34), and as more Americans are Christian than any other religion, many Americans feel compelled by their religion to show compassion and caring for illegal immigrants, many of whom are trying to escape tyranny or poverty in their homelands.
Some conservatives oppose illegal immigration because it allows for immigrants to fall between the cracks of society thus making them more likely to commit crime or experience poverty. Other conservatives view illegal immigration as an exercise in a basic individual human right to pursue happiness. Illegal immigration is also economically damaging to countries because illegal immigrants will often work illegally for below minimum wage, resulting in job loss for legal citizens.
Crimes Committed by Illegal Immigrants in the U.S.
- 2008 - Diego Pillco, a 20-year-old illegal immigrant from Ecuador, pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter of actress Adrienne Shelly. Pillco was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Pillco admitted strangling Shelly and then hanging her body to make it look like a suicide. The judge said Pillco would be subject to immediate deportation upon release from prison. [7]
- 2008 - Edwin Ramos, an illegal immigrant, killed three people on their way home from a family picnic. Ramos had been arrested multiple times before the killings (once for mugging a pregnant woman), but the city of San Francisco shielded him from deportation. [8]
Statistics
The amount of people immigrating to the United States illegally is at epidemic levels: The estimated number of illegal immigrants in the United States in 2005 was 11.1 million. [9] [10]
$397 billion dollars have been paid to illegal immigrants through social services since 1996.[11]
The number of illegal aliens who are in prison is over 600,000.[12]
Nearly One Million Sex Crimes Committed by Illegal Immigrants in the United States. Each sex offender averaged 4 victims. [13]
Households headed by illegal aliens imposed more than $26.3 billion in costs on the federal government in 2002 and paid only $16 billion in taxes, creating a net fiscal deficit of almost $10.4 billion, or $2,700 per illegal household. [14]
See also
Bibliography
- Pierre Hauser, Illegal Aliens (1990)
- Jeffrey S. Passel, "Unauthorized Migrants: Numbers and Characteristics," Pew Hispanic Center Reports and fact Sheets. (June 14, 2005), online
- Claudia Sadowski-Smith. "Unskilled Labor Migration and the Illegality Spiral: Chinese, European, and Mexican Indocumentados in the United States, 1882–2007," American Quarterly, Volume 60, Number 3, September 2008, pp. 779-804 in Project Muse
- Aristide R. Zolberg, A Nation by Design: Immigration Policy in the Fashioning of America (2006)
External Links
References
- ↑ Higher estimates run to 20 million; see high estimate
- ↑ http://www.immigration-usa.com/george_weissinger.html immigration Usa
- ↑ www.uscis.gov Immigration and Naturalization Services
- ↑ www.dhs.gov Department of Homeland Security
- ↑ Missing Soldier's Wife Faces Deportation
- ↑ [1] World Bank Report on Migration and Welfare
- ↑ Illegal Immigrant Worker Sentenced in Slaying of Actress Adrienne Shelly, Associated Press, March 13, 2008
- ↑ http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/20/MNK011MAFR.DTL
- ↑ http://www.cnn.com/interactive/us/0603/charts.immigration/frameset.exclude.html?eref=yahoo
- ↑ A Line In The Sand House Committee on Homeland Security
- ↑ http://www.fairus.org/site/PageServer?pagename=iic_immigrationissuecentersf134
- ↑ http://www.gao.gov/htext/d05646r.html
- ↑ The Dark Side of Illegal Immigration Violent Crimes Institute, 2006
- ↑ The High Cost of Cheap Labor Center For Immigration Studies