Introduction
In the United States, the Immigration issue has become a touchstone in political discussions for decades, as policy formulators have weighed security, humanitarian, and economic concerns. The term Immigration reform refers to proposals to retain or upsurge lawful Immigration while lessening unlawful Immigration, such as the “Guest worker” proposal backed up by President George W. Bush, Economic Opportunity, Border Security, “Gang of Eight” or Immigration Modernization bill which was implemented by the United States Senate in June 2013. Unlawful Immigration in the US is an issue that has received lots of attention for a long duration without any forward action in response to the problem. It is surprising how the issue has been unresolved for decades, until the present. Congress still has been unable to solve the issue nor come to an agreement on effective and comprehensive immigration reorganization for ages, thus, moving some primary decisions regarding the matter to the judicial and executive branches of the government, powering debates in the state halls and municipal governments. Essentially, Immigration is among the significant fundamental building blocks that help shape America as the distinctive nation it is. But, the controversy over the immigration issue has become toxic, and since politicians have placed political affairs before principles, rational Americans find themselves stuck between Zealots on both sides. In the past two centuries, the US has welcomed millions of persons from every corner of the globe, and today, we can legally admit that more than one million people every year find their way into America. Regarding the issue of immigration reform in the US, there are two sides; one supporting the implementation of the system while the other opposing the reform; thus the paper presents a careful and a thoughtful argument, critically examining the reasons as to why each group stands on its ground, and at the same time giving personal opinion towards each group.
Immigration Reform Policies, Interests, and Principles
Taking a look at the policies, principles, and interests in which the immigration reform is likely to be based upon, it is essential to provide a background as to why it is objected or supported. Kerwin (3) approaches the issue of Immigration presenting various reasons as to why the issue of Immigration reform remains unsolved. Kerwin puts up a collection of interests and policies that should be adhered to prior to the implementation of an Immigration reform system. For instance, the Immigration Reform (IM) should be attached with well-reinforced labor principles to uphold fair pays, healthy, and safe working settings for all United States employees. The family union should remain a priority and central pillar of the US Immigration reform and policy. Also, the system should be consistent and coherent, creating legal migration openings for individuals uprooted by United Foreign interventions, immigration laws, trade, and policies. US should also target at lessening the size of the undocumented populace through substantial authorization program and seek to ascertain that the inhabitants never again estimate its current size. The reform formulators should adjust and evaluate the immigration policies based on the prosperity and furthering the state’s interest and should also reflect liberal autonomous values with a comprehensive visualization of national identity. Above all, the Immigration reform formulators should embed a set of commitments, processes, and partnerships, which respond to the conditions that force persons to migrate. Moreover, fairness, among other factors, should be a principal value in immigration reform.
Why do some People Support Immigration Reform while others do not
According to the United States Census Bureau 2011, the population of immigrants in the nation is approximately 40 million, which is driven by the Hispanic population, which makes the immigration issue a significant policy concern. However, the efforts to establish comprehensive immigration reorganization have been stymied due to a proportion of Americans who oppose Immigration outmuscling a comparatively indifferent Americans who back up specific procedures addressing the issue. If public opinion is to be a framework for policymakers, then it is crucial to comprehend the sources of conflict in public opinion on this very striking issue. Therefore, I ask why do some Americans support Immigration while others do not? Taking careful consideration of the impacts the immigrants have on the economic, political, and cultural status of America, both sides have the rights to stand on their ground. On the bottom of supporters, the economic impact of immigrants in the US economy lays the basis for them to Support Immigration Reform in favor of Immigrants.
From a historical concept, Immigration has been part of American history. How can a group of people in America be convinced to change their perception towards Immigration while the significance of immigrants has been seen all along from ancient times to the present? Immigrants were part of the urban industrial economy transition in the early 20th and late 19th centuries. The contribution of immigrants in the labor force, wages increment for natives, economic impact, and innovations have the backbone of the supporters of Immigration in the United States.
Economic Impact
Productivity
While considering the productivity impact of the immigrants to the American economy, it is correct to argue out that the reform should allow the immigration reform not to restrict the Immigration. I base the argument according to research conducted by the National Research Council et al. (135) immigrants bring a wave of ingenuity and talent, which is closely tied with innovation. Taking a look at the industrial advancement resulting from Immigration, it would be baseless to oppose the immigration process. Innovations lead to quality of life improvement, and in the year 2013 alone, 1.6 trillion dollars was added to the total United States Gross Domestic Product by the immigrants. In the year 2006 and 2012, one-third of the organizations that went public there was at least one immigrant as a founder. Many of the privately-held organizations, recently valued at approximately $ 1 billion, have half of the founders as immigrants. Also, a direct correlation exists between the contributions from the immigrants and an upsurge in the domestic invention (Peri 18). Actually, in companies where the immigrants work, there is a 30 %in official document filed by native inventors. As per the 2012 National Science Board report in the year 2009, 27 % of engineering and science master s degree, basis for industrial growth, and innovation were awarded to foreign students in 2009. To support the argument as to why the specific category supports the Immigration since the states with a high concentration of immigrants experience considerably faster growth in productivity.
Labor Market Competition and Wages
It is a popular view of many people that Immigrants take jobs from America. Still, essentially immigrants increase the labor supply, and to an extent, they spend their earnings on services and goods that help expand economic demand. The majority of immigrants do not compete for white-collar jobs with natives since the majority are not eloquent English speakers, thus not suitable for occupations requiring practical communication skills. Immigrants hold many occupations that are very significant to the American community, and the majority of the uneducated share are found in industries. Arguing from an economist’s point of view, the majority of the immigrants are mobile and move around the nation to respond to areas with labor shortages. The mobility aids the natives who would have otherwise made their jobs nearly impossible. Thus, the mobile efficiency of immigrants helps to improve labor market efficiency.
A general presumption of the concepts to support the idea is, an increase in the labor force of immigrants will call for an increase in the number of supervisors, which at the end run will increase their wages. An upsurge in the number of immigrants then will result in a rise in wages of the domestic employees who are complements of immigrants. In a nutshell, an upsurge in the immigration flow will lead to higher pays for productive elements that are corresponding with immigrants, and steady growth in the capital-labor ratio prevents the average earnings from declining.
Objecting Immigration Reform
On the other side of the debate, people who object the Immigration in the US push for immigration reform, which favors the implementation of more strict rules against immigrants in the nation. The political interference, interference with the American culture, high crime rates of the immigrants poses to be among the reason for their objection towards Immigration.
Political Interference
Taking a look at the effects of Immigration on the 2016 United States elections, it is evident that some political leaders standstill against the issue. Tackling the link between voter share received by the Republican Party and Immigration, it is correct for one to debate the basis for a specific group of people pushing against Immigration. According to a research by Mayda and Giovanni, a significant impact of the Immigration is that an upsurge in the high-skilled immigrants as a share of the local populace is linked with a solid and a considerable decrease in the vote share of the Republican Party. The electoral impact of the immigrant s profoundly felt in the Senate and presidential elections. The electoral impact of the immigrants is based on their skills level and may form a basis for some politicians to object to the immigration reform.
States and Government Spending
The negative impact of an idea forms the basis of the opposition from Americans. Over the past two decades, academics, and researchers have tried to quantify and identify the consequences of Immigration on the local and state government. The majority of persons objecting to immigration reform concentrates on costs accompanied by unlawful immigrants in various sectors such as health care, education, and justice system.
Education
The majority argues that the state has to bear the administrative and fiscal obligation of providing schooling services to children. They argue that the US government has to incur considerable costs to educate the immigrant’s children, from the 1982 court ruling, not immigrants children should be excluded from the public schools due to their immigration status. Currently, approximately two million pupils in the United States are from unauthorized immigrants; additionally, more than three million children in US are born to illegal immigrants. As per the Census Bureau, in 2006, there were 53.3 million school-aged children in the United States. It is evident that the rate of growth in the number of school-based children in US is escalating and thus placing more budgetary pressures. While objecting the issue of immigration reforms, those who do not support Immigration to US may argue that the Minnesota incidence as per Schwab and Gearhart (17), the government spent more than $ 79 and $ 118 million to educate more than 9, 400 children from unlawful immigrants is enough evidence for disallowing immigrants’ settlement in US.
Health Care
Also, regarding the health sector, immigrants are unlikely to have insurance than the natives and therefore rely on public health centers for health care. The government must provide health care services to a certain level despite the resident’s level of affordability. Thus, the amount of money spent by the government to cater to provide healthcare service to immigrants is on the rise due to the high number of immigrants recorded in the country. To an extent, when considering the government spending on immigrants who are convicted of having committed migration-related crimes is on the rise since they are not deported immediately after their sentences (Orszag16). The local government has to bear the cost of their prosecution, detention, investigation, and incarcerating such immigrants.
United States value their cultural identity, and the inflow of immigrants in the nation poses to be a threat to their culture since some may decline to adopt the American culture. Expertise may argue that having a heterogeneous environment with diverse cultures may lead to coordination challenges and economic costs; for instance, when many languages are spoken, there is an upsurge of transactional expenses (Bove and Leandro). Also, racial fragmentation may adversely influence social cohesion; create irreconcilable divisions, and interpersonal trusts.
Security
The upsurge in the level of crimes along the Mexico border poses to impose security threats to the Citizens. The majority of the victims from drug and human trafficking along the border seek refuge in US. How major political leaders respond to the situation may be a helping factor to object to the immigration reform. President Donald Trump intends to build a wall along the Mexico border as a measure to tighten the nation’s security.
Conclusion
United States has historically been known as a nation of immigrants, with a long history of successfully absorbing immigrants across the globe. The impact of Immigration has raised debate over which immigration reform. People raise different views regarding the issue; however, I tend to overlook the positive effects of the immigrants to the US economy. The economic impact of immigrants on the labor force may influence the decision of many towards the immigration reform. When persons view immigrants as a source of competition for occupation, many will tend to support the prohibition of immigrants to the country. However, viewing immigrants as a source of labor since they fill the gaps that the natives are unwilling to fill and occupy the local industries, not necessarily the senior positions that are majorly held by natives. Majorly, the large proportion of immigrants seeks to earn a living and, in turn, increase the productivity ratio.
The relation between immigrants and their contribution to innovation is aimed at improving the quality of life. Immigrants do not rely on the refuge from natives but work towards sustaining themselves. Why should people object immigration reforms that favor the inflow of immigrants in the country, and yet their involvement in the development, innovation, labor, upsurge of wages, and economic advancement of the nation results in the positive impact of the nation? Looking at the positive effects of the immigrants with this perspective, the persons supporting the immigration reform in favor of immigrants may stand on their ground to defend their opinions.
However, people objecting to the immigration reform in favor of the inflow of immigrants in the country tend to overlook the negative consequences accrued from the reforms. How the immigrants result in an upsurge in government spending on the education, health, and judicial system for immigrants’ sustenance is one of the reasons that the reform is objected. Immigrants are associated with crime-related issues, upsurge in demographics, thus competing for resources and services. From a political point of view, electoral interference of immigrants, racial segregation, and cultural interference trigger people’s outlook regarding the immigration reforms.
It is only after careful consideration to arrive at immigration reforms that consider both sides, one supporting reforms and the other not supporting the motion. Since immigrants have a source of the labor force in the United States for decades, it is nearly impossible for politicians to formulate reforms that are totally against immigrants. According to US Congress senate (1), considering the rights of immigrants, public safety and national security, and preservation of patriotic assimilation are various principles that the two groups should agree on to arrive at effective immigration reforms. Immigration reform poses to be a complex issue, and cultural, economic, legal, and security problems stand in the way of arriving at a policy solution to solve the immigration challenge. It is only after the two groups comprehend the full breadth of the issue along the road to a solution.
Works Cited
The United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary. Subcommittee on Immigration; Border Security; and Citizenship. The Need for Comprehensive Immigration Reform: Securing the Cooperation of Participating Countries : Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Citizenship of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, One Hundred Ninth Congress, First Session, June 20, 2005. 2005.
Bove, Vincenzo, and Leandro Elia. “Migration Brings Cultural Diversity, but is It Beneficial or Detrimental to the Host Country?” World Economic Forum, November 25 2016, www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/11/immigration-beneficial-or-detrimental-to-the-host-country.
Orszag, P. R. “The Impact of Unauthorized Immigrants on the Budgets of State and Local Governments. Congress of the united states. Congressional budget office paper. A Series on Immigration.” (2007).
Carmon, Naomi. Immigration and Integration in Post-Industrial Societies: Theoretical Analysis and policy-related Research. Springer, 2016.
Kerwin, Donald. “Moving beyond comprehensive immigration reform and trump: Principles, interests, and policies to guide long-term reform of the US immigration system.” Journal on Migration and Human Security 5.3 (2017): 541-576
National Research Council, et al. The New Americans: Economic, Demographic, and Fiscal Effects of Immigration. National Academies P, 1997.
Mayda, Anna M., and Giovanni Peri. “The Political Impact of Immigration: Evidence from the United States.” Cato Institute, September 11 2018, www.cato.org/publications/research-briefs-economic-policy/political-impact-immigration-evidence-united-states.
Schwab, William A., and G. D. Gearhart. Right to DREAM: Immigration Reform and America’s Future. U of Arkansas P, 2013.
Peri, Giovanni. “Immigrants, productivity, and labor markets.” Journal of economic perspectives 30.4 (2016): 3-30.