Illegal Immigration

Introduction

Immigration has been an important part of human history and can be traced in all the ages or eras, where people left their native places and moved to new ones in search of betterment. It is a process in which individuals move from their own country of residence to a foreign country. With respect to immigration, there have been increased concerns regarding illegal immigration. Illegal immigration to the United States of America is when a non U.S citizen either enters the grounds of the United States of America without the permission or the consent of the United States Government or when the non U.S citizen tends to stay beyond the date of the termination of their visa (Simon, 201-218). The purpose of this paper is to expand the boundaries of our knowledge with relevant facts regarding illegal immigration.

Thesis Statement

The issue of illegal immigration, regardless of the measures taken to reduce it is still prevalent and is a major concern for immigration policy makers in the United States.

Discussion

It is clear that the majority cause of the phenomenon of immigration is the poverty of millions of people living in the Third World, and is attracted by the wealth of industrial societies. That's why this issue has become a major concern in developed societies. One hand they recognize the need to import labor due to aging of the population, lack of native range to perform certain work activities, etc. Furthermore, in these same states and currents generate certain reactions against immigrants, considering them a threat to the stability and identity of their societies. Consequently, governments respond to migration flows with a mixture of legal restrictions and amnesty for illegal immigrants.

The growth of illegal immigration in United States is associated with crime, exploitation, and other issues of this nature. To put it clearly, it is only a difference between the number of foreign individuals that a country is willing to accept and those who want to enter it. Because the legal and administrative costs of being a legal immigrant are very high in most developed states, the emergence of a black market and thereby evading these restrictions is inevitable. Another issue is the development of a business which has made illegal immigrants into a thriving business (Christian, 17-56). Although difficult to quantify, it is considered that about 30 million people cross borders each year through illegal way gangs that move between 13 and 30 billion dollars annually. The United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention acknowledges that illegal traffic of people is now a more lucrative than drugs.

According to the United States Center for immigration Studies, the year 2007 estimated a total of almost 12.5 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States whereas in the year 2008, the figure drastically fell to 11 million people. Out of these 11 million people, 56% of the undocumented immigrants were reported to be from Mexico while 22% were from other Latin American countries. Additionally, 13% belonged to Asia while 6 % from Canada and ...