Illegal Immigration
Uploaded by masone4718 on Dec 05, 2006
There are several problems that seem to plague contemporary America—abortion, Iraq, social security—however none of these compares to the sweeping epidemic of illegal immigration. According to the 2000 census, an awe-inspiring 8 to 11 million illegal aliens live in the United States. The immigration crisis is founded on the contention that illegal immigration harmfully influences the American workforce. Moreover, these illegal aliens mostly hold jobs that require little to no training, which is a system that is auspicious for an employer. The Senate is currently deliberating on the Sensenbrenner Bill, which, if passed, will favorably contribute to the cure of the immigration pandemic.
A common assertion on the effects of illegal immigration is that immigrants reduce the wages of United States citizens. Although this notion does not hold true for professional or highly-trained workers, the annual wages of low-skilled citizens are approximately 2.4 percent lower as a result of illegal immigration. Similarly, a study by Harvard economist George Borjas illustrates that the influx of illegal aliens reduces the average annual wage of native workers by roughly 3.2 percent. Furthermore, his study confirmed the supposition that illegal immigration does not necessarily reduce the wages of workers with a college education, but rather that of those who have not completed high school has lessened.
Most of these illegal immigrants fill low-skill, blue-collar jobs. The jobs that they fill require no more than one month of training or experience needed, the majority of which fall under the category of manual labor. Such jobs are waiters and waitresses, janitors, stock and material movers, and landscapers. Seeing as the wages of American citizens who are employed in these areas are annually decreasing, it is apparent that the sole beneficiary of this system is the employer. This system is not uncommon; corporations such as Wal-Mart have been scrutinized for hiring illegal immigrants. In a country with a soaring unemployment rate, the influx of illegal immigrants in the American workforce only contributes to the rapidly-climbing number of unemployed citizens. Not only does this affect American citizens, but the American government also falls victim to illegal aliens. The hiring of tax-free labor by employers, and the fact that illegal immigrants needn’t pay any taxes as well, simply cheats the government out of the money it deserves, creating a net drain on...