Paper Example. Immigration Into the United States

There have been numerous debates on immigration in the United States where the majority of people advocate for legal immigration, whereas opponents discourage it. Nonetheless, it is essential to realize that all immigrants flee their home countries for specific reasons. Only a few cases report exploration as their reason for leaving home. For instance, refugees fleeing Mexico are frequent visitors to the United States. Most of them explain that the main reason they have to escape from home is poverty and the persistence of violent gangs in the country's underdeveloped areas. Refugees from Syria, Iraq, and India have reported poverty and consistent wars with their neighbors (Massey, 2013). Indian villages have shown extreme cases of hardship since colonial times, with the locals being denied access to essential facilities. Mining activities made the lands inhabitable while the struggle for power continued, and people had to flee.

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Conversely, Syria and Iraq are not majorly affected by poverty, but the war is so rampant. A recent case of Turkey seeking to invade the Iraqi borders has been fatal to the soldiers, citizens, and the country's economy. Therefore, this paper examines why immigration should be legalized in the United States, what positives it contributes to the economy, and the policies that should be followed in the process.

Reasons for Immigration

The common reasons for immigration include poverty, warring communities, political instability in home countries, and violence. Famine has been a significant concern in India. Many people have died as a result of starvation and drought, which has been a result of environmental degradation caused by the mining activities of colonialists and post-colonialists. Millions have been left hungry and homeless and sought the help of organizations like the World Health Organization, the United Nations, and rich countries like those in Europe, the United Kingdom, China, and the United States. Japan has also witnessed a few of its citizens fleeing home due to its vulnerability to earthquakes. Gangs in the streets of remote Mexico have led to the fleeing of citizens from the areas. Mexico had also reported many cases of poverty that have affected the average life of citizens due to underdevelopment. The radical movements in Syria, Russia, and Iraq have been the leading cause of war in such countries (Serhan, 2014). Africans have also been victims of immigration following drought, political instability, and famine. Most Africans entered the United States as slaves during the slave trade activities of pre-colonial and colonial times. Most have established families that are now recognized as fully Americans. Nonetheless, current cases of immigration from Africa to the United States are in search of greener pastures. Mostly, modern immigrants continue leaving their countries for the United States to work or further their studies other than for the reasons above.

Refugee Population in the United States

The total number of U.S population is approximately 327 million today. Of this total, fourteen percent are immigrants in the United States, which implies 44 million. Therefore, the United States is one of the easiest targets for the refugees. The Census Bureau reports that the total number of refugees, including their U.S.-born children, is about 28 percent of the United States population. The numbers continue to rise since 1970 when the immigrant population was less than ten million (Serhan, 2014).

Nonetheless, these statistics show that the current population of immigrants is one percent less than it was in the 19th Century. Asian immigrants in the United States make up about 27 percent of the total refugee population, whereas Mexican refugees represent twenty-five percent (Nee & Holbrow, 2013). Nonetheless, the 2008 economic crisis in the United States led to the discouragement of immigrants to move to the country while the existing ones had to return home.

Legal Policies on Immigration

One of the reasons why President Donald J. Trump was elected into office is to take control of the increasing number of immigrants. It was expected that he would build a wall on the border between Mexico and the United States to ensure those migrating to the United States followed proper procedures. Also, Trump would evacuate millions of undocumented immigrants from the United States to decongest the country. It was also expected that Trump would temporarily ban Muslims from the United States or its borders. Congress had been struggling for years to enact immigration policies in the U.S. Therefore, on several occasions, the role was transferred to either the executive or the judiciary, a step that caused continual backlash and debates in the nation. During his reign, Donald Trump has lived up to his purpose by pushing the proposed immigrant control initiatives in some areas while avoiding others. This step has fueled discrimination controversies. For instance, in 2019, the Southern border reported multiple immigrant numbers stopped from entering the United States by Customs and Border Protection.

The 2008 anti-human trafficking law dictates that every unaccompanied minor to the United States has a right to a hearing before a court of law before forceful deportation to their home country. Notably, most of these policies only focus on the border control of illegal immigrants. However, there are thousands of immigrants whose visas have expired and are no longer in the refugee statistics. Such cases fall under the undocumented immigrant population which is almost eleven million. Under the legal immigration policy fostered by Trump, over 1.1 million immigrants received American citizenship in 2018 (Massey, 2020). By the end of 2019, about 3.5 million immigrants were waiting for verification as United States immigrants.

Congress has, in recent years, pushed for policies that would lead to the achievement of the low and high-skilled labor force in the United States. The comprehensive idea also proposed immigration based on controlled borders and legal certification of the millions of undocumented immigrants. However, when the Democrats pushed the issue to the House of Representatives in 2013, the Republicans voted against it (Nee & Holbrow, 2013). Nonetheless, previous leadership under President Barrack Obama passed the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) that would benefit most of immigrants (Nee & Holbrow, 2013). The undocumented immigrants received a two-year deferral for deportation upon which they would seek legal documents for American citizenship. Also, those working in the United States benefited from the initiative. Trump initiatives remain the most recognized in the present day as he orders a ban on immigrants from Iraq, Sudan, Iran, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen.

Benefits of Immigration to the United States.

The supporters of immigration do so on the grounds of hostility from the home countries. Immigrant movements explain that it's a humanitarian initiative to take in immigrants from warring countries as it saves lives. Also, immigration may benefit the United States economy, especially for the United States-born immigrant children who eventually live, study, and work in America. Primarily, parents visiting the U.S. for work purposes contribute to the economy in the nation's workforce is 17 percent (Massey, 2013). The total representation of immigrants in the domestic employment sector is 45 percent. The U.S. textile industry has absorbed approximately 36 percent of immigrants (Massey, 2020). Agriculture and accommodation sectors have absorbed 33% and 32% of immigrants, respectively.

Research shows that the employee workforce would significantly reduce if future leaders continue with the deportation of immigrant employees. Nonetheless, the number of immigrant employees will continue to rise if the laws are withdrawn or controlled. In the House of Representatives, 765 proposed for citizenship of undocumented immigrants, whereas 645 agreed to build a wall on the border (Golash-Bolaza, 2015). Similarly, 76 % of Americans support the immigration proponents who call for citizenship of existing undocumented refugees, while those seeking to inhabit the U.S should be allowed under specific conditions (Golash-Bolaza 2015). As contributors to the U.S. economy, employed immigrants contribute 4.4 million income tax returns to the government's Gross Domestic Product.

Arguments against Immigration

Trump and his counterparts from the Republican Party defend that immigration is slowly increasing violence cases in the United States, making the country vulnerable to terrorist attacks. As a result, under, Trump, Republicans have pushed for a ban of refugees from seven Muslim countries (Hing, 2012). Building a wall on the Mexican border intends to achieve border security. As a result, U.S agencies will have full control of border activities. Also, the initiative seeks to put an end to the 'catch and release' practice by the U.S border officials. Instead, the government will legally arrest and hold in the custody of unauthorized immigrants at the border. The refugees will then be arraigned in court to defend themselves, upon which the court will rule their stay or deportation (Hing, 2012). Also, the current initiatives seek for a categorized deportation number of immigrants, and the initiative hopes to mitigate the amount of funding that the country's sanctuary jurisdictions spend on hearing cases against immigrants.

Supporters of Immigration

Other than American citizens, the Democrat party members and 2020 presidential nominees stand in unison to oppose the current initiatives that demean immigrant rights. In a compressive view, the Democrats defend that laws initiated by the current president cause alienation of family bonds, detention of children caught at the border without legal documentation, and also the current restrictions limiting the number of refugees and asylum seekers (Massey, 2020). Trump has significantly reduced the total number of immigrants to the U.S annually from 110,000 in 2014, to 18,000 currently. The candidates are entirely in support of the comprehensive reform initiative of 2013 (Bean et al., 2013). North American evacuees real also defended due to the current war in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador.

Therefore, it is agreed that immigrants play a vital role in the United States economy and promote multiculturalism in the country. There is a diversity that should be appreciated rather than be condemned. American leaders ought to come together as the Democrats suggest and form laws that will defend the rights of immigrants. There should be illegal immigration where document processing occurs even at the borders to allow the refugees in the country. Through businesses and employment, the refugees are mainly contributing to the Gross Domestic Product, with about 17% in the workforce. Helping refugees is a humanitarian aspect that gives credit to any government for recognizing minority rights. With rising cases of violence, the U.S. is not helping by restricting entry from Muslim nations. However, it should join hands with leaders of such countries and negotiate on peaceful grounds.

References

Bean, F. D., Bachmeier, J. D., Brown, S. K., Van Hook, J., & Leach, M. A. (2013). Unauthorized Mexican migration and the socio-economic integration of Mexican Americans. Diversity and disparities: America enters a new century. New York: Russell Sage, 341-374.

Golash-Boza, T. M. (2015). Immigration nation: Raids, detentions, and deportations in post-9/11 America. Routledge. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=3CceCwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=Immigration+in+America&ots=tt6_LpMO7n&a...