Immigration entails the relocation of individuals from one country to another country of destination, to which they neither are natives nor possess citizenship. This occurs mostly on a permanent basis, especially for those seeking to reside in the country in question . Immigration is driven by amongst others, work-related reasons . Consequently, this movement of people culminates in various effects on business . However, the effects depend on whethe r or not it has been done legally or illegally (Hagan et al., 2011 ).
Globally , legal immigration has resulted in, among other things, a rise in domestic patent ownership by non-natives. This phenomenon has been more pronounced in businesses that tap into the science and math skills in the labor market. A rise in this aspect is fueled by the fact that the skill set that gives impetus to the innovations is easily portable across locations . For instance, the engineering and science workforce that boasts of PhDs account s for about 50% of patents owned by immigrants in the United States (U.S) . On the other hand, t he overall workforce is composed of about 15% immigrants with a domestic patent ownership of roughly 25% (Nicholson , 2009 ).
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I mmigration has additionally injected a new dynamism into the growth and formation of businesses in the U.S . This is because i mmigrants have more than double chances of initiating a business as opposed to the indigenous population if the commonly cited statistics are used . For instance, in a span of at least the last ten years, immigrants have grown the rate at which they launch businesses by at least 50%. This has also been accompanied by a 10% slowdown in the rate at which natives establish businesses (Akee et al., 2007) . Further , the businesses owned by immigrants have generated income to the tune of $100 billion within the last decade, which is more than a 60% increment .
The legal immigrants have also contributed massively to the decentralization of businesses into the neighborhoods. This has been fuelled by t heir establishment of business-focused opportunities in the communities where they are much needed. While approximately 13% of the U . S total population is composed of immigrants, their composition of the labor force is 16%, and form 18% of the overall business owners. Moreover, “main street” business owners stipulate d that business ownership nationally by immigrants stood at 28% in 2013 . A 2015 report substantiates “main street” businesses as those in the food services , accommodation, retail and neighborhood services sectors . In light of the above, entry of immigrants in the neighborhoods with these small businesses has injected vitality into th e se areas (Orrenius & Zavondy , 2009 ) . This is beside the resultant shift in the business world that comes with this development. Also , Americans benefit from lower prices of items stocked by these firms . For instance, restaurants, construction firms , and farms will sell their products and services at subsidized price s since they would have used much cheaper labor in the production process (Hagan et al., 2011).
Moreover, skill gaps and career vacancies are made up for easily. This aspect is sustained by the continuous influx of skilled labor from the immigrants, who also possess legal working permits in the U . S. Therefore, this ensures continuity of business processes in case of any shortfall in skilled labor (Akee et al., 2007) . Furthermore, the phenomenon gives a positive and useful boost to the businesses, which in the long run, aids in weeding out inefficiencies in the business operations . The migrants also take up on jobs that most native-born Americans would not be willing to consider. This is especia lly in the construction sector, farms, and r estaurants . They, however, do so a t low rates to the advantage of the employer. This contributes positively to the growth of the particular industries without any disruptions in the production processes (Orrenius & Zavondy, 2 009 ).
Immigration results in enhanced cultural diversity which implies the creation of more untapped business opportunities and the high potential for further growth and expansion. For instance, the food services sector coupled with the businesses that come with it stand s an ever-growing chance of tapping into the exotic cuisines that may be preferred by the immigrants. This also implies the addition of new skill set in that area to explore th e market and sustain its growth in the long term (Nicholson, 2009). The main idea, in this case, is to provide the new residents with an experience that is similar to what exists in their homes . This takes place even as the immigrants consider exploring delicacies of the natives .
T he energy and innovation that comes with the immigrants further ignite a spark of vibrancy in the business world. This is manifested by the varied perspective of business processes and operations by the new entrants in the specific industr ies . Moreover, there is the invention of new ways of doing business by re-engineering the existing business processes for increased productivity. This explains the growing percentage of domestic patent owners in the US, with the immigrants playing a significant role towards the same (Akee et al., 2007). Due to immigration, s tall ed businesses are also facing transformation, which is essentiall y a second chance to get it right in the ir particular industry. For example, fail ure of businesses in the education sector, such as schools, that is attributed to falling numbers can be reversed . This is because the figures can be boosted by new immigrants . In such instances, the need to change strategy by the concerned management to keep the business afloat and accommodate the new arrivals is inevitable . Such schools also get new skills from the immigrant teachers, which further spurs growth and the transformation of the industry (Nicholson, 2009).
I llegal immigrants , on the other hand, bring about various effects to businesses , some of whic h vary from undesirable to outright unlawful. First, depression of wages is unavoidable with the entry of a vast number of illegal immigrants into the economy. This is because b usinesses recruit employees who are willing to work for much less than what the law permits. As a result, there are reduced wages for such services . A lthough this may take place on a short to midterm basis , t he downside is that employers begin i gnor ing innovation, training, and productivity. This results in the ultimate exploitation of immigrants by employers. Moreover, illegal immigrants contribute to the growth of various businesses . The estimated monetary value of the goods and services consumed by il legal immigrants via their paycheck in addition to the amount they make for the ir employer s is about $800 billion. As a result, illegal immigrants comprise a significant consumer base since most of their wages are spent within the U.S borders , with only a small percentage being remittances their families back home . It is estimated that about $50 billio n worth of remittances is sent by illegal immigrants . Therefore, o n average , illegal immigrants send abroad close to 10% of their wages, leaving behind about $400 billion to consume in the U .S . Consequently, doing away with the undocumented immigrants would result in adverse effects on the businesses and the U.S economy at large (Hagan et al. , 2011).
Various g overnment programs stand to be abused by illegal immigrants. For instance, if a child is born in the U . S, even if both parents are illegal immigrants, the child is granted U.S citizenship and also benefit s from various government aid programs. As a result, s ome parents opt to migrate illegally just to have their child born in America. That is an outright abuse of the privileges and immensely c osts the U.S government. Likewise, it contributes to overpopulation which comes with the associated strain on social amenities (Nicholson, 2009) . As a result, there is a rise in deficits in other areas since the government has to spend more on these children. This is as opposed to directing the money to other meaningful projects , such as offering much-needed public services to the business world .
Another negative effect of illegal immigrants is that they put unnecessary pressure on the government expenditure, yet they do not pay income taxes. These workers are usually never documented yet they enjoy such social amenities like schools and public hospitals, which are paid for by all the other U.S citizens (Akee et al., 2007) . Consequently, illegal i mmigrants cost the U . S government billion s of dollars annually, with most of them living under the expenses of local coffers yet it is the federal treasury that receives most of the taxes that they pay. This results in a net deficit because of the minimal taxes that they pay owing to their low wages . The minimal wages are occasioned by their lack low or lack of s kill s . On the other hand, their consumption of various government facilities is us ually highe r.
Another possible undesirable effect of undocumented immigrants is that they can influence lower ing of wages of the indigenous population. S ince the se workers are never documented , they work legally in the country , and as a result are more likely to work for very low wages . Most often, e mployers tak e advantage of the available cheap labor, which may mean the natives also have to be paid less or lose their jobs to the immigrants. Also , the illegal immigrants pose a security threat since most ar e usually unknown and stay in the shadows to avoid the law enforcement agents (Nicholson, 2009). This , if not regulated could result in serious security breaches, such as terrorist attacks. When s uch attacks happen on a massive scale, they negatively affect businesses and their operations .
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is an immigration policy in the United States that permits specific undocumented immigrants who entered the U . S before their 16 th birthday and before 2007 the month of June ( USCIS , 201 6 ). The policy protects such individuals from deportation besides allowing them to acquire a two-year work permit that is renewable. In as much as DACA grants the immigrants a status that is legal, i t offers no path to citizenship ( USCIS , 201 6 ). This is an initiative of the Obama administration. For instance, o ver the last three years, the government has made effort s to change the system of immigration enforcement to one that pays attention to border security, public safety, and immigration system’s integrity. Sub sequently, t he Department of Homeland Security continuously focuses on eradicating any elements that may pose a risk to the national security . This is done with a particular emphasis on the people who have previously been convicted of a felony , violent crime as well as repeat offenders. Towards the end of 2014, Barrack Obama, the president of the U . S made some changes in the DACA policy to make it include immigrants that were not documented and had entered the country before 2010 . He also did away with the requirement that the applicant has to be 31 years and below (Akee et al., 2007).
Due to its sensitivity, illegal immigration forms a core component of the incoming president’s agenda. Therefore, each has expressed their positions on the issue, as well as measures to be put in place in curbing any adverse effects. Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, is in support of the DACA immigration policy. Subsequently, s he has vow ed to push on with immigration reforms within her first 100 days in the oval office should she be president of the United States. This will entail picking up from where her predecessor, Barack Obama will have le ft . In this light, Clinton publishe d a post directed towards the applicants of the DACA program and to those who are yet to apply. She stipulate d that in the U . S, one’s place of birth should not bar the applicants from realizing their potential . She emphasized that this is what makes America great as a nation and that she will not rest until it is fulfilled . Clinton insist s that a sizable number of immigrants can apply for the program . Q uoting findings from experts , she p lace d the number of those eligible at about half a million, most of who hail from Pacific and Asian-American Islands. In support of the policy, she also cite d the promotion of the American heritage as a country of immigrants and a place where people live their dreams , noting t hat the country is stronger if united. She also emphasize d on the need to protect those chasing their American dream (Nicholson, 2009).
Conversely, t he Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump, explicitly d oes not support the DACA policies. Instead, he vows to discontinue and strike off the policy. This would expose the lives of about 700,000 immigrants who are currently protected by the policy . Therefore, in light of Trump’s position, a s the elections close in fast in 2016 , so are the chances of DACA ’s end. Trump insists that President Obama exceeded his powers as president. He further reiterates that the undocumented immigrants have been making remittances illegal ly, and hence the same should be seized (Akee et al., 2007) . Trump calls immigrants illicit since they are not accounted for anywhere. For instance, t he Republican nominee suggests that an increment in the fees charged on temporary visas should be given to business executives of Mexican origin and their diplomats. He further propose s a demand of payment from the government of Mexico. H e insists that is because the Mexican government has contributed to the problem and therefore must help to clean it up. Informed by his position on the matter, Trump is only keen on enforcing the immigration laws and pays little attention to the repairing the broken system .
Deportation of the undocumented immigrant s from America would have far-reaching effects in the business world and the economy at large, especially as far as unemployment is concerned. S hould all the immigrants be rounded up and deported , the economy would shrink by 2% in one year. The resultant drop in business output would be to the tune of about $500 billion, with no ready legal staff to replace the lost manpower (Nicholson, 2009 ) . The industries that would take the biggest hit include those in the hospitality, farming, and construction sectors . This is because these sectors are also more likely to employ the immigrants. Furthermore, a sharp drop in consumption would also hurt the commodities sector especially if many people are deported out at once. This would culminate in a further shrinking of the economy by $1.5 Trillion over a period of 6 years. The report by American Action Forum does not consider the cost of re locating besides deporting undocumented immigrants whose number stands at 11 million (Gitis & Collins, 2016) . Its think tank puts the estimate at $10,000 per person to apprehend, process and send home each one of them to their respective countries
Case studies have been conducted in various states that enacted stringent measures to tame undocumented immigrants and attempt ed to flush them out. After passing such laws, the state of Arizona los t $250 Million in its tourism sector in addition to 3000 jobs in 12 months. Factories in Alabama count enormous losses due to slowed operation owing to an insufficient number of workers, with the annual meltdown to their economy running to the tune of $11 billion. Georgia will suffer massive losses after enacting similar laws, after slowed agricultural output that robs the state revenues to the tune of about $800 million. California stands to lose $100 billion annually from its GDP . Texas and New Jersey would lose $60 billion and $25 billion respectively . Overall, a ll states, except five, would realize a 1% decline in their GDP every year. The resulting cumulative effect would be approximately $4.7 trillion in a 10-year span . While t his unwelcome hypothetical case is not necessarily a global currency crisis or a Wall Street crunch, the figure s make it look like one. The figures summarize the potential outcome of sending the 11.3 million undocumented immigrants back hom e , like Donald Trump, Republican presidential nominee plans to do when he gets into office .
The figures originate from a recent report by Edwards & Ortega (2016) . The authors evaluated the various short-term as well as long-term effects on businesses and the economy at large of T rump’s planned massive deportation program . Despite their magnitude, t hese are conservative estimates since they only pay attention to 7 million undocumented individuals who are in the workforce, where they are continuously churning out goods and services. The economic contribution of 11 million undocumented immigrants is not included . The research model used takes into account the similaritie s and differences between the undocumented employees , while excluding the rest of the American labor market . Areas such as wages, education levels, and the industries in which they operate are also considered . The immediate effect of deportation would be a 1.4% dip in GDP annually , which only emanate from loss of labor. Annually, this averages to a high loss of 2.6 percent, which translates to $434 billion. This would leave the world ’s economic powerhouse $4.7 trillion poorer in 10 years ( Edwards & Ortega, 2016) .
Additionally, the massive deportation of undocumented immigrants would rob America of its heritage as a diverse country. The diversity in the composition of the population is part of what creates a variety of business opportunities in the nation ( Edwards & Ortega, 2016; Hagan et al., 2011) . For instance, compani es that primarily target immigrants would be forced to shut down in the absence of a significant share of their customers. The other effect would be the resultant radical business restructuring in a bid to keep the entities running. This may call for a reduction in the number of existing staff . The deportation would likewise lower the number of domestic patent owners, which would negatively affect the growth of the innovat ive and competitive spirit among businesses. A decline in growth and expansion of businesses would spell doom for the future of workers in such business entities . Additionally, the resultant reduced productivity would lead to massive rates of layoff s , leading to increased rates of unemployment in the country.
The above notwithstanding, d eportations would rob the U.S economy of a large consumer base. The illegal immigrants send about 10% of their wages abroad as remittances. The remaining amount , which runs into hundreds of billions , is spent within America i n the purchase of goods and services. Due to their high number, t he immigrants have high consumption rates . Therefore, forcing them to leave the country would hurt U.S business world besides heightening unemployment due to reduced market and the accompanying reduction in revenues and income . Immigrants significantly influence the overall productivity of the economy and markets . Their deportation would, therefore, result in protracted long-term ripples in various industries , subsequently igniting layoffs aimed at keep ing businesses financially afloat. Additionally, it would raise the rate of unemployment in the long run. In conclusion, therefore, the importance of immigrants in the U.S cannot be overemphasized. Therefore, any immigration reform proposal should take into consideration both the merits and demerits of its intentional action. This is with the aim of ensuring an informed, balanced and comprehensive directive.
References
Akee, R., Jaeger, D. A., & Tatsiramos, K. (2007). The persistence of self-employment across borders: New evidence on legal immigrants to the United States. Available at SSRN 1136412 .
Edwards, R., & Ortega, F. (2016). The Economic Impacts of Removing Unauthorized Immigrant Workers: An Industry- and State-Level Analysis. Center for American Progress. Retrieved from https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/immigration/report/2016/09/21/144363/the-economic-impacts-of-removing-unauthorized-immigrant-workers/
Gitis, B & Collins, L. (2016). The Budgetary and Economic Costs of Addressing Unauthorized Immigration: Alternative Strategies. American Action Forum. Retrieved from https://www.americanactionforum.org/research/the-budgetary-and-economic-costs-of-addressing-unauthorized-immigration-alt/
Hagan, J. M., Rodriguez, N., & Castro, B. (2011). Social effects of mass deportations by the United States government, 2000–10. Ethnic and Racial Studies , 34 (8), 1374-1391.
Nicholson, M. (2009). Immigrants in the US economy: A host-country perspective. Journal of Business Strategies , 26 (1), 35.
Orrenius, P. M., & Zavodny, M. (2009). Tied to the business cycle: How immigrants fare in good and bad economic times . Washington, DC: Migration Policy Institute.
USCIS . (201 6 ). Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. U . S Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Retrieved from https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/consideration-deferred-action-childhood-arrivals-daca
