Immigration and its Effects on the United States

The United States remains a destination to a record number of immigrants every year for more than a decade now. The political, social, and economic implications of the rising immigrant populations continue to be a subject of controversy amid claims that the US is slowly losing its ethnic homogeneity. The anti-immigrants also raise concerns over other issues of social mobility such as a rise in criminal activities, poor health outcomes and/or pressure on health resources, and racial tensions. Despite the negative attitudes towards the migrant populations, recent research indicates that the immigrants in the United States actually play a significant role in both the economic and social strength of the country. Therefore, America is divided, both in law and opinion, over the challenge posed by the rising immigration. 

Trends and Statistics 

In 2015, approximately 11.6 million out of the 47 million immigrant population were undocumented immigrants ( Migration Policy Institute [MPI], 2019) . To be undocumented references the state of being a foreign-born person who does not hold the legal right to be within the US territories. There were 12.2 million undocumented immigrants in 2005, but the number had reduced by over 1 million and stood at 10.5 million in 2017 ( MPI, 2019) . This shows that the undocumented immigrants' population has been on a decreasing trajectory since 2005. Close to half (4.95 million) of the undocumented immigrants (10.5 million) hail from Mexico, and the remaining half comes from other countries in Central America and Asia. These undocumented immigrants have resided for close to a decade in the US, with just about 20% who have been in the country for five years or less. Most notably, since the year 2010, the mechanism of illegal migration has shifted from mass border crossing to illegal visa overstays. In 2016, up to 64% of the undocumented foreigners in the US had overstayed their visas ( MPI, 2019) . This realization raises questions over the potential effectiveness of President Trump’s push for erecting an impenetrable wall along the Mexican border to curb undocumented immigration. 

The Impacts of Undocumented Immigrants 

Health 

The association of the health of immigrants and how this affects the public health of the mainstream population remains a matter of serious concern. Much of the dispute is focused on the extent to which immigration is costing the US public health system. Healthcare expenditure on immigrants is relatively lower than that spent on the natives. But, this does not outweigh the fact that a majority of the ageing immigrants and refugees are totally reliant on the public healthcare system. This section of the refugee population relies on public services for their survival. It is an indication that an increase in the immigrant population will eventually raise government expenditure as the population gets older. Therefore, much as the immigrants do not take more from the government that they pay today, the case may not be the same for the future since the rates of immigrant dependency on government services increase with the aging population. 

There is more to the association between immigration and health than just the case of expenditure. There are arguments that immigrants from areas of high disease prevalence have been the reason behind the recent resurgence of Hepatitis, Chagas, and Tuberculosis ( National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention [NCHHSTP], 2007) . Chagas disease is common in South and Central America and is considered to be among the causes of health complications in that region. Immigrants coming from this region high-incidence of Chagas are considered carriers who spread the diseases to the low-incidence regions inside the United States. There is evidence to prove that due to immigration, Chagas has affected a number of native-born US residents. Similarly, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also noted that the population of foreign-born persons suffering from tuberculosis was disproportionately higher than that of the natives in the year 2004-2006 ( NCHHSTP, 2007) . Similar results were recorded in the period between 2010 and 2014. Historical evidence also points out that HIV is suspected of having entered the United States from a Haitian immigrant in 1969. However, current evidence shows that a majority of the HIV victims currently residing in Mexico acquired the infection from the United States. Regardless, the US has intensified border searches to screen immigrants before they enter the US; this is taken as a countermeasure to the spread of communicable diseases from the immigrants to the US citizens. 

Social 

Foner (2012) classified social consequences of immigration into three major sections, two of which are: (a) Work- immigration has caused a significant change in the occupational division of labor, thereby creating ethic labor groupings; (b) racial relations- this is particularly evident in the nature of relations between long-established native minorities and the newcomers. 

Work. Work is central to the lives of adult immigrants in the United States. Their presence has altered the overall perception of work, leading to the emergence of industrial specializations, where members of the immigrant ethnic groups are overrepresented ( Foner, 2012) . These occupational specialties emerge for a variety of reasons, including skill power, cultural preferences, and human capital, as well as the availability of opportunities ( Foner, 2012) . In most cases, lack of competency in English and the legal status of the immigrants have limited their scope of work, leading to an overrepresentation of the immigrants in the casual responsibilities of the labor market ( Foner, 2012) . Notably, when members of an immigrant group establish their presence in the job sector, they become an attraction force for their friends and relatives, leading to the development of occupational niches. 

Racial relations. The long-established minorities, majorly the African-American population, often have a mixture of cooperation and separation with new immigrant populations ( Foner, 2012) . Immigration has always created conflicts and cooperation, distance and intermingles, and tension and accommodation in equal measure ( Foner, 2012) . On one view, Foner (2012) provides evidence of strain, conflict, and separation when immigrants settle in cities where the African Americans are the majority race. Despite sharing in the same identity of minority races, African Americans rarely keep contact with the Hispanics. They take up different jobs and often live and interact in different sectors. In most cases, minority immigrants are never welcomed. The immigrants, therefore, live socially and culturally separated despite sharing the same neighborhoods with other native minorities. On the other view, the second generation of immigrant groups often creates a coalition building, cooperation, and cultural bonding in their interaction with the native minorities ( Foner, 2012) . Conflicts and distancing, therefore, do not characterize all the interactions between native and immigrant populations. Friendship has often developed in classrooms, playgrounds, and workplaces, leading to the creation of amicable ethno-racial interactions. 

Political 

On overage, the population of immigrants in the US has reduced the vote share of the Republican Party. Political analysts affirm, backed with sufficient data, that the reduction in the Republican vote share is caused by the pro-Democrat political outcomes ( Mayda & Peri, 2018) . There is an overwhelming belief that naturalized immigrants- those who have been granted citizenship- have always voted predominantly for the Democrat candidates. Part of this is contributed to by the Democratic Party’s support for constitutional reforms that would allow more immigrants to gain citizenship ( Mayda & Peri, 2018) . 

Crime 

According to Gomez (2018), decades of analysis by immigration researchers provided that the rates of arrests and detention for native-born Americans is at 1.53% while the undocumented and the legal immigrants account for 0.85% and 0.47% respectively. More research on Juvenile incarceration in the states of Pennsylvania and Arizona revealed that native-born adolescents are twice as likely to be second-time lawbreakers as compared to the foreign-born juveniles. These findings are evident enough to disqualify the longstanding public opinion that the immigrant population is always responsible for a higher crime rate in the US neighborhoods. 

The criminal stereotype on the immigrants is inspired by the imaginary relationships between immigrants and the causes of crime. One, there is the presumption that the cultural predisposition of the immigrants makes them more susceptible to certain criminal activities. Two, the normative differences between diverse neighborhoods inhabited by the immigrants are thought to breed inter-group conflicts that end in homicide. Three, the immigrants are known to settle in poor neighborhoods that will likely cause the urge to resort to crime as a means of survival. ( Gomez, 2018) Nonetheless, the researchers have not established any serious grounds to link the disadvantaged immigrant status with criminal acts. Due to the fear of deportation, the concentrated advantage, and the residential heterogeneity of their communities, the immigrants are typically less involved in violent activities than the natives. Conversely, the studies have indicated that the high immigrant population in a neighborhood actually brings on networks for information sharing due to the symbols of shared identities in search of lawful labor market opportunities ( Gomez, 2018) . 

A study by Stanfield et al. (2013) assessed the result of the current immigration on the property crimes witnessed in Austin, Texas. Austin is viewed as a gateway city in the US, with an immigrant population that has risen by close to 580% percent over the last three decades (Stanfield et al., 2013). The city is, therefore, a perfect target for studying the correlation between immigration and crime. Yet, a regression analysis by Stanfield et al. (2013) indicated that there was no correlation between the rise in the immigrant population and the increased cases of motor vehicle theft or other forms of burglary. 

To this end, immigration may present a challenge of pressure on other social amenities due to the increasing population. However, Americans are wrong to have long believed that the immigrant populations are more inclined to criminal activities than the natives; or that the rising number of immigrants often led to a rise in crime. This belief has been remarkably outweighed by the evidence on the negative relation between crime rates and immigrants in at least four aspects. These include incarcerations, juvenile offenses, immigrant social status, drug violence, and homicide. 

Conclusion 

To conclude, foreigners who came into the United States within or outside the legal requirements of the immigration policy accounted for up to 47 Million by the end of the year 2015, with the number on a slight decline thereafter. Several factors drive the migration into the United States, including a relative or family-sponsored visits, search for asylum, employment-based referrals, and the Diversity Immigrant visa program. Not only do these immigrants account for the population, but they also play a role in the rapid cultural change currently witnessed in American society. Immigration has reshaped and remade the social, political, health, and the criminal make-up of American society in several critical ways. The rise in the immigrant population influences social and economic effects, including aspects of labor relations and institutions where the foreign-born persons settle in large numbers. The proportion of foreign-born persons in cities such as New York, Los Angeles, and Miami are proportionately high; about 60% in each of the mentioned cities. Given the large numbers, it is not a surprise as to why the influence of immigration on American societal relations and institutions is intense. 

References 

Foner, N. (2012). The Social Effects of Immigration. In  Oxford Handbook of the Politics of International Migration . 

Gomez, A. (2018, January 31).  Trump Painted a Dark Picture of Immigrants, Despite the Facts . USA TODAY.  https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/01/31/trump-painted-dark-picture-immigrants-despite-facts/1081208001/ 

Mayda, A. M., & Peri, G. (2018, September 11).  The Political Impact of Immigration: Evidence from the United States . Cato Institute.  https://www.cato.org/publications/research-briefs-economic-policy/political-impact-immigration-evidence-united-states 

Migration Policy Institute. (2019).  Migration Data Hub . Migrationpolicy.org.  https://www.migrationpolicy.org/programs/migration-data-hub 

National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention. (2007).  DTBE | World TB Day Factsheet March 24, 2007 . Wayback Machine.  https://web.archive.org/web/20071225225551/www.cdc.gov/tb/WorldTBDay/2007/WTBD_Factsheet.htm 

Stansfield, R., Akins, S., Rumbaut, R. G., & Hammer, R. B. (2013). Assessing the effects of recent immigration on serious property crime in Austin, Texas.  Sociological Perspectives ,  56 (4), 647-672.