The Unites States of America prides itself for being an immigrant country. The nation has a rich history of successfully welcoming foreign born citizens across the globe. The integration of immigrants and their children into the United States plays a critical role in bolstering economic vitality and contributing to a vibrant and dynamic culture. The passage of the immigration Act in 1965 paved way for the commencement of mass immigration into the United States. The Act opened up legal immigration to all nationals worldwide by abolishing the 1920s restrictive quotas. The passage led to an exponential increase in immigrant population from Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and the Latin America. Although the 1965 immigration Act has led to absorption of legal immigrants, it also set the stage for a dramatic rise in undocumented cross borders leading to an exponential increment in illegal immigrants. This paper explores the current status of immigration in the United States and recommends government and economic actions necessary to address the rise of undocumented immigrants in the United States.
Current state of immigration in the U.S.
The Unites States has the largest number of immigrant population that any other nation globally. The current immigrant population in the United States stands at approximately 44.8 million according to the 2020 statistics (Krogstad et al., 2019). The foreign born population constitutes 22.6 million non-citizens and 20.7 million naturalized United States citizens. The non-citizens cohort include an estimated 13.1 million legally permanent citizens, 11.1 million unauthorized immigrants and 1.7 million who are temporary visas (Krogstad et al., 2019). According to Pew Research Center statistics, the number of immigrant population in the United States has quadrupled since 1965 and is projected to reach 78 million by year 2065.
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Facts about undocumented Immigrants in the US
The undocumented immigrants include people who were born in a different country but immigrated into the United States illegally. Such individuals lack documents that would grant them the legal right to reside in the United States. A growing body of research indicates that some immigrants enter the U.S without necessary papers due to the extended period it takes to obtain required documents (Krogstad et al., 2019). The number of undocumented immigrants in the United States is estimated to range from 10.5 to 12 million an equivalent of 3.2 to 3.6 of the entire population. According to the Pew Research Center, about 4.95 million of the current 12 million undocumented immigrants are Mexicans, 1.45 million Asians while 1.9 million are from Central America (Krogstad et al., 2019). The growth of undocumented immigrants particularly from Asia and Central America has been fueled by the rise of immigrants from Northern Tringle nations such as Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. The Pew research statistics reported that approximately two thirds of the undocumented population have resided in the United States for a period of 10 years or longer (Krogstad et al., 2019). In addition, the Pew research noted that about 20% of the undocumented adult immigrants have been in the United States for 5 years or less. Approximately 57% of the illegal immigrants live in six states that is, Illinois, California, New Jersey, Florida, New York and Texas. The United States civilian workforce accommodates 7.6 million undocumented immigrants, accounting for approximately 4.6% of the illegal immigrants in the United States.
The problem of increased undocumented immigrants in the United States should urgently be addressed due to the risk posed by the illegal immigrants. First, the unauthorized immigrants strain the US healthcare system by contributing to the uncompensated care and driving up emergency department utilization (Light et al., 2017). Research indicates that charity healthcare for undocumented immigrants has increasingly put a strain on US hospitals. Notably, it is estimated that charity care for illegal immigrants costs the some states such as Arizona approximately $50 million yearly (Light et al., 2017).
The problem of undocumented immigrants should also be addressed since the illegal immigrants disproportionately consume educational resources. The influx of unauthorized immigrants exerts increased pressure on the United States educational system. The US education sector is compelled to accommodate a larger student population who have diverse effects. The results are often characterized by overcrowding, competition for resources and adverse peer effects on education outcomes. The increasing undocumented population is a problem for the American society as it permits a shadow economy which is difficult to regulate. In addition, the undocumented population undermines law and order which is unfair to the millions of immigrants permitted into the US legally (Light et al., 2017). Majority of the undocumented immigrants are either jobless or earn low wages. The illegal immigrants are highly likely to indulge in illicit acts such as crime and drug trade.
Government and Economic Actions to address Undocumented Immigrants
Increased deportation and removal of undocumented immigrants would significantly decrease the number of unauthorized immigrants in the USA. Entering the United States should be considered a crime of immigrant law violation. Although the government lacks the resources to deport all illegal immigrants, the federal administration should proactively enforce the deportation law to serve as a deterrent to individuals intending to enter the US without necessary papers (Noriega, 2019). The government should encourage states to cooperate with immigration enforcement and discourage practices that seek to nullify or obstruct enforcement such as the sanctuary states and cities. In addition, the federal administration should push the congress to allocate sufficient resources for detention, deportation and removal.
Second, the US should devise a policy to make the current undocumented immigrants legal US citizens and then beef up border security. Notably, this proposal would give the unauthorized immigrants a chance to obtain US citizenship. The integration into the US citizenship should entail following the naturalization process to gain citizenship (Carafano, 2019). However, the policy should allow the illegal immigrants a grace period to complete requirements for citizenship without fear of deportation. In addition to naturalizing the illegal immigrants, the US should increase border security by employing additional manpower and technology surveillance to block individuals intending to enter the US illegally.
An additional action include helping Mexico develop its economy. Majority of the undocumented immigrants in the United States come from Mexico. The illegal immigrants flee Mexico in search of economic opportunities in the US. The United States should help build the Mexican economy by investing money and resources to strengthen Mexican economy leading to increased job opportunities for individuals intending to move to US as illegal immigrants (Selee et al., 2019). A vibrant Mexican economy would support its citizens implying that less of them would migrate into the US leading to a drastic reduction of undocumented immigrants in the US and decreased negative effects posed on the US economy.
The US government should lobby for a passage of a federal statute that forbids employers from hiring undocumented immigrants (Noriega, 2019). The enacted law should make it illegal to recruit unauthorized immigrants. Criminal penalties should be imposed to employers who defy the statute. The federal statute would encourage voluntary departure of illegal immigrants due to joblessness and deter individuals intending to access the US without necessary papers.
Conclusion
Illegal immigration into the United States poses serious risks to the US economy. Both government and economic actions should be effected to address the illegal immigration menace. Initiatives such as deportation and removal, increasing border security, naturalizing illegal immigrants, helping develop the Mexican economy and implementing a federal statute forbidding employment of illegal immigrants would be integral in addressing the existential problem.
References
Carafano, J (2019). 4 Ways Trump Can Fix America's Immigration Problem, retrieved from https://www.heritage.org/immigration/commentary/4-ways-trump-can-fix-americas-immigration-problem
Krogstad, J. Passel, J. and Cohn, D (2019). 5 facts about illegal immigration in the U.S. Pew Research Center, Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/06/12/5-facts-about-illegal-immigration-in-the-u-s/
Light, M. T., Miller, T., & Kelly, B. C. (2017). Undocumented immigration, drug problems, and driving under the influence in the United States, 1990–2014. American journal of public health , 107 (9), 1448-1454.
Noriega, A. R. F. (2019). Treating the Root Causes of Illegal Immigration: US Programs and Partnerships in Central America. AEI Paper & Studies , 1.
Selee, A., Giorguli, S., Masferrer, C., & Ruiz, A. (2019). Strategic Solutions for the United States and Mexico to Manage the Migration Crisis. MPI commentary, July , 17 , 2019.
