Politicians have made the general public believe that immigration is a negative thing for a developed nation such as the US. With this rhetoric that paints immigration as unfavorable, there are several restrictive immigration laws. However, based on available empirical evidence, migration, primarily when legal, has more benefits than disadvantages on the economy, political, and social status of the US. In this paper, I argue that legal immigration makes for a robust civil society with a thriving economy, democratic politics, and active social cohesion.
It has long been argued that immigration into the US would have far-reaching negative consequences on the country's economy. Most notable is the effect that immigration may have on the job market. The general opinion is that migration will result in increased unemployment rates as labor supply becomes excess. Native Americans may be replaced by immigrants in job opportunities leaving Americans impoverished. Also, immigration is feared to cause a need for extra educational and other services from the government, especially if it leads to increased unemployment. However, a proper focus on the positive side of immigration shows more benefits than limitations.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
The failure of the federal government to play its role in immigration is what strains the system and prevents it from achieving the benefits. Currently, there are several restrictive laws in the US on immigration with minimal action from the federal executive. The lack of federal action is what makes the US suffer more from the disadvantages than it benefits from the advantages of immigration (Orrenius & Zavodny, 2012) . Just like any other economic activity in the US, such as foreign trade, gains depend on the ability to control to mitigate the disadvantages while leveraging on the benefits. A complete overhaul of the system requires that internal enforcement be put into consideration in the development of a legal immigration system.
One area that immigration may significantly affect positively is in terms of the development of the local regions. With legal immigration, it is possible to arrest bot the economic and population declines in rural areas Lumpe, C., & Weigert, B. (2010) . With increased immigration, additional workers and homeowners will boost retail sales in rural areas resulting in increased tax and economic improvement. However, this can only happen if there is proper management of immigration with working policies at the state level.
Legal migration has the potential of improving the skills pool in America's labor market. Legal immigrants impact the public service and the economy of the nation by bringing in skilled immigrants. Through legal immigration, the country can acquire specialized skills that will aid in the development of the nation’s economy. However, for this benefit to be acquired by the state, there is the need for the creation of policies that focuses on market forces in the employment sector to ensure that only competent personnel are brought into the economy. Moreover, the immigrants have to be devoted enough to work permanently rather than on temporal bases in the country.
In terms of the political consequences of immigration, fraud believes are the main factors that cause Americans to frown. Considering that immigrants would tamper with the integrity of elections in the US, American holds that immigrants will hinder democracy. The results of this belief are stigmatization and discrimination of immigrants, such as in the case of Latinos who wanted to take part in the electoral process (Smith, 2017). However, there exists no evidence that links immigrants with failed democracy.
In terms of the social implications of immigration, the main factors that are considered by the general masses are based on racial views. Racial attitudes of blacks concerning opposition to taxes, busing, and welfare are assumed when it comes to determining the effects immigration would have on the American society Sampson . Similarly, there is a version of Latinos that creates a negative attitude towards emigration. However, there is a particular positive adage that most people ignore that comes with immigration, primarily when it is appropriately controlled.
The first positive social consequence of immigration is an increase in cultural diversity in communities where immigrants settle. Such cultural artifacts as music, food, language, and other aspects are introduced to an area where immigrants settle. This is a positive effect of immigration on our national heritage.
It is generally not correct that immigrants increase crime activities where they settle. While immigrants may have a hard time deciding in the US, they are less likely to engage in crime than local US citizens ( Stacey, Carbone-Lopez & Rosenfeld, 2011) . Consequently, we must not be quick to judge immigrants as criminals. There is empirical evidence that immigrants reduce crime rates in the states. Cities like New York with the highest standards of immigration suffer the least levels of crime and are the safest in the country.
The impact of immigration on job opportunities for native Americans is not as harmful as politicians, and the current rhetoric posits. There is no evidence of adverse effects of immigration on job opportunities for Native Americans. Also, the impact of immigration on public utility facilities is more positive than negative.
In conclusion, the idea that immigration has severe consequences on the US economic, social, and political wellbeing are baseless and non-logical. Through legal immigration, we can create a robust civil society that allows for the thriving of every individual. Empirical evidence suggests that through legal immigration, we could get social, economic, and political benefits as a country.
References
Lumpe, C., & Weigert, B. (2010). Immigration, education, and wage inequality. Journal of Economic Integration , 592-612.
Orrenius, P. M., & Zavodny, M. (2012). The economics of US immigration policy. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management , 948-956.
Smith, R. C. (2017). “Don’t Let the Illegals Vote!”: The Myths of Illegal Latino Voters and Voter Fraud in Contested Local Immigrant Integration. RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences , 3 (4), 148-175.
Stacey, M., Carbone-López, K., & Rosenfeld, R. (2011). Demographic change and ethnically motivated crime: The impact of immigration on anti-Hispanic hate crime in the United States. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice , 27 (3), 278-298.
