Undocumented Workers Benefiting America Essay

Illegal immigrants in the United States (US) have long been a topic of debate for policymakers and the public. The rationale about them is that they do not pay taxes; they add to the costs of taxpayers and use up funds in resources meant for assisting citizens and legal immigrants (the legal citizens). Therefore, they are perceived as a threat to the US economy. The true impacts of illegal immigrants on the US economy are discussed by debating over the economic benefits as well as economic costs of these immigrants. The negative impacts, discussed first, presented the decreases in low skilled jobs’ wage rates for legal immigrants and citizens instigated by illegal immigrants, the social services such as educations and healthcare that they

It has been said that Immigration damage the economy. This is not true because foreigners help American economy to prosper. Immigration increases purchasing, and increases demand for labor. Immigration not only takes jobs, but also creates them. For instance, a man comes to America from Italy; this man opens a small Italian restaurant, this restaurant becomes prosper during the years. Five years later, this Italian man owns two more restaurants and employs twenty Americans. Similar stories, which help our economy, have happened from the beginning of the immigration times.

A common biased opinion on immigration is that immigrants coming to the United States are taking American jobs. According to the Immigration Policy Center, “research indicates there is little connection between immigrant labor and unemployment rates of native-born workers.” The jobs that immigrants are taking are the low-budget jobs that Americans do not want. They not only get less pay, but also less benefits in comparison to American workers. In fact, according to Forbes, “illegal immigrants actually raise wages for documented/native workers.” America is considered to be more productive when we have more trading partners, Undocumented workers with limited English skills allows more American workers

In the United States illegal immigration benefits the economy and growth, but also creates more problems such as inviting more immigrants. According to the article Undocumented Immigrants Should Receive Social Services by Melissa Marietta confirms “Immigrants to this country are not fighting for a student loan or access to a free clinic; they are fighting for the opportunities that they are denied in their native country” (Marietta). Most people look for a better future and head towards the opportunities illegal immigrants recognize United States as a land of opportunities. There are many working opportunities such as mining, railroad, lumbering, and construction in the United States. For example, a common job for illegal immigrants is the construction field. The

Immigration can be defined as passing foreigners to a country and making it their permanent residence. Reasons ranging from politics, economy, natural disasters, wish to change ones surroundings and poverty are in the list of the major causes of immigration in both history and today. In untied states, immigration comes with complexities in its demographic nature. A lot of cultural and population growth changes have been witnessed as a result of immigration. In the following paper, I will focus on how immigration helps United States as compared to the mostly held view that it hurts America.

There are many cons to having an undocumented worker in the United States, but one is the most important. The most known disadvantage that the United States has to suffer from undocumented workers is the decrease of jobs for Americans that citizens would like to get. “99%” of Restaurant owners have been knowingly hiring undocumented workers who lack valid documentation to prove their citizenship here in the United States (Washington).Increasing numbers of business owners doing this lowers the jobs of American citizens greatly. Many businessmen like undocumented workers because they work hard without large pay. These are the reasons the average business owners prefer undocumented workers rather than a usual American employee.

For many years, people from all over the world have come to the United States seeking a better life for themselves, their spouse, their children and even their children's children. However, not every immigrant comes into this country legally and many of these illegal immigrants are poor, uneducated and may be carrying contagious diseases. They may arrive here via human trafficking, smuggling or other methods. There is one thing we know for sure that many of them choose to remain silence when they become victims. The three main reasons they become invisible victims are they are not aware they are victimized, they don't know the right way to ask for help and they are afraid to be fired or even deported.

The US labor force would not survive if it was not for illegal immigrants. If there were no illegal immigrants our labor force would decrease by four percent (Isidore 5). “We could not have grown as much as we did in the 1990s if we did not have immigrants… our growth would have been slower (Isidore 5).” Having illegal immigrants in our labor force increases the amount of resources we have, which increases the amount of production in the country. “Some economists discuss that not only do U.S. consumers benefit from lower prices as an outcome of the low wages most immigrants are paid, but that the convenience of lower-wage labor helps create more work for higher-skilled, higher-paid workers who are generally born in the US (Isidore 14).” Illegal immigrants are opening up higher wage jobs, because they take over the lower wage jobs. Many immigrants take jobs in the field of construction, agriculture

Illegal immigrants help boost the United States economy by paying some taxes. Like American citizens, illegal immigrants may pay local, state, and federal taxes including sales tax that helps support government services that they may not be able to access (Ewing 9). Since more American citizens are becoming aware of the benefits of an education, openings are being created for illegal immigrants in low paying jobs (Nadadur 1037-1052). Americans, unlike illegal immigrants, have more diverse careers. Aliens are more concentrated in specific job areas, resulting in a decrease in immigrant labor cost. This helps boost the United States’ economy (Carter 777-795). Of the approximate eleven million illegal immigrants in the U.S., most work in labor intensive jobs. Careers such as construction and agriculture tend to attract illegal aliens and they account for about twenty-five percent of the work force in these areas (Ewing 9). Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve admits that illegal immigrants help improve the United States economy and does not suggest turning them away (qtd. in Quindlen 90). Anna Quindlen, in her article “Newcomers By Numbers,” agrees with Bernanke and believes that immigrants are the factor that helps keep prices low. She also adds that immigrants are not causing American citizens unemployment, but are simply taking the low wage jobs that citizens are not willing to do and even boosting the economy (90).

12). A 2007 study on immigrants in Arkansas found that the total economic impact of Arkansas’ one hundred thousand, fifty one percent undocumented, on the state economy is nearly three billion dollars (Willis par. 5). Texas comptroller study found that the one million four hundred thousand undocumented immigrants living in Texas in 2005 contributed 17.7 billion dollars to the state economy (Willis par. 5). Illegal immigrants also take low paying jobs. Most Americans do not like to wash dishes, bust tables, and mop floors, but those are jobs that need to be done. Employers always have trouble finding regular employees to do that kind of work, which is also usually low paying. Americans are not willing to work them whereas the illegal immigrants are. When businesses have trouble filling positions of low skill jobs they only have two choices, raise the wage rate high enough to fill jobs or eliminate positions (Gheen par. 14). Businesses must then raise the prices of their items to make up the difference. Higher prices that the customers of those businesses will end up paying for. Illegal immigration also improves the overall image of America. No other country in the world has the diversity of races,

Recently the United States has experienced a large number of immigrants coming over to the country within the 2000s. In recent studies, there are about 11.5 million undocumented immigrants in the United States. The undocumented immigrant population has grown 27% between 2000 to 2009. Immigrants from Mexico make up 59% of the undocumented immigrants in the United States. These undocumented immigrants can help the economy and country grow. These undocumented immigrants do have some downside to them, which makes people question do they really help this country. Many people question if this is a good or bad thing for the U.S. economy or the country. Immigrants have helped the U.S. economy out a lot and propose more positives then negatives on

be issued a temporary worker card that will allow them to travel back and forth

This expansion of low cost labor pool assisted in increase money circulation. As mentioned in the article, “Should Labor Unions support an Immigration Amnesty?” The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007, this legislation states that for the first time in 40 years, deviate from the long-held Americans have earned a middle class life style and Congress should be working to protect it not take it away. From an economic viewpoint many of these low paying jobs have also had to deal with being exploited and forced to work under harmful conditions. Although illegal immigrants are exploited in many ways, American citizens feel that illegal immigrants are the primary cause for the high rise in unemployment in the United States. However, many of our hard paying labor workers do not have to live in our country to compete with our citizens. Today many our jobs are being performed internationally in many countries. Also with many of our citizens struggling with their small business low paying, illegal immigrants are very beneficial to the economy. Illegal immigrants are well known for their low pay and hard work that they offer. Many of these illegal immigrants are willing to take jobs that many of our citizens would not consider working for. On the other hand not allowing for illegal immigrants to work, would not resolve the economic struggle of unemployment.

Next, a study by Raúl Hinojosa-Ojeda states that using a comprehensive immigration plan that involves giving current undocumented immigrants legal status would benefit the country with 1.5 trillion dollars in additional GDP growth over 10 years while increasing wages for all workers. Additionally, tax revenue would be increased by 4.5+ billion dollars over three years. The same study shows the cost of mass deportation, which is 2.6 trillion dollars in lost GDP over 10 years while increased wages for less-skilled workers. These undocumented immigrants certainly have a heavy influence regarding the economy, and it may be beneficial to incorporate them by granting amnesty as opposed to other solutions such as mass deportation. With legal status, the 11 million undocumented individuals can be more productive and help further strengthen the U.S. economy.

The proponents to accepting these illegal immigrants and granting them citizenship believe that the undocumented workers provide a vital asset to our nation’s economy. Bardow suggests that many immigrants help to create jobs and drive innovation. According to employers with entry-level positions, the American labor force is unwilling to work at those positions. Nor, will they accept the salaries paid to undocumented workers. Proponents are also sympathetic to the quality of life the immigrants are experiencing in their home countries, the costs they must incur to reach our country, and the contributions these workers are making in our homes and businesses. An article in Pro/Con states that although “the wages for low-skilled worker go down’, but ‘the rest