Sarah Sanchez English 1010 Issue Summary

Do Undocumented Immigrants Negatively Impact the American Economy?

The topic of illegal immigration is an issue that has become an immensely heated subject, and has caused a huge divide in Americas society. Immigration reform has consumed many different positions throughout history. Centuries before, Americas growth was dependent on bringing immigrants to land with promises of land and bounty. Even though America was founded by immigrants, illegal immigration in the United States has consistently been a challenge with new laws constantly being implemented and revised. The reason for continuing reforms is due to recognition that immigration impacts the economy. In 1965 an immigration bill called The Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965 was passed and it opened the door for more diverse cultures to be able to migrate into the country. Because of this, entire families were able to establish and develop their lives in America. In the following decades the amount of legal immigrants who entered the country had more than tripled than the previous years. As legal immigration expanded, illegal immigration continued to grow rapidly. Illegal immigration affects everyone in the country including the undocumented

immigrants residing here, United States residents, and political and legal members of our society. Someone living here without the proper documents may have come here as a child or crossed the border to come here to establish a better life, so they thought. It is a constant struggle to survive in America without the proper documentation. Obtaining adequate health care is a challenge, finding a good job and also looking for a decent place to live can be a problem as well. The jobs they are forced to take are often the jobs that nobody else wants. One undocumented immigrant that previously lived in the state of Arizona said that he was making only $9.80 an hour to work in hot weather doing yard work. The feelings of an undocumented immigrant does not matter too many residents wanting to protect their economy. What many people are unaware of is that someone who lacks the proper documentation to live in the United States, does not qualify for most, if any, State and Government programs. An example of this would be a statement found on the Healthcare.gov website regarding the Affordable Care Act; Undocumented immigrants arent eligible for federal public benefits through the Affordable Care Act. For example, undocumented immigrants cant buy coverage through the Marketplace. Premium tax credits arent available for undocumented immigrants. Legal residents of the United States are dealing with a large conflict of unemployment. Because of this they are turning towards the Government and questioning why someone who is not in this country legally may have a job while they themselves are jobless. American residents recently have had to compete for these jobs because undocumented immigrants are willing to work at lower wages. Kevin Collins wrote in the Western Journalism, that the state of

Alabama had an increase of employment for citizens and a decrease in unemployment rate when the HB56 law was passed that forced undocumented immigrants out of state. The law allowed police officers to question someones legal status and detain them under suspicion. A similar law was passed in Arizona were it negatively impacted the economy by forcing many people to move. One apartment owner stated that many of her renters were from Mexico and it affected her business when they packed up and moved out of State. Daniel Gonzalez also states in his article Arizonas illegal immigrants departure affecting business, that out of all the spending in the State of Arizona, $31 billion comes from Latinos. Some residents are concerned that their healthcare is a problem when they go to local hospitals and have to wait behind someone who shouldnt even be in the United States or that public schools are too crowded when actually, schools gain state money for each student that is funded. Another issue is the language barrier. English is the primary language in the United States therefore some people find it unjust that they are forced to communicate with someone who lives here and cannot speak their language. Language becomes a great deal in our economy when most jobs require a bi-lingual representative. Chances are since the United States won part of Mexico in The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the Spanish speaker on the other line might be a United States Citizen. There are both Politicians and Lawyers who have a say in the matter of immigration and our economy. Previous laws were passed in the past to prevent job competition with undocumented immigrants. President Barak Obama has created a modern day reform that would help the economy by forcing undocumented immigrants to pay fines and taxes until they obtain the proper documentation. President Obama points out that it harms our economy

when we are giving visas for someone to come into our country for education and then send them back to theirs to become our competitors. Immigration attorneys may focus on keeping families together, but they are also concerned about the safety of our people and our economy. Immigration attorney Susan Pai, in her article Message to the Tea Party Conservatives, & Republicans RE Mandatory $ 5 Million Daily Spend, states that it cost tax payers about 5 million dollars a day for a quota to be met to keep undocumented immigrants detained. What she is referring to is the Congressional Bed Mandate, and that is costing tax payers $120 per person, per night to detain 34,000 undocumented immigrant. She also reminds the tax payers that these people who are detained could be monitored in other aspects and should actually be out spending their money shopping and buying groceries to help our economy. Our economy works in many different ways, and some residents find that their local business are increasing profits with amount of people in their towns regardless of status. President Obama points out that some undocumented immigrants were brought here as children and cannot control the circumstances they are in. The residents living here as well as documented immigrants feel frustrated that there is overcrowding in public places and upset at the job competition they face with undocumented immigrants. There is a large portion of highly educated immigrants that are forced to leave the country when there visa expires, and they ultimately become a competitor of ours. Some people also feel that we the tax payers are spending too much money protecting our borders instead of helping our economy. As ironic as all of this may seem to the tax payers and investors, illegal immigration in our country may also have its benefits and advantages to our economy.

Bibliography Sasan Pai. Message to the Tea Party Conservatives & Repbulicans Re Mandatory $5 Million Daily Spend. Copyright 2004-2014 by The Law Office of Susan Pai, PLLC and Susan Pai. WEB. http://strongvisa.com/advocacy-blog/message-tea-party-conservatives-republicans-remandatory-5-million-daily-spend/ HealthCare.gov. What do immigrant families need to know about the Marketplace. A federal government website managed by the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Baltimore, MD. WEB. https://www.healthcare.gov/what-do-immigrant-families-need-to-know/

History.com Staff. U.S. Immigration Since 1965. History.com, A&E Networks, 2010, WEB. http://www.history.com/topics/us-immigration-since-1965

Kevin Coach Collins. After kicking out illegal aliens Alabama is putting American citizens back to work. WesternJournalism.com. Copyright 2014. WEB. http://www.westernjournalism.com/afterkicking-out-illegal-aliens-alabama-is-putting-american-citizens-back-to-work/

Daniel Gonzalez, Arizonas illegal immigrants departure affecting businesses. Azcentral.com, 2012. WEB. http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/06/29/20100629arizona-immigration-lawaffecting-businesses.html

PBS. The Mexican American War. WGBH Educational Foundation. 1996-2013. WEB. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/grant-mexican-american-war/