Politics Aside: How much of a problem is immigration for the United States?

Question

Immigration has obviously become absorbed into the polarized political battle between the Left and Right.

Politics aside...

-What are the benefits of immigration?

-What problems does immigration pose for the United States?

-What kinds of lives do illegal immigrants live in this country?

Answer 1

well illlegal immigration is just that illegal yet those immigrants work make a living they do take away jobs from other americans yet those american would never stopp to work so hard for the measly wages out there for that hard work and even though they don't pay taxes they buy goods and do help out the economy. I hate to say it make them citizens and you'll put 1 million on the street with no work because the employers using them won't pay the wages they will have to under federal law

Answer 2

New people, new insights to other cultures, etc.

Immigration wasn't such a problem till we've had too many refusing to blend in with this culture. Speak English etc. It's also bad right now because I don't care what they say.....we don't NEED more people. We have PLENTY of people here.....too many in my opinion. All it does right now is create a disposable society of workers for the employers. Why should they hire you for money when they can hire a body to fill the spot for 1/2 the price?

The majority of immigrants comming in here aren't "better" than citizens.....they just work for less because where many come from.....it's seems like a million bucks. Kind of like the kid who gets his first hundred dollar bill and thinks he can buy the world. Works for awhile, till the reality of actually surviving on that comes to life. But we've softened the blow of reality by suddenly giving all these freebies and not enforcing laws to make-up for the lousy pay. That, as we well know, won't continue forever. There will be some "reform" that will take it all away and they are going to be screaming about the same things we are and have been. Of course in their minds they'll think this is the first time it's ever happened and it's only happened to just them......we however....know different. This is probably my 3rd time around this track before. Same game....different players. Problem is......this nation has gone through enough and we need a period of time to catch our breath. This huge influx of legal and illegal immigrants is causing more of a divide of our communities and everything else. The minute we got on the same page and people started experiencing some of the benefits of decades and decades of work.....now we're worse off than before. It's not just men vs women or black vs white, now it's language and relegion and stolen identies and a large aging population and a baby boom generation that puts the one I'm in to shame. A huge gap between rich and poor and more of an imbalance than I've ever known.

I think it depends on where they live and whether or not they have legal family members as to how well they are doing. Some are doing quite well and others are barely scraping by.

Answer 3

You could be correct in your statement of absorbed into the polarized political battle.
First- benefits of immigration can be good if controlled
Second- depends on who is coming into this country. Are they able to take care of themselves or do we have to support them.
Third- There are alot that live a good life in this country and try to uphold the laws, and don't need to be supported. The illegals that are being picked up aren't the problem ones, the others find ways not to be found, and deported.
.I answered a person addressing the Mexican truck drivers coming into the US, pointing out that the statement they couldn't read or write English shouldn't be the real problem since the DMV offices offer driver tests for licenses to be taken in different languages.
I was correct by arcanum70, the same writer that it was Commerical Vehicles, Part 391.11 of the federal motor carrier safety regulations that require drivers to read and speak English. Of course he also said it wasn't enforced, Stop offering means other than you speak English when it comes to benefits of living here, there are and have been alot of people coming to live in the USA for many years without all this fan fair involving Politics and discrimination. You do what is asked of you to do to live here or return to your country. There are alot of jobs being lost because of companies closing, and the leck of money coming into the household, but they can find any benefits because of the politics of the fat boys in the White House.

Answer 4

It is a mess that the federal gov failed to enforce the immigration laws for the past 50 years or so. A decent workers program was in force in the 50s but it was allowed to expire. Result, illegal immigration. Now with the proposals going into affect on9/15/07, employers will be held responsible and fined for any known illegals that have been recognized to not be fired. I live in California and this is what the eventual results of this; It is estimated that over 70% of the people that work harvesting our crops are undocumented. By eliminating this work force, food will be rotting in the fields resulting in higher prices in the market. The billions of dollars spent annually by undocumented workers will no longer be there. This will result in a slow death to many businesses such as labor contractors, farm labor camps, day laborer companies, small neighborhood stores. Not trying to be funny, the affect on the large retailers will be devastating. Wal Mart, K Mart, major grocery stores and the like will have to raise their prices significantly. And worst of all, this is only because the current administration threw this out there as a diversion to what has amounted to a fould presidency. Our economy will eventually be in shambles and the US will be 3rd world country in the following 10 years.

Answer 5

Politics aside, think economics.

In the modern world, First World economies do not expand because of innovative technology or new resource fields as much as the simple accumulation of greater population. people here are already rich (by global standards), so instead of making each one richer, we simply grow or import more.

More people equals more services and good being produced and purchased. Raise the population 10% and the real GDP increases by a like amount.

Why are economies in Europe and Japan stagnating? becasue they have declining populations, especially Japan.

The fastest growing populations and or the ones transitioning to modern ones from backwards ones are the fastest growers.

In the developed world, the strongest economies are in Canada and the US, both of whom rely on immigrant populations to grow their repsective economies.

Politics aside, immigration is what built the USA and will continue to do so. Be glad that the USA is such a large country that it is unlikely to lose its cultural identity, or at least it will alter more subtley.

In Canada with its much smaller population and weaker national identity, we are having far more problems with inter-regional conflict.

Answer 6

There are pluses and minuses, but know one really knows the extant of their affect. Economist are split on this issue, but those favoring it are more of a probusiness types. I am far more worried about legal immigrants than illegal, but thats do to my station in society.

The professionals that come here, bring talents and knowledge that help us design and invent knew products. We steal the brightest and our companies has grown from that. On the other hand, legal immigrants are used as leverage to decrease the work condition and pay of our professioanls. Certain companies can not outsource their jobs to lower cost, so they import immigrants to do the jobs. Some of them are inferior in quality, but companies threaten their visa status if the immigrants are not willing to work in an abusive situation. THe company threaten native work force if they are unwilling to work at a certain pay or condition that they wills start looking for workers outside.

illegal immigrants bring down the cost of goods. This is done at the expense of the illegal immigrants. THey are often abused to bring down prices. They also lower pay and cost middle class tax payers money to support. THey do enlarge our economy.

Answer 7

How do somany people on here mistake "IMMIGRATION" and "ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION"???

Immigration is NOT the problem. People who are here LEGALLY have to hold jobs, pay taxes an dnot be a burden to the system.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION IS THE PROBLEM- these people suck or welfare system dry, take money and services that AMERICAN people paid for for AMERICAN PEOPLE. The rob, cheat, bread, steal, kill, start gangs etc.

Immigration is GOOD.
ILLEAGL IMMIGRATION is a "DIRECT THREAT TO THE NATIONAL SECURITY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" and should be treated accordingly. ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS should be treated as TERRORISTS, because that is what they are.

The following 10 facts have been pulled from the LA Times.


1. L.A. County has 10 million people. 40% of all workers in L.A. County are working for cash and not paying taxes. This is because they are predominantly illegal immigrants, working without a green card.


2. Of the 10 million people in L.A. County, 5.1 million people speak English. 3.9 million Speak only Spanish.

3. 95% of warrants for murder in Los Angeles are for illegal aliens.

4. 75% of people on the most wanted list in Los Angeles are illegal aliens.

5. Over two-thirds of all births in Los Angeles County are to illegal alien Mexicans on Medi-Cal whose births were paid for by taxpayers.

6. Nearly 25% of all inmates in California detention centers are Mexican nationals here illegally.

7. Over 300,000 illegal aliens in Los Angeles County are living in garages.

8. The FBI reports half of all gang members in Los Angeles are most likely illegal aliens from south of the border.

9. Nearly 60% of all occupants of HUD properties are illegal.

10. 21 radio stations in L.A. are Spanish language only

Answer 8

The benefits of immigration are many. The benefits of illegal immigration are crime, abuse of our system, financial drain and slum areas. The newspapers list the most violent crimes and 98% of them have Mexican surnames. The court docs are full of Mexican surnames. The welfare offices and programs are full of Mexican surnames. Illegals have to hide in one way or another to avoid the authorities. That means they depend on illegal means to support themselves. They sleep by canal banks, in vacant houses breaking windows to get in. They steal to make ends meet and always the alcohol, drugs, lowered cars and loud music.

Answer 9

Actually, both parties in America support virtually unlimitted immigration in one form or another. The Democrats would prefer a flood of 'minority' immigrants with a fast-track to citizenship, while republicans would prefer a flood of cheap-labor non-citizen immigrants, but both have copious reasons for supporting immigration, both legal and illegal.

The benefits of immigration to a country with declining fertility and an aging population - and, America is such a country - are substantial. Brining in young, skilled immigrants supports the tax base that must support retiring baby boomers, for instance, and keeps wages from exploding in some sectors of the economy and driving jobs overseas. The cultures of legal immigrants, over a generatio nor two, are absorbed into the larger American culture, a process which has continuously re-invigourated and brought vibrancy and diversity to our country. Brining in illegal immigrants, who are in effect 'exempt' from labor-protection laws, allows industries to remain in America that would be uncompettaive, globally, if they met the expenses of complying with such laws.

The problems of regulated legal immigration are manageable - with legal immigrants coming from all over the world, the one thing they have in common with eachother is thier new homeland, America. Thus, assimilation is natural - not quick or easy, but clearly the best thing to do, and cultural and racial tensions are minimized. Legal immigrants are systematically integrated into socieity, they get jobs, pay taxes, raise families, and generally contribute to society. Legal immigrants can be screened for disease, criminal histories, and the like, to further reduce the problems of integrating them into society.

The problems with illegal immigration are more intractible. Illegals are not drawn here in proportionate numbers from around the world, but come primarily from nearby states and specific regions. They do not recieve help to integrate into society. They often lack desireable skills, and can even have criminal ties or bring in diseases once eradicated. For these reasons, illegals are less likely to assimilate, and more likely to form enclaves, what amount to colonies of thier homeland in America.

Illegals run the gammut from immigrants who entered legally and just failed to file all the right paperwork at the right time (and don't even realize they've jeapordized thier status) to criminals crossing the border to engage in drug trafficking. So thier lives prettymuch run the gammut of human experience.

Answer 10

Immigration legal within the law is fine> Illegal immigration needs to be enforced>?An there cost is more than the benefit>?