Do you think that Illegal Immigration is a problem in America? why or why not?

Question

It would help me understand this is you supported your answer and gave an example. And I would also like your opinions on how we could prevent it. Thank You.

Answer 1

NATIONAL SECURITY . How are you going to protect the country if you don't know who's in it ..........
Not all illegals have cars , cell phone's or computers or bank accounts so illegal wire tapping or information gathering on AMERICANS IN THE US isn't going to help.
How about we spend the hundred of billions from the "war" and actually man our borders HERE more efficiently.

Answer 2

It is a huge problem in America. Illegal Immigration costs American Taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars each year. Not only is it a problem financially, it is a problem for our criminal justice systems due to crimes committed by illegal aliens. Additionally, and just as important having unsecured borders is a risk to our national security. Americans are fed up and want something done about it.

I think this will be one of the defining issues of the coming 2008 Election. It should be, if we don't put a stop to illegal immigration now, issues like social security, national security, taxes, etc., which are all effected by this cancer in our country won't even matter.

Answer 3

I searched the links provided in some of the answers and the documentation was underwhelming. The numbers estimating serious crime committed by illegals are all bogus; the estimates are based on figures nobody knows even by the admissions of the ones doing the 'estimation'. Using these numbers for any kind of policy analysis is dishonest.

The issue reminds me of a message group in which the poster blamed a rape on an illegal alien, with the poster providing the link of the original story. When I followed the link, the original story stated that they were looking for a suspect with a Hispanic name, but there was no statement pinning the crime on the person, nor identifying the person of interest as an illegal or even an immigrant.

It is not true that employers who employ illegal immigrants do it in order to pay sublegal wages. Most of the time, the employer didn't know and didn't want to know because until recently, the employer was not required to verify social security numbers. Most illegal immigrants were probably earning the same as their legal colleagues; at least that is what I witnessed in the industry in which I work.

It is also mostly NOT true that illegal immigrants are taking the jobs of Americans. Most jobs of Americans are being taken by foreigners overseas willing to do the job for less, and due to Americans being dumbed down by a government producing illiterate high school graduates. Chinese workers are cheaper and don't have a union. They also don't require health insurance or a pension, and don't have 76 government agencies regulating their workplace!

In the US, the jobs that illegals are taking are in agriculture, construction and personal services. It is true that some Americans might work in these industries, but there are not enough of them to satisfy all the jobs. There is a real shortage of American-born people willing and able to do these jobs and this is the consistent theme I've heard repeated by business owners in those industries. I've seen on Americans on TV complaining that the wages offered for these jobs (above the minimum wage) are "not living wages". So which one is it? Are immigrants taking the jobs or not?

Lastly, angry Americans being riled up by politicians, idiots and rednecks do not realize the serious consequences of deporting or losing the production from the estimated 12 Million illegals, but thanks to DHS apparently they soon will feel the pain. The population should prepare to suffer a shortage in goods and services and hyperinflation on everything from groceries to houses, as a significant portion of the workforce fails to return to work due to new Homeland Security document verification regulations.

Some said in answer to your question that dollars and cents tell the story. Here it is: Illegal immigrants who obtained jobs with fraudulent documents WERE paying into the system all the same contributions as any LEGAL worker. That includes the federal (illegal) income tax, OASDI and Social Security. Unlike a legal worker, however, the illegal would not collect a tax refund, disability, or social security. The illegal workers are paying taxes on wages of $17 billion (unmatched funds, Source SS website) each year. With a tax rate of 17% and SS (voluntary contribution) of 7.5%, this comes to $4.2 billion EACH YEAR for the rest of us. Do you believe that is insignificant? That is about 20% of the TOTAL Medicaid annual budget for everybody! (About $21 B).

In addition to the previous fact, the general population benefits from the influx (legal and illegal) in the form of cheaper goods and services compared to what the prices would be if businesses would have a shortage of labor and have to pay higher wages.

So you see, apart from criminals, the solution to the "invasion" was simply to check the documents and hold the employers accountable. That "problem" is solved. Now brace for the consequences!

Criminals, on the other hand, should pay the price for their crimes, whether immigration-related of violent. This is the same whether the criminal is a foreigner or an American. To suggest otherwise is xenophobic. I agree that a nation has an obligation to secure its borders in order to prevent criminals from coming in. Anything more is a wild exaggeration spewing from the lips of a few politicians and radio hosts. Some advocate the indiscriminate shooting of all people crossing the border, Good God!

The solution of the 'problem' is half implemented. To solve the problem completely, everyone reading this ought to register Republican and vote in the Republican primary for the only candidate of either party that represents real hope: Ron Paul.

Answer 4

Illegal Immigration is a problem in the United States. Illegal immigrants come into the country and earn sub legal wages and for paying no social security or other taxes except for the income tax that is deducted from the wages under stolen social security numbers, they use many, many services that they do not pay for. Also, the problem of illegal immigration has been overlooked because it is better for big business to pay sub legal wages for many jobs than to pay legal minimum wage for American citizens to take the same jobs. The war in Iraq is a smoke screen to cover up the fact that the perpetrators of 9/11 were illegal immigrants and the war was a trick to get hold of another source of oil that back fired. To this day our borders are not secure and our infrastructure is deteriorated all because of an illegal war. We could have used the money to secure our borders and secure our own economy. Our country is very vulnerable and will suffer another attack and we'll not be able to prevent it because we don't know who is here in this country or where they are residing.

Answer 5

Illegal immigration is a huge problem.

Some people try to claim that we should just open our borders completely. This is simply a bad idea. No country has ever done this, and no country ever will. If you completely open your borders, people will take advantage of your countries advantages, move money and resources out of your country, and spread the economic resources thinner amongst the people that do live there.

The biggest problem, which most people fail to acknowledge, is that illegal immigration is hurting the mexican-american population more than anyone else. Because of illegal immigration, many people are beginning to view mexican-americans as a lower class. Stereotypes about mexican-americans not being able to speak english and standing outside of Home Depot. looking for work are beginning to make it more difficult for an educated mexican-american to succeed in obtaining the American Dream.

Further more, many of the people that come into the united states illegal are criminals and/or drug mules. I am not claiming that all or even most of illegal immigrants are this way, but many are. A government poll indicated that 25% of U.S. prisoners are illegal immigrants.

But often times, people are not arrested BECAUSE they are illegal immigrants. A friend of mine was killed by a drunk driver who had been pulled over and ticketed 4 times for drunk driving in the past. However, because he was an illegal immigrant, the process of arresting him was too complicated for the officers to want to bother with it and they only issued fines instead. It is ridiculous to give someone who is an illegal immigrant (meaning that they've already broken the law) more chances to break the law.

the best thing to do is to completely re-write the american immigration policy. There are dozens of flaws in it which are keeping people out of our country who deserve to be here, and allowing people in that should never step foot in this country. We need to completely overhaul the system and then actually enforce a strict border.

Answer 6

Yes ILLEGAL INVADERS are a problem in the US.

1. They do not belong here.
2. They have NO RIGHT TO BE HERE.
3. They sponge of the Government sucking up resource and benefits that are for AMERICAN CITIZENS, paid for by AMERICAN CITIZENS for AMERICAITIZENS.
4. They do not respect our laws.
5. They do not respect our flag.
6. They flood our schools and hospitals and cause economic burden.
7. They work ILELGALLY and then send the money they do make home to their home country, tus nt even supporting thier local economy.
8. Need I go on...............

How to prevent it-

STOP SUPPORTING ILLEGAL INVADERS.

STOP paying them welfare
STOP giving them government housing.
STOP providing free medical to them
STOP giving them food stamps.
STOP hiring them
STOP selling to them
STOP allowing them to protest in OUR streets
STOP catering to their FORIEGEN LANGUAGE

The other Ideas I ahve here would get me kicked of YA again.

Answer 7

It is always a problem for me when people are deliberately breaking our laws and not being punished for it. The immigration laws are there for a reason, and some fail to see that. If we didn't need them, they would not have been legislated.

With that being said, it is the criminality of the entire thing. I don't care where the immigrant is from, but if they are in this nation illegally, they need to be dealt with - as in removed from this nation.

People try to create the entire "grey" area - this one is hard working and just trying to make a better life for themself. Well, I am willing to bet there are some drug dealers in prison that were doing it just to feed the kids they have. And guess what? They are still in prison. Poverty is not an excuse, and as they say, "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions."

Answer 8

this is just some of the reasons why we oppose illegal immigration. you asked for information so I attached multiple articles. please take the time to at least browse them. ONE OF THE ARTICLES IN IT'S ENTIRETY; Immigration: A new study suggests that the wave of illegal aliens is having a more serious impact -- particularly on welfare spending -- than commonly believed. Is anyone in Washington listening? The study by the Center for Immigration Studies notes that the estimated 10.3 million people who've come here since 2000 represent the greatest-ever migration to the U.S. over a seven-year period. Over the next decade, at current rates, another 15 million will arrive -- the largest immigrant wave in our history. Not bad for a country that supposedly is one of the most unpopular on Earth. That said, the study also notes that more than half the newcomers so far this decade -- 5.6 million -- have come illegally. Of America's 39 million immigrants, representing 12.6% of our total population, at least 12 million are illegal. Most, but not all, come from Mexico and Central America. What exactly do the numbers mean? Well, for one thing, they mean we're importing a lot of poverty -- and it's skewing the debate over key public policy issues. How often, for example, have we been hit over the head with the scary statistic that "48 million Americans don't have health insurance." But the statement is only partly true. According to CIS, 34% of all immigrant households -- or 13.3 million -- don't have health insurance. And of those, 8.3 million are here illegally. They make up 18% of the nation's uninsured, if you count their American-born children. The crisis of the uninsured, in other words, is in significant part an imported one -- one that is costing untold billions. That flies in the face of at least one widely reported recent study that claimed the U.S. spends only $1 billion on the uninsured. Even assuming that illegals use only half the health-care resources per person as the rest of the country, the total is more like $30 billion. CIS also reckons that immigrants and their U.S.-born children account for 71% of the increase in the uninsured since 1989 -- a fact that usually goes unremarked upon in the debate over health-care reform. In addition, 59% of the illegal population and their children are at or near poverty. That comes to 8.7 million people, and compares with 19% of native households. This translates into higher use of welfare. Nationwide, 40% of all households headed by illegal aliens use one or more major welfare programs. The share in cash programs is actually quite small -- less than 1%. But 33% of all illegal households get food aid, and another 27% are on Medicaid. Again, this means billions spent each year -- and that doesn't include the growing costs associated with jailing and policing illegals who have turned to crime or gangs. We're not immigrant-bashing here. We agree America is a nation of immigrants, and uniquely so. Nor do we wish to end immigration. But uncontrolled illegal immigration is a big problem, especially for states such as California, Texas, Arizona and Florida.
Together, they have 54% of all the illegals and bear the brunt of the problem. States together spend $20 billion a year on illegals' welfare costs alone. That spending has become a kind of subsidy, luring ever more illegals to the U.S. Those that come have fewer skills and less education than the rest of the population. Anyone who thinks waving a magic wand over the illegal population and making them legal will solve the problem is dreaming. "Legalized illegals will still be overwhelmingly uneducated," the CIS report points out, "and this fact has enormous implications for their income, welfare use, health-insurance coverage and the effect on American taxpayers." In short, they've becoming a semi-permanent, welfare-dependent underclass. Unfortunately, when anyone brings this up, charges of "xenophobe" and "racist" get thrown around. But that only keeps us from an honest discussion -- and accounting -- of both the benefits and costs of our burgeoning illegal population.**** also in 1986 there was an amnesty for 2 to 3 million illegals which has caused the 12 to 20 million who are now here to come in hopes of another amnesty. if we amnesty illegals again how will we ever keep them from coming, the answer is we won't.

Answer 9

It is a huge problem and it will get much worse. First, the illegals are stealing jobs needed by Americans. Good jobs in construction and others. Second, the illegals breed like mice. That will lead to over population, more pollution, and more government services for them that are needed by our own people. Illegals are a huge burden on our country and that burden will multiply quickly. And the pandering by our government officials to the illegals and their employers is ruining America for our children and grand children.

Answer 10

First off, let's get rid of that particular phrase "illegal immigration" and not even consider is much worse relative "undocumented immigration". Now lets call it by its correct name "invasion". These people are invaders, illegally entering the United States for various reasons, many quite understandable to me such as looking for a way to better their family situation. These people, unless entering through legal channels and following immigration laws, are still invaders.

The problem is that not all of these people are entering the country for this type of purpose. There are those who wish to actively bring harm to us, not just take away some jobs that most of us wouldn't want to do anyway.

Can you tell which is which just by looking? I can't.