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Sunday, October 3, 2010

Competition Among Citizens and Illegal Immigrants



Immigration is the foundation of the United States of America. In 1607, individual English settlers came to America to seek religious freedom and personal fortunes. The English immigrants journeyed to the land of the states and made thirteen colonies. The new settlers created jobs that strengthened what we know today as the U.S.A. As decades passed, people from all over the world with different ethical backgrounds immigrated to the United States. Mexicans, Africans, and Asians are some immigrants that journeyed to the United States.
Today illegal immigration has become an economic issue with American prosperity. Americans with low-skills, often high school drop outs, have to compete with illegal immigrants over low-skills jobs. There has been massive debt in the United States over the past years. The Total Public Debt Outstanding was approximately 93 percent of the annual GDI (gross domestic income). This massive debt has caused plenty of job loss and has also caused citizens to settle for low-skilled jobs. Illegal Immigrants are taking low-skilled jobs such as: carpet layers, plumbers, and construction workers. According to The American Resistance, between 40 to 50 percent of wage losses of low-skilled Americans is due to the in-immigration of low-skilled workers. FAIR, the Federation for American Immigration Reform, states today, more than 15.4 million Americans are without a job and are actively looking for work. At the same time, estimates conclude that 8.3 million illegal aliens are part of America’s workforce despite their employment being a violation of U.S. law. Is this fair? Should illegal immigrants be able to come to America and take the jobs of rightful U.S. citizens?
I don’t oppose immigration because immigration is the reason the United States is so diverse today, but I do believe illegal immigration is not fair. An immigrant coming to the U.S. should take the proper steps to becoming a citizen. Proper citizenship will make fair competition with low-skilled American workers. This could promote Americans to accept immigrants in society today.

photo from flickercc.bluemoutains.net

2 comments:

  1. While scanning the blogs, this blog caught my eye mainly because it deals with a very “hot” topic in the media. Illegal immigration is a huge problem in America. I like how you went into depth on how it is hurting our economy. Your facts is what sold this topic to me, and I agree with you a hundred percent. Even though articles from newsweek.com (http://www.newsweek.com/2010/05/14/why-americans-think-wrongly-that-illegal-immigrants-hurt-the-economy.html) and other media sources state that illegal immigrants give America a small economic boost, illegal immigration is still a crime. As I was doing my own research on this topic, I found that the website for the Federation of American Immigration Reform (FAIR) was quite helpful. I believe this website will help this arguments credibility and you should refer to it more (fairus.org). Personally, I have no problem with anyone coming to America just as long as the do it legally and lawfully.

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  2. I'm glad that you agreed with my argument Tommy. Illegal immigration is often overlooked. Like I said in my blog, I don’t oppose immigration, but illegal immigration is bringing issues in the economy. I’m glad you brought up information that opposed my article. This just shows readers there are opposite opinions in America, and that’s why illegal immigration is becoming an issue. Plenty of people believe illegal immigrants have not caused a problem to them, but I’m here just to explain the problems they have caused to others. In the article you linked from Newsweek.com, I found something said very interesting. According to newsweek.com, there is a demographic reason for anti-immigration. Illegal immigrants use to reside in New York, Texas, and California. Illegal immigrants have started to chase jobs in other areas of the U.S., and the population of illegal immigrants in these states has dropped. In my opinion this is not a good change because the immigrants that left have occupied other areas of the U.S. and are still adding problems. Not only is searching for jobs becoming a problem, but illegal immigrants have brought questions in healthcare. Illegal immigrants are starting to bring diseases that were considered terminated, like tuberculosis, back into America, according to fairus.org. This situation can be stopped if immigrants become legal.

    http://www.newsweek.com/2010/05/14/why-americans-think-wrongly-that-illegal-immigrants-hurt-the-economy.html

    http://www.fairus.org/site/PageServer?pagename=iic_immigrationissuecenters64bf

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