Treatment of illegal immigrants is an issue that raises a lot of controversies. Some argue that they should be treated as criminals who should be deported to their home countries as they pose security threats. Despite these allegations, immigrants whether legal or illegal deserve to be treated with respect as they are human beings. They work hard to better their own lives as well as their family’s. (Ong Hing B, 5)
Migration across borders has been in existence since time immemorial. People migrate for different reasons but mostly to seek greener pastures in terms of peaceful, more economically stable or more socially advanced areas. Some countries impose strict regulations along their borders making it difficult to cross their country using the formal and legally acceptable means thus precipitating illegal migration. Illegal immigrants have been a critical issue that raises a big debate on how they ought to be treated. Some countries like the U.S use strict or harsh treatment on illegal immigrants who refer to those illegal aliens who have not been formally registered or those whose visas have expired. (Borjas G, 52)
Immigration Acts in the U.S were initially established to control the number of immigration from each nationality. However this act has undergone several tremendous changes. The legal system in U.S was racial discriminatory and it saw the denial in entry of some races like Chinese, Japanese, Indians and Philippines. The naturalization law meant that only whites would be naturalized as citizens. People with important skills would be allowed as they were perceived to add value to the nation. Around the 1950’s ‘natural origins’ based to be the only cause for immigration legislation. Spouses, unmarried sons and daughters of those with permanent residence were accepted and allowed to be citizens. Other workers with appropriate skills to fit in the labor supply that deemed insufficient were also given citizenship. (Rosenblum M, 129)
Today immigration is a very sensitive matter that creates contradictory between the capital and the state and the economic imperatives as well as the social ones. Mexicans and Latinos comprise the highest number of illegal immigrants in the U.S and they have been a source of semi skilled labor. Most of them find their way into the U.S. where they work in farms, hotels or in people’s houses to perform domestic chores for low wages. Such immigrants are denied access to basic social amenities like education and medical health and they work and live in poor conditions.
The US government seems to perpetuate the illegal migration since it fails to improve the working conditions of the positions where illegal migrants take thus gaining from the exploitation of cheap labor it acquires from such illegal migrants. With the rise of terrorism strict rules were established and aliens could be deported while the borders imposed more physical barriers. Employers who supported illegal immigrants in anyway were to be jailed and they were expected to verify their employee’s eligibility using appropriate verification systems.
The current treatment of immigrants in US economy is unfair. In most cases such immigrants are poor and they need assistance not condemnation. Illegal migrants are treated as criminals when aiding them is criminalized. This measure is not only against the international human rights but also an uncalled for measure. Immigrants whether legal or illegal are human beings with rights that ought to be respected. If the U.S government attracted its own citizens to fill the vacancies that illegal immigrants fill, the problem of illegal migrants could be addressed as what attracts them would cease.
The Christian fraternity would be most affected by the criminalization of aiding migrants. This is due to the fact that they are called to a life that entails assistance to the needy. Serving their call will put them in trouble with the law. The US visa award to allow immigrants work temporarily works to perpetuate the illegal migration. This is because the demand exceeds the supply and people are force to make their way illegally into the U.S. The US seems to harshly penalize the immigrants for its own failures. Legal entry is not only time consuming but also expensive pushing immigrants to the wall. The delays before visa acquisition make some people lack the visa until they are quite old and may extend their stay to cover up of the time they would have spent had they acquired the visas on time.
Argument that illegal migrants pose security threat to the US is not proved and hence should not be internalized and acted upon. Immigration system ought to pave way for effective legal migration and it should appreciate the contribution of immigrants to their economy. The current system ensures hostility to immigrants despite their contribution. It sees their families torn apart and creates more tension and fear to the immigrants. The U.S government ought to uphold rights and liberties which it seems to discourage.
Improving the clearing systems at the borders by employing adequate staff, implementing technologically advanced equipment would help reduce the delays that precipitate illegal immigrants. This approach will bear more fruits than increasing or tightening security along the borders which has caused several deaths. Deportation is not a long lasting solution to the immigration issue. Immigrants in most cases are hardworking and will be beneficial to the U.S economy. Programs can be put in place to see to it that migrants, who do not understand English and hence have communication problems, learn and are prepared for citizenship. Instead of deporting innocent poor immigrants incentives can be put in place to encourage illegal immigrants to register and be cleared for permanent residency. Immigrants seek employment and find their means to survive and most of them do not pose a threat to security. (Borjas G, 52)
Illegal immigrants undergo stressful and cruel conditions. Since most employers are aware of their fate they exploit them by paying them low wages while they work under very unsafe conditions. Their standards of living are very low and they are denied quality health and hence they are prone to diseases outbreaks. They succumb to preventable diseases lost due to delays before accessing medical attention. Most of them will only seek medical attention when their conditions deteriorate. Registration of such immigrants would ensure that employers pay them decent salaries and their lives would be improved. This way they can contribute better to the county’s economy as they can pay taxes effectively and work more efficiently. Most immigrants are law abiding and therefore deserve to be treated fairly especially since they contribute to the economy. (Herman J, 57)
Some arguments against illegal migrants are based on competition for labor. This is however an uncalled for concern as due to their lack of proper education or skills they fit for the low skilled jobs while most US citizens have the resources to improve their human capital and can consequently fit in the skilled jobs. The reasoning of harassing immigrants on the basis that they pose a security threat is not justified. The government should put mechanisms in place to establish the offenders who pose security threats to the society. Generalization should be avoided as they do not serve to solve the problem. Human beings can be criminals whether nationals or immigrants. Again most of them are poor and lack the finances that terrorism would require. US perpetuate illegal activities by immigrants in the black market when they make it difficult for legal assimilation into their country. This is not economically viable to the nation. Lack of proper legal systems makes it hard to access valid identification documents and this paves way for illegal underground forgery. The approximate number of illegal migrants in the US is 11 to 12 million. Registration of illegal immigrants would make it easy for them to pay taxes and thus be beneficial to the economy at large.
US can exploit the supply of human resources at its disposal. At other times returning home for immigrants is very dangerous and expensive and hence sees most immigrants overstay or become permanent residents. Immigrants are beneficial as they offer labor in the construction firms. Most of them are there to give their families a better life and are consequently of no threat to the country’s security. Abrupt deportation can have adverse effects on the economy especially because the number of immigrants is high. Immigration reforms will be appropriate to ensure fair treatment of immigrants.
Works cited:
George Borjas: Heavens doors. Princeton University Press.1999, p 52.
Bill Ong Hing: The immigrant as criminal: Punishing dreamers. Hasting women’s law 1998 Journal 79
Josiah Herman: Finding a Moral heart for US Migration policy. An anthropological Perspective. p 57
Marc Rosenblum. The Transnational Politics of U.S. Immigration Policy. La Jolla, CA: University of California. 2004. p 129
