Illegal immigration refers to the crossing of borders in ways that violate immigration laws. There are many reasons why people cross borders illegally. This is a large problem in the United States because there are so many people entering this country illegally from Mexico. There are many reasons why immigrants are leaving Mexico and entering the United States in a way that violates immigration laws. Many Mexican people try to come to the United States to escape extreme poverty situations in order to provide for their families (USIS, 1). These immigrants come to the United States seeking higher wages and better jobs that they hope will lead to a better life for themselves and their families. However, there are many dangers for both the illegal immigrants and for the people of the United States. As a result, illegal immigration into the United States must be stopped immediately.
There are many reasons why illegal immigration is dangerous to the immigrants as well as the citizens of the United States. It is dangerous for the person trying to enter the country illegally because they usually have hard journeys to even get to the border. Many of them walk through the desert for many days in order to try to cross the border (USIS, 1). In addition, they often suffer dehydration, hunger and the threat of violence from border agents and other illegal immigrants.
There are many physical dangers to United States citizens as well. The most serious danger became apparent after September 11 (Young, 1). Loose immigration policies in the United States have allowed 400,000 illegal immigrants ordered to be deported to go free (Young, 1). This presents the danger of terrorism because these immigrants are not being monitored closely enough. There are only 2000 federal agents employed to track down illegal immigrants. As a result, there are many of these people obtaining fake social security numbers, working illegally, committing crimes and plotting terrorist actions against the United States (Young, 1).
Illegal immigrants are also responsible for many violent crimes committed against United States citizens as well as other illegal immigrants. There are many reasons why these people commit crimes but the result is serious danger to citizens of the United States who live in areas densely populated by illegal aliens. There are many scary statistics that emphasize this danger. Twelve Americans are murdered by illegal aliens everyday. 95% of warrants for murder in the Los Angeles area are for illegal aliens. Similarly, 83% of warrants for murder in Phoenix and 86% of warrants for murder in Albuquerque are for illegal immigrants. Additionally, 75% of people on the most wanted list in these three cities are for illegal immigrants. Finally, 24.9% of all inmates in California detention centers, 40.1% of all inmates in Arizona detention centers and 48.2% of all inmates in New Mexico detention centers are Mexican nationals in the United States illegally (Kraft, 1). In addition to murder, illegal immigrants are also responsible for extraordinarily high numbers of rape, burglary, robbery and assault.
There are many economic dangers to the citizens of the United States. Many illegal aliens come to the United States with the intention to work but instead they get into trouble. In fact, thirty-three percent of the prison population is comprised of illegal immigrants (McKee, 1). As a result, they are causing in economic drain on the American people whose tax dollars pay for their food and shelter while in prison. In addition, thirty-six to forty-two percent of illegal immigrants are on welfare (McKee, 1). This too is causing an economic strain on United States citizens because their tax dollars are being used so illegal immigrants can have access to food and health care. Additionally, illegal immigrants from Mexico are not coming to the United States to do jobs Americans won’t do for themselves. There are eighteen million Americans who cannot find a job so illegal immigrants are actually taking jobs away from United States citizens (McKee, 1). Finally, illegal aliens do not contribute more to our economy than they cost. Obviously, the illegal aliens in jail and on welfare are not contributing anything – they are actually taking a lot of money away from the United States economy. In addition, they often don’t pay taxes but are still eligible for earned income tax credits from fake social security numbers (McKee, 1).
The issues presented here are valid and important and are evidence that illegal immigration into the United States need to be stopped immediately. The most telling reason why illegal immigration needs to be stopped is because the citizens of the United States are in physical and economic danger. In fact, seventy percent of the population feels that the illegal immigrant population needs to be controlled (Smith, 1). As long as the United States has insecure borders than illegal aliens will continue to come into the country illegally (Smith, 1). A large majority of these illegal aliens will commit crimes and become an economic drain on the citizens of the United States. The situation isn’t improving because of the lack of enforcement of current immigration laws (Smith, 1). People wanting to enter the United States illegally know how easy it is to cross the porous borders, obtain an illegal social security number and drivers license and then live off the American tax payers dollar. In order for the situation to improve current laws must be strictly enforced while new laws are being passed to protect American citizens from the dangers of illegal immigration. After all, if the citizens of the United States don’t know who is entering the country then how can they possibly know what is entering the country (Smith, 1)?
Kraft, Michael. (2007). Illegal immigration statistics. Charlotte Conservative News, May 21.
Retrieved on August 22, 2008 from
http://www.charlotteconservative.com/index.php/2007/05/illegal-immigration-statistics/.
McKee, Kathy. (2004). Myths and lies of illegal immigration. Retrieved on August 22, 2008
from http://www.theamericanresistance.com/articles/art2004jan04.html.
Smith, Lamar. (2003). The illegal immigration threat. National Review Online, April 30.
Retrieved on August 22, 2008 from http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-smith043003.asp.
United States Immigration Support. (2008). Illegal immigration. Retrieved on August 22, 2008
from http://www.usimmigrationsupport.org/illegalimmigrants.html.
Young, Paul. (2008). Dangers of illegal immigration. Sun Advocate, August 8. Retrieved on
August 22, 2008 from http://www.sunad.com/index.php?tier=1&article_id=13800.
