President Barack Obama claimed America has nothing to fear from illegal immigrants. “Like the waves that came before them…immigrants will only enrich our country,” he said at a conference in 2008 while on the campaign trail.
With the country on economic hard times, Obama’s statement has generated a great deal of opposition in practice.
Still, the basic concern is, has the enormous wave of illegal immigration benefited the United States?
The U.S. Census Bureau estimated 8.7 million illegal aliens were living in the U.S. in 2000.
A report tendered to the House Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Claims in 2003 investigated illegal aliens and the growing concern of visa overstay.
Estimates show 60 percent of aliens enter the country illegally and 40 percent of aliens, such as students and tourists, overstay their visas.
The committee’s investigation concluded that aliens who overstayed were aware of their actions.
“Be assured that aliens who overstay their visas are not unaware that they are violating our laws,” Rep Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) said in her opening statement to the committee.
“When foreign visitors enter the United States, their visas and passports are checked by uniformed inspectors, reinforcing the serious legal nature of the visa and the terms and expiration dates stated on that visa,” she said.
The Census Bureau also reports the annual deportation rate is 125,000 per year, but immigration increases by 700,000 per year. It seems the country is losing the war on its borders.
With the increase in population of the U.S., our society is bound to feel the effects of the influx.
The census data also reported that the costs of displacing American workers, welfare and general services, the price of the influx had risen to $20 billion a year.
But some economists argue illegal immigration actually has a small net positive. Global trade and automated manufacturing actually has more of a negative effect on the economy than immigration’s impact on wages.
Even though immigration does not bear the weight of the economic crisis, many Americans believe it negatively impacts our society. The UH Center of Public Policy found that 48 percent of immigration “threatens America’s culture.”
Is illegal immigration really threatening? What is more “threatening,” is that over 70 percent of Americans, according to a Rasmussen Report poll, feel illegal immigrants should not be given a drivers license and should not qualify for in-state tuition.
Someone who does not speak the language or understand our roadways should especially be required to attend driving courses and obtain a driver’s license.
“It is wrong to condone illegal immigration that flouts our laws, strains our tolerance, taxes our resources. Even a nation of immigrants must have rules and conditions and limits when they are disregarded, public support for immigration erodes in ways that are destructive to those who are newly arrived and those who are still waiting patiently to come,” Former President Bill Clinton said during a commencement lecture at Portland State University in 1998.
Those people who are waiting “patiently,” as Clinton said, may wait up to 10 years to be reviewed for citizenship without any assistance depending on the worker status of the individual, according to www.americanlaw.com.
To reduce the influx of illegal arrivals is to reform the laws that govern our border and its issues.
Immigration reform is the best way to reduce the previous statistics. But because of the fruits of cheap labor, immigration laws will not be reformed.
With cheap labor, and the willingness by illegal aliens to perform less attractive jobs, employers would lose money if illegal labor became less available. Most of all, the politicians have become aware that the Latino vote can greatly impact a campaign.
So how can we curb the issue of illegal immigration if this country is afraid to lose the benefits of it?
No one seems to have the correct answer, perhaps because there is no answer.
Illegal immigration has become a push and pull situation. Americans should learn to accept that illegal immigration is an integral piece of the U.S.
Illegal immigration is part of our culture—it does not threaten it.
Immigration has helped to shape this country since the first European ships landed on American shores and will continue to do so in the future.
Diane Sanchez is a communication senior and may be reached at opinion@thedailycougar.com.
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