Does United States Immigration Policy Harm Domestic Workers? Term Paper

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United States immigration policy and how it impacts the domestic workers. The writer explores the policy and the issue of immigration in the United States. There were six sources used to complete this paper.

Does United States immigration policy harm domestic workers?

America has long been know for being the land of opportunity. For many years immigrants have flocked to the U.S. borders to begin new lives and build lives for their children. Millions of immigrants have come to America and started new lives living off of the fruits of their labor from working. In recent decades however, concern has developed about the number of jobs the immigrant workers perform. There have been many debates and discussions about the U.S. immigration policy and how it impacts domestic workers in this country. America is currently facing a dilemma. It has to decide whether its willingness to embrace immigrants is going to have a negative impact on the plight of the domestic worker.

The nation, and particularly the south east has seen a large influx of immigrant workers in recent years (Immigration, 2000). It has caused heated emotional debates around the nation as domestic workers struggle with a sluggish U.S. economy. They believe that the immigrant workers are taking jobs that could go to U.S. citizens.

But the debate on immigration goes beyond the emotional. The issues taking place across America and reach back more than 200 years because America is, and always has been, a nation of immigrants (Immigration, 2000)."

Immigration policies for workers in America continue to allow aliens to obtain jobs in this country. The laws are strict as far as documentation is needed, but illegal aliens continue to get positions in fields and other industries without having the right documents in their possession. In addition there is a new plan underway to allow amnesty to the millions of illegal aliens in this country who are working (Guest, 2004).

The following numbers help illustrate the problem with relying almost exclusively on enforcement to limit illegal immigration.

Between 1990 and 2000, the U.S. government increased the number of Border

Patrol Agents from 3,600 to 10,000. During that same 10-year period, illegal immigration rose by 5.5 million. Over the past four years alone, more than 1,300 men and women (and some children) seeking to work in the United States have died attempting to cross deserts, rivers, and mountains.

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The status quo is not acceptable. Largely absent from the debate over immigration policy is an understanding that the past use of legal visas greatly reduced illegal immigration into the United States (Guest, 2004)."

Most recently the president has begun to ask for laws that would allow illegal aliens to continue working in this country without penalty. According to the president such a program would allow the U.S. To reap benefits of taxes from those who had not been paying them in the past. While this is a good theory, there are many who believe it will actually provide amnesty to millions that are taking jobs from American residents and citizens.

The program, "Immigration Amnesty" calls for all workers currently in the United States, to be able to register and remain here without penalty or punishment for their past indiscretions as illegal workers. This proposed policy has caused an uproar across the nation as domestic workers, who have paid taxes, suffered layoffs and unemployment realized what the program means to them.

Those who advocate for immigrant workers allege the only jobs the immigrants are taking are jobs that U.S. residents do not want or need. For many years it was believed that the only jobs being taken by immigrant workers were those on farmland as planters and pickers. For a long time this many have been the case but more recently the jobs being taken by immigrant workers have branched out to include other industries.

Recently large companies have become the focus of news stories for their willingness to hire immigrant workers (Big, 2004).

One of the more publicized companies is WalMart. Walmart made international news when it was the subject of a raid for its illegal alien workers (Big, 2004).

Other companies have also been highlighted for their willingness to hire immigrants instead of domestic workers (Big, 2004). If millions of workers are allowed to work in this nation without going through the proper channels it is going to encourage millions more to arrive for the same purpose. This is going to take….....

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