Illegal Immigration is a big problem in a lot of countries,
especially the United States which has a porous border with Mexico.
There are some who argue that we should deport all illegal immigrants,
others who state that it simply is not practical and that they should be offered amnesty,
which means a pardon for the crime of immigrating illegally.
In this video we will look at both sides of the argument, individual arguments for or
against will be split into 3 groups,
arguments about the practicality of deporting millions of immigrants,
the economic benefits or disadvantages of illegal immigration
and finally the question of whether or not illegal immigrants bring crime into the countries
that they immigrate to.
Firstly there are those who argue that becaue illegal immigration is a crime, those who
break the law should be deported.
Other criminals are not offered amnesty when they break the law, so why should we tear
up the rule book for illegal immigrants.
On the other hand there are those who argue that illegal immigration is a much broader
and more complex thing that we think it is.
Illegal immigrants are not just those who have crossed a border recently, many are children
and many are people who have legally immigrated but then overstayed their visas,
which is a significant problem in the UK.
As well as this, these people argue that it would be extremely expensive to deport the
many immigrants illegally residing in a country,
for example the illegal immigrant population in the United States is 11 million (Census).
The other side argues in response that it is unfair that illegal immigrants who have
skipped the queue, should essentially be rewarded
whilst legal immigrants wait patiently in line.
Now onto the issue of cost. Opponents of illegal immigraiton argue that
illegal immigrants put a great amount of strain on the welfare system.
According to data from the US census in 2011, immigrant families incomes tend to be lower,
meaning they are more likely to claim benefits
and a CDC study from 2017 indicates that hispanic women tend to have more children on average
than both black and white women.
Opponents argue that this demonstrates how immigrants take up benefits and school places.
Proponents of illegal immigration, or people who oppose illegal immigrants being deported
argue that they contribute through paying taxes,
as well as by doing the jobs that ordinary americans refuse to do.
Along these lines, they argue that sending millions of illegal immigrants back to their
country of origin would wreak havoc on these industires that require low skilled workers.
The final group of arguments when it comes to illegal immigration concerns whether or
not illegal immigrants bring crime into the countries they imigrate to.
According to a Justice Department book on Prisoners in State and Federal Institutions,
hispanics make up a disproportionate percentage of the prison population in both New Mexico
and California, states close to the border.
Opponents of illegal immigration use statistics like this to demonstrate how terrorists and
gangs are more easily able to come in to America through its porous border.
On the other hand, according to census data going back 30 years, the foreign born US population
has been rising,
yet according to FBI statistics the crime rate has fallen over the same time period.
In conclusion it seems that the illegal immigration debate hinges not on whether its legal status
is accepted, both sides accept that it is illegal and people should use legal means
of entering a country,
instead the debate comes down to whether or not you think it’s practical to deport millions
of people.
That’s Illegal Immigration.
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