Contemporary social concerns
Introduction
Immigration is said to be a contentious issue in various countries most especially in the United States. Such perception has gained the attention of the public due to the rising number of immigrants who came in the country both legally and illegally. It has also been acknowledged that the massive gathering of immigrants leaves a significant impact in the country’s social, economic and political systems. Hence, the long-term context of immigration and the role of the immigrants in the development of a nation has become the focus of various researches. The debate regarding the immigration is still on going. The importance of such social issue has been defended by many. Likewise, the development of anti-immigration feelings has also set arguments that intentionally attack the less pleasant aspects of immigration. In this regard, this paper sought to analyze the costs and benefits of immigration (Purcell, 1995).
American Immigration: A background
The term immigration is identified as the “act of entering a new country to settle permanently” (Immigration, 2009). The people responsible for doing such act are known as the immigrants. In America, all of the Americans are considered as immigrants or descendants of immigrants. As such perception may not be fully recognized, the description is true due to the fact that everyone who lived in America came from another place. Even the Americans who are considered as natives, who are known to be the first settlers in the country, are people who immigrated by foot from Asia decades ago. During the course of the American history, it has been noted that about 60 million people have voluntarily immigrated in the country, excluding the black African slaves. The main reason for such entry is that the said immigrants are seeking for change. They are unhappy, uncomfortable and threatened in their own country and they view America as the country the promise a better opportunity for themselves and their children. Hence, America was tagged as the “melting pot,” which is an expression of a powerful idea that a new America is emerging through the mixture of distinctive people who are immigrants to the United States. The description is also an indication that the old identities, ways of thinking and living of the immigrants would be diluted once they step in the country. However, America never became the melting pot that was expected. Instead, for many generations the unique identities of immigrants remained, creating a multicultural and multiethnic nation. As the number of newcomers are growing, immigration benefits and costs has been highly regarded. The immigration experience is said to have a double-edged effect not only for the immigrants but also for the country they sought to settle in (Purcell, 1995).
Benefits of immigration
Social, cultural and religious benefits
The significance of immigration is everywhere as it is directly experienced through smell and taste. Reminders of past and present immigrants can be felt when one enjoys a plate of lasagna, taco, pasta, egg roll, gyros sandwich, jerk chicken and the lemon-grass spiced specialties of Southeast Asia. Likewise, immigrants’ heritage has already become a part of the basic fabric of the host country’s lifestyle through their public events and other cultural related activities that are shared with other people of diverse background, which serves as the testimonies of the healthy persistence of national heritages. Other than this, the existence of various religions is another proof of the significance of immigration. Hundreds of thousands of individuals are able to worship in churches of their own choice, which are mostly derived from the imports of immigrants, ranging from religions such as Judaism, Baptist, Lutherans and the likes (Purcell, 1995).
Shaping popular culture and the positive image of immigration were also accounted to immigrants and their descendants. In the USA, second generation immigrants and their predecessors were highly regarded in the field of creative arts such as directing, producing, writing and acting for the most part of the 20th century. Many directors in Hollywood were either immigrants or the sons of immigrants, and the same thing can be said to the Broadway composers and playwrights (Buhle 2004; Gabler 1988; Most 2004; Phillips 1998; Winokur 1996 cited in Hirschman, 2006). In this regard, it can be perceived that immigration is one way of creating a multicultural society wherein the awareness, understanding and respect for other cultures are highly regarded. Additionally, the continuous acknowledgement of individuals for other peoples work sets a ground for the revitalization of community services, specifically in terms of religious and cultural perspectives.
Economic benefits
Various researches has consistently illustrated that a host country’s economic growth are due in part to the existence of immigrants. They are the primary source of skilled labor and earn wages that are significantly lower compared to other laborers born in the host country. Back in the middle parts of 19th century America, the immigrants from Scandinavia and Germany were considered to be the major key players in the development of the said country. Nonetheless, Irish settlers were known to be the major source of labor in the cities of US that participated in the construction of networks of transportations such as canals, railroads and highways that are still present today. It was also believed that during the civil war, the manpower advantage of the Union force was accounted to the immigrants who were living in the Northern States (Gallman, 1997, 31 cited in Hirschman, 2006). Additionally, during the later part of 19th and 20th century immigrant workers were always well-represented in areas such as skilled labor, peddling and mining, and worked as laborers or merchants in many urban areas (Gibson and Jung, 2006 cited in Hirschman, 2006). Such pattern is still in effect today. Currently, many migrants are taking up less desirable jobs to the extent that they provide low-cost labor to their employers. Hence, employers accrue more income and the cost reductions are then passed on to the consumers. The goods that are produced by migrant laborers are much cheaper, which can be sold in the local and international market. Because of this they generate additional profits for their employers which in turn contribute to the host country’s GNP (Immigration: Introduction and statistics, 2009).
As immigrants pay taxes and buy products and services from their own salaries, it can therefore be assumed that they help in providing employment for other individuals. Take for example if an immigrant arrives from Hong Kong and buys a new house, somebody would benefit from the construction industry as the house is needed to be built. Similarly, that same immigrant would have to buy basic necessities, thereby contributing to the employment in various industries such as retail, manufacturing and other businesses that are deemed by the immigrant to be helpful (Wvong, 1997).
Qualified migrant workers can also fill the skills gap in their host country. Companies that export product and services overseas would benefit from employing migrant professional workers. One cannot sell products in regions like Asia, Latin America and Europe if one is not familiar with their target customer’s language and culture. Hence, being able to hire immigrants for areas such as sales, customer support and documentation is an imperative for international operating companies (Wvong, 1997). In addition, the need for immigrant labor is not limited to the area of unskilled manual labor. Many industrial countries are having a shortage of scientific and engineering workers most especially when it comes to the high tech sector. The said demand is met by allowing foreign students to enter in the host country’s universities, which are later on hired to fill the worker needs (Hirschman, 2006).
Costs of immigration
While the benefits of immigration may be appealing enough, there are also various disadvantages for the full acknowledgement of immigration. The issue regarding illegal aliens and refugees has been a major problem for the existing public policy and the life of many individuals. While there are existing reforms in various hosts’ countries that makes immigration laws to appear as rational and more humanitarian as possible, there are many instances that immigrants are pushing across nation borders, thereby creating anti-immigration feelings towards the newcomers. In this regard, the costs of immigration in different perspectives are also guarded (Purcell, 1995).
Direct expenditures
Direct expenditures consist of increases in aspects such as food stamps, medical costs, SSI and prison costs. From 1970 to present, it is noted that the level of welfare benefits relative to the paid taxes has significantly increased. This means that immigrants are receiving more welfare benefits than their share to the population. In the US, since the welfare benefits are being paid at state and county levels, native citizens residing in areas with high population levels of immigrants are paying higher taxes in order to compensate the needs for higher level of welfare benefits. Therefore, it can be concluded that immigrants impose a net burden for native taxpayers who are living in immigrant populated areas (Immigration: Introduction and statistics, 2009).
Displacement costs
Displacement costs is identified as the process when immigration reduces the wages of native Americans or when native Americans are laid off from their jobs and are forced to move. Since the migrant workers are more likely to take up less desirable jobs at a lower rate, immigration is said to reduce the earnings of less educated native laborers. As illegal immigrants are abundant and are willing to work for lesser amount, unethical employers are more likely to look for such workers. Hence, for every illegal immigrant that is employed, there is another person, specifically the less educated native workers, who can perform the same job that will not be employed (Immigration: Introduction and statistics, 2009).
Increased social tension, crime and threat to social security
The violation of immigration laws resulted in the flood of immigrants that are sometimes seeking for political asylum which include terrorists. If there is a continuous flow of immigrant and there is a lax immigration system in the host country, national security is placed in a dangerous ground because there is no proper control of immigrant entry. As fraud is common nowadays, terrorist activities posit a danger to the host country because there is no clear identification of who legal immigrants are and who not (CIS, 2005) are. Other than this, increased crime rate is also associated with immigration. Many illegal immigrants crossing national boarders have history of serious crimes including drug smuggling, theft, murder and the likes. Hence, boarder patrol and immigration workers are faced with danger when they are dealing with people who are not well identified due to their fraudulent entry to the host country (Stop illegal immigration!, 2007).
In the foreseeable future, migrants coming from great varieties of background will continue to settle in different host countries and will resemble one another for the goal of seeking a new life. The benefits and costs of immigration have been outlined in history and various researches. While it may be evident that the incentives of social concern immigration are overwhelming; its costs should not be disregarded as well, most especially in terms of illegal immigration, which has been considered as the root cause of the surrounding negative perception concerning immigration. Being able to identify the costs and benefits of immigration will allow host countries to develop major policies that would be beneficial for the people involved. However, such major policies should be well guarded in order to create opportunities for the advancement of the socioeconomic perspective of the country and its people, and should also meet the needs of immigrants, who contributed for the prosperity of many countries.
References
Center for immigration studies (CIS). (2005). Immigration and terrorism. Retrieved February 27, 2009 from http://www.cis.org/articles/2005/kephart.html.
Hirschman, C. (28 July 2006). The impact of immigration on American society: Looking backward to the future. Border battles: The U.S. immigration debates. Retrieved February 27, 2009 from http://borderbattles.ssrc.org/Hirschman/index.html.
Immigration. (2009). Encarta World English Dictionary North American Edition. Retrieved February 27, 2009 from http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1861620264/immigration.html.
Immigration: Introduction and statistics. (2009). Humboldt State University. Retrieved February 27, 2009 from http://sorrel.humboldt.edu/~economic/econ104/immigrat/.
Purcell, E.L. (1995). Immigration. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood Publishing Group.
Stop illegal immigration! (2007). Lest Darkness Fall. Retrieved February 27, 2009 from http://www.lestdarknessfall.com/Pages/IllegalImmigration.htm.
Wvong, R. (April 1997). Immigration: Costs and benefits. Geocities. Retrieved February 27, 2009 from http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/2496/immigration.html.