...Unlawful Burden: Cost of Illegal Immigration on Local Government Abstract What is the cost of illegal immigration today on state and local governments? This has become a hot topic at the federal, state and local levels with a wide variety of opinions. This paper will explore both sides of the issue with a closer look at the state and local impact on taxpayers. Cost of Illegal Immigration Today it is estimated that the annual costs of illegal immigration at the federal, state and local level to be nearly $113 billion dollars, with approximately $84 billion dollars being spent on the state and local levels alone. Recent studies have also estimates that taxes collected from illegal alien workers, both in the above-ground economy and in the underground economy do not come close to the amount of current expenditures. The impact of illegal immigrants on the federal budget differs from their effect on state and local budgets primarily because of the types of services provided by each level of government. The federal government while providing some services requires state and local governments to provide certain services to individuals regardless of their immigration status or ability to pay in order for them to participate in federal programs. This has made most states and local governments bear much of the burden to providing education, health care and law enforcement to individuals living in their jurisdiction. Budgetary Effect of Illegal Immigration The Congressional...
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...Illegal Immigration Policy Reform Matthew Benham 02/29/2012 ITT Technical Institute Composition 1 Abstract This paper addresses the number of illegal aliens in the U.S., where they are coming from now and where they were coming from in the past. It shows the detrimental effects these numbers have on our healthcare and education systems. It also shows some of the estimated amounts it costs federal, state and local governments to provide services to illegal immigrants, and how the federal government has tied the hands of healthcare and education providers. It demonstrates that the influx of funds from tax revenue does not cover the cost of the services utilized. The final problem is not with the immigrants themselves but the laws controlling who can and cannot get into the country. The United States has always been a country where any individual can create a better life for him or herself. Migrants from the world over have come here to start again and provide their children with the opportunities they never had. Unfortunately, the requirements to legally come to the United States are very stringent and difficult to navigate, thus many people choose to come here illegally. Illegal immigration has numerous detrimental effects on our economy; reducing wages, burdening our jails, depleting social services, and the most heavily burdened resources: healthcare and education. We need to reform the laws surrounding immigration to deal with this growing problem. The first...
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...Immigration laws currently are not making good use of the current laws to the extent they are intended and are out of date to the current times. Currently government has no practical approach to who can come into this country or to what level they will be able to contribute to the economy. With a country changing its primary industry to advanced technology and less low skilled manufacturing the ratio of immigrant coming into the country should mirror that demand. With 11 million illegal unskilled laborers living in this country and still growing something has to change. Even though politicians are unable to agree on the correct approach to fixing the immigration problems Immigration laws need to be changed. Over the years there have been many changes in immigration laws but many of them failed. For example in 2005 the real identification (ID) act was mandating that all states would be required to enforce requirements for state-issued drivers’ licenses. In 2006 many of the states started looking into the cost associated with the new real ID act. Many states were not happy with the cost associated with the new act and did not want to enforce it. On, “September 21, 2006, the National Governors Association, National Conference of State Legislatures, and the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators released a report that judged the cost to the states of implementing REAL ID to be more than $11 billion over five years.” (Stock, 2007). As the states began to implement...
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...Immigration: A Social Issue Over the years, immigration has become a topic that has been highly spoken of around the world. As the world experiences a vast change in terms of globalization, nations’ borders have opened up and created a much larger influx of permanent migration between nations. When contemplating immigration, many immediately think of the United States. The majority of the population that emigrate to the United States, do so in search of a brighter future for themselves and for their loved ones that have either joined them, or have remained in their native homeland. At the very least, immigrants decide to venture to the United States so that their children may have the opportunity to live what many call the “American Dream”. Though there are multitudes of reasons for leaving their countries, some people are forced to leave due to conflict or to escape persecution and prejudices, while others may voluntarily do so. Some face the hardships of being unable to find any source of income. Those that are fortunate enough to find jobs, face difficulties making enough money in order to take care of the basic necessities that they need in their daily lives. The hardships become much greater for those who must not only care for themselves, but for elders, children, or other loved ones that are under their care. America, however, offers a person with an opportunity they could only have dreamed of, an opportunity to start over and become economically stable. ...
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...Adopting Arizona’s Immigration Law in All states Does politics have the upper hand on humanity in Arizona's immigration law SB-1070. This law should be abolished because it is racist, unfair and degrading to legal and illegal Latino immigrants? Immigration has always presented a problem for America and we now find ourselves faced with the issue on a large political scale. On July 29, 2010, the United States of America listened in as Arizona State put into effect their own immigration law. With the backing of Michigan, Alabama, Florida, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina Arizona has set the presence for illegal immigrants to face the law. The new law “directs officers to question people about their immigration status during the enforcement of other laws such as traffic stops, and if there's a reasonable suspicion they're in the U.S. illegally they will be deported”. “Arizona’s illegal alien population is 460,000 and according to a 2008 study by the Federation for American Immigration Reform, Georgia illegal alien population is 490,000”. (Inger Eberhart, 2010). As Americans we need to support Arizona’s efforts to clean house in fight of illegal aliens in the U.S. Most critics are saying that this is the strictest measure in generations for the detaining of illegal immigrants. The key work is “ILLEGAL”. Every American knows that if it is illegal then you should not be doing it, adolescent 101, but we live in a time where people feel that illegal aliens...
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...Colton Dahlem Professor Jordan English 110/1522 December 5, 2012 Rough Draft Legal is the New Illegal What do you think of when you read ‘Immigration’? My thought of the definition of immigration is that people of other countries wanting a better life for themselves and/or their family and they think they can find that certain life in the United States. All they have to do is fill out paper work and pay fees that they can later pay off because they will have jobs because they became a US citizen. Some immigrants do not quite understand that concept and that is where we get the problem of illegal immigration. It is great that they want better lives but when they do it illegally is where they literally cross the line. Illegal immigration comes with certain causes, problems, and solutions. It is not easy to determine that causes of illegal immigration but according to the article “Illegal Immigration”, there are two main factors that make immigrants have the desire to join the United States. The first major factor is the “push” factor, which involves the pressures encouraging emigration in countries of origin. There are also four sub-factors that give those immigrants the actual push. The first is the professional factor that deals with jobs, money, and certain opportunities that the United States offer that their home does not. Second is the political factor, which is their opinion on our government vs. their government. The security factor is the third, which involves...
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...Introduction Topic Overview In recent years, illegal immigration has been the topic of public discourse (Wucker, 2007). The public discourse is mainly due to the sensitivity of the issue of illegal immigration and the burden attributable to the resulting population explosion is placing on the governments and citizens as well as legal residents of states and counties in the United States (Martin, 2008). The recent enforcement of U. S. Department of Homeland Security (U.S. DHS) laws, which started in 2006, is working (Camarota & Jensenius, 2008) but the enforcement is not reducing illegal immigration, especially on the United States’ Southern border (Ewing, 2008). Baker et al, in a U. S. Department of Homeland Security report show, from 2006 to 2007 the illegal immigrant population increased by 4% (Baker, Hoefer, & Rytina, 2008). Illegal immigrant population is declining because of border enforcement of immigration laws (Camarota & Jensenius, 2008). The loss of jobs due to economic downturn in the country can also account for declining illegal immigrant population (Grayson, 2008). Despite the declining population of illegal immigrants due to enforcement, illegal immigration is still a challenge (Ewing, 2008). The persistence of illegal immigration on the border implies that the countermeasures in use in fighting illegal immigration on the borders appear to need revisions (Ewing, 2008). Statement of the Research Problem Statement of the Problem According to a report by US...
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...Solutions to the Influence of Illegal Immigrants on Health Care Costs Learning Team A University of Phoenix HCS 440 Monday, January 27, 2014 Solutions to the Influence of Illegal immigrants on Health Care Costs The problem of illegal immigration is current and has been around for decades. With over 11 million immigrants there has not been a successful action on how to prevent this from happening; the United States should consider solutions to this economic issue. According to Sy Mukherjee studies have shown that the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants cost federal and state governments 10.7 billion a year in health care expenditures. We have all been witnesses to hospitals and medical facilities struggling with the rising cost of providing care to the uninsured population. Hospitals and health care facilities are struggling with massive costs of uncompensated medical services for uninsured people, by federal law they cannot be turned away for the lack of insurance or the ability to pay. Unfortunately these costs are only estimates because health care facilities do not ask for proof of citizenship before providing care. The immigrants are overwhelming healthcare in this economy. Due to billions of tax payer funded dollars they have cost us, a dozen of hospitals in the south-western states have been affected by this. They either go bankrupt or close down. According to CAIR (an organization) ‘because of the federally-mandated...
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...Module 2 Environmental Controversy Immigration and Population in the U.S. Taron Church Rasmussen College Author Note: This research is being submitted on November 20, 2011 for Aisling Kane G328/EVR3410 Section 01 Human uses of the Environment Course. Immigration and Population in the U.S. The two articles presented for this week’s lesson contain very different viewpoints. The first, by Seper, provides a lot of alarming factual information about how illegal immigration is negatively affecting our country, especially the state of California, and needs to be taken control of. The second article, by Hoyt, is very much the opposite; it provides almost no factual information to support his ideas about reforming immigration laws. Each article was interesting, although I have to say that the article that spoke out against illegal immigration was better written and provided a lot more relevant information, not just personal opinions and accusations. It’s hard to argue with evidence, and even the side that was pro-immigration stated that there are large costs for our country associated with it. As shown in the article Illegal aliens cost California billions, "California's addiction to 'cheap' illegal-alien labor is bankrupting the state and posing enormous burdens on the state's shrinking middle-class tax base" (Seper, 2004). Illegal aliens are costing our country roughly $10.5 billion dollars a year for health care, education, and incarceration. The education system alone...
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...eliminated by more efficient rivals, which mean higher unemployment in uncompetitive countries. For a small, open economy like Ireland, the solution to unemployment caused by competition from abroad is to capture large economies of scale. This can be achieved by focusing on becoming the world leader and largest producer in a small, specialized segment of an established industry. For instance, supplying specialized inputs for the car manufacturing industry or parts of a computer processor. Another cause of unemployment is immigration. The impact of immigration on the labour market critically depends on the skills of migrants, the skills of existing workers and on the extent to which migrants have skills that are substitutes or complements to those of existing workers. Generally migrants whose skills are substitutes will cause higher unemployment through lower wages while complementary skills have no adverse impact on employment. However, while immigration can result in increased unemployment in the short run, immigrants expand consumer demand for goods and services. In the medium to long run this results in greater demand for labour and thus increased wages and employment in the economy. This alleviates the initial increase in...
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...-Emma Lazarus A Temporary Worker Program: A Necessity for Labor and Immigration In the United States, the labor movement and immigration have a history marked by frequent times of turmoil and less frequent times of harmony – that is, according to Dr. Janice Fine, Professor of Labor Studies at Rutgers University. On October 6, 2010, I attended her lecture titled, “A Movement Wrestling: American Labor’s Enduring Struggle with Immigration” at CUNY’s Murphy Institute for Worker Education and Labor Studies. The lecture provided a historical look at how the labor movement has viewed immigration over time. Generally speaking, during times of low immigration, also known as “low flow,” the labor movement views immigrants as allies because they are seen as prospective recruits for unions whose strength and numbers are weakening. However, during times of high flow, the labor movement views immigrants as a threat to American jobs and financial security (Fine 24). It is no secret that such views are primarily projected towards undocumented workers who are in the U.S. illegally. As such, a major struggle between labor and immigration currently exists. However, within this struggle, a mutually beneficial relationship between labor and immigration can a be formed via the establishment of a temporary worker program which will strengthen the overall American labor movement, address our country’s illegal immigration crisis, and provide a legal path to citizenship for undocumented workers...
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...every year 1.5 million new immigrants arrive in the United States (Camarota 51). While the majority of illegal immigrants come in through Mexico, many others come through Mexico from other Central American countries (Tancredo 86). While illegal immigration may seem harmless it is a serious threat to the United States. Illegal immigration harms the United States economy. The flow of illegal immigrants takes jobs from legal citizens. Illegal immigrants work for a wage well below what the average legal American will work for. For every one hundred illegals that get hired, sixty-five legal workers lose their jobs (citizensforlaw.org 1). Although...
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...Illegal Immigration “Households headed by illegal aliens imposed more than 26.3 billion in costs on the federal government in 2002” (“Illegal Immigrants Create a Drain on the U.S Government” 1). Illegal immigration has been a heated debate topic for a long time. But what is it and why is this, such an important part of our lives. An Illegal immigrant is an alien who has crossed national borders and is in violation of that country’s immigration laws. Therefore everything he or she does wail in that country is illegal. Immigrants are entering our country illegally draining our society; if police do not strengthen, our country is in jeopardy of becoming third world. I believe that the bad outweigh the good when it comes to illegal immigration. They are a drain on our society. However the problem is not just the people directly crossing into our borders, it is also the children they have here in America. Any illegal child who is born in America is automatically given citizenship. For example, according to the article “Illegal Immigrants Create a drain on the U.S. Government”, “Many of the costs associated with the illegals are due to their American-born children, who are awarded U.S. citizenship at birth” (1). However in recent times the Democratic Party has been trying to legalize an illegal way of life as practiced by the immigrants. It’s more then just rights that the democrats are fighting for. They feel that illegal aliens should also be given the same privileges that American...
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...Illegal Immigration: The Good; the Bad Sara Brown ENGL102 – Composition 2 September 27, 2014 Professor Chris Baron Southwestern College Professional Studies Illegal Immigration: The Good; the Bad Throughout the history of the United States of America, illegal immigration has affected many governmental decisions and led to many political debates. Many Americans believe that allowing illegal immigrants to live in the USA is detrimental to our economy. For as long as I can remember, this topic has been a major discussion in the national news syndicate as well. One can open any newspaper, turn on any news channel, or visit any news site on the internet and one of the major headlines will have something to do with illegal immigration. With the overwhelming amount of undocumented immigrants in the USA, many questions are asked about the effects they are having on our economy. In the early 1600s, immigrants began arriving in the USA. As a country, the majority of the population was English. In 1607, so called “Foreigners” began to enter the country. Non-English immigrants were coming from mainly the British Isles, Whales, Scotland, and Ireland (Garis, R, 1927). During the year of 1637, Massachusetts was one of the first to implement a law regarding residents or colonies allowing immigrants into their homes. The Governor, John Winthrop, supported the law that states that any immigrants must have permission from the authorities to be in the colony (Hendricks...
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...In recent years, an often topic debated is that what fundamental problems British society is concerning, such as life, legal security, health, education, employment, standard of living, care and support, power and voice. Both immigration and youth unemployment are two problems being the most noteworthy in the UK. These issues have detrimental effects on many sections in Britain, such as culture, jobs and security The Executive Summary is identified by Equality and Human Rights (2014). In order to demonstrate this view, the essay will be started with the background of immigration and youth unemployment in a few years recently. Then we shall consider the adverse effects of two problems in British society, and then either immigration or youth...
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