Immigration: Positive Net Benefits Immigration has been a growing hot topic in the United States for decades. Obviously, immigration is not a new issue. Over the past couple of hundred years there have been several events that have spurred an increase of immigration in America and around the world. Today’s number of immigrants are in the millions, and according to critics those numbers have social and economic affects. Although host countries have to deal with the negative aspects of it, overall immigration has a positive net effect on a country. The difficulty comes in balancing the good with the bad.
For example, a more specific issue of immigration in the U.S. has been illegal immigration. Critics say that undocumented immigrants threaten the American social fabric, native economy, national security, and everything American ("Usa immigration problems, n.d." ). Living in poor economic conditions, people from Mexico were illegally traveling to the U.S. with hopes of improving their quality of life. Undocumented aliens were such a concern that the U.S. built walls hundreds of miles along the border to strategically prevent people from illegally crossing over, a costly way to deter people considering the border is over a thousand miles long. Since the walls construction immigration from Mexico has decrease significantly, although it is mostly due to the weak U.S. economy. Some other costs are social. Such as, the effect of illegal immigration on America’s social insurance institutions and schools. Many are taking advantages of these programs paid by U.S. taxes without paying taxes themselves, or not paying them properly. Some states have even passed laws in order to reduce the number of illegal immigrants. Arizona’s SB1070 law, also called “show me your papers law,” requires that law enforcement officers attempt to establish an individual’s citizenship status