Better defense against illegal aliens needed
Nick Maurus
Issue date: 1/26/09 Section: Opinion


Illegal immigration is a problem that affects the United States and its citizens negatively. It also affects the economy, as well as politics. In order to figure out the problems that illegal immigration causes, we must first look into the causal factors for the illegal migration of people from Mexico into the U.S.

According to CNN.com, about 300,000 illegal Mexican immigrants enter the U.S. every year, and there are over 7 million illegal Mexicans that live in the U.S. today.

The Mexican economy is much poorer than the U.S. economy. In any poor economy, the working lower classes are hit the hardest. The low-income working class makes up the vast majority of the people who attempt to illegally cross from Mexico into the U.S. every year. The working class Mexican living in Mexico makes, on average, the equivalent of $1 to $3 in U.S. currency per day.

Because the poverty rate is high in Mexico (it is estimated that 60 percent of the country is poor), illegal immigration is very prevalent. Because of this, the poor Mexican immigrants who illegally enter the United States raise the national poverty rate. Illegal Mexican aliens living in the U.S. account for 3.3 million, or 10.2 percent, of the country's total poor population.

There are a variety of problems that illegal immigrants living in the United States pose.

First of all, they don't necessarily pay taxes. Paying taxes, though sometimes tedious, is a citizen's duty. While some may not realize it, taxes pay for many things that citizens are free to use and take advantage of every day. Theoretically, when someone does not pay their taxes, they should not have the right to use the things that taxes pay for. The problem is that illegal immigrants who don't pay their taxes still use the programs, roadways and other services that the tax dollars pay for.

Secondly, the more illegal immigrants live in the U.S., the higher the poverty rate rises. It is almost guaranteed that a poor, low-income man or woman living in Mexico who decides to come to the U.S. illegally will remain relatively poor once he or she arrives here. Obviously, the reason they come is to make more money than they were in Mexico, but relative to the average income in the U.S., they will still be making very little.

Studies have shown that crime rates are very high among illegal aliens in the United States. According to http://www.usillegalaliens.com, in 2003, about 267,000 illegal immigrants living in the U.S. were behind bars. 46,000 of those were in federal prisons, 74,000 in state prisons and 147,000 in local jails. It costs roughly $23,000 to house a prisoner per year in state jail, and nearly $25,000 per year in federal prison. The tax paying American citizen picks up the tab. Furthermore, overcrowding in the American prison system has become a major problem. The 267,000 illegal Mexican immigrants that are stuffed into the prisons simply add to this problem.

According to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports, illegal Mexican immigrants commit hundreds of thousands of crimes every year. According to the reports, of the over 14 million crimes that people were arrested for in 2005, illegal Mexicans committed 704,709. These were crimes that people were actually arrested for, so, the actual numbers of crimes committed is unknown, but surely much higher.

Another area of American life that illegal immigration affects is the job market. It is often said the illegal aliens are simply doing jobs that the majority of Americans are unwilling to perform. While this may be true, there are some other things that must be taken into consideration.

Many jobs that most Americans are unwilling to take nowadays were, at one time, considered to be decent middle class trades, like bricklayers, painters, carpet layers and so on. The problem is, many illegal Mexicans have taken up these trades and are willing to work for less than market value, which reduces the total market value for such trades. This transforms these once-desired professions into jobs that "most Americans are unwilling to do."

With all the problems illegal immigration poses kept in mind, it is clear that something needs to be done. Politicians over the years have addressed the issue verbally and have come up with ideas for solutions ranging from giant fences to amnesty programs. However, little action has been taken thus far to actually address the problem physically.

Barack Obama believes that illegal immigrants who have not committed any crimes while living in the U.S. can stay in the country if they pay a fine and learn English. He has proposed legislation to create a new employment-eligibility system where companies must verify that their employees are legal residents.

Any way you cut it, something needs to be done. Action or "change" as Obama so often likes say, needs to take effect. Politicians, such as Obama, need to back up the talk with walk. Obama and Congress need to do more than just blow political hot air rhetoric, and take action on the issue once and for all.

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