The Social Effects of Illegal Immigration

Opinions on the issue of illegal immigrants living in the United States varies greatly. However, according to the Center for Immigration Studies, there are roughly 28.4 million immigrants in the United States and over half of them are illegal. Due to the high number of both legal and illegal immigrants in America, there have been many debates and arguments about the economic and social effects that immigration has brought upon the United States.

There have also been many concerns raised regarding economic stability, job competition, as well as the strain of funding the public education of legal and illegal immigrant children. Other social services that immigrants can receive, such as government benefits for low-income families and individuals, is another hot button issue about which many have strong opinions.

Since the attacks that took place on September 11th, the American public has been concerned about what social effect that legal and illegal immigrants might have crime, national security, and other issues. Since the United States has traditionally been a country built on the principles of legal immigration, issues concerning illegal immigrants are the ones that dominate the concerns of the people.

One social effect that illegal immigrants have on American society centers on the work force. Statistics do show a current rise in these types of jobs, which mostly consist of laborer positions that can be hazardous and dangerous, are job in which American citizens are less than eager to participate in or fill, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics; it is common for these positions to be filled by illegal immigrants. However, in any time of financial crisis, including the current recession that America is facing, many United States citizens have become willing to take whatever job opportunities come their way.

Many United States citizens are surprised to learn that illegal immigrants do pay taxes via tax identification numbers. If an illegal immigrant manages to avoid paying income taxes, he or she is still subject to the sales taxes when they use their income to purchase goods.

Although there is no definitive evidence, some sociologists have been quoted as saying that per capita, illegal immigrants sometimes end up paying more taxes that American born citizens do. On the other hand, there is proven evidence that states that that certain areas of the country (like southern California, due to its close proximity to the Mexican border) are experiencing a major drain on social services due to illegal immigrants. These drains mostly involve health care and educational services.

Whichever side an individual may take in regards to the effect that illegal immigrants have on American society, there are seem to exist presumable clear-cut positives and negatives that require incorporation under one concrete policy.