Importance of Amnesty on Illegal Immigrants (Essay Sample)

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Introduction
Immigration the world over has been greatly enhanced by globalization. The advantages of immigration to a country are immense but the disadvantages have also been on the increase. Developed countries or those countries with better chances of flourishing have received the largest number of immigrants. However, some of the immigrants continue to overstay their visits while others come into the country illegally. The United States in particular has been a prime target for illegal immigrants. The constraints brought about by the new population include societal harmony and low wages among other problems. Deportation of illegal immigrants is a strategy employed by many governments to remove illegal immigrants from its territory. This process has, however, been faced with opposition and controversy has arisen with regard to the benefits of such deportation versus providing amnesty to the immigrants. This paper will argue that granting amnesty to illegal immigrants will be beneficial in the long run and should be supported by all people as a solution to illegal immigration.
Advantages of Amnesty
Revenue
Most of the aliens living in a new country are always on the run from law enforcement agencies. This means that they work in areas unmanned by the police, use their wages in shopping malls only and they do not pay tax unless the tax is included in the item being bought over the counter. Providing amnesty to this group would ensure that they are employed in recognized sectors and they would be registered by the government. They would, therefore, be targets for taxation just like all other citizens in the country (Hobbs and Postings 229). This would lead to increased revenue for the state and federal government. In turn, this would lead to better service provision since the increased revenue pool provides funds for increased quality in services as well as reduced prices. In addition, tax compliance from aliens has been very low since they avoid any paper work that can get them caught. With amnesty, it is expected that compliance with tax regulations will increase and thus lead to increased revenues for the government. Amnesty would, therefore, be beneficial in the long run than deportation.
Wages
The movement from one country to the other, especially when the movement is illegal, is mostly prompted by unfavorable living conditions in the home country. In a bid to live better, people move to new countries in search of greener pastures. Without any papers or anyone to depend on, they find jobs in the informal sectors. They accept lower wages and this drives wages lower for the rest of the population. Granting amnesty to these aliens would, however, reverse the effect of low wages. With people having papers to search for jobs, they would be enrolled in union groups for workers and thus they would be entitled to the minimum pay set by the government. This would in turn mean that people will be employed and paid as per their skills and experience. Wages for this group would shoot to a level similar to that of residents of the country (Mastrianna 178). Legal immigrants earn better wages than illegal aliens and it would be logical that making the aliens legal would increase wages for them. The end effect is a sustained economy through sustainable wages for all people. Amnesty, with regard to wages, would provide leverage for the immigrants and inevitably lead to better wages in the country.
Crime
Supporters of deportation argue that crime in the country has been on the increase due to the illegal immigrants. Although it is logical to come to such a conclusion, it should be noted that such immigrants do not want to attract attention to themselves and this has led to their lower numbers in prison (Levy 34). Amnesty would provide police with better chances of fighting crime in the country. Registration is a vital part of the amnesty process and the government would possess information regarding the immigrants. Without amnesty, they remain at large and unknown thus limiting the power of the police in arresting or identifying them. As registered citizens, they would be easier to track and the police would not have a hard job finding and arresting them. Although registration offers a person with a right to citizenship, they remain under the law of the new country and they are observed for long periods to ensure they abide by the laws of the country. Immigrants would, therefore, fear to commit crimes as they would risk being taken back to their home countries. This would lead to improved security, cooperation with law agencies and lower crime rates.
Labor
Most of the immigrants will accept any job as long as it sustains them while they look for better chances (Porter). The immigrants provide labor to jobs that residents would not accept. This means that they bridge the labor gap that is left when people choose elite jobs and thus granting them amnesty would lead to a situation that allows for all labor levels to be filled. Deporting them would lead to labor gaps in the economy and this would seriously hurt the development of the country in many ways. Manual labor jobs are shunned by people due to their tedious nature and thus it would be important to understand the role played by the immigrants in the labor industry. Providing immigrants with amnesty would thus, ensure that labor gaps were not present and all work needed to run the economy would be present. It is vital to note that most illegal immigrants are unskilled and are, therefore, likely to accept these jobs (Ronay 61).
The cost of labor is one of the determinants in prices of goods. The cheap the labor leads to lower cost of production. This in turn reduces the prices of items on the market place. With constant wages, this would mean an increase in purchasing power for the residents. The quality of life for people residing in the country would go up as they experience better prices for more goods. Granting amnesty to aliens would, therefore, lead to improved quality of life supported by lower prices of goods. Labor from the immigrants would lead to improvement in various aspects in the life of the residents. Their unskilled experience can also be put to use in the manual labor industry since it would provide this division with cheaper labor and most likely, more output.
Reducing Immigrants
Amnesty would provide the country with fresh talent and reduce the problem of illegal immigration. Most people come to look for greener pastures in the new countries. Some of them leave their families in their home country in the hope that they would find a better life that would be able to sustain the family back home. As immigrants, they work illegally, are paid minimal wages and they are unable to support their families back at home. This, inevitably, leads to more illegal immigrants into the country rather than slow down the influx. With amnesty, however, they will be able to earn better wages which will be used to support their kin and thus avoid the need for taking the trip altogether. A policy for reducing illegal immigrations should encompass the need to offer amnesty to all illegal immigrants through confrontation with the problem. By allowing them to have better jobs and thus better lives, this will reduce the number of aliens coming into the country.
Consumer Pool
Most businesses rely on the mass population for the consumption of their goods. Aliens may not be able to access the products of a company due to high prices or other constraints. Amnesty will grant them better jobs and pay which will lead to increased purchasing power. Businesses can flourish and be sustained by the new consumer base that is brought about by the immigrants. In other cases, some companies produce goods that have a small consumer base due to the nature of the goods provided. The immigrants can be an additional consumer group for such products and thus it is important to consider the benefits that would be brought about by the improvement in the consumer base for some goods produced in the host country. People, including residents, would lose their source of income if such companies were to shut down due to lack of consumers. It is important to consider the benefits of such a consumer market to the overall economic health of the country. The U.S., for example, has a large number of immigrants estimated at 12million. The amount of consumption realized from this group cannot be ignored and thus it reinforces the need to consider amnesty as a solution.
Other Solutions
Amnesty may not be the only solution to the problem of illegal immigrants. Other solutions include tightening border security to ensure that people do not get into the country illegally, detaining the immigrants and deporting them as well as selective deportation. All these measures can be a solution to the menace but amnesty remains the best solution as it will solve more than one problem at the same time. Deportation of aliens is an expensive task given the logistics involved (Faro and Walton 109). Getting the aliens and ensuring their proper deportation into their home country would require massive resources. These resources would drain the economy and put a burden on the tax payers. Considering the number of immigrants in a country like the United States, such an exercise would require millions of dollars. In addition, there is no guarantee that all immigrants would be captured in the round up process. This would mean that the effectiveness of the project, despite the amount of resources used, would still be questionable.
Porous borders are the main entry points for illegal immigrants and it would be important that such an exercise be followed by measures that would ensure that the borders do not allow more immigrants. This would mean that the government would have to sink in more resources to achieve this goal. It should be noted that no...