Illegal immigration The problem that we chose to take by the horns is illegal immigration. It is becoming a problem in our country today. “Illegal immigration causes an enormous drain on public funds.”[1]. We want to study how severe these strains on the system are, by making a model of the immigration across the border, and its effects local economies.
According to Newsmax.com [2] Illegal immigrants are endangering our national security. We would like to explore this subject a little deeper. Another source stated that we have an estimated 7.0 million non authorized immigrants living in our country at this time[3].
“An estimated 85% of US crop workers are without valid legal status.” [4] With so many of Americans unemployed, is there really any question who is taking all of the jobs? And with the growing rate of illegal immigration many more will soon be filling the position of agricultural workers and other blue-collar jobs. Because of this labor concern we feel that it is very important that we take a look at how many of them are coming over, and what effect they have on our economy.
The number of immigrants coming across the border illegally is somewhere between 1 to 3 million a year [5]. Due to funding, the border patrol cannot cover the mass majority of land over which these immigrants cross. Since the border patrol can’t apprehend them all, most make it through to work for summer jobs, or work as cheap labor throughout their lives.
Another way that illegal immigrants are hurting our country is by depleting government funds. By the increasing number of immigrants using our hospitals and schools, we decrease the amount of funds that can be spent on United States citizens.
We are currently gathering more information through the border patrol, which we have direct contact with. We hope to gather enough information to make an accurate and complete model of this problem.
WORKS CITED
[1] http://www.americanpatrol.com/REFERENCE/isacrime.html
[2] http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2002/8/6/143102.shtml
[3] http://uscis.gov/graphics/shared/aboutus/statistics/Ill_Report_1211.pdf
[4]http://www.visa2003.com/world-immigration/illegal-immigration.htm
[5]http://www.dslextreme.com/users/surferslim/text1.html