Many people already know where they stand in the continuous debate about immigration in the United States. It is a debate that has sparked endless controversy, especially during the race to win the two-thousand sixteen presidential election. There are Americans on both sides of the debate and their opinions range from introducing a more accessible immigration policy, to building a wall to keep people out of the United States. However, behind all the sensation and political dispute lies a serious issue. Many people who have already chosen a viewpoint pertaining to this issue don’t know enough about it to truly make an informed decision, yet endless resources are available for people to become more educated about the topic. Upon review of the
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Many of these opponents argue that undocumented workers steal jobs from Americans. Immigrants do not take our jobs instead they simply perform the jobs that native-born Americans don’t want to do. In fact, among service, production, transportation, material moving, natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations, foreign born workers outweigh native-born citizens by at least 4% (Bureau). Many of these jobs can be handled by any worker but Americans simply refuse to take them. Giovanni Peri, an economist at the University of California, Davis claims that “undocumented workers do not compete with skilled laborers- instead they complement them” (Davidson). This statement has been substantiated by statistics showing that from 1990 to 2007, undocumented workers increased legal workers’ pay by up to 10 percent (Davidson). Instead of immigrants taking money and jobs from native-born citizens, they actually increase American’s pay and do the jobs that many will not. Another common argument is that the United States should be stricter about enforcing immigration laws and deporting illegal immigrants. However, if the US were to deport all of the undocumented population and maintain border and interior enforcement efforts in the US over a 5-year period it would cost $285 billion, which would cause the US to fall further into debt (CAP) . Moreover, when the US’s GDP is higher with the current undocumented worker population, it is hard to deny that deporting people would only hurt the nation’s
Many of these opponents argue that undocumented workers steal jobs from Americans. Immigrants do not take our jobs instead they simply perform the jobs that native-born Americans don’t want to do. In fact, among service, production, transportation, material moving, natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations, foreign born workers outweigh native-born citizens by at least 4% (Bureau). Many of these jobs can be handled by any worker but Americans simply refuse to take them. Giovanni Peri, an economist at the University of California, Davis claims that “undocumented workers do not compete with skilled laborers- instead they complement them” (Davidson). This statement has been substantiated by statistics showing that from 1990 to 2007, undocumented workers increased legal workers’ pay by up to 10 percent (Davidson). Instead of immigrants taking money and jobs from native-born citizens, they actually increase American’s pay and do the jobs that many will not. Another common argument is that the United States should be stricter about enforcing immigration laws and deporting illegal immigrants. However, if the US were to deport all of the undocumented population and maintain border and interior enforcement efforts in the US over a 5-year period it would cost $285 billion, which would cause the US to fall further into debt (CAP) . Moreover, when the US’s GDP is higher with the current undocumented worker population, it is hard to deny that deporting people would only hurt the nation’s