Introduction
The number of illegal immigrants into the United States has increased. Illegal immigrants have not only threatened our nation’s security but, have also put a strain on the economy. The United States has been burdened with excessive medical bills, gang violence, and an abundance of drugs and weapons that could contribute to terrorism. If the United States government does not take control of the situation and come up with a new system to protect the nation from illegal immigrants, national security will be extremely vulnerable. Illegal entry of immigrants into the United States will bring gangs, drug lords, and human trafficking which will jeopardize national security and freedom.
Main body
Illegal immigrants will cause an increase in gangs
According to Dwyer (34), “the total number of illegal immigrants in the U.S. is probably between five and eight million”. This number may be even much bigger as it is very difficult to disclose all the cases of illegal residence in the United States. More upsetting is the fact that the waves of immigration never stop causing more and more problems to the country from day today. Such a situation with immigration leaves bad traces on the face of the country. The effects of illegal immigration for the United States may be already compared to the effects of a serious disaster. The situation in the country is much worsened in all the important areas such as social sphere and economic one. Below, different areas affected by this calamitous phenomenon will be addressed in detail.
First of all, the most affected area is the social one. This area suffers greatly the reason of the rise of the level of crime committed by immigrants such as illegal weapons and drugs distribution and human trafficking. Immigrants often engage in forming illegal gangs which become a source of the above-mentioned crimes. This fact is supported by statistics that show a rise in gangs when there are illegal immigrants. According to Newton (125, 126), the new wave of immigration which began in the 1990s caused an increase of 35% in the number of illegal gangs at the end of the 1990s and the beginning of the 2000s in the country. The other sad fact is that case studies in some communities show there is a rise in gangs as a result of illegal immigrants. In particular, in Mexican and Russian communities new waves of immigration caused 37% growth in the number of gangs at the beginning of the 2000s (Newton 126). In the southern states, the level of increase in the number of gangs has been connected to the level of illegal immigration for decades (Valdez 847). In the northern states, a similar tendency is seen in the communities of illegal immigrants from Canada (Newton 102). These gang formations commit thousands of serious crimes day today. Their crimes range from organizing ways to continue illegal immigration to severe cases of robbery and murdering. For example, gangs engage in digging tunnels used as a means of penetration into the territory of the country. This practice is especially common in the southern states of Arizona and Texas. However, organizing illegal immigrating schemes is by far the most harmless of the practices by these gangs. Each day numerous robberies and armed attacks occur. In the southern states, local and national authorities appear to fail to stop armed conflicts for controlling the area between the members of drug gangs. Someone is being killed every 60 hours by the members of gangs (Kirkwood 26). “The crime along the border is so ferocious, coordinated, and wide-ranging it is inconceivable. Over the last decade or so, for instance, more than 400 women have been brutally murdered in Ciudad Juarez” (Kirkwood 28). Many more unsounded crimes are committed by illegal aliens and their gangs from day to day, and today, the drug gangs along with the other types of gangs have arrived in small towns of the United States.
The increase in the levels of criminals and especially of those joint in gangs is a sure way too many more problems. In this vein, drug lords are also associated with illegal transportation of weapons as well as drugs as a result of illegal immigration. Statistics show that the drug lords are associated with trafficking in weapons, tied to the illegal immigration issues. According to Valdez (845), in the southern states, the level of drug distribution directly depends on the level of illegal immigration from Mexico. In the 2000s, with a new wave of immigration from Mexico, the level of drug distribution in Arizona received an increase of 8%. The other issue comes from the northern border where the illegal distribution of drugs and weapons is also directly connected to the level of illegal immigration (Seper 1). According to Seper (1).
Drug lords are also associated with illegal transportation of weapons as well as drugs as a result of illegal immigration
An elusive and growing number of drug smugglers, crossing from Canada into the United States – in trucks and cars, on snowmobiles and horseback, in airplanes and on foot – carrying a mountain of illicit drugs, including a new and potent hydroponically grown Canadian marijuana known as “BC bud” is constantly registered.
Seper explains that the problem comes along with the other serious problem of illegal immigration. In a way, illegal immigration and drug selling go step by step. The numbers of the statics in the northern territories are terrifying, here “particularly the high-grade marijuana that sells for up to $6,000 a pound is 10 times the price of Mexican pot” (Seper 2). Within, the last decade, there is no doubt that Canada became a major source of drugs to the United States. In this information, the most upsetting fact is that these drugs are majorly brought by illegal immigrants coming from Canada. “The $300 million-a-year business is second only to drugs for money earned in illegal enterprises” (Kirkwood 29). The statics show all the sadness of the situation behind the blossom of gangs formed by illegal immigrants, especially drug gangs. The activity of drug gangs is a reason for the death of numerous people not among the immigrants themselves who appear to be the major clients of their fellowmen, but the citizens of the country as well. The category which is especially affected is young people. They become addicted to drugs, ruin their lives, and, finally, die. Death as a result of being a drug addict is one of the most frequent reasons for death among young people in the United States. This causes further demographic, social, and economical problems as a result as the people of the United States become an elderly nation.
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Examples show an increase in weapons trafficking in areas where illegal immigrants and drugs are prevalent. About 500,000 illegal immigrants come to the United States each year from Mexico. These people become one of the biggest sources of criminality in the country. Mexican people are known for their tendency to found criminal gangs, distribute drugs and organize weapon trafficking as a part of their activity. Being concerned by this great problem, the US government decided to construct a wall between Mexico and Arizona to put a barrier for organized criminality and illegal weapons distribution (Tolentino 1). Similar tendencies are also explored within the communities of illegal immigrants from former Soviet republics, the Philippines, African countries, and Muslim countries such as Afghanistan and Pakistan (83). The other example which seems to be mind-blowing is the South Texas drug market where 80 percent of sources come from Mexicans and other Latin-American immigrants (Valdez 844). The level of drug and weapons distribution is also directly connected to the levels of illegal immigration in North Dakota and Montana due to the activity of illegal aliens coming from the northern borders with Canada (Newton 74).
Illegal immigration is also associated with an increase in human trafficking
The other serious problem in the social sphere is human trafficking which is also associated with illegal immigration. Statistics show that the levels of human trafficking increase with the inflow of illegal immigrants. Illegal immigrants are not protected by the government, and, as a result, they often become a victim of criminals kidnapping them and exploiting them as sex slaves and “material” for medical operations. In addition, illegal immigrants often become “slaves” to supply the labor needs in harmful industries and spheres where free people reject to work even being paid a lot of money. Examples show an association between illegal immigration and human trafficking.
Since 2006, the Louisiana Human Trafficking Task Force, which has law enforcement, training, and victim services components, has focused its law enforcement and victim rescue efforts on the Interstate 10 corridor from the Texas border on the west to the Mississippi border on the east. This corridor, the basic northern border of the hurricane-ravaged areas of Louisiana, long has served as a major avenue of illegal immigration efforts. The I-10 corridor also is the main avenue for individuals participating in human trafficking to supply the labor needs in the hurricane-damaged areas of the state (Walker-Rodriguez, Amanda, and Rodney Hill 1).
This is one of the numerous situations around the country when immigrants are used as slaves in a variety of areas not just in the sex-slavery. People coming from a variety of lands beginning from the post-soviet republics such as Ukraine and Belarus to exotic countries of the Philippines and Thailand become not only a threat to the reputation of the country and security in it, but also ruin their own lives (Granville 148). This is a very sad fact as it is known that immigrants are motivated by the desire to improve the quality of their life, but what they get are even bigger troubles than they had in their homelands.
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Of course, illegal immigration causes even more serious problems in the social sphere. Among such problems are nationalism, racism, and discrimination (Newton 146). This leads to constant conflict between the citizens of the country and illegal aliens. Very often such conflicts are armed which causes many lethal cases both among the immigrant population and the local citizens. As a result, those who suffer are illegal immigrants themselves. The citizens of the country suffer a lot as well especially in cases when cruel conflicts happen. National hatred was always a plague in people’s relations, and a constant inflow of illegal immigrants makes this plague a daily reality for our country. Statistics show that every fifty hours a human being dies in the conflict that occurred on the reason of national hatred in the United States (Newton 148). Many people are severely injured in these conflicts which are also connected to several other problems such as financing their treatment and legalizing their stay in the hospital on the territory of the country as although illegal immigrants have no right to be found in the territory of the United States they are also people and are to be shown compassion.
The above-mentioned effects of illegal immigration on the situation in the social sphere of the United States cause other related problems. As a result of the rise in gangs, increase in drugs, rise in weapons trafficking, and human trafficking associated with illegal immigration, it jeopardizes our national security and freedom. It is a threat to our national security because it makes our communities less safe. The citizens of our country live in constant fear of criminals coming from other lands and being illegal immigrants. The levels of drug and weapons distribution along with the number of immigrants being a part of illegal gangs are mind-blowing. Young people of the country are badly affected by the activity of drug gangs. They become drug addicts and ruin their lives along with a chance for a bright future, and, finally, this leads to death in many cases. Death as a result of being a drug addict is one of the most frequent reasons for death among young people in the United States. This causes further demographic, social, and economical problems as a result as the nation of the United States becomes a nation of elderly people. A closer look at the situation with illegal immigration helps see innumerable problems connected with it in a variety of the most important areas. Illegal immigration is a threat to our freedom, well-being, and safety because we cannot control the illegal entry of immigrants. For many reasons, such as economic instability in the world, wars, religious enmity, and so on in other countries, illegal immigrants flooded the United States. In case this situation will continue like this the well-being of our country will be questioned in the utter meaning of these worlds.
Illegal immigration is a serious threat to the economical well-being of the country
Furthermore, illegal immigration is a serious threat to the economical well-being of the country. Statistics show that the federal treasury suffers significant levels of losses on the reason of immigration. This is explained by the fact that immigrants occupy work positions created in the country and are assumed to be a part of the country’s economy. However, very often immigrants send the money they receive to their families in their home countries and cause dissipation of American financial funds, as a result. In addition, the very fact that immigrants occupy working slots created for the citizens of the United States is also a serious economic problem. Unemployment among the native population of the country increased by 7% as a result of illegal immigration by the data of statistics (Newton 152). In addition, illegal immigrants do not pay due to taxes, and this is another harm that it causes to the economy of the country (Summers 1). The following comment explains the mechanism of such phenomenon in the economical area of the country:
Illegal aliens pay fewer taxes because they have lower incomes and because their compliance rate [voluntarily filing of income taxes by themselves or by employers] is somewhat lower than our other immigrant groups. And their incomes are lower in large part because many have low levels of education and limited English skills (Summers 1).
Moreover, important federal funds suffer on the reason of illegal immigration: About 55 percent of illegal aliens are paying into Social Security and Medicare by using fake Social Security numbers. The remaining 45 percent are not paying those taxes because their employers, who are not filing income taxes, are paying the illegals under the table (Summers 2).
Still, the cases are many when financial funds of Social Security and Medicare are used for the needs of illegal immigrants. As a result, money from these important treasuries comes only in one direction causing their squandering. All of the above-mentioned situations leave their bad trace on the federal economy. “Illegal aliens that year created a net fiscal deficit of $10.4 billion, or $2,700 per illegal alien household” (Summers 2). These numbers are very upsetting as they show how badly the country’s economy is affected by illegal immigration. In such a state of affairs, the very upsetting thing is the fact that the economy of the country is still in a poor condition after the global financial crisis at the end of the 2000s, and it is still too weak to be challenged in such away. It should be also stated that there exist some visible advantages for the country’s economy in the inflow of illegal immigrants as they work for little or even no wages. Some specialists in the area of the economy may even state that illegal immigrants are necessary for the normal functioning of the country’s economy. However, this illusion becomes dissipated when the situation is analyzed deeper. The above-mentioned numbers from different areas of the economy of the country prove this simple truth.
Conclusion
Much needed improvement towards border security and homeland defense should always be at the top of the government to-do list. Even though the United States has spent billions of dollars over the past couple of decades it is not well spent if it doesn’t deter the illegal entry of immigrants into the United States or another terrorist attack against our nation. All policies for illegal entry of immigrants and border security should be reformed with a new line of attack on how to keep gangs, drug lords, and human trafficking from entering the United States. The planning and implementation of these new policies could not be done alone and should not just rely on the United States but also on Canada and Mexico which connects the northern and southern borders. Without their support to help secure illegal entry or exit within those countries will put a constant threat to national security which will promote terrorism. Working together to improve the immigration system and ensure the security of our borders will change and become apparent when drug, weapons, and human trafficking have decreased significantly.
Works Cited
Dwyer, James. “Illegal Immigrants, Health Care and Social Responsibility.” The Hastings Center Report 34.1 (2004): 34+. Questia. Web.
Granville, Johanna. “From Russia without Love: the “fourth Wave” of Global Human Trafficking.” Demokratizatsiya 12.1 (2004): 147+. Questia. Web. 2012.
Kirkwood, R. Cort. “Border Town Violence: As Illegal Immigrants Flood the United States, a Wave of Crimes Committed by Illegals Is Crashing into Border Towns and Threatening to Engulf Our Entire Nation.” The New American. 2006: 25+. Questia. Web.
Newton, Lina. Illegal, Alien, or Immigrant: The Politics of Immigration Reform. New York: New York University Press, 2008. Questia. Web.
Seper, Jery. “Drug Smugglers Turn to Northern Border; Illegal Trade Soars to Meet U.S.
Demand.” The Washington Times. 2003: A01. Questia. Web. 2012.
Summers, Keyonna. “Illegal Aliens Not Paying Fair Share of Taxes, Study Says.” The Washington Times. 2006: B01. Questia. Web.
Tolentino, Francis. “The Great Wall of Arizona.” Manila Bulletin. 2006: NA. Questia. Web.
Valdez, Avelardo. “Mexican American Youth and Adult Prison Gangs in a Changing Heroin Market.” Journal of Drug Issues 35.4 (2005): 843+. Questia. Web.
Walker-Rodriguez, Amanda, and Rodney Hill. “Human Sex Trafficking.” FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin. 2011: 1+. Questia. Web.