Legal Anthropology Immigration & The Multicultural Society

What is illegal immigration?

Over the last few years illegal immigration has become a major issue in the United States. There are several reasons for this but in most cases it is the result of politicians looking for a scapegoat for America's problems. Certainly there are some real issues with illegal immigration but most of these would be solved with a more liberal immigration policy.

Illegal immigration is not surprisingly when people are living in the United States illegally. There are illegal immigrants from all over the world but the vast majority of them are from Mexico. There are now so many illegal immigrants in the country that it has become a serious issue that nobody is really sure how to deal with it. The reality is that while illegal immigration is a major concern the US economy has come to depend on the illegal immigrants.

There are a variety of ways that illegal immigrants can get into the US. The most talked about is those who sneak over the border from Mexico. The truth is however that most illegal immigrants entered the country legally, usually on temporary work visas and then never left. This is one of the reasons that illegal immigration has become so widespread, temporary visas can in some cases be issued that last for years. Expecting people who have been in the US for several years to give up their lives and leave when the visa finally does expire is unrealistic, therefore most will stay and work illegally.

The main problem with illegal immigration is that it makes it impossible to know who is living and working in the US since they are undocumented. This presents a security issue. While the threat of terrorism is often played up by those who want to crack down on immigration the reality is that lesser crimes are far more likely. As illegal immigrants the only jobs that they can get are very menial and low paying ones, not surprisingly some illegal immigrants turn to criminal acts. That being said there is no evidence to suggest that they commit crimes any more frequently than US citizens.

One of the other objections that is often raised to illegal immigration is that they are taking jobs away from American citizens. This is rarely the case as the jobs that illegal immigrants do are almost always jobs that no American will do. They are the most menial and low paying jobs available and US business has come to rely on them to do these jobs. The temporary work visas that allowed most illegal immigrants into the country in the first place are proof of that, they were issued because no Americans could be found to do the jobs. At this point there are so many of these menial jobs being filled by illegal immigrants that there is no way that they could be replaced if they were deported.