The immigration topic is important for both policy makers and academicians. After, the 2016 U.S elections, President Trump declared that he would deal with the issue of immigration and bring America back to its glory. Immigrants entering U.S accounts for 28% of the entire U.S population (NumbersUSA 1). However, it is significant to note that the percentage is increasing steadily.  This steady growth is likely to have different implications for the U.S economy.  Some economists have argued that illegal immigrants have contributed to the U.S economy negatively while other emphasize that it has led to economic growth. This paper is based on the tenet that undocumented workers do not have a negative impact on the U.S economy.

The U.S Congress has focused on debating on the effects of immigration on the country’s economy.  There are thousands of undocumented workers in the U.S. It is argued that this kind of workers not only contribute to age cut but also take jobs that Americans could have taken.  The arguments further purport that most of the immigrants use different social programs such as schools and hospitals (Davidson 1). This is costly to the taxpayers. Additionally, it affects the country’s national debt by about $16 trillion.  Citing Davidson (1), America would be deporting about 11 million undocumented workers together with Pedro Chan. This would result in more jobs opportunities for Americans, stronger economy and lower taxes for the citizens.  The immigration has made most economies to be in deficit, and the U.S economy has not been in an exception.  This has made the policy makers to formulate different ways of dealing with illegal immigration and addressing the negative impacts to the economy.   For example, between 2010 and 2012, California experienced a budget deficit of about $21.8 billion in yearly expenditures and mostly due to the alien workers. On the other hand, New York allocates $9.5 billion yearly on the immigrants (NumbersUSA 1). This number keeps on increasing yearly, and it is important for the state and local governments to find lasting solutions.

Other scholars have argued that illegal immigration does not result in negative impacts on the country’s economy. Consequently, Davidson (1) state that Native Americans have the choice of accepting lower paying jobs or refusing to work in the fields characterized by low wages. According to the labor economists, undocumented immigrants have affected the wages in the American economy. This is because they accept any salary and do not bargain for better working conditions and benefits.

However, the impact of immigrants on the entire economy is positive.  Davidson who is an economist has compared the labor markets especially those characterized by a high number of immigrants.  The comparison was done with states that host fewer immigrants. Davidson (1) concluded that immigrants do not compete with the natives when it comes to labor markets, rather in wealthy nations it is possible for workers to become specialized if they divide the available work among themselves.  For example, the Ability of Pedro Chan to work on the various routine works on the job sites enable electricians and carpenters to focus on the specialized areas (Davidson 1).  Therefore, in the states characterized by a high number of undocumented workers, skilled workers earn more money in addition to working for longer hours. In other terms, the skilled workers made the country’s economy to grow.  Studies further indicate that between 1990 and 2007, the immigrants contributed to the increase of wages paid to the legal workers (Center for Immigration Studies 1). The increase was estimated at 10%.

Despite the mentioned benefits, there are also problems, and this is why it is argued that immigrants affect the U.S economy negatively.  In areas such as Arizona and Texas and even sections of Brooklyn, illegal immigrants contribute to huge costs to state and local governments (ProCon.org 1). Davidson (1) in his work adds that legal immigrants utilize public’s resources such as schools and hospitals. Besides, due to a huge percentage of immigrants, some states have reported high crime rates, and this is attributed to the immigrants.  Moreover, states that are characterized by low level of education among the natives face stiff competition from the immigrants.  For this reason, politicians have raised concern on the issue.

Davidson (1) further points out that on average, immigrants have larger families compared to the natives. This contributes to different impacts on the U.S economy such as straining the available resources in the schools.  Moreover, the arrival of the immigrants in the U.S economy have resulted into challenges, which have remained under the radar.  They have led to the introduction of a black market for both services and goods. The black markets are either regulated or taxed by the national or federal government. This means that the traded goods and services do not contribute to the nations’ economy.  Additionally, the local and state tax contributions of all the undocumented immigrants could be linked to the executive orders of President Obama between 2012 and 2014. The orders increased the number of immigrants into the U.S economy by about $806 million (ProCon.org 1).  The effective local and state tax rates for the immigrant population further increased by about 8.6% (ProCon.org 1). The local and state revenue gains from the president’s executive orders resulted in smaller economic gains.

It is important to note that high percentage of the legal immigrants pay taxes to the local and national governments (ProCon.org 1). Consequently, they use various government services as well as collecting benefits.  According to labor economists, they are net benefits associated with having over-supply of labor.  A section of the group benefits while others do not.   In a study conducted in 2012, it was reported that mass deportation of the illegal workers would impact negatively on the Americans economic growth by about $250 billion annually (ProCon.org 1).  The mentioned costs would include uneven distribution, and this would be more evident among individuals with higher diplomas. However, in the long run, it is evident that illegal immigrants are beneficial to the nation’s economy.

In conclusion, the immigrants also pose economic challenges to the U.S economy.  The immigrants come with unseen benefits to the U.S economy and in most cases; they are seen as a threat economically, socially and politically. However, the dollar value of the immigrants is far much than the adverse effects.  Therefore, instead of the government banning the immigrants and deporting them back to their native nations, they should be granted amnesty.  Additionally, the federal governments should look for alternative measures of curbing the crimes associated with immigrants.  In other words, it is evident that immigrants contribute positively to the country’s economy.  It might be a problem, but if the right measures are put into place, its significant contributions can be seen clearly.  In debating for the reforms, the Congress should consider the immense benefits of immigrants to the nation’s economy.

Works Cited

Center for Immigration Studies. Immigrants in the United States: A profile of America’s Foreign-born population. Cis.org. n.d. http://cis.org/node/3877. Accessed 6 May 2017.

Davidson, Adams. “Do illegal immigrants actually hurt the U.S. economy?” New York Times Magazine. Feb. 12, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/17/magazine/do-illegal-immigrants-actually-hurt-the-us-economy.html. Accessed 6 May 2017.

NumbersUSA. “Jobs Americans won’t do?” NumbersUSA.org. n.d. https://www.numbersusa.org/pages/jobs-americans-wont-do. Accessed 6 May 2017.

ProCon.org. “Is illegal immigration an economic burden to America?” ProCon.org. n.d. http://immigration.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=000788. Accessed 6 May 2017.

 
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