Immigrants to the United States have historically elicited passionate debates on whether they are of economic benefit or an economic burden to the country. Those who hold the view that immigrants are of economic benefit have advanced views including that with the coming of immigrants into the country there is availability of cheap labor force who, besides contributing to the numbers of available labor, are also contributing to making businesses by locals benefit since they buy goods. According to this thinking too, immigrants, besides contributing to consumer base for goods and services are also important for setting up new business ventures which open-up employment opportunities for the locals. For those of the opposite view, the immigrants are an economic burden since they consume the government resources allocated for the people as well as contribute to making low-pay packages since they are ready to accept low-pays.
In the last few decades, immigrants to the United States have surged in numbers. By the year 2005, there were more than 38 million immigrants in the country. This represented 13% in the total population, in the country, as being foreign-born (Burman 56). For some economists, this trend has been a cause of alarm. For others, the trend is an economic blessing to the country. According to one view on this debate, immigrants are today an important impediment to the government's objectives of its goals. As this view holds, since the majority of the immigrants are illegal the fact is that majority of them are not paying taxes. As Geigenberger (171) identifies, with this quality, the government lags behind in many of its objectives. This is because the collection of the taxes thus revenue does not reflect the anticipated collections. According to Geigenberger (171), because of this inability to get taxes from the majority of the immigrants, the government is always strained in the achievement of objectives.
[...] In the last few decades, immigrants to the United States have surged in numbers. By the year 2005, there were more than 38 million immigrants in the country. This represented 13% in the total population, in the country, as being foreign-born (Burman 56). For some economists, this trend has been a cause of alarm. For others, the trend is an economic blessing to the country. According to one view on this debate, immigrants are today an important impediment to the government's objectives of its goals. [...]
[...] This could cause collapse of some sectors such as agriculture which heavily depend on these people. Besides, with such measure so f shutting the borders, the country is bound to lose of the social benefits that these people bring especially the family value system they instill on the American culture. Works cited Burman, Stephen. The state of the American Empire: How the U.S. A Shapes the World. Berkeley: University of California Press From Google books. Website is: http://books.google.be/books?id=XSg6YBBlTq8C&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+stat e+of+the+American+Empire:+How+the+U.S.+A+Shapes+the++World&hl=en&ei=- yAlTrL8Bcb4rQfUtd2PCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA #v=onepage&q&f=false Geigenberger, Julia. [...]
[...] This is attributed to the increasing population fueled by the increasing migration into the country. As Geigenberger (172) states, this is economically clear. This is because the government generally has set standards to achieve for the population. These objectives are achieved through funding to programs. The funding is usually informed by the figures which exist of the population who are the consumers. Considering that the immigrants are an addition to the already known population, fact is that this category contributes to making the government unable to meet the objectives with the funding targets which had been previously done. [...]
[...] The Lasting Value of Legal Immigration for the United States of America. München: GRIN Verlag From Google books. Website is http://books.google.be/books?id=tp7enwxolx4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Last ing+Value+of+Legal+Immigration+for+the+United+States+of++America&hl=en&ei=ty ElTsnTI4_IrQevqOG_CQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAA# v=onepage&q&f=false Ottaviano, Gianmarco, Peri, Giavanni. Rethinking the gains from Immigration: theory and evidence from the U.S. Washington, DC: National Bureau of economic research From online Pdf (also attached). http://www.nber.org/papers/w11672 Economist's view. FRBSF Economic letter: The effects of immigrants on U.S. Employment and Productivity. 30/08/2010.Web. [...]
[...] As Burman (124) identifies, this category of the undocumented immigrants are not a disadvantage in relation to taxes as it is also believed. Instead, as Burman (137) identifies data continues to show that close to 80 percent of the immigrants who are undocumented still pay their state, local and federal taxes. As the data shows each year, the category of the undocumented immigrants contribute more than 70 billion dollars to the social security fund. Generally, the contribution of the immigrants to the taxes usually remains under the unaccounted for payments. [...]
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