Question

Most developed economies have some illegal immigrants. The United States has the largest number: 10M to 11M. Without legal US identification documents, they cannot open bank accounts or buy houses. Many US firms have targeted this population, accepting their ID issued by their native countries or issuing in-country IDs and selling them products and services. Some Americans are furious with these business practices. Other Americans suggest that illegal immigration represents a growth engine in an economy with little growth elsewhere. How would you participate in this debate?

Answer 1

Immigration could be a double-edged sword. While it has many pros, there are cons to it as well. Out of these, the best argument to allow the same would be that it breaks the structural local monopoly, bringing newer techniques of production and the ideas that may be conflicting in nature. However, the ones who benefit the most out this continuous instability in the economy are the consumers. Had that not been the case and the new business ideas downgraded by the consumers, then the immigrant entities would not have successfully established themselves in a foreign nation. Hence, it is to be agreed that the fact that the consumers are in favor of the ideas brought in by the immigrants, is the sole indicator of its survival in the market.

To limit immigration, the most favorable argument still is that it takes away a significant share of Americans in the economy, thereby raising the concerns of unemployment in the nation and with the immigrants mostly hailing from the developing countries, they are comfortable working for lesser compensation packages thereby impacting the overall pay structure in the economy. The wages are ultimately raised down which in turn, affects the poor the most.

Moreover, I believe the illegal migrants in the country may pose a potential threat to the safety and security of the nation, besides to its economy. Certainly not all the illegal migrants have intention of harming the nation but it shall be difficult to segregate the lot without any formal identification of these people in the country. Besides, they put a pressure in already concerning issue of worthy employment in the nation. Moreover, with Globalization, we have become more reliant on the labor force of the developing countries because we avail them at cheaper rates, thereby further depriving our own citizens from getting suitable jobs. To top that, the illegal migrants have now started representing a significant number in the population. Catering to such a number requires precise counting of these people by the Government. However, with no appropriate records in place, this becomes a challenging task. Moreover, it is relatively easier to forge the IDs issued by the native countries for the immigrants, thereby making the system doubt the authenticity of their identification process.