Us Immigration Reform
As many of you may know, the number of people immigrating to other countries right now is extraordinary but especially one country has experienced immigration for a long time, which is the United States of America. Some see the immigration as a big burden for the country, whilst others see the immigration as something positive and can potentially make the country better, both culturally and for the employment rate.
In 2014, Barack Obama announced an immigration reform that would benefit two distinct groups. The first group is the undocumented immigrants in the country, that have been in the country for 5 or more years if they have a child that is a US citizen. The total amount of undocumented immigrants in the US is estimated to be approximately 11.4 million of which 6.2 million of them are not eligible to apply. 1.2 million are already covered by existing immigration policy. This leaves 4 million immigrants, that have the opportunity to be covered by this new immigration reform. The reform goes even further than that. Those who are eligible for this new reform are also allowed work permits so they can work legally. Therefore, the workers can also compete for better-paying jobs. As I stated before, some people see immigration as something with the potential of making the country better and that is what Obama believes.
Obama sees the US as a melting pot, where no matter your background you have the same identity, which strengthens the national feeling. Donald Trump, on the other hand, sees immigration, especially immigrants from Mexico and the middle east, as problematic and huge burden. In a speech at one of his many presidential campaigns, he describes the US as a ''dumping ground for everybody else's problems''. He also believes that Mexico is sending people with problems, drugs, crime and rapists, hence why he wants to deport every single illegal immigrant in the US. One of his fellow Republican candidates stated that the idea is silly, but can this plan be executed and if so, what is the result of this huge deportation of people going to be? First of all, Trump's plan is a huge task and is unlikely to be executed, due to the logistical and financial challenges to the US. Second of all, the cost of the deportation of 11.4 million people is, as expected substantial.
The cost is estimated at around 10,070 dollars per person and if Trump wants to deport every single one of them, the total cost would be roughly 114 billion dollars. That would only cover the basis cost though. According to the AAF the total cost would be around 420 and 620 billion dollars. Furthermore, the process would also take 20 years to find and deport all of them. Along with the huge fee, an analysis has been made, which shows, that deporting the immigrants will cause a 6% cut on the US economy or 1.6 trillion dollars by 2035, since undocumented immigrants makes up around 6.4% of America’s labor force.
As i said before, the reason Trumps wants to deport all these immigrants is because he believes that they are a burden for the country, criminals, rapists, and full of problems, which he by the way does not have any sources that can confirm his statement, which is why I wanna show you the myths and facts about immigration in the US. Something Trump expresses very often is, that immigrants take away our jobs which is a complete myth. Immigrants add economic demand and therefore also gives firms and companies incentive to create more jobs. Another myth is, that the US is flooded with immigrants and there are not room for anymore. In 1990, there were 5 workers for each retiree, whereas today the number is only 3 workers. In the future, the number will get even smaller and will not be enough to sustain the older population.
The generalization that all immigrants are a burden is a lie, and a perfect example of that is Julissa Acre. When Acre came to USA she was only 11 years old. When she started in school, she was a straight A-student but sadly, at 14 her tourist visa expired and she was stamped as an illegal immigrant. Thankfully, a new law was enacted which allowed her to enroll and she was accepted at the University of Texas in Austin. It was not easy for Acre though, her parents returned to Mexico and she had to pay for college tuition by working the weekends at her parents’ waffle stand 80 miles away. But there was light at the end of the tunnel because in 2004 she finally got some reward for her hard work. She landed a full summer internship at Goldman Sachs. Then in 2005 she graduated in finance and was asked to return full time. In just 7 years Julissa Acre grew from intern to vice-president landing her close to the top of earnings in the country, earning a staggering 400,000 dollars a year.
This goes to show you, that all immigrants are not a burden but can also be a bonus for the country and the society.
What Julissa Acre also is an example of is, that Obama’s reform is a solution that is more than suitable. One of the criteria Obama’s reform proposed was, that if you came to the US as a child you could get a permit to stay, exactly like Julissa. This reform is needed, because it gives young immigrants an opportunity to succeed, and thus contributing to the economic development in the USA.
Nevertheless, we need to realize that the reform is not perfect. The reform is only partial as it only deals with about 4 million of the 11.3 million immigrants. Therefore, the reform is not a comprehensive solution because over half of the immigrants are left out. However, it is a good start to solving this problem even though it only is a temporary solution. Finally, it can be concluded, that Obama’s reform is suitable but a more comprehensive reform is required when looking at it long term. Immigration is complex and cannot be judged only from stats and numbers but immigration is also about ethics and what the right thing to do is.
