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The Legal and Illegal Immigration in the United States of America.

Final Paper

Professor Dorothy Zak

SOC 232 SYS/LECT/MIS1-2024/SPRING/01 - Sociology of Group Behavior

Rashida Dunne

April 21 2024
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Abstract

Immigration in the US is one of the forefront issues that the country has been grappling with

for decades. The movement of people of foreign citizenry into the country has been

happening for years now. In the 1920s the government began making policies to regulate and

control immigration. Initially, the regulations were quite accommodating but by 1940s, more

strict regulations had been put in place for those seeking permanent residence in the country.

This was a decision that was informed by the prevailing circumstances. Due to high demand

of labor in the country, foreigners benefitted by migrating into the country to take up the jobs.

Others came in to join their family members who were already in the country. The presence

of many foreigners in the country brought about saturation which led toa reduction in

employment opportunities and a strain on available resources. This further amplified social

problems and crimes such as drug and human trafficking, theft, among other crimes, both

felony and petty. It was imperative, therefore, that the entry of foreigners into the country as a

measure in order to balance the country’s resources and the human population. The

immigration is still ongoing. The immigrants are expected to migrate into the country in

accordance with the immigration rules that have been put in place. Many of them follow the

guidelines and they are referred to as legal migrants. Those who do not follow the set

guidelines and procedures but somehow get into the country are referred to as illegal

immigrants. Immigration into the USA, both legal and illegal has brought about various

issues that will be discussed in this report.

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Introduction

In this research, the issues of legal and illegal migration will be examined. Many facets

concerning immigration such as reasons for immigration, challenges faced by immigrants

during and after immigration, positive and negative impacts of immigration on the country as

well as the immigrant’s countries of origin. The paper consists of an abstract, aims,

hypothesis, objectives, research questions, key terms and their definitions, literature review,

collection of data and analysis, conclusion and recommendations.

A working title

An examination on the issues of legal and legal immigration in the United States of America.

Research aim.

To examine the issues of legal and illegal immigration in the United States of America

Objectives

To examine the issues of legal and illegal immigration the USA.

To evaluate the factors that lead to immigration in the USA.

To evaluate the challenges faced by immigrants during and after immigration.

To examine the impacts of immigration on the country’s citizens, resources and governance.

To examine the importance of legal immigration.

To highlight the effects of immigration on the immigrant and the country.

Hypothesis

Both legal and illegal immigration affect the country in diverse ways such as governance,

diplomacy, culturally, socially and economically.

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Research questions.

Why do people move from their countries of origin into the USA?

How do immigrants migrate into the USA?

What benefits do immigrants enjoy in the USA?

What challenges do immigrants face in the USA?

What are the effects of the presence of immigrants in the USA?

What are the effects of their immigration to their countries of origin?

Key terms and definitions

Immigration

Legal immigrant

Illegal immigrant

Immigrants

Country of origin- the country to which the immigrants belong legally in accordance with the

citizenship laws of the said country.

Host country- the country into which immigrants are immigrating, in this report, the USA.

Policy – to refer to guidelines that have been put in place to regulate immigration.

Literature review

The USA is one of the favorite destinations of immigrants seeking permanent residence. In a

worldwide poll made in 2018 by Gallup, 158 million people expressed their wish to

immigrate into the country for a permanent residence. Out of the 158 million, 32 million

attempted Out of the 158 million, 32 million attempted the immigration process into the USA
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(Klobucista, et al, 2023). Contrary to what the many divides of this highly debated and

politicized matter, USA is not the highest recipient of immigrants in the world. It comes third

bottom among the wealthy nations (Bier, 2013). He further posits that the total worldwide

growth in immigrants in USA between 2015 and 2020 was 7.5 percent. The Republicans and

Democrats are having a challenge finding a common ground immigration issue (Adimora, et

al, 2023).

Collection of data

The data was sourced from secondary sources, mainly the peer reviewed research papers.

Findings and analysis

Immigrants report a number of reasons for wanting to move away from their countries of

origin to other countries. These include war and displacement, poverty, drought and hunger,

inadequate resources, natural calamities, environmental degradation, poor governance,

political asylum, family reunion, education and employment. The immigrants hope for a

better quality of life, they therefore look forward to better employment opportunities, better

wages, a healthier political climate, better education, security and healthcare as well as a

more favorable climate.

There are two categories of immigrants: legal and illegal immigrants. The legal immigrants

are the ones who follow the procedures and guidelines satisfactorily in accordance with the

USA policy on immigration (Caponi & Plesca, 2014). The illegal immigrants are the ones

who voluntarily bypass and avoid following the procedures and guidelines regulating

immigration in accordance with the USA policy. According to (Noriega, 2019) the main

reason for illegal immigration is the failure by the immigrants to fulfill some or all the

requirements as stated in the immigration policy. This could be their criminal history or lack

of a plausible reason for immigration.

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Those who immigrate successfully into the country may face a myriad of challenges. These

include a stiff competition in the labor market, discrimination, joblessness, poverty,

homelessness, climate, low wages, lack of support from family and friends, cultural shock,

fear, loneliness, new laws and regulations among others.

The USA is categorized as a first world country. Most immigrants are likely to enjoy a variety

of benefits. These include more and varied better paying jobs, advanced technology, matured

democratic politics, elaborate career progressions, better quality education, better and varied

recreational opportunities as well as meeting people from different cultures from all over the

world.

Immigration affects the country in a number of ways. The positive effects include an

improved economic output. This is as a result of an increased working force that is actively

engaged in various forms of employments and entrepreneurship as well as providing a market

for goods and services (Bodvarsson et al., 2013).

The major negative impact is the strain that immigrants exert on resources. Illegal immigrants

also take advantage of lack of documentation and identification and involve themselves in

criminal activities such as drug peddling, burglary, assault and vandalism among others

(Albrecht, 2002).

The countries of origin are also affected both positively and negatively. One of the major

merits is fund disbursements as immigrants send some money back to their relatives and also

make their own investments back home (Alpaslan et al., 2021). This benefits the countries

economically through taxation and employment opportunities.

The major negative effect is the phenomenon known as brain drain. This is where the country

loses its citizens of working age and may suffer from lack of essential professionals.

Conclusions
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The issues connected with immigration are sensitive and complex. The following conclusions

were drawn from the research.

1. Most immigrants in the USA are legal and fully documented.

2. There exist illegal immigrants in the country and others continue to get in illegally.

3. The illegal immigrants exist majorly due to highly strict rules and regulations on

immigration and some people may not be able to qualify for a legal immigration

procedure. The porous borders also contribute to the menace.

4. Most immigrants have plausible and genuine reasons for immigration.

5. Most immigrants enjoy a relief in the form of a better-quality life from their host

countries.

6. Immigration has both advantages and disadvantages to the host country as well as to

the countries of origin.

Recommendations

1. Immigration policies need to be revised to remove unnecessary barriers that

contribute to illegal immigrations, as well as add necessary ones to prevent an

unhealthy immigration.

2. The government needs to reinforce the security of the borders to prevent illegal

immigration.

3. Impersonation needs to be punished more severely so as to act as a deterrent for

illegal immigration.

4. The special programs already in place such as the green card should be maintained as

they ensure that immigrants who are deserving are allowed to immigrate into the

country and legally so.

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Reaction paper

In reacting toward the issue of immigrations, I looked into the article “Immigration policy is

matches and counterproductive outcomes: unauthorized migration to the U.S. in two eras” by

Massey (2020). In this research paper, the author tackles the issue of immigration. To do this,

the author has drawn the inconsistencies of the USA immigration policies versus their

outcomes, against the backdrop of two eras, that is, the 20th and 21st centuries.

The author compares them side by side to bring out the similarities and differences as

observed in both. He points out that during the late 20th century, there was a high influx of

immigrants into the USA due to global integration (Massey, 2020). There was a huge cross-

border traffic of goods. Information and commodities that and the stimulated growth in

economy led to the requirement of labor force.

Earlier, immigration had been free with no restrictions put in place and the balance would just

happen as people went exactly where opportunities were. In the 21st century however, people

want to immigrate to certain wealthy countries thereby risking a strain on resources, among

other challenges, and that is why the policies were put in place to regulate immigration.

In the 20th century, the global economy landscape transformed and saw formations of

international bodies such as the World Trade Organization, International Monetary Fund, and

the International Organization for Migration and the Labor Organization. The latter was

formed to deal with issues of the labor market in order to create an efficient equilibrium.

These bodies would become more effective in the issues of human resource in the 21st century

and more so in the emerging issue of immigration.

These bodies by-laws, combined with the country’s policies in immigration created a mesh of

bureaucracy that was so complicated and politicized that it became out of touch with the
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immigrants. The loopholes and lack of synchrony form the author’s argument as evidenced in

the title, the immigration policy mismatches and counterproductive outcomes.

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References

Adimora, K. (2023, March 14). Expert Focus on US Immigration: Challenges and Possible

Solutions. Baker Institute. https://www.bakerinstitute.org/research/expert-focus-us-

immigration-challenges-and-possible-solutions

Albrecht, H. J. (2002). Immigration, crime and unsafety. Crime and Insecurity, 159.

Alpaslan, B., Kayaoglu, A., Meckl, J., Naval, J., Vanore, M., & Ziesemer, T. H. (2021).

Economic effects of remittances on migrants’ country of origin. The Economic

Geography of Cross-Border Migration, 449-483.

Bodvarsson, Ö. B., & Van den Berg, H. (2013). The economics of immigration. New York,

NY: Springer New York.

Bier, D. (2023, June 13). Why legal immigration is nearly impossible. Cato.org.

https://www.cato.org/policy-analysis/why-legal-immigration-nearly-impossible

Caponi, V., & Plesca, M. (2014). Empirical characteristics of legal and illegal immigrants in

the USA. Journal of Population Economics, 27, 923-960.

Hansen L. O. (1988). The political and socioeconomic context of legal and illegal Mexican

migration to the United States (1942-1984). International migration (Geneva,

Switzerland), 26(1), 95–107. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2435.1988.tb00613.x

Klobucista, C., Roy, D., & Cheatham, A. (2023). The U.S. Immigration Debate. Council on

Foreign Relations; Council on Foreign Relations.

https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/us-immigration-debate-0

Noriega, A. (2019). Treating the Root Causes of Illegal Immigration. American Enterprise

Institute. https://www. aei. Org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Noriega-HFAC-Central-

America-Testimony-04-10-19-. Pdf
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Massey, D. S. (2020). Immigration policy mismatches and counterproductive outcomes:

unauthorized migration to the U.S. in two eras. Comparative Migration Studies, 8(1).

https://doi.org/10.1186/s40878-020-00181-6