Running Head: IMMIGRATION

Community Problem Report: Immigration

University of Texas at El Paso
RWS 1301
November 9, 2015
Daniel E. Garcia

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Abstract

Immigration has become an important issue today as many seem to be on opposite sides
of this subject. With the presidential debates and elections that are coming up many candidates
have been expressing their concerns about this issue. Using data and statistics we are able to see
how Americans and the political party that they associate with separate on this issue. Both sides
do have their own arguments and concerns about this issue. Those that are on the side of helping
immigration by reducing border security believe that immigrants help the economy. They also
believe that it is wrong to separate families, because of the deportations of those who are not
U.S. citizens but have family that are U.S. citizens. People who are against immigration have
their own concerns about the issue. Some of these concerns include the ideas that immigrants
will bring crime, trafficking, and take jobs away from Americans. Nevertheless this is an
important issue that we will be exploring throughout the paper.
Keywords: border security, immigrants, economy, crime

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Introduction

Immigration has become a topic of discussion and a very much heated debate in the
United States. According to Jens Manuel Krostad & Jeffrey S. Passel (2015) of Pew Research
Center stated there are approximately, 11.3 million unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. in
2014. Immigration is shown to affect the United States through social and economic instances.
For example through employment, labor, crime, relatives that live on both sides of the border,
deportations that separate families, etc. The importance of this issue is that it greatly affects the
United States.
The United States View on Immigration
To introduce the issue of immigration, we must first look at the perspective of the people
of the United States on the issue of immigration. According to Jens Manuel Krostad (2015) of
Pew Research Center stated, Republicans are more likely to say immigrants have a negative
impact on U.S. Society, Crime, and Economy. From the chart we are able to see how their views
differ. Looking at the charts it shows that a majority of Republicans think that immigration is
negatively affecting the U.S. while a majority of Democrats think that immigration is affecting
the U.S. positively. It also shows that those who are independent have a mixed view on
immigration. With the peoples perspective on the issue of immigration, there will be reason to
ask why these people view immigration the way they do.

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Argument For
Those that argue for are those who
want to loosen the grip of border security, and
for immigrants coming to the United States to
search for jobs, homes, and better
opportunities. Most of the people who are on
this side of the argument tend to have more
liberal values or are affiliated with the
Democratic Party. They believe that
immigrants positively affect the United States.
For: Economics
Those that are on the side of reducing
the amount of border security believe that there are different ways that immigration helps the
United States. The ways it can help the U.S. is through economic instances. There is plenty of
trade between the U.S. and Mexico. According to the City of El Paso Traffic Volume (2014) in
2014 there was a total of over 374,000 commercial vehicles that came through the Zaragoza
Bridge in El Paso, Texas. Another way immigration helps the economy is by immigrants taking
jobs that most people do not want and they do it for less money and no health benefits. These
jobs include: maids, butchers, grounds maintenance workers, construction workers, bellhops,
janitors, etc. Stephen A. Camarota & Karen Zeigler (2009) of Center for Immigration Studies
found that the occupations of butchers, grounds maintenance workers, construction workers,
bellhops, and janitors are made up of 63% to 75% of native born immigrants. The reason

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immigrants choose these employment opportunities are due to the facts that most of these jobs
are lower paying jobs and do not require a high education.
For: Social
One of the reasons people are open to the idea of immigrants coming and making a home
in the United States is due to the fact that families start separating from each other. The reason
this happens is due to the many deportations that occur and how many deportations cause parents
and children to separate. So many of those who are on this side of the issue want to reform the
current system in place to reduce the amount of families being separated. According to the
American Immigration Council (2012), 108,000 parents of U.S.-citizen children were removed
from the U.S. between 1997 and 2007. There were 204,810 parents of U.S.-citizen children that
were removed from the U.S. between July 1, 2010 and September 31, 2012. These numbers are
on the rise, because of the large increase in border security.
Argument Against
Those that are on the side of against, believe that there needs to be more border security
and reduce the amount of immigrants that come into the United States. Those that are on this side
of the issue tend to have more conservative values and most who argue against, associate
themselves with the Republican Party. They believe that immigrants negatively affect the United
States.
Against: Social
Although there could be an upside to reducing border security and increasing
immigration, there are also some potentially negative consequences that could come along with
it, such as crime and trafficking. By lessening border security there could be an increase in risk

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of bringing criminals to the U.S. According to Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (2014)
there were, 177,960 immigrants deported who were convicted criminals. Another consequence
of reducing border security is the increases the risk of human trafficking. Marissa Cabrera
(2012) of Fronteras states, Government figures show about 18,000 people are trafficked into the
U.S. every year. But officials also acknowledge there are many more victims hidden in
communities who are sold for prostitution, labor or other services. Often times the illegal
practice goes unreported.
Against: Economics
Immigration could negatively affect the nation with economics. This is due to the fact
that immigrants can take away jobs from Americans. Many Americans feel that immigrants take
away jobs from other hard working Americans. According to Pew Research, about 8 million
illegal immigrants are working in the United States. That is about 71.4 percent of the total
illegal immigrant population in the United States. Another reason immigration could be a
negative thing is due to the fact that companies could take advantage of immigrants, because
they would not have to pay them minimum wage and give immigrants health benefits. This could
lead to businesses abusing immigrants with very poor working conditions and be an opening to
outsourcing jobs.
Conclusion
Immigration is one of the most talked about and debated topic today. There are those who
are for and against immigration, both having strong arguments for their views. Those for say it
can help the economy and help keep families together. While those against say that immigration
will increase the risk of crime and could hurt the economy. Each of these views is mostly based

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on their political views and their associated political party. Whichever side a person is on most of
them would more than likely agree that this is an important issue and should be addressed and
solved.
References
Cabrera, M. (2012, January 16). Human Trafficking Along U.S.-Mexico Border Is Rising.
Retrieved from http://www.fronterasdesk.org/content/human-trafficking-along-usmexico-border-rising
Camarota, S. A., Zeigler, K. (2009, August). Jobs Americans Wont Do? A Detailed Look at
Immigrant Employment by Occupation. Center for Immigration Studies. Retrieved from
http://cis.org/illegalImmigration-employment
Krogstad, J. M. (2015, September 30). On views of immigrants, Americans largely split along
party lines. Pew Research Center. Retrieved from http://www.pewresearch.org/facttank/2015/09/30/on-views-of-immigrants-americans-largely-split-along-party-lines/
Krogstad, J. M. & Passel, J. S. (2015, July 24). 5 facts about illegal immigration in the U.S. Pew
Research Center. Retrieved from http://www.pewresearch.org/facttank/2015/07/24/5-

facts-about-illegal-immigration-in-the-u-s/

(2012, December 12). Falling Through the Cracks. American Immigration Council. Retrieved
from http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/just-facts/falling-through-cracks
(2014, December 19). ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Report. Retrieved
fromhttps://www.ice.gov/doclib/about/offices/ero/pdf/2014-ice-immigrationremovals.pdf

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(2015). Traffic Volume. City of El Paso Government. Retrieved from

https://www.elpasotexas.gov/~/media/files/coep/international%20bridges/bridges%20pag
es/zaragoza%20bridge%20vehicle%20and%20pedestrian%20volumes%20for%202014.a
shx?la=en