Argumentative Essay on Amnesty

Introduction

The need for urgent reforms on the US immigration status is fueled by the increasing number of people who experience the cold side of illegal immigration. The political class is very sensitive to the matter to either gain sympathy form the Native American voters or immigrant American voters. The corporates on their part are quick to categorize workers as either documented or undocumented to determine their wage bill. Immigrant workers are exploited by being underpaid and overworked. Looking at the status of illegal immigrants, various factors which include wage rights, access to social services, crime and living conditions come into focus. Illegal immigration has been blamed for the rising insecurity but, neglecting to analyze the situation carefully and the actual cause would be futile in solving the problem at hand. Various legislation has been implemented regarding immigration as the international community continues to call for leniency when dealing with undocumented immigrants. Amnesty is an important form of legalizing immigration because it is healthy for the economy, it is a helpful political too, it increases accountability and social service delivery, among other reasons discussed below.

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Amnesty is healthy for the economy. A study conducted at the Pew Historic Center in 2003 indicated that individuals living and working in America sent almost thirty billion US Dollars to their families in Latin America and Caribbean. Access to the US labor market enables migrants to afford goods and services for their families. Furthermore, their remittance is a source of investment in the US economy (Childress 313). Legalizing the residence of formally illegal migrants will allow them to actively seek and acquire employment, pay taxes, make saving and make significant investments without any restrictions. Industries such as transport, agriculture and food processing, construction, tourism, and manufacture depend on the labor provided by 'illegal immigrants.' They provide affordable labor that is readily available. Taking away their input, the output of these industries would definitely be affected. Illegal immigrants are forced to work under harsh conditions as they have no access to insurance, are paid under minimum wage, cannot participate in labor union activities and face the threat of sudden termination of employment or deportation. These factors hinder their productivity, and hence, legalizing their status would serve to motivate them.

Amnesty increases accountability and social service delivery. It cannot be denied that illegal immigration poses a security threat to a country in addition to facilitating illegal trade in drugs for instance or counterfeit goods. However, when illegal migrants are documented and subjected to the rule of law, the government would have a record of their place of residence, social security numbers, employment record and many other important details. Their identities would be known. As such, it would be easier for the relevant authorities to tackle crime as most of the illegal border activity is conducted by people who are illegal residents of the US and are familiar with certain territories. Illegal immigrants have no access to any form of insurance, they cannot file tax returns and cannot access quality medical care or education. Amnesty would accord them self-sufficient and social mobility (Thornburgh 16). Quality education would ensure they are eligible for employment in their areas of specialization as opposed to manual labor. Immigrant workers would also be a good addition to the labor unions if they are legalized.

There are too many immigrants to be deported. The latest estimates suggest that there are eleven million illegal immigrants in America (Vorpahl, "A Case For Amnesty"). All of them cannot be deported as this would require massive use of resources and political bureaucracy. It would also be inhumane to separate these people from their families and community. Immigrants are integrated into the society and live among others while intermarrying and associating together. They also have children who would suffer if they are deported. Furthermore, this would hurt the economy, as mentioned above. Amnesty is a good way to show forgiveness and acceptance and therefore it is appealing to the majority of the US population who are religious. Granting amnesty to illegal immigrants might also help reduce future illegal immigration. Amnesty comes with changes in policy, as such, it provides for accessibility to documented citizenship where individuals will have rights and freedoms as well as the ability to work freely. Other people who wish to enter the country will be encouraged to use the right means as there is assurance that their plea will be heard.

Conclusion

Amnesty is a politically effective tool. America was founded by immigration of people from different regions, coming together to unite different states. Immigration is an important part of the foundation of the United States. As such, a large part of the American voting block is directly influenced by immigration policies because they at one point were immigrants. For this reason, amnesty would serve to satisfy the emotions of many American citizens who feel strongly about the issue. Moreover, in practice, deportation used up plenty of resources which would otherwise be used in other urgent matters such as fighting terrorism. The United States of America is embracing diversity and culture change. Non-native Americans are being elected to government positions, schools and employers are creating opportunities for immigrant individuals. There are many individuals whose citizenship has been delayed by political bureaucracy and settling the legal immigration issue would be effective in cooling the high political temperatures surrounding the issue.

Works Cited

Childress, James F. "The Amnesty Argument." CrossCurrents, vol. 23, no. 3, 1973, pp 310-328, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/24457861 Accessed 2nd June 2018.

Thornburgh, Nathan. "Case For Amnesty." Time Magazine. Jun. 2007, pp 14-16.

Vorpahl, Mark. "A Case For Amnesty." CounterPunch, Feb. 2013.

www.counterpunch.org/2013/02/05/the-argument-for-amnesty/. Accessed 2nd June 2018.