Immigrants and Their Impacts on Kansas Essay

Kansas has experienced a rapid growth of immigrants in its metropolitan area over the past quarter century. While the population might be about 7% of the total population, they make up the more significant percentage of the state's labor force. The manufacturing industry, one of the most profitable sectors in Kansas heavily relies on immigrants making up over 18% of its employees implying that they have a positive economic impact on Kansas ("Immigrants in Kansas," 2017). They have contributed more than a billion dollars in taxes to Kansas. In 2014, immigrant-led household paid 405.8 million dollars in local and state taxes and 960.6 million dollars in federal taxes. Those that were undocumented spent 67 million dollars in local and state taxes and could have been more if they received legal status. Immigrant entrepreneurs in Kansas also generated hundreds o millions of dollars in business revenue with 32, 198 immigrants owning small business accounting to 25% of all self-employment and produced close to 300 million dollars in business income and have significantly boosted Kansas economically ("Immigrants in Kansas," 2017).

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Immigrant workers in Kansas have a lasting impact on the city. With the increasing demand for workforce and the rising levels of population, Kansas City has experienced a drop in unemployment rates which is now at below 3% and could decrease further in future. Economic growth in Kansas depends on both skilled and unskilled workforce to thrive. The agriculture sector for instance heavily relies on unskilled labor which most residents in Kansas are reluctant to take hence the need for immigrant workers ("Immigrants in Kansas," 2017).

Most of the immigrants in the city are from Mexico as compared to any other country. Mexican immigration has increased fundamentally uninterrupted over the last century. They form the largest population in Kansas with nearly 30% of the total immigrant population. Moreover, most Mexican immigrants enter Kansas unauthorized and make the most substantial proportion of illegal immigrants ("Immigrants in Kansas," 2017). Due to the high numbers of illegal immigrants, Mexican immigrants have formed a basis for heated policy arguments concerning the recent nativist criticism and immigration (Jimenez, 2007).

Mexican immigrants have long been regarded as the cause of economic and social ills due to their illegal immigration. Despite their negative impacts, they have significantly contributed the Kansas City through the massive increase in the Mexican immigrants which has created a demand for their representation in the workforce, business, and politics (Jimenez, 2007). Since they form a majority of the skilled and unskilled labor in Kansas City, they are very critical to its economy because there are numerous Mexicans, especially in the manufacturing and agriculture industries.

References

Immigrants in Kansas. (2017). American Immigration Council. Retrieved 2015, from https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/immigrants-in-kansas

Jimenez, T. (2007). Weighing the Costs and Benefits of Mexican Immigration: The Mexican-American Perspective. Social Science Quarterly, 88(3), 599-618. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6237.2007.00474.x