Illegal Immigration During the Past Term Paper

At the same time, the number of school-age children who spoke a language other than English at home more than doubled between 1979 and 2005. In addition, differences between states in amount spent on instruction per student by unified public school districts have increased since 1997-98. The U.S. education system also shows signs of continued growth for years to come. In elementary and secondary education, enrollments have followed population shifts and are projected to increase each year through 2016 to an all-time high of 53 million" (Schneider, 2007). Other features that reveal Americans' growing interest for better education (and consequently the need for illegals to perform the unskilled and low paid jobs) could be organized under the following:

the number of college students who spend more than 10 hours on their weekly homework has increased from 7% in 1980 to 37% in 2002 dropout rates among college students have also decreased; the highest remain among Hispanics and the lowest among whites the number of high school graduates who enroll to college immediately after graduation has increased from 49% in 1972 to 69% in 2005 about 86% of the population aged between 25 and 29 possessed a high school diploma or equivalent in 2006 (Schneider, 2007)

And aside from the fact that education levels increase, the American corporations have implemented several human resource strategies and policies that sustain the promotion of worthy and hard working individuals to better positions. In other words, as the native born American gets promoted at the workplace, his position will not be left empty but will be occupied by an immigrant. Finally, another argument related to the education system and the illegal immigrants is given by the education of the children of the illegals. In this particular instance, however this is generally perceived as a high cost, the educated children of the illegals are formed in the American culture and will grow up to be reliable U.S. citizens who will occupy positions in high industry departments, such as communications or technology. "Minority students accounted for roughly a half of the growth in the number of associate's and bachelor's degrees earned between 1976-77 and 2004-05, and for 73% of the increase in the number of first-professional degrees earned" (Schneider, 2007).

Illegals' contribution

The United States takes pride in being a nation of immigrants. There is no more popular story than the one about the penniless immigrant who comes to America, works hard, overcomes adversity, and makes a good life for himself and his family. These ideals persist today as immigrants continue to contribute greatly to U.S. economic growth" (Orrenius, 2003). The specialized economists generally grant that the economic growth had not been possible without the aid and support of the millions of immigrants. This often materialized in three different directions:

The immigrants fill various and increasing numbers of jobs per total

They take positions in labor-scarce regions, and They occupy the jobs that the native born Americans do not want

Even if the immigrants only account for 14% of the entire U.S. workforce, their numbers are growing at amazing rates, as revealed in the chart below:

Source: Orrenius, P.M., November / December 2003, U.S. Immigration and Economic Growth: Putting Policy on Hold, Southwest Economy

In other words, the basic contribution to the American economy is given by a large and reasonably cheap workforce that supports American companies in increasing the productivity and efficiency of their operational process. These companies then register high profits and pay large taxes to the state budget, revealing as such an indirect contribution to the governmental financial resources. Foremost, due to their requesting of low wages, the immigrants help companies maintain a lower rate of salaries and help them invest their funds in other directions, all to support the overall economic growth of the country.

4. Conclusions

The illegal immigrants to the United States are most often perceived as a threat to the native born American population and most of this fear derives from incidents that cannot be generalized and from a media campaign centered on presenting the negative impacts of immigration. The most common con argument is the increased federal payments that have to be made for the services offered to the illegals, but this can be counter-argued with their own contributions in both direct and indirect taxes, as well as in that of offering a cheap and reliable workforce. Then, the immigrants are a necessity within the U.S. As they occupy the low paid jobs which require few skills and which are generally refused by the native born population. A third argument in favor of illegal immigrants as a source of economic growth is given by the aging of the baby boomers who have to be replaced, but the national resources are limited. Finally, the con argument that illegal immigrants steel the low paid jobs from American workers is counter-argued with that Americans are most focused on education and show reduced interest for low paid positions.

Works Cited

Gurucharri, T., a Brief Summary of U.S. Immigration History, Catholic Conference of Kentucky, Retrieved at http://www.ccky.org/Pastoral%20Resources/Immigration%20Series/9%20-%20A%20short%20history%20of%20immigration.pdfon May 13, 2008

Orrenius, P.M., November / December 2003, U.S. Immigration and Economic Growth: Putting Policy on Hold, Southwest Economy

Preston, M., June 2006, Economy Factors into Immigration Debate: Are Illegal Immigrants a Burden or a Blessing?, Issues and Trends

Schneider, M., 2007, Contexts of Elementary and Secondary Education, the Condition of Education 2007, National Center for Education Statistics

August 30, 2004, the High Costs of Illegal Immigration, Conservative Forum

January 3, 2006, Oldest Baby Boomers Turn 60!, Facts for Future, U.S. Census Bureau, http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/006105.htmllast accessed on May 13, 2008

June 27, 2007, on the Fence: Are Illegal Immigrants Good or Bad for the U.S. Economy?, Wharton University…