Immigration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Immigration - Essay Example In the British context there have been waves of immigrants everywhere from the ancient Romans trying to colonize the island right through to modern waves of people from various countries coming to the nation. Immigration has fundamentally changed in the modern era. According to a Gallup poll (2009) typically people get pushed or pulled for a variety of different reasons into countries other than their home nation. Moreover it is the case that currently most migrants move from one developed nation to another developed nation yet it is also the case that many people in developing nations would like to move to developed nations, and only a limited percentage of people in developed countries would like to move to developing countries. From this perspective one could argue that the desire to migrate is not always reflected in reality. Immigration as it stands today is massive. According to the Gallup Poll (2009) there are roughly 700 million adults who would like to relocate to a differen t country. Building on this point it is the case that 165 million of these people list the United States as their top destination with an additional 45 million listing Canada as their most desired region of relocation. Other major destinations include Australia, New Zealand, Western Europe, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia. Although it is the case that many people immigrate legally either through normal channels or through asylum seeking, however a large number of people immigrate through illegal channels. This later form of immigration is accomplished through finding alternative entry channels (To avoid customs controllers), through human trafficking, forged documents and a host of other means. As immigration is a ‘Hot’ hot issue there are a number of arguments that stand against immigration based on several government institutions. In the American context it could be argued that being a citizen carries responsibilities but also guarantees some rewards. It is the case that an y person that enters into a nation illegally may under some circumstances take advantage of government institutions that are paid for by law abiding & tax paying American citizens. Illegal immigrants could theoretically be living ‘off the grid’ insofar as they would typically not be contributing to the tax base, and may earn a living in the black market. It is upon this foundation that Preston (2009) voiced a major concern for voters which is the fact that many people worry those health care charges for illegal immigrants will be paid for by tax payers and as such diminish the amount of healthcare available for citizens. Building on this previous point, it has been argued by Porter (2006) that the influx of illegal immigrants from Latin American countries has flooded the market with unskilled labor ultimately brought down the wages of high-school dropouts by approximately 15% from 1980-2004. Another major concern is the impact of illegal immigration on public schools. T he children of illegal immigrants (Who may themselves be in the country illegally) have a number of unique needs. For example, young people from developing countries may not come from a home life that encourages learning, or may have a weak educational foundation when entering the American school system. Moreover many illegal immigrants may not have a command of the English language. From this perspective one could argue that