The Effect of Legal and Illegal Immigrants in the United States :: Immigration Cause Effect Essays

For many years the United States of America has been held by many to be the land of opportunity where everyone can achieve their dreams. Like in any area of the world the immigration and migration of people both legally and illegally shapes our country’s population and the economy. In the United States there are millions of illegal immigrants that struggle to find a way to live and then there are the legal foreign-born individuals that abide by our laws and still struggle to get by. A great deal of the population growth we have seen in the past and will see in the future is due to the immigration of foreign people into this land. As one studies our nation he can see there are many differences between the status and living conditions of natives and foreign-born population. There are many migrant workers that come into this country every year to work in the farms and industries that offer seasonal work with little pay. In light of the recent terrorist acts against this country t he immigration laws and border patrols are coming under greater scrutiny. Immigrants and Their Place in our Population There are all kinds of immigrants in the United States and they have different kinds of statuses. First of all there are legal immigrants that were foreign born but have become citizens of the United States. There are also people who come into the country legally and are given permission to live here permanently but are not naturalized citizens because they have either never applied for citizenship or do not meet a requirement for citizenship. We also have those who come here legally to stay for a set amount of time for things such as education, or work. On the other end of the spectrum are the millions of illegal immigrants that sneak into our country hoping to find asylum and a better way of life. As is apparent in any area that receives immigrants the influx of new people has an effect on population size and diversity. The Department of Labor expects the population of the United States to grow by around fifty percent over the next fifty years. They also say that immigration will have the biggest role in growth through mid-century and that other changes come only because of birth rate and death rates. We are to expect around 820,000 immigrants to arrive in our country every year not including those who come illegally.