Whereas the government of the United States has been working on different ways in order to reduce the rate of immigration within its boundaries, there are various issues that need to be considered before strict laws on immigration are implemented. It is therefore important for the government to understand that whereas there are factors that could lead to implementation of tougher immigration rules and regulations, there are also important benefits to the economic, political and social development of the American society. In this regard, the government of the United States should be lenient on immigration as a way of attaining these benefits.
To begin with, whereas it has been cited that immigrants would take over the jobs of American citizens when they are allowed to flood the labor market in the US, it is worthy noting that every economy across the globe desires to develop and expand its horizons. As a result, the inclusion of the immigrants in the workforce would aid the American society to be able to continue development and thus be in a position to retain its status as the most developed economy in the world. One of the issues that have been noted among immigrants is the fact that most of them once lived in poor condition and their aim of coming to the US is to create wealth that would enable them to lead prosperous lives. Therefore, since they have that desire to make wealth, they have been found to be industrious more than the American citizens. Therefore, their inclusion in the economy would enable the American economy to prosper more than it has done in the past (Hall, 2005).
As the American community continues to develop, there would be more and more Americans who would have an access to quality education and professional training. As a result, in future there would be few people to take up menial jobs. Therefore, since there are many immigrants who are unskilled, allowing them to immigrate to the US would provide an opportunity for this nation to tap into the labor force that is provided cheaply by the immigrants. In this way, the American economy would not be able in any way to stall since there is enough supply of both professional labor and casual labor. Notably, this labor would be available at a relatively cheaper price than when it had been offered by American citizens (Miller & Spoolman, 2008).
Past development and economic growth resulted from the fact there was a lot of competition. On the other hand, the downfall of most economies across the globe resulted from the fact there competition was restricted. Therefore, the American labor force needs to be exposed to tough competition from the outside source in order for it to search for newer methods of ensuring that there is competition to reduce redundancy in its labor force. Therefore, immigrants could prove as one of the perfect ways that could be explored by the American labor force to induce competition which will create an environment of innovation and high quality production. However, this cannot in any way be achieved if there would be strict immigration measures in this economy. As a result, there should be lessened immigration laws that would facilitate easy entrance of immigration as they could a lot towards building and enhancing the American economy (Miller & Spoolman, 2008).
Immigrants have also continued to help the United States to maintain its status as a superpower in the world and to market it as a land of many opportunities. In this regard, the US, through offering opportunities to immigrants has granted it an opportunity to market its economic, social and political structures to the outside world. The immigrants, especially immigrant investors have been used to attract other investors from their countries of origin thus injecting funds into the US economy. This has facilitated a continued growth of the US economy even during moment when it is perceived that this growth was on the verge of declining (Preston, 2010).
Immigrants have in the past acted as agents of technology transfer. In this case, learned immigrants have been forced to practice their skills and knowledge on the American soil as a way of carving for themselves a niche in the job market. This has provided the American society to learn this form of technology from these immigrants and then implemented it in their own lives. As a result, slight improvements on these technological pieces have proved to be beneficial to the American economy. This technology would have been more expensive to buy directly from the country where it originated from. Therefore, immigrants lower the cost of technology transfer by a substantial margin (Hal, 2005).
The success of any country economically, socially and politically requires that such a country obtain bright people and train them in different areas of their interest. Therefore, through immigration, the United States has an opportunity to capture and retain a lot of people who are bright and have a vision of not only expanding themselves but also the country in which they are living. For example, India has been known to produce some of the best computer programmers and software developers in the world. Therefore, the United States of America can allow these professional to immigrate to the US and be employed in IT firms and companies. This would then position the US as one of the best producers of quality products across the globe (Archibold, 2010).
The United States too need to advance its policies across the world if it is to remain relevant in the global economy and politics. Currently, there is a stiff competition that has been emanating from China who has a vision of taking over the world and to expand the coverage of its policies, thus enabling them to reap heavily from the world’s resources. In this regard, the one of the most effective option that the US can utilize and propagate its policies across the globe is through allowing immigrant to come to the US and learn these policies and then send them back home to exercise them in their country of origin. For instance, Malaysia and Singapore were able to send their students who learnt the policies that were used by the United States in advancing its economy and then recalled them back home to implement these policies in their own economies. They succeeded (Miller & Spoolman, 2008).
In this regard, the United States could employ the same method to expand its democratic rule and policies and be able impact different nations across the globe. In line with this, it would be easier for the United States to maintain its status as a world in social, economic and political circles. On the other hand, this would go along way in elimination social, economic and cal structures such as communism and socialism that have take root in some countries in Asia and parts of Europe.
Immigrants have also enabled the United States to examine the social, economic and political structures of different nations across the world. It is important to note that when these structures have crumpled in many nations across the globe, the immigrants were a clear indication of the conditions at home with most of them seeking for asylum in wealth nations such as the US. When this number increases from a single, the US has had an opportunity to examine the situation in these nations and find out ways of correcting these anomalies and restoring them to normalcy. In addition, immigrants have in most cases acted as a link between the US and the other nations of the world.
The immigrants too have acted as a boost to those sectors where there is a demand for manpower whereas the supply in the US is very low. Among these areas that have benefited from immigrants is the US Army that has in the recent past recruited non-Americans to go and the fight for the American course in different parts of the globe. For instance, the war against terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan demanded a large number of soldiers to deal with militants and restore normalcy in these nations. Most of the soldiers that were recruited, a good number comprised of them were immigrants. Therefore, where may be disregarded by the American community, these immigrants have contributed enormously to the success of the US in the battle field. Most of them have lost their lives as they sought for better lives in the US (Miller & Spoolman, 2008).
Conclusion
Globalization, economic, social and political development of the United States has come with issues to deal with in the society. One of the issues that have raised concerns is immigration. The recent times have seen a tremendous increase in the number of both legal and illegal immigrants in the United States. As a result, the government of the United States has been working on different ways that could be explored t ensure that immigration issues is brought under control. This has resulted in debate whether the government should enact stringent measure or whether it should approach the immigration issue with lenient policies. To help sum up these arguments, this essay will conclude by looking at both sides of the debate and then give a final verdict on the issue.
To begin with, tougher immigration laws and regulation would deny the United States an opportunity to tap in the talents, skills and knowledge that these immigrants have and therefore fail to explore new ways of economic, social and political development that these immigrants could inject into these structures. This would imply that the economy, the social and political perceptions of the US would be redundant without any hope of exploring new ways of operation. Similarly, lack of challenge to the workforce would result in an inability of the US to enhance the quality and standards of goods and services that are produced within its boundaries.
The immigrants too have been able to hold key positions in the US that would have otherwise faced challenges and crumpled had it not been for immigrants. In line with this, the US would struggle with some sector if immigrants are to be locked out of the US boundaries. Some of these areas include the military and areas that require casual manpower. Therefore, immigrants benefit the US in the sense that they are able to step in key areas that need support in terms of manpower to succeed.
The transfer of knowledge and skills remain as one of the most appropriate step that any nation can take with an aim of developing economically, socially and politically. Following this point, the immigrants have in the past acted as agents of transfer of these skills and knowledge into the American society. Similarly, immigrants have acted as part of the greatest investors in the US economy. This has boosted the economy of the US, thus enabling it to continue competing against its rivals such as China, Japan, India, Russia and South Korea. Thus, there is need to consider immigrants as an important section of the US economy.
However, irrespective of the fact that immigrants have been of benefit to the US; economically, politically and socially, there is need to implement tougher immigration rules and regulation to control their flow into the US. To begin with, immigrants have in most cases taken up jobs that could have been done by US citizens thus denying them a chance to prosper and enjoy the investments of their country. Apart from posing a threat to the employment opportunities in the US, immigrants also pose a serious security threat to the US and its citizens. Therefore, to reduce these risks, these immigrants must be controlled.
Similarly, immigrants pose a threat to the US economy since most of them have emerged to be a burden to the government of the United States. Most of them immigrate to the US but lack enough funds that could help them settle in the US. As a result, they have to be supported by the US government. In line with this, the government has to tax people more so that they can support these immigrants. This is unacceptable. Therefore, there must be strict laws and regulations that should be implemented to deal with immigration challenges. Following these points, tougher immigration rules and regulation are necessary if the United States is to protect itself against challenges that emerge as a result of immigrants, both legal and illegal.