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Immigration Laws and Effects on Local Population

Introduction

Immigration laws of United States have been immensely controversial in the recent decades. In contrast, international migration often arouses heated controversies and inflammatory rhetoric. That may seem odd in the context of the United States since we like to think of ourselves as a “nation of immigrants.” Why are there such passionate arguments about people who seem to like our country so much that they want to move here? Immigration laws put stress on society, on the environment, on the economy, and on government. More people mean more pollution, more crime, more crowding, and more need for government services (Hunter, pp 67-77). Americans take pride in their immigrant history, but they are also concerned about the impact of large-scale immigration, particularly when much of it seems to be illegal and uncontrollable. They are empathetic with immigrants, but they also are concerned about their own citizens and their own national identity. The conflict explains the intensity of the debate about U.S. immigration policy. Americans are caught between competing ideals, and neither side of the debate is obviously right.

Literature Review

It is worth taking a moment to address this question since it puts the more technical issues in a larger, interpretive framework. The most direct answer concerns the sheer number of people who come to the United States each year. Since 2000, an average of about one million legal immigrants (Department of Homeland Security, 2008) and about 700,000 illegal immigrants (Passel & Cohn, 2008a) have entered the United States each year. About 300,000 foreigners have left the United States each year (Shrestha, 2006). Thus, net immigration has been directly increasing the U.S. population by 1.4 million persons per year. Net immigration then has indirect, subsequent effects on population growth due to immigrant fertility.

Taken together, the direct and indirect impacts of immigration laws on the U.S. ...