ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

Why is Immigrants Illegal in the U.S?

Why is Immigrants Illegal in the U.S?

Introduction

The purpose of this paper is to enlighten and explore the concept of illegal immigration according to biblical conceptions. The paper explores different dimensions of illegal immigration; in addition, the paper focuses on the history of immigration in the United States. Moreover, the paper will enlighten the illegal immigrant policy in the United States from Christian perspective. The paper will discuss the implication of biblical conceptions in the illegal immigrant policy in order to suggest effective strategy formulation process to cope with illegal immigration with biblical concepts. Foreign-born workers make up an estimated 14% of the U.S workforce. Since eight to 10 million illegal immigrants currently live in the U.S., the Obama administration says that it hopes the new proposal can curb the influx of illegal immigrants by offering foreigners a legal means to stay and work in the country. The program would be open to illegal immigrants who are already living in the U.S., as well as immigrants who arrive in the future.

Under the guest-worker plan currently being discussed in Congress, immigrants would be issued visas allowing them to live and work in the U.S. for three years; those visas could be renewed once with proof of employment. Those registered with the program would be eligible for social security benefits, be protected by U.S. labor laws, and stand to receive a "green card" granting them legal resident status. However, the guest-worker program has been met with resistance from many Americans, who worry that allowing immigrants into the country to take jobs will make it harder for native-born U.S. citizens to find work. The Obama administration has sought to ease those concerns by requiring that most guest workers take jobs Americans do not want--such as jobs in the service sector, light manufacturing or agriculture.

Thesis Statement

The rise of illegal immigration in the United States has severely affected the economic conditions of the country. The inclination in the illegal immigration has become a burning issue; hence, the study provides diverse solutions to the situation in light of Holy Bible.

Illegal Immigration in U.S

Over the past two decades, the U.S. government has consistently tried to stem the flow of illegal immigrants into the country. It has publicly supported legal immigration at the same time, by regularly admitting between 600,000 and 900,000 immigrants who enter the country through a formal application process. In 1986, President Ronald Reagan (R, 1981-89) signed the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) into law, hoping to discourage illegal immigration by penalizing employers who knowingly hired undocumented workers. The IRCA also ordered that the nation's 2.7 million illegal residents be given green cards (Bauder, 2006).

However, rather than curbing illegal immigration, IRCA had the opposite effect. Potential immigrants were encouraged by the administration's decision to grant amnesty to 2.7 million undocumented residents. Hoping for the same treatment, they continued to pour into the U.S in ever larger numbers (Bauder, 2006). While many came through legal channels, others, particularly Latin Americans, ...