Legal Immigration vs. Illegal Immigration: Exploring the Benefits and Dangers

Immigration has always been a subject of debate around the world. Undoubtedly, people have different opinions on this topic, and the reasons for immigrating to another country may differ from one person to another. However, it is necessary to determine what types of immigration exist to have a better understanding of the issue. Legal immigration is the process of moving to another country with the right documentation and clearance, while illegal immigration is the process of moving to another country without proper documentation and clearance.

Recently, legal and illegal immigration has become an even more pressing issue as the global population continues to grow rapidly. While the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada have always received significant numbers of immigrants, other countries also have seen an increase in the number of people seeking to move. Consequently, there has been a lot of debate and discussion about whether legal immigration or illegal immigration has a more significant impact on a country, and what are some of the implications for migration policies and laws. In this article, we will explore the benefits and dangers of both legal and illegal immigration.

Benefits of Legal Immigration

Legal immigration has numerous advantages for both migrants and the countries that receive them. Here are some of the benefits of legal immigration:

1. Economic Growth: Legal immigrants can contribute to the economy of their host country through taxes, employment, starting new businesses, and increasing consumer spending. According to a report by the Migration Policy Institute, immigrants made up 13% of the United States population in 2019, but almost 17% of the labor force. Hence, legal immigrants can create jobs, increase the tax base, and stimulate economic growth.

2. Cultural Diversity: When people move from one country to another, they bring with them their cultures, languages, and traditions, leading to a diverse cultural mix. That diversity enriches the social fabric of the host country and promotes tolerance, understanding, and respect for different ideas and perspectives.

3. Science and Innovation: Legal immigrants often bring new ideas and perspectives, which can lead to innovation and technological advancements. In fact, several notable inventions and discoveries in the United States are attributed to immigrants.

4. Family Reunification: The family is one of the most critical units of society, and legal immigration allows families to reunite. The United States offers a Family Sponsorship Program that enables citizens and legal residents to bring their family members to the country legally. This program contributes to family stability and cohesion, leading to better social outcomes.

Dangers of Legal Immigration

While legal immigration has numerous benefits, it also has some disadvantages. Here are some of the potential dangers of legal immigration:

1. Competition for Jobs: Legal immigrants may pose a threat to domestic labor markets by competing for jobs. Their willingness to work at lower wages than native-born citizens could force wages downward, leading to lower wages for certain jobs. Some people fear that legal immigrants may take jobs that would otherwise go to domestic workers.

2. Overburdening of Social Services: Legal immigrants can put pressure on social services such as healthcare, education, and housing. They may access these services without necessarily contributing to them through taxes, leading to an over-burdening of the public services and creating an additional strain on government budgets.

3. Contradicts Labor and Social Policy: Legal immigration policies that prioritize high-skilled workers and then allowing low-skilled laborers cause contradictions. Low skilled laborers come in and work in low paying jobs, which tears down labor laws and protections, further harming the authorized citizens and level playing field for workers in the domestic labor market.

Benefits of Illegal Immigration

Illegal immigration is generally considered as a negative phenomenon by many people, but it also has some benefits. Here are some of the advantages of illegal immigration:

1. Cheaper Labor: Undocumented workers usually work at lower wages than legal workers. Since employers are not required to pay undocumented workers minimum wage, they save money, reduce production costs and increase the company’s productivity while the workers receive an opportunity to earn more than they might be able to otherwise.

2. Economic Growth: Similar to legal immigrants, illegal immigrants also contribute to economic growth by paying taxes. As they do not qualify for government benefits such as welfare, social security, and food stamps, they only pay taxes that support the host country’s infrastructure and public services.

3. Ethnic and Cultural Diversity: Illegal immigrants also bring ethnic and cultural diversity to the host country, creating a diverse and multicultural society.

Dangers of Illegal Immigration

On the other side of the coin, many negative impacts of illegal immigration can affect the host country. Here are some of the potential hazards of illegal immigration:

1. Straining Public Services: Undocumented immigrants may put pressure on public services such as healthcare, education, and social services without contributing to them through taxes. As a result, the government may need to increase taxes on citizens to accommodate the influx of undocumented immigrants.

2. Inflow of Crime: Not all undocumented immigrants are criminals, but some may engage in illegal activities that affect the host country’s security. With the proliferation of human traffickers, drug smugglers, and other illegal enterprises, an open border can be an invitation to more crime.

3. Wages Reduction: As mentioned, employers sometimes hire illegal immigrants, not paying minimum wage. Lower wages can lead to job opportunities not existing for citizens that need them, such as those who are uneducated, disabled, or new to the workforce.

Conclusion

In conclusion, legal and illegal immigration have several benefits and dangers for migrants and host countries, which are crucial to consider when establishing immigration policies. While legal immigration has more advantages than illegal immigration, both types of immigration contain potential negative effects on the economy, culture, and social systems of the host country. Hence, it is vital to ensure that there are proper regulations in place to control the flow of immigrants so that they can contribute positively to the host country’s economy while not receiving undue benefits. A balance of economic opportunity with societal protections is the key to ensuring there is no exploitation of immigrant workers.

Immigration to the United States can occur through the two possible forms as consist of either legal immigration, on the one hand, or illegal immigration, on the other. In this regard, people can either choose to contact the relevant agency of the United States government and secure permission to settle in the country, as can eventually allow for the later process of naturalization, or, alternately, illegal immigration can allow people to more quickly realize the benefits, as may be economic in nature or of some other kind, to be gained by relocation to the United States.

Illegal immigration has been responsible for energizing much of the debate over the legal ramifications of immigration in the United States during the late 20th century and early 21st century, in contrast to which legal immigration once represented a more pressing concern in American politics and law.

Illegal immigration has been tied to the large labor market in the United States, in which the most competitive wage decreases can be tied to the availability of employees from outside the legal infrastructure of the American labor system. Legal immigration, on the other hand, has been observed to confer greater benefits in terms of employment opportunities which possess a greater degree of visibility.

By contrast, illegal immigration has been tied to comparatively low-paying jobs. Despite the efforts which have been expended, such as through law enforcement measures and legislative changes, to encourage a shift to legal immigration in preference over the alternative, illegal immigration is generally encouraged by the widespread global interest in working in the United States.