Effects of Illegal Immigration

Consider this. You have prepared dinner for 4 people and 3 more people drop in uninvited for dinner. You are going to be in a fix, surely, isn't it? You would be in a huge problem right? What would you do? Go to the store from the back door and get some supplies in or do something by which these 3 people will go off? Look at this a bit differently and at the level of a nation and this could be related with a very grave issue of illegal immigration. As the term implies, it isn't exactly a very favorable phenomenon for developed countries as it can put undue pressure on the nation's resources.

Impacts of Illegal Immigration

Needless to say that first world countries and other developing countries like India and other Asian countries are bearing the brunt of people leaving their native places in search of a better lifestyle. Naturally so, the resources of that country are affected by people pouring in who are unaccounted for.

Economic Impact
The most evident impact of illegal immigration is on the economy. Primarily, there are three aspects of economy where the influx of illegal immigrants becomes evident. These are -

• Taxes and Social Services
• Mortgages
• Employment and Wages

Research in this regard has brought to light the fact that illegal immigration had a considerable effect on reducing the economic stability and the status of the US. Along with that, this downward trend of the economy as a result of illegal immigration is proving good for the middle class individuals and wealthy Americans. Eventually it can lead to a blaring socioeconomic gap between the rich and poor. As far as taxes and social security and services are concerned, records say that illegal immigrants apparently pay more in taxes as compared to the amount spent on them in social services. On the contrary, from various reports it has also come across that the illegal immigrants who come and work in the US, sometimes do not even pay taxes they are supposed to, leading to losses to the government.

There were, in addition to this, reports that more than 4 to 5 million bad, fraudulent mortgages were held by illegal immigrants in the United States. This fact however, has been challenged as being inaccurate. On the other hand experts opine that poor immigrants put a strain on public services such as local schools and health care. A senior journalist in connection with facts and statistics about illegal immigration, mentioned that "between 2000 to 2006, 41 percent of the increase in people without health insurance occurred among Hispanics". However, it was made clear that this applies even to the legal immigrants.

Social Impact
Well, just like the economic effects cannot be ignored, the social effects, too, cannot be sidelined. Death while crossing borders and even after coming in the destination country, slavery, prostitution, human trafficking and few other dire social impacts are faced by a country. Apart from these impacts of illegal immigration, there are minor things like not getting good treatment from those who are either legal immigrants or citizens. There is a general sense of insecurity and a sense of being an alien in an alien country.

Law and Order
The effects of illegal immigration are multifaceted. So it is no surprise that somewhere down the line, the law and order system of the destination country is affected. Gang violence, drug trafficking, smuggling, identity theft, on account of using social security numbers possessed by others and number of other practices are rampant within the groups of illegal immigrants in the US. Drug cartels have been reported as making use of illegal immigrants, even armed in a few cases, to cultivate marijuana within American National Forests. Most of us know how notorious some of the South American countries are notorious for drug mafia and cartels and how Border Patrol deals with it.

Apart from these effects, statistics and reports show that illegal immigrants lead to a major impact on the environment too. If facts are to be believed, the average desert-walking immigrant leaves behind 8 pounds of trash during a journey to the USA. This journey lasts one to three days, considering that there is no major mishap. It can be imagined then how much trash Arizona desert has to encounter every year. Similarly, legally declared national parks have been said to be used for rendezvous amongst those exchanging and distributing drugs.

All in all one thing is clear, that the effects of illegal immigration are quite heart wrenching, more so when you think of those who have left their land to go someplace else. But if looked at practically, they are ultimately doing something not allowed lawfully. Solutions have to be seriously worked out by the first world countries and fast developing third world countries as to address this issue the world over.