Illegal immigration is one of the most common international problems in the world, the UNO has tried to reduce it at all cost, but it seems their efforts are futile because the number of illegal immigrants has increased a lot over the years. When talking about countries that have been affected by illegal immigration, the United States is a country to mention as it is one of the most affected because she is a country with a good economy. She has borders with countries like Mexico, Puerto Rico, and so on that do not have a good economy, which makes a lot of immigrants to move illegally into the United States in search of opportunities. Truly the United States has a big land mass, but still, illegal immigration affects her in a lot of ways. In what way does illegal immigration cost the United States? :
Unemployment: The United States is often referred to as “land of opportunities” because the country has a huge number of jobs readily available. The United States being a country with such job vacancies, attracts a lot of illegal immigrants every year who are not accounted for. When such immigrants come into the country, they get jobs, and due to that, job availability reduces, which renders a lot of legal immigrants and other US citizens jobless. If illegal immigration continues for years, it could lead to mass unemployment in the country.
Crime: Over the years, research by experts in criminology shows that a higher percentage of the crimes committed in the States that are close to the borders were committed by illegal immigrants which is another way in which illegal immigration affects the United States. Crimes that are mostly committed by illegal immigrants include drug trafficking, which is the most common, a larger percentage of drugs in the United States are brought in by illegal immigrants. Many drug lords like El Chapo, Pablo Escobar, and so on have sent thousands of illegal immigrants into the United States to traffic drugs for their drug cartels. Another common crime is human trafficking, which the victims are mostly young women, influential people in some United States border traffic humans to the United States illegally mostly to become prostitutes and drug traffickers. Other common committed crimes in the United States by illegal immigrants include cultism, robbery, sexual assault, fraud, child abuse, illegal gambling, and so on.
Traveling to the United States entails that one has a permit that may be in the form of ESTA or Visa. The ESTA is a document meant for VISA WAIVER PROGRAM countries. Citizens of these countries could apply for the ESTA instead of a visa and never forget to apply for a new ESTA if there is any need for it.
Increased Security cost: The United States has tried to curb illegal immigration over the years in a lot of ways that include pleading with neighboring countries to check migration, strengthening the United States Border Patrol and so on. Over the years, the amount spent on the United States Border Patrol by the United States government has increased drastically because of the increment in the number of illegal immigrants. Notably, the president of the United States, Donald Trump just declared war against illegal immigration, which made the government buy more ammunition for the border patrol agents and also increase their salaries. The government is also set to begin the construction of a wall at the Mexican border, which would cost nothing less than 15 billion dollars. These decisions were difficult ones for the United States to take, but they have “no choice” decisions, which makes the government spend too much to curb illegal immigration.Disturbance of international peace: Illegal immigration causes disturbance to international peace in a lot of ways, some countries do not condone illegal immigration at all which means anyone seen crossing their border would face a serious penalty which can even mean getting shot in some cases. Most times when citizens of another country get punished in another country for illegal immigration, the country of the illegal immigrants try to intervene by pleading to the affected country which often leads to the countries being at loggerheads. The United States is the most powerful country in the world; she is the leader of the world so whenever the United States is at loggerheads with another country due to illegal immigration, the world peace is threatened due to the might of the United States and the position occupied by the United States in the world. The United States has had a lot of meetings with Mexico recently where the United States warned Mexico against illegal immigration and threatened to follow it up with actions if it doesn’t stop. Illegal immigration has caused an argument between the two countries, which is not a good omen to international peace.
