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Immigration can be described as the movement of people from one region to another either in pursuit of basic needs, better living conditions, or employment opportunities. According to the Immigration theory, it is either push factors or pulls factors that cause people to migrate. Push factors refer to the circumstances that motivate people to move out of their native regions. These include natural disasters, harassment, or even poverty in the country of origin. Contrary, pull factors refer to the attractive factors in other regions that promise the individual a better life and attract them. These are factors such as the availability of jobs, better education, or better living standards in the new host country.
Despite there being treaties, that allow the trading of goods and services between countries to be easy, through the reduction of tariffs and other barriers, there is yet to be a commitment that makes immigration of people from one country to the other just as flexible. Unfortunately, the movement of people across national borders is highly restricted and controlled by strict regulations. The idea that goods such as cars and toys can move across continents more easily and more quickly than human beings is unacceptable and the current objective should be removing the barriers that hinder immigration. Mandel observes that pulling down the barriers that impede immigration should be our long-term goal. Immigration policy should facilitate the movement of people, just as trade policy facilitates the movement of goods (p. 152). These restrictions have led to a high number of illegal immigration that would easily be avoided if the immigration policies were a bit more lenient on immigrants. For many émigrés, their native nations do give them an opportunity. Therefore, illegal émigrés take risks as they attempt to relocate to other countries in search of a better living.
In modern times, the most popular destinations for immigrants are the developed countries such as the United States of America and the European countries. For example, the United States has undergone a double-digit influx in immigration numbers since the 1960s. The reason for this is mainly due to the availability of job opportunities as well as better education there. However, the natives of these countries feel threatened by the number of incoming immigrants in recent years, who, they feel will rob them of employment opportunities. The more immigrants are allowed into their country, the more job opportunities they take up and thus, increase the competition base. However, what they do not realize is that with more workers coming in, the consumer base broadens and more jobs are being created. More houses will be needed, as is food, clothes, and other basic requirements. This would lead to a higher demand for labor and thus new jobs that would be more or less the same number of immigrant workers (Triandafyllidou & Ruby, p. 251).
Many people move to other countries which they feel would make good use of their skills and with higher earnings, while at the same time, the existing immigration policies have a high level of selectivity. Therefore, most of the people who are given permits in a country are usually highly skilled or highly educated. According to Mark Rosenzweig, an economist at Yale University, immigrants to the U.S., who are high school graduates, earn far more than they did in their home countries and so is for college grads (as cited in Mandel, p. 187). These educated immigrants bring in new knowledge as well as technical skills and as a result improve productivity and economic growth in the host countrys economy. Research has also shown that advancement in the science and technology field is directly related to a high rate of collaboration between immigrants and natives of a recipient country. This is enriched financially for both the immigrant and the host nation.
Furthermore, anti-immigration activists argue that a surge of immigrants into a country is a threat to the natives as the foreigners make use of the much-needed social services. According to them, the limited social services budgets may get strained by the immigrants. Although this argument may seem legitimate, it is overwhelmingly untrue and is usually confused with the case of illegal immigrants who may have no resources or a source of income. These illegal immigrants are the ones who use the services to help themselves. Legal immigrants on the other hand, rarely use these social services which include welfare, food stamps, or medical care. In reality, legal immigrants end up contributing more to the countrys economy through taxes. Simon (p. 76) argues that immigrants do not receive expensive Social Security and other aids to the aged, instead, they contribute more to the public coffers in taxes than they draw out in welfare services as they are usually young, hardworking, and resourceful. The immigrants at times end up depositing a lot more money in form of taxes in the recipient countrys bank than the services they use.
About the social services strain, the anti-immigrant activists also fear for the economy of the host country in terms of the medical and education burden it might face when the number of immigrants is too high. In their opinion, the education and medical care expenses of immigrants and their children might prove to be too much for the country to handle and this could either bankrupt the country or place too much strain on the economy thus affecting other sectors. Nevertheless, this problem is not as serious as it seems because the immigrants children eventually grow up, begin working and end up generating more income and more taxes. Optimistically, the contributions they make in their professions and the general market winds up being a much better and more profitable investment for the government and the country in general.
The anxiety of possible encroachment by foreigners is also another issue that natives have against immigrants. They fear that the arrival of too many immigrants introduces many cultures into the country and ends up undermining and eventually suppressing their own culture. They feel that the fight for their culture to prevail has become a lost battle. Conversely, immigrants should be seen as a source of enlightenment and knowledge into the different cultures all over the world as people are exposed to the diversity of these cultures. Immigration provides leeway to the exchange of the different values, taboos, and perspectives among the natives of a host country and the immigrants. This will add greatly to the richness of any society. The diversity of the cultures should be used as a tool for socialization and a cohesive factor in the creating of stronger connections and ties between different cultures, countries, and continents (Shapiro & Jiwon, p. 105).
Most natives of a host country believe that foreigners have increased the crime rates in their countries. This could be true but once again, only in the case of illegal immigrants who may lack a source of income yet need to fend for themselves. However, immigration is an opening to fighting and curbing world poverty. Despite the wealth of a country being considered as its private assets, immigration is perceived by others to be a key in the opening of the global market. The redirecting of investments into native countries by immigrants is a great instrument in developing an economy. By doing this, the immigrants end up contributing to both their host country as well as their native countries. In a way, this is a form of spreading wealth from one country to the other and should be highly encouraged.
Arguing from the pros considered above, immigration is an obvious advantage to the society that would have a lot of added enrichment to all countries and continents if accepted. However, the movement of people from one country to another has been facing serious limitations which could be overcome if they are properly dealt with. Current immigration policies should be thoroughly assessed to cut down on, if not remove, the strict regulations that make immigration to be almost impossible for most people (Eckerd, p. 150).
The current visa regulations are too strict and most people consider staying in their native countries rather than going through all the strict protocols that one has to undergo to get a visa. Sometimes even attaining a visiting visa proves to be a stressful matter to most people. Despite embassies having been put up to improve relations between two countries, they create a big deal out of citizens immigrating to their countries. A citizen who wants to move to another country ends up using a lot of money and wasting even more time in a process that should require a lot less money and time. It would not seem so appalling if the citizen was guaranteed to get a visa or permit. Unfortunately, sometimes one is denied entry into the country of choice, and to succeed in his/her quest, she/he has to start the process all over again meaning more money and time to be used. Most people give up and even discourage their friends and relatives. Due to this, immigration is stalled and people, including both countries, lose out on its benefits. If the visa attainment procedure was made easier, more people would be willing to migrate to other countries and thus enhance links between different countries.
The subject of immigration should not be handled in an emotional way but rather in a rational way. Natives of the host country should be educated on the importance of having immigrants in their countries, by informing them on how to uplift their being through the new opportunities brought by émigrés. This is argued from looking at the substantial contributions they make in form of taxes and levies and also the essential transfer of expertise and knowledge to the host nation. In addition, making them understand how the advantages of the immigrants far offset the costs, as would go a long way in proving to them the worth of immigrants.
Anti-immigration activists should as well give legal immigrants a chance to prove their worth before judging them as harshly as they do. According to Wadhwa et al (p. 8), immigrants have since been one of Americas highest competitive advantages. They arrive in America to seek working opportunities and a major part in the emergence of the nation. With the inclined trends in immigrations, if it adds to an increased workforce and a few other immigrants actually starting up their businesses and therefore rarely using the social services in that country, then its most unlikely for the net budget of a country to be adversely affected.
In conclusion, the above points are put into considerations as the far most step in creating a newly developed world in terms of labor and trade. This would ensure closer and better ties between all countries in the world including a better and richer diversity of cultures. Furthermore, wars among countries would be toned down, and traveling from one region to another would no longer be an issue. However, the key issue is that poverty in third world countries would be reduced greatly thus decreasing dependency among individuals and nations (Gibney & Randall 190).
Works cited
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Eckerd, Thomas. Academic politics. CQ Researcher, 1999: 145-168. Print.
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Gibney, Matthew & Randall, Hansen. Immigration and asylum: from 1900 to the present. New York: ABC-CLIO, 2005. Print.
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Mandel, Michael. The Immigrants: How They are Helping to Revitalize the U.S. Economy. Business Week, 13, 1992: 114-180. Print.
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Shapiro, Robert & Jiwon, Vellucci. The Impact of Immigration and Immigration Reform on the Wages of American Workers. Washington DC: Springer, 2010. Print.
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Simon, Julian. The Economic Consequences of Immigration Into the United States. New York: Penguin, 1976. Print.
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Triandafyllidou, Anna & Ruby, Gropas. European immigration: a sourcebook. London: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2007. Print
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Wadhwa, Vivek et al. Skilled Immigration and Economic Growth. Applied Research in Economic Development. Vol. 5, No. 1, 2008: 6-14.
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