During the last few decades, the problem of illegal immigrants in the United States has become a burning issue. Illegal immigrants have not only threatened the economy of the country but also significantly worsened national security. In this complicated situation, the question is whether offering social services such as food stamps, welfare, and medical care to illegal immigrants is appropriate. In the following paper, this issue will be observed in detail in order to make conclusions regarding the strategy the government should utilize in handling the complicated questions connected with illegal immigrants.
Overall, the evaluation of facts suggests that the government policy as for providing social services to illegal immigrants should respect the basic human rights of all people, and is to be balanced in terms of the possible negative consequences for the crime rate and economy.
First, illegal immigrants’ human rights remain factual no matter what legislative status they have. The United States is known as the country that vindicates human rights in the world. Thus, it is the concern of the U. S. government to maintain its exalted reputation among other nations. Celebrating the human rights of all people means that any individual must be provided with means to satisfy his or her needs including obtaining social services such as medical care or provision of nutrition to those who need such kind of help. In particular, based on philosophic truths and legal postulates, a number of researchers are confident that “the United States has a moral obligation to provide health care to all those within its borders” (Glen 197).
Another factor that American authorities should take into consideration as they address the issue of providing social services to illegal immigrants is the peculiarities of the political system they have installed all over the world. According to Bacon, “the root problem with migration in the global economy is that it is forced migration” (66). From this comment, it is clear that people move to the United States under the effects of the processes that the country has initiated. Consequently, America is to be responsible for the world order it has created. In his article towards human rights and immigration policies, Bacon further argues, “a coalition for reform should fight for the right of people to choose when and how to migrate.
Freedom of movement is a human right” (67). Finally, he makes the forecast for the future development of the situation, “migration will continue, because families and communities are now connected over thousands of miles and many borders. Immigration policy should therefore make movement easier” (Bacon 67). Judging from the above-mentioned, the United States has to provide social services to illegal immigrants as long as they stay on its territory.
Second, enforcement of social services restrictions on illegal immigrants only generates more problems. The situation with the crime rate in the areas inhabited by illegal immigrants is dreadful since these people lack financial means to provide for their needs and they become inclined to conclude that they have no other choice but to break the law (Newton 15). In case, illegal immigrants are bereaved from social services, they will become desperate, and controlling their criminal behavior will become more complicated than it is now.
Third, worsening living conditions for illegal immigrants will ultimately hurt the U.S. economy. Bacon observes an instance of this simple truth, “enforcement produces a much larger detention system. Last year over 350,000 people went through privately run prisons for undocumented immigrants, while over 409,000 were deported” (65). These numbers demonstrate that instead of solving the economic problems, the government appears in a more complicated situation when it imprisons illegal immigrants due to a variety of reasons including their criminal behavior. The amount of people who need a roof over their head and nutrition as they appear in prisons is getting bigger when illegal immigrants do not have social help.
Thus, the U. S. federal expenses increase. Moreover, instead of making immigrant’s life more difficult, it is in the best economic interests of the United States to improve their living conditions and offer at least essential social services (Wright 66). According to Bacon, “the governments of both Mexico and the United States are dependent on the cheap labor of Mexicans. They don’t say so openly, but they are” (65).
In conclusion, the facts considered in this research project impel thinking about the long-run endpoints of bereaving illegal immigrants of an opportunity to obtain essential social help. For that reason and on the ground of the concurrent circumstances, the immigration policy of the U. S. government should consider illegal immigrants’ basic human rights, as well as should take into account possible negative outcomes of unwise decisions regarding the provision of social services to this category of the population for the crime rate and economy. Ultimately, the provision of social services for illegal immigrants contributes to the stabilization of the complicated situation that the United States has faced.
Works Cited
Bacon, David. “Immigrant Labor, Immigrant Rights.” NACLA Report on the Americas 47.1 (2014): 64-9. Print.
Glen, Patrick. “Health Care and the Illegal Immigrant.” Health Matrix 23.1 (2013): 197-236. Print.
Newton, Lina. Illegal, Alien, or Immigrant: The Politics of Immigration Reform. New York: New York University Press, 2008. Print.
Wright, Scott W. “Worksite Enforcement Of US Immigration Law.” Employee Relations Law Journal 34.2 (2008): 66-102. Print.