The pursuit of happiness and employment is an opportunity guaranteed in the United States, or so people think. As immigrants cross the borders, they can already envision a new life with a better paying job as opposed to measly salaries in their country.
Unfortunately, the economic struggles haunting the United States are shattering the hopes and dreams of most workers. From field laborers to construction workers, many undocumented immigrants are experiencing wage cuts and layoffs. As a result, questions arise whether this will create a decrease in the amount of illegal immigrants in the United States.
As finances worsen, laws have been applied restricting the employment of immigrants in certain states. This is why many immigrants are forced to move out of their current state. Therefore, not only are they experiencing lower wages and layoffs, but also constraint employment. So why is illegal immigration not drastically decreasing?
If they were earning an equivalent amount back home as they can here — perhaps requiring less physical labor — the idea of returning to their countries of origin would be more compelling. Yet statics show that undocumented immigrants are in fact the largest group of people to state hop in search of jobs.
Although businesses are losing money, there are still positions needed to be filled; the main one being facility maintenance. Careers such as cleaning, cooking, construction and other manual labor are not popular positions to obtain. Therefore, immigrants take the chance with the hopes it won’t be one of the many businesses that go bankrupt.
If they are lucky to obtain a job during this economic crisis, another obstacle they are faced with is the cost of living in each state. Granted, the likelihood of finding employment in industrial states is high, but the cost of living, transportation and taxes in those states are much more expensive than states that have little need for menial employment. In the end, immigrants are seeking jobs in states where they are paying more to live and work in.
Another reason immigrants make fleeing home the last resort is the value of currency between the U.S. and their native countries. The value of the dollar has lowered in comparison to its value before the economic crisis, but the U.S. exchange rate remains higher than the currency in Latin America. This means that even a low-paying job in the United States will be more enticing than wages paid in most of Latin America.
The number of people entering the United States, whether legally or illegally, will diminish if the economic status remains the same. If all undocumented immigrants were to be deported, it would not make much of a difference — except possibly leaving many manual labor jobs vacant; the ones that no one wants. Without anybody to do the dirty work, how can businesses exist?
Janira Romero is a junior journalism major and a contributing writer for the Daily Forty-Niner.
Wow, my boots are covered from the blood of your bleeding heart…….Liberal
“If all undocumented immigrants were to be deported, it would not make much of a difference — except possibly leaving many manual labor jobs vacant; the ones that no one wants. Without anybody to do the dirty work, how can businesses exist? “
What and extreme load this statement is…….Americans could only wish that every Illegal would leave this nation and return home to fix their own countries problems. America would SAVE billions on social programs that should be dedicated to poor Americans and not foreign criminals. Our jails would be at manageable levels and crime overall would drop here in California.
As of today 13,000,000 unemployed American Citizens would benefit greatly, if all the illegals left today.
The only losers would be the crooked predatory business owners and the RACIST groups like “La RAZA”.