This has been a good point of debate among people and world politics: Can legal immigration decrease illegal immigration? The world seems divided into two parts in this debate. Lawful immigration can be considered acceptable, but illicit immigration may differ, and the results may not be good. Keeping this in mind, Illegal imImmigrations done not only by the poor but also by the rich. There are no barriers created here in the name of financial status. Legal immigration is fine; the government supports immigrants by providing them with jobs, education, etc. If any illegal immigrant is caught, there are chances of facing serious consequences such as the risk of detention, deportation, and other sanctions. Before answering the question, let us first know about the meaning of both legal and illegal immigrants.
Legal Immigration
Legal ImImmigrations all about following immigration laws by the migrants. Immigration law includes national statutes, regulations, and legal precedents governing imImmigrationnd deportation from a country. Immigration laws are different from country to country. It may also depend on the social and political interests of the nations. Countries may tend to maintain a law that includes both rights of entry and exit and internal rights, which include the duration of stay, freedom of movement, etc.
Different countries have set up customs at entry points to control immigration. The entry points are located in some locations, such as border roads and airports. The documents used for traveling are closely considered and inspected. Regular or essential documents such as passports are mandatory. Also, travelers are asked to declare the sum of money they are carrying with them.
Countries have established their immigration laws. In the United States of America, the immigration article is known as the United States Nationality Law, and citizenship can be granted to a person once he/she has completed five years of permanent residence. In the same manner, each country providing immigration to migrants has set up its own law.
Immigration Policy
Immigration Policy is all about protecting border control and the transit of people into a country. The policies include everything from taxes to tariffs and trade rules that set out what tasks immigrants will perform while they are temporarily in the country. The policy also includes investment policies, agricultural policies, and other policies. The investment policies include the investments that are to be made by wealthy immigrants in businesses.
Illegal Immigration
Illegal ImImmigrationefers to those who migrate into a country by violating that countries immigration law. This violation can create a risk to those migrants and result in the risk of detention, deportation, and other sanctions. In some cases,d immigrants get temporary residence permits with the principle of non-refoulment in the International Refugee Convention.
As a gesture of human rights, there have been campaigns run where the terms such as ‘illegal immigrants’ are opposed. The reason given for this is that migrating illegally doesn’t make the people themselves illegal. In 2010, a campaign was launched in the United States where terms such as undocumented immigrants or unauthorized immigrants are discouraged. Further, in 2014, a campaign was relaunched where the words that should be used instead of ‘illegal’ should be ‘Undocumented’ or ‘Irregular.’ Many news channels have also come forward to discourage the use of the word ‘Illegal.’ These news associations include the US Associated Press, the UK Press Association, the European Journalism Observatory, and Australian Media. The term ‘Undocumented’ is also used by the New York Times.
Reason For Illegal Immigration
The basic thing which one should know is that any person does not leave his/her like that. There are always specific reasons for immigrating from their native country. There are particular reasons that you should see before giving any conclusive result for immigration) Poverty – Poverty is the primary point from where the issue of undocumented immigrants arises. The wage level and lack of education in developing countries will result in excess poverty. Undocumented immigrant laborers then tend to leave their native homes and migrate toward the developed nations. There has been a specific test conducted by the Pew Hispanic Center that has shown that the education and wages of undocumented Mexican immigrants in the US are around the median for Mexico. Apart from all these, natural disasters and overpopulation can also result in poverty-driven migration flows.
B) Overpopulation—If a country has minimum resources and half of them are already used, and the larger population uses the remaining, this can result in the immigration of certain national citizens. In developing countries, overpopulation is a serious concern, and it is still not taken seriously.
C) War—If a civil war is ongoing in a country, this results in immigration. The population is then forced to leave their native country, causing them to go to another country illegally. They can be better called ‘refugees.’ They are protected in migrant countries. There is a 1951 refugee convention that was signed by different countries. Countries that have not signed this convention and do not follow its guidelines are likely to consider refugees and asylum seekers as irregular immigrants.
E) Education – Education is the primary key to success. Young immigrants leave behind their native countries for better education and facilities. As a kind gesture, the developed countries look after the interests of the education of the immigrants.
F) Deprivation of Citizenship – The CSM in 2102 reported that about 7,50,000 Rohingya are one of the oppressed minorities in the world. The Rohingyas are in the complete absence of civil rights in Myanmar. In 1982, the military stripped the Rohingya of their Myanmar Citizenship and rated them as irregular immigrants. This is the case where a person born in his country has no state to claim his birthplace.
These are the differences between legal and illegal immigrants. From this, it is clear why people leave their own country. As such, no one will leave them for fun. There are always some black sides and reality behind this. Coming to the question, the answer would remain in the middle, i.e., yes and no. Suppose countries start accepting immigrants legally and make policies for accepting immigrants simple. In that case, that case, there is a high chance that those thinking of residing in that country illegally will take legal steps to be a part of that country.
The developed countries should step forward by making policies and thinking deeply about taking those in serious trouble in their own countries. Major countries of Middle East Asia, like Syria and Iraq, have been facing civil war, and many of their citizens have lost their lives and homes. They look forward to aiding and helping the developed European Countries and American regions. Countries like France and Britain have also come forward to help these people, and they have accepted the civilians of these countries in large numbers.
These developed countries can also see this as an opportunity, as a major immigrant population is educated and well-skilled. The migrants can show their skills and practice their specialization in their migrated countries. These immigrants include large numbers of doctors, engineers, and other professionals.
As a kind, humane gesture, developed countries can provide shelter to immigrants. Further, they can give the children of these immigrants free education in the beginning. Jobs are a necessity for daily bread; the home government should try to provide jobs and employment according to the immigrants’ qualifications.
These are some merits that the migrating countries can draw from these immigrants, which can be a strong point for the developed nations to provide easy legal immigration.
There are specific reasons, too, for which the countries don’t allow imImmigrationand this is why illegal imImmigrations born. The countries are always afraid of the damage that these immigrants can cause to their culture and land. Apart from this, they also know that there can be a negative impact on real wages by giving employment, and real GDP per capita may fall. The biggest fear to each country is the disharmony which is created from rapid imImmigrationThis is created among people as they may have different cultures and religions and may not adapt to change quickly.
This raises questions about making immigration legally legal. This is where disagreements arise. An example of this agreement was recently seen in France.
Conclusion
A strong and smooth policy should be made to accept deserving immigrants. Countries should check whether or not the coming immigrant has a previously clean record. If the immigrant is good and a working professional, they should be accepted on their record. Even if there are some chances of illegal immigrants being caught up, then the countries should have their records, and based on it, further decisions should be made. Words like ‘illegal’ would not be correct to use. Instead, ‘Eligible’ should be used, both by attitude and criteria of the immigrants.
After leaving Wells Fargo Bank in 2014, Daniel began a career as a finance consultant, advising companies and individuals on economic policy, labor relations, and financial management.
At Promtfinance.com, Daniel writes about personal finance topics, value estimation, budgeting strategies, retirement planning, and portfolio diversification.
Read more on Daniel Smith's biography page.
Contact Daniel: daniel@promtfinance.com