Community Problem Report: Migration

The University of Texas at El Paso

RWS 1301

October 24, 2014

Fernando Martinez





































Abstract

Migration has become a topic that has found a way inside most people conversations. The
reason for this is to discuss if migrants are helping both the economy as well as the
country, or if they are the reasons for many problems that have arrived in the last few
years. One of the reasons that can affect general opinion about the topic is the fact that
they occupy a great part of the taxpayers. However in order to contrast, one can think
about how much do they use the public services offered by the government, causing a
constant analysis of the current situation and if they are helping the country in general or
making it worse. However another point of debate is the means that these migrants cross
the border since sometimes it is done via illegal methods, which can also compromise the
National Security with diverse problems such as: Bombs, drugs, etc. Despite all the
problems existing with illegal migration, it is not the only mean, since if achieved by
legal means, it will also bring opportunities for migrants wishing a fresh start in a
completely new country to them.

Keywords: Migrant, Legal, Opportunities, Taxes, Services, and Cultures.
























Introduction

According to Migration Trends, there are many reasons for people to migrate to another
country, such as unemployment which is a pushing factor, as well as the pulling factor of
employment in another country, which helps them make a decision as to where they
would like to immigrate. This creates a great migration into the U.S, growing since 1950,
it has become a topic of both convenience and security to the country, in order to analyze
what kind of problem migration brings, as well as the perks of having people from
outside of the country. When people usually speak about this kind of topic there exist
various opinions as to how do the balance occur between the advantages and
disadvantages of migration as well if the U.S should make changes in order to force the
migrants to leave the country. This report will cover what are those advantages as well as
how there are difficulties that come along with this topic.

Migration: A very detailed balance
Since the very beginning, according to the book Migration: A world History ( Fisher (
2013) ) migrations have been taking place across the world since a long time ago ,
however migrants usually will have to face difficulties such as racism when coming
inside the U.S and will have to face it , another difficulty can be seen on the book
Migration and Culture. In Migration and Culture (Gil, E., & Ira, G. (2010).) they have
lots of problems when migrating such as the adaptation period where they have to face
the loss of the culture they have left behind in order to successfully immigrate to
somewhere else.

Not only migrants face struggles when crossing the border, there are also more aspects to
take in note, such as the Border Patrol. The branch of the U.S Customs and Border
protection in duty of watching over the border. Organization which has changed
dramatically according to their website in events of September 11, 2011. Creating new
objectives as a whole organization, to detect terrorist weapons trying to cross the border
as well as the drug problem which sometimes comes along with illegal immigration. This
however also means that people also die in the struggle of crossing the border illegally ,
according to the United States Accountability Office , Border Patrol has still not
addressed the problems they still have in relation to deaths as well as what are the major
causes of death of these migrants (2006) . This however only shows the bad side of the
first step of the long journey, which is migration, crossing the border, since according to
the report The New Mexican migration: Remembering violence, connecting, and living
in the third space. One can see that it has also brought opportunities that have saved
lives that were in danger before they had crossed the border into the U.S.

It is also worth mentioning that the United States has made some agreements like the one
reported by the Department of State (2003) where it was made known agreements
between the Dominican Republic as well as the United States which allows for easier
migration.
However while the U.S is making deals , the
usual population is having troubles deciding if
they want the migrants or not , as seen on the
motion picture Broken Border by Films Media
Group (2007) , some people believe that they
are stealing jobs that could be used for
American people and that they should be
indeed stopped, which shows signs of clear
racism against migrant workers which is
another problem that they could face while
they are staying inside the U.S.

Getting into economic aspects of what do
migrants have to offer in comparison to what
do they spend is a big topic, as said by the book Immigration and illegal aliens: Burden or
blessing? (Becker , C ( 2008 ) ) there is also money that comes from tax-paying migrants
but as well there is a great use of services offered by the government which balances the
Figure 1. How migration is seen on a cartoon
where there is clearly illegal migration.
money they give out in their taxes. The reason for the use of services is because they
usually dont come from places where they have services such as health, with big sums
such as 58% on the total of countries like Guatemala, it is clear that there is a lack of
basic services which makes the U.S a place very attractive to them to immigrate to.

Statistics about migrants: The numbers.

According to the IRS, there is indeed taxes for the migrants that come inside the U.S,
which shows that the myth that they pay no taxes is false. There are two classification for
taxes which are Resident and non-resident, which work in similar ways, note that when
workers use fake security numbers to work, this also counts as an income , which means
even illegal immigrants pay their taxes.


It is also indeed a myth the
thought that money earned in
the United States leaves the
country, as seen in Beckers
Book: Burden or blessing?
(Becker , C ( 2008 ) ), where
he shows statistics that shows
that the income of all Latin
Americans estimates to around
$500 Billion , which less than
10% actually leaves the
country , in a Texas estimate
on the same topic , $5.2 Billion
left the country while $52.8
was contributed to the local
Figure 2: Money sent back to
Latin America from the U.S
state by state.
economy. While on Texas, the cost of an alien is about -$1,156.4 due to Education,
Healthcare and Incarceration. While on the other hand, the revenue that he would usually
bring estimates to around $1581.1
Another thing worth mentioning is that according to this same source, sometimes
migrants utilize more the services offered by the government. A good example of this is
the service Medicaid, using a total of 17.4% of all total of migrants and their sons
utilizing this service, while 12% of natives are enrolled. This applies due to the fact that
was mentioned early , migrants were not assured health care back in their home countries,
for that same reason the % of migrants using this service is higher than those of the
natives.

Solutions: Proposing a better future for both countries.

The U.S has made agreements in order to make the situation for both migrants and citizen
of the United States , the government has made some agreements such as the one with the
Dominican Republic mentioned earlier which states that in case that they were deported ,
they cannot be charged with any crime when they get back to the Dominican Republic.
Another example of the U.S giving agreements out is one mentioned also in Beckers
Book , is the U.S-Mexico Totalization Agreement , which relives the U.S citizens
working with companies that are from the U.S but give out works in Mexico , from
paying double-taxation to both countries , in that way employers and employees only
contribute taxes to one of the two countries , but not both. There was mixed opinions on
what they should do on this topic , since a lot of popular opinion is based on myths such
as the one mentioned earlier that illegal workers do not pay taxes , furthermore , the exact
cost on this kind of agreement is uncertain, since there are a lot of illegal workers which
could make the difference between a profit and a deficit for the government when making
this kinds of agreements. Besides this particular case , the United States has agreements
like this with over 21 countries which have been a benefit to those people that have been
working outside the U.S with an U.S company.


Conclusion

There are a lot of myths that surround the topic of migration , and the consequences of
this could lead to racism , however researching the topic shows that even illegal migrants
help the economy by giving out taxes , even if they use the government services more
than even natives. Organizations such as the Border Patrol have been working in order to
eliminate the bad aspects of migration so that it becomes beneficial for everyone involved
in it , migrants do not exactly waste all the government money since they give out a lot ,
money which stays in the United States as mentioned earlier , helping out the economy
grow.





















References
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Broken Border: America's Immigration Dilemma [Motion picture]. (2007). United
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Fisher, M. (2013). Migration: A world history (p. 164). Oxford University Press, USA.
Gil, E., & Ira, G. (2010). Migration and Culture. In Migration and Culture (p. 757).
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Posada, U. G. (2012). The new Mexican migration: Remembering violence, connecting,
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United States Customs and Border Protection. (n.d.). Border Patrol Overview.
Retrieved from www.cbp.gov/border-security/along-us-borders/overview

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