How have numbers of illegal immigrants increased or decreased in the past 2 years?

Illegal Immigrants are entering the United States and increasing rates every year. There is upwards to ten million undocumented immigrants in the country. In fact, there were “11.1 million undocumented immigrants in the United States in 2014,” according to Jens Krogstad of Factank. This statistic proves that about five percent of the the population of the United States is unauthorized immigrants, and the number of illegal immigrants has increased from 2014 to about 6% Krogstad also explains. There is occasional spikes in immigration numbers from central america. For instance, a video from Fox News says, ”From October of 2015 to March of 2016, the rate of illegal immigrants coming into the country from Mexico increased 78 percent.” Numbers are increasing and the illegal immigrant population is overwhelming, but people still stand to defend these immigrants.

What is the reasoning as to why people believe illegal immigration is good for the United States?

decent amount of American citizens actually support illegal immigration for various reasons. Some people may support illegal immigration because it would increase the diversity within the United States. "Immigrants can bring in various backgrounds and beliefs which would benefit an individual's thoughts and ideas, which ultimately strengthens and innovates debate" says Breana Noble from Newsmax. The increase in new people to the country would increase ideas and make the country more intelligent which would strengthen the government. The majority of the immigrants that enter the united states are in pursuit of jobs. For instance, during president Bush’s last year of presidency, the majority of federal sweeps that he enforced were targeting employers who were employing illegal immigrants claims Amy Chozik from The New York Times. Illegal immigrants could be strengthening the economy because of their hard working mindset and beliefs. There has been many different strategies throughout the years and different presidencies.

How have deportation strategies changed throughout the last couple presidencies?

Deportation strategies and numbers have been different depending on the president. It used to take years to deport illegal immigrants as David Aguilar, former deputy commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, states, “ As recent as two years ago, it took nearly six years to remove illegal immigrants from the country.” The amount of time that it takes to remove an illegal immigrant from the country has lowered throughout the years and is expected to decrease with President Trump in office. President Trump is in pursuit of preventing illegal immigration by increasing deportation. Tom Cotton from The New York Times explains, “ President-elect Trump now has a clear mandate not only to stop illegal immigration, but also to finally cut the generation-long influx of low-skilled immigrants that undermines American workers.” Trumps mindset is to deport immigrants that are stealing jobs from American that are unemployed. This is the new strategy that America is using, and other countries have different strategies.

How does our illegal immigration policy differ to other countries’ illegal immigration policies?

The United States’ immigration policy compared to Mexico’s immigration policy is similar in some ways but different in others. Mexico’s illegal immigration policy takes more of a harsh approach. For instance, Chris Hawley from USA Today states,” Mexican police freely engage in racial profiling and routinely harass Central American migrants.” Hawley is explaining how harsh Mexican authorities can be when it comes to cracking down on illegal immigration in Mexico. In fact, illegal immigrants who are persecuted could be sentenced up to two years in prison says Jerry Seper from the Washington Times. Mexico’s illegal immigration laws are similar to America’s but Mexico has greater consequences.

What does the future look like for illegal immigration?

With a new president in office, there will be jurassic changes to the illegal immigration laws that the United States currently have in place. There will be quick action taken as Amy Chozik claims, “President-Elect Trump prepares to take office and promises to swiftly deport two to three million undocumented immigrants who have committed crimes, bipartisan experts say they expect a return of the raids that rounded up thousands of workers at car washes, meatpacking plants, fruit suppliers and their homes during the bush years.” Obviously Trump has a goal to widow down the population of illegal immigrants in the United States by targeting workplaces that immigrants could be working at and immigrants that have committed crimes. Trump’s executive vastly expanded the group immigrants that are prioritized for deportation even if they don’t have criminal records, says Liz Robbins from The New York Times. With the increase of prioritized illegal immigrants, the number of deportations could increase significantly. It’s starting to look like the concentration of illegal immigrants in the United States is going to decrease as Trump proceeds as president.

Works Cited

Chozik, Amy. “Raids of Illegal Immigrants Bring Harsh Memories, and Strong Fear.” The New York Times, 2 Jan 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/02/us/illegal-immigrants-raids-deportation.html?_r=0. Accessed 25 Jan 2017.

Cotton, Tom. “Fix Immigration. It’s What Voters Want.” The New York Times, 29 Dec 2016, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/28/opinion/tom-cotton-fix-immigration-its-what-voters-want.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FIllegal%20Immigration&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=6&pgtype=collection&_r=0. Accessed 26 Jan 2017.

Hawley, Chris. "Activists blast Mexico's immigration law." USA Today n.d.: Academic Search Premier. Web. 30 Jan. 2017, http://web.b.ebscohost.com/src_ic/detail/detail?vid=2&sid=60f9f755-bd11-4c14-8e05-9eb28df58c22%40sessionmgr120&hid=116&bdata=#AN=J0E042078486210&db=mih. Accessed 30 Jan 2017.

"Illegal Immigration a $113 Billion a Year Drain on U.S. Taxpayers." U.S.Newswire, Jul 06 2010, ProQuest Newsstand, https://search.proquest.com/docview/578498961?accountid=42214.

“Illegal Immigration numbers surge at Mexican Border.” Youtube, uploaded by Fox News, 5 May 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wmblxipva6Q&spfreload=10&scrlybrkr=28308150.

Krogstad, Jens. “5 facts about illegal immigration in the United States.” Factank, 3 Nov, 2016, Retrieved from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/11/03/5-facts-about-illegal-immigration-in-the-u-s/?scrlybrkr=a3d25774. Accessed 8 Feb 2017.

Noble, Breana. “Pros and cons of Amnesty to Illegal Immigrants.” Newsmax, 01 Aug, 2015, Retrieved from http://www.newsmax.com/FastFeatures/amnesty-illegal-immigrants-pros-and-cons/2015/08/01/id/665004/?scrlybrkr=f1bf7099. Accessed 7 Feb, 2017.

Rafferty, Andrew. “White House Plans Outlines to Crack Down on Illegal Immigration.” NBC News, 25 Jan 2017, http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/white-house-outlines-plans-crack-down-illegal-immigration-n712126?scrlybrkr=b2f60134. Accessed 28 Jan, 2017.

Robbins, Liz. “Immigration Agents Arrest 600 people across the U.S. in one week.” The New York Times, 12 Feb 2017, Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/12/nyregion/immigration-arrests-sanctuary-city.html?ribbon-ad-idx=4&rref=us&module=Ribbon&version=context&region=Header&action=click&contentCollection=U.S.&pgtype=article. Accessed 13 Feb, 2017.

Seper, Jerry. “Mexico’s illegals laws tougher than Arizona’s.” The Washington Times, 3 May, 2010, Retrieved from http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/may/3/mexicos-illegals-laws-tougher-than-arizonas/?scrlybrkr=f4a0f21e. Accessed 12 Feb, 2017