Immigration In California Essay, Research Paper

Immigration in California

Over one million immigrants enter the United States every year and approximately half of those immigrants migrate to California. For some, this is an advantage. Economically, this means there are more consumers- more people to take advantage of the opportunities and resources that this state has to offer. On the other hand, this increase in population has put this state in debt. The educational system is suffering from a lack of programs that may be essential to future generations. The welfare and unemployment agencies are being manipulated so that an excess of funds are being distributed, and many people without health insurance, in need of medical attention, are causing the raising of taxes of many hard working citizens. Both the illegal immigrants and legal immigrants contribute to the predicaments the society has been confronted with. The way that California can rehabilitate itself from these problems is by limiting the number of legal immigrants to 200,000 people a year, increasing government officers to guard land and sea borders, and by increasing educational opportunities to immigrants.

Since California is home to half of the immigrants that enter this country, California should limit the number of legal immigrants to 200,000 people. By doing this, the rate of population growth would decrease. This would lower the amount of funding that the government spends yearly to aid these immigrants. It would also give the immigrants an opportunity to experience the freedom, which every individual deserves. Many people migrate to the United States because they want to escape from the corrupt government or harsh living conditions because of government control. My parents migrated to the United States from the Philippines. My father joined the U.S Navy to become an American citizen and to escape poverty. He felt it was his only opportunity for freedom. My mother graduated from Nursing school with aspirations to obtain a working visa. She received this visa and began a new life in America. This shows that America is full of opportunities and immigrants just want those chances to take advantage of it. In the Philippines, the government is far from a democracy. Religion and money strongly influenced the way life worked. The Philippines is a predominately Catholic country. Morals and religious beliefs support arguments among government officials. In addition, the wealthy people in the Philippines were treated well and controlled the economy. There was no opportunity for advancement because the rich controlled businesses by creating monopolies. This limit could also benefit the poor and the homeless by making more funds available for food stamps, welfare and unemployment pay. Many people, including the legal immigrants, will be able to create financial stability. This will lead to a more stable economy, decreasing the amount of debt in this state. Nevertheless, the state will also need to increase the number of border patrol agents at all borders around the state.

The increase of border patrol agents will protect California from the illegal immigrants and the crimes and social conflicts that they contribute to the state. A number of illegal immigrants come from Mexico, located on the south border of California. Mexico is popular for drug trafficking. By increasing the number of Border patrol agents, the entry of illegal drugs will be prevented and the number of crimes committed by illegal immigrants will decrease. Immigrants contribute to the crime rate in California; therefore, California will be a much safer place if the sea borders and land borders will be protected. Increasing the government agents can also prevent to production of fake U.S identification cards, which illegal immigrants also use to enter the country. Since our borders will be stronger immigrants may also be intimidated to attempt illegal entry to this country.

Since the number of legal immigrants are regulated and there will be more government agents to prevent illegal immigrants from entering this country, the state can also concentrate on immigrant education. The purpose of this would be to educate the immigrants and teach them skills necessary to obtain entry-level jobs. It would be compared to a vocational school and the only necessary document needed to attend would be your visa. I feel this would be very effective. It would help the immigrants stabilize their lives and create a prosperous future. Many jobs require skills that people achieve through experience or education. This program would give legal immigrants a chance at obtaining those jobs. At a vocational school they can also obtain speaking skills that will be primarily taught in English. More people would have knowledge of the English language and they would learn fundamental concepts that would help them in the job atmosphere.

Therefore, California’s immigration dilemma is solved. By limiting the number of legal immigrants to 200,000 people per year, regulating the illegal immigrants by increasing land and sea border patrol agents and by offering educational opportunities to the legal immigrants California will be able to rehabilitate itself from financial debt. Immigration contributes to the many reasons why California is in debt. Government funding will decrease and immigrants will still have the opportunities to seek the freedom that they deserve. Taxes and unpaid health care will decrease and society will be spending less money on each other and more money on themselves.