Should the U.S. offer a Path to Citizenship/Legal Residency for Illegal Immigrants?

Should the U.S. offer a Path to Citizenship/Legal Residency for Illegal Immigrants?
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Should the U.S. offer a Path to Citizenship/Legal Residency for Illegal Immigrants?
Over the past years, illegal immigration in the United States has raised a heated debate among policy makers. Whether undocumented immigrants should be offered a path to citizenship in the country has been the subject of interest. This debate has sparked massive rallies that have called for immigration reform (Jawetz, 2019). Most Americans think that the government should do something to regulate about 12 million illegal immigrants presently living and working in the country (Becerra et al., 2012). However, little has been achieved so far on this issue. Congress is at stalemate. The House of Representatives has passed a bill that takes a hard-line approach. This bill makes illegal immigration in the US a felony and increases penalties for those who intend to break it (Jawetz, 2019).
In contrast, a Senate measure takes a more relaxed approach that allows undocumented immigrants who have lived in US for not less than five years to apply for citizenship and legal residency (Jawetz, 2019). Those in support of the House of Representatives argue that illegal immigrants take away jobs from US citizens. They also claim that illegal immigrants are the source of social problems like the growing crime rates and congestion in schools (Liu, 2010). However, those in support of the congress believe that most undocumented migrants are hardworking, law abiding, and they contribute significantly to the economy by paying income and social security taxes (Lynch & Oakford, 2013).. As such, they deserve a road map to citizenship. Based on arguments from both sides, illegal immigrants should be offered a path to citizenship and legal residency because they are valuable to the country’s economic growth.Those opposing a road map to legal citizenship of illegal immigrants have always claimed that these people take away jobs from US citizens. Regarding this issue, Bixler (2020) stated that illegal immigration in the US has increased the supply of low-skilled and low-labor available in the labor market. According to Becerra et al. (2012), many jobs occupied by illegal immigrants are physically demanding jobs such as work on farm fields or gutting fish that Americans have rejected. Bixler (2020) further claims that instead of mass deportation of undocumented immigrants, they should be offered legal visa to do jobs that US citizens do not want. Therefore, illegal immigrants should be offered a path for citizenship to let them continue working in these areas because they form significant part of the economic growth. It shows that legalization of undocumented workers is about the country’s economic health.
Further studies indicate that legal status and a path to citizenship for the undocumented immigrants will promote the economy as far as earnings, labor and tax revenues are concerned (Jawetz, 2019). According to Lynch and Oakford (2013), legalizing citizenship of illegal immigrants permits them to work in the country. This leads to an increas...