Article Analysis Essay on How Unskilled Immigrants Hurt Our Economy

How unskilled immigrants hurt our economy is an article by Steve Malanga which begins by talking about the journey of one immigrant by the name Librada Velasquez who travels to America illegally to look for work to support his large family. Being unskilled he had to look for cheap labor jobs in new jersey industries. Life as an immigrant working in this industry was going on well until he got injured and got sent to the hospital. In hospital Velasquez undergoes many operations which eventually leads to him getting disabled permanently. Being in this state states, he seeks compensation and even suggests to have his son allowed to come and work and continue helping him.

Proponents of immigration believe immigrants like Velasquez are crucial to our society because they are willing to do low paying jobs. Free movement of labor leads to many skills landing in the united states and the tax cuts on these individuals means immigrations equally meets its costs.

As more immigrants who are an unskilled and uneducated journey into the country, they take many jobs from the natives leading to high levels of unemployment. Availability of cheap labor hampers the need to invest in new technologies that simplify work. Economically they add a little because with little skills and education essential in the modern economy they have nothing to offer but increase costs. To benefit economically, we must reshape our immigration policy to bring in individuals that genuinely help the nation.

Misconceptions about immigration should be addressed as in the past many were moving to new areas escaping harsh conditions and not because they are unskilled. Todays immigrations propagated by the notion that individuals are moving into high society. Low pay for these individuals has little impact on the economy.

Summary of "No" article (Case of immigration)

This article looks at the unbecoming attitude that people are having towards the immigration. Focusing on the city journal it speaks about immigrants from various countries and how their influx has led to increased levels of unemployment among the unskilled. Furthermore, they have driven down wages of native American; slow down technological expansion and resulted in high cost in welfare.

Serious allegations of this nature need verification on how accurate they are? Hispanic center report about immigration indicates a decline in immigration since its peak in 1999. The unemployment rate also for native Americans as per the year 2005 was at 5.2% when compared to the foreigners 4.6%. At 7.6% also was the unskilled worker's unemployment with natives having a higher rate of 9.1% while the foreigners were low at 5.7%.

Malanga's article indicates that unskilled immigrants work in industries which are shrinking forcing the natives out. Data on these allegations indicate otherwise as individuals with low skills are poorly represented in expanding services such as construction and tailoring. Immigrants despite the many myths about them are complements rather than substitutes based on professor Giovanni Peri analysis of the economy. They are bringing in new skills not a competition to the natives thus reducing economic bottlenecks and leading to gains economically. If they lower wages of natives contradicts with peris study which indicates that immigrants increased payments of 90% of Americans. Culturally immigrants are assimilated into America and legalizing their status means they move to a formal sector where they pay more taxes and improve the economy.

Strengths and Weaknesses of "Yes" article

Strengths

The assumptions of the article rest on the fact increased influx of immigrants who are unskilled and uneducated is hurting our economy. Use of examples such as that Velasquez the immigrant from Mexico convinces one that they can impact our economy.

Issues raised in the context of immigrants desire being just assumptions are possible to hamper the economy making the persuasive article nature one of its strength. Comparing the number of unskilled natives to the foreigners is possible and through this one can easily assume that they contribute to residents being unemployed ("How Unskilled Immigrants Hurt Our Economy," 2017).

Steve Mangala also supports his explanations about economy such the welfare issue where he feels that immigrants small jobs such as gardening do not contribute much to the society. Meagre earnings from them do not reflect the high costs that arise from them using facilities such as hospitals.

Weakness

One main weakness in this article is the failure to provide supporting evidence on the many assumptions made about immigrants. An example is when they say unemployment among unskilled is high without giving accurate evidential data to back up their assumptions.

The article fails to provide a clear relationship between economy and immigrants with most arguments based on assumptions rather than the methodology used to conclude.

Strengths and weaknesses of the "No" article

Strengths

One of its main strengths is listing the assumptions made in the article how the immigrants hurt our economy and trying to verify whether they are correct. Providing evidence based on studies like Hispanic immigrants have been declining helped in proving the allegations were wrong and just based on ones attitude towards immigration (FURCHTGOTT-ROTH, 2017).

Another strength is the ability to bring out the positive impacts in a persuasive manner through supportive evidence to counter the claims made in the article.

Weakness

Its weakness is that it focuses on the use of data from other institutions instead of drafting methodologies to get current data to address the case of immigration accordingly.

Furthermore, the use of the example where Hispanic individuals sell umbrellas cheaply do not address the issue of the economy rather than that of convenience.

The issue of 90% benefiting from immigrants is not verifiable given the considerable sample population that is needed to ascertain the claims by the professor's research study fully

My opinion on immigrants impact on economy

In my view, the issue of immigrants is a complex one with many things coming into play in the modern economy. However, according to me, I believe they will benefit our economy more rather than hurt it. First, we must accept that immigrants whether illegal pay taxes to the government and follows the laws of the country. Contrary to many peoples assumptions most immigrants do not lack skills and given their motivation being in America they are more motivated to take up jobs. Many natives are particularly choosy when it comes to employment, and this is where immigrants play a crucial role.

Legalizing rather than creating strict policies is good for our economy as more individuals who reside in the country will be obliged to remit their taxes without fail. My view is immigrants play a significant role in our economy despite the small areas with which they take part in our economy. Our handling of immigrant cases determines the impact they will have on the countrys economy.

References

FURCHTGOTT-ROTH, D. (2017). The Case for Immigration - The New York Sun. Nysun.com. Retrieved 3 December 2017, from http://www.nysun.com/opinion/case-for-immigration/40166/

How Unskilled Immigrants Hurt Our Economy. (2017). City Journal. Retrieved 3 December 2017, from https://www.city-journal.org/html/how-unskilled-immigrants-hurt-our-economy-12946.html