Sara Sacco Dr.

Horowitz Intro to Sociology Essay #1 April 25, 2011

Illegal immigration in America has been a topic of controversy since the beginning of 1800s during the mass Immigrations movement . Specifically, illegal immigration from Mexico has currently formed the basis of debate to advocates of stricter illegal immigration laws to prevent illegal immigrants and the opposition of anti-illegal immigration plans. Many US citizens feel that this issue needs to be addressed very fast and congress is under pressure to pass laws proposing a solution. Immigrants from Central America and Mexico in the United Stated have the highest rate of any other minority group. This population usually referred to as Hispanics, get into America either illegally or legally. The number of illegal immigrants from South America and Mexico continues to grow rapidly which is because of the various reforms on immigration laws since the President Nixon era in the 1960s.These reforms have led to increase in population from less than 10 million immigrants in 1970 to a number greater than 38 million today (http://www.cis.org/currentnumbers. 2010), of which Mexicans accounts for the majority. The reasons behind this vast immigration include poverty, search for employment, reunions with parents and family, etc. It is important to take into account that it is very difficult for the US government cannot estimate with certainty the number of unauthorized immigrants in America, since they are undocumented. This paper analyzes the social issue about illegal immigration to United States and the opposing sides responses as well as possible solutions to theories involving immigration. The theories I will focus on are structural functionalism and conflicts. Conflict theory is a paradigm that sees social conflict as the basis of society and social change and emphasizes a materialistic view of society, a critical view of the status quo, and a dynamic model of historical change. Functionalism, is a paradigm that begins the assumption that society is a unified whole that functions because of the contributions of its separate structures. (Ferris & Stein, The Real World. 2ed.)

Structural Functionalists Theory Max Weber and Emile Durkheim developed this theory during the early 1900s, United States. These people believed that given social solidarity in society they could work together in a powerful symbiotic relationship. The theory is based on three principles. One, that the society is an collection of interdependent parts, two, presence of functional requirements essential for survival of society and to maintain balance and three, that each part exist to fulfill its functional requirement (Ferris & Stein, pg. 39-41). Simply, Functionalists believe that other people have something to give in return for a reward. A functionalist society work together or depend on each other for various reasons. The same case applies

to illegal migrants in any foreign state. For example, in the U.S, the Americans who believe in functionalism, are willing to allow the number of immigrants from South of the border to increase, if they feel that they have something to profit from each other. In particular, immigrants come into the United States in seek out work without work permits and proper documentation. Therefore, they are forced to do minimum wage labor jobs in order to survive. Some Americans like to employ the illegal immigrants and pay them cheaply so that their businesses have less overhead spending. A mutual interdependence benefits both sides. The result of this theory is that, the different parts work together in order for a better functioning of society. Conflict theorists view illegal immigrates as the opposite, an annoyance that needs to be eliminated. Functionalism believes that they can co-exist for the greater good of the US. It can thus be said that functionalism is the reason why there is heated debate on whether to restrict immigrants from assessing US or not. Although the United States is mostly referred to as the melting pot by functionalist, conflicts embracing this notion less and less. Functionalist view the illegal immigrants as people who perform functional requirement needed to sustain society at equilibrium, so they embrace them. Despite the intense arguments by skeptics illegal immigrants come in to take away jobs that are meant for Americans, the fact is that these legal immigrants pay taxes and only do minimal pay jobs. It is estimated that if the immigrants were few then tax revenue would be low. Against this backdrop, a solution needs to be found on how to deal with the illegal menace and according to functionalism stiffing laws to keep them out is not an option. This is because it will disrupt and adversely affect the functioning of the society. A possible solution would be giving illegal immigrants a legal option that allows them to take advantage of and similarly provide for their needs for the good of the American society.

Conflict Theory Karl Marx developed this theory while the Industrial Revolution brought great changes to sociological and economic class. Marx envisioned a classless society this theory refutes the functionalism theory because it emphasis independence and self-reliance. This theory mostly applies to explain social conflicts such as immigration to countries, differences between social classes, oppression, capitalism and politics. (Ferris & Stein, pg. 46-47.) Perhaps the main aspect of the conflict theory is the presence of an elite class, which dictates the terms to the minority such that those in power protect their status in power by suppressing the poor. America has offered few minorities the opportunity to climb the social ladder to get up into power and hence a competition and conflict aroused. Conflict theorizes that all major institutions are designed to ensure that those in power stay there and continue to maximize their benefits. Conflict theory is applicable to explaining macro level phenomena such as illegal immigrants in the United States. Americans have always had conflicting negative attitudes towards immigrants and massive immigration. Given the vast population of Hispanic, dominating the major cities such as Miami,

there is cause for debate between the two groups. Even though the United States takes pride in being an assimilation-oriented society, many view the massive immigration with skeptism and hostility. It is no surprise there are struggles on the issue of illegal immigration. On one hand, the US government opens the doors for legal flow of goods through the North American Free trade Agreement and on the other hand closes its border to illegal immigrants. This has led to the failure of US policies because it is impossible to dictate the mobility of people across border and at the same time encourages movement of everything else. America should rewrite the statue of Liberty because it no longer stands for what the American government agenda has brought to the table. America now asks that you not send us your refugees. Whereas, in scripted on the statue of liberty reads: Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, With conquering limbs astride from land to land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame. "Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Until the September 11 terrorists attack, the United States government was not as committed to sealing the 700 mile long border as it is in the post 9/11 era. Advocates of tougher illegal immigration laws especially targeting the United States of America-Mexico border argue that the border posses a significant threat to the United States of America's homeland security. Also they argue that Mexico does not have in place proper security measures to deal with border control something, which makes the

United States of America vulnerable to terrorist attacks. This has lead to increased tension among the illegal immigrants and the US nationals.

58% of the immigrants population was from Central America and Mexico. According to NYTimes, 11.2 Million Illegal Immigrants in U.S. in 2011, By Julia Preston,

US Government The Bush administration has since 9/11 terrorist attack viewed border security as a priority in tackling the immigration problem. For instance, there has been an emphasis on border patrol by increasing officers serving in border patrol to about 12,000 a clear indication that the Bush policy on illegal immigration is keen on responding to the threat of having a insecure border (http://whitehouse.gov/homeland/).In response to Bushs policy on immigration, reforms have also targeted strengthening of border patrol such as the 2006 Secure Fence Law with the use of National Guard officers to supplement the efforts of border patrol officers. As a result, enormous human resources and capital has been redirected to curbing illegal immigration such as impossible visa acquisition (George 1999, Beck. W.W. Norton, 1996.) The reforms have also been aimed at improving border surveillance using technology, installing systems that can detect illegal immigrants such as satellites, aerial vehicles, as well as cameras. This has yielded into a sharp increase on the number of illegal immigrants arrested at the border, entering into the United States of America not only from Mexico but also from all over the world. The Bush era policies on immigration had sought to address the problem of documentation fraud, which was found to be ineffective in controlling illegal immigration to the United States of America as well as illegal stay and working in the United States of America. The Bush administration advocated for creation of friendly work programs to deal with the problem of illegal immigration. Specifically for Mexico, especially on realization that the amount of taxpayers money being spent to prevent illegal immigration through installation of security infrastructure, border checks, increase of border patrol agents as well as the creation of physical barriers is too expensive at a cost of nearly $68,000,000,000.00 annually (Ashabranner,67.)

Conclusion The issue of illegal immigrants in the US will continue to persist as long as the United States has a flourishing economy and its policies are not amended. The different theories explain this phenomenon. Politicians and government agencies must have a clear understanding of the immigration issue, its origin and establishing factors. From studying the history and sociology of the United States and Mexico, clear policies will be formulated which are practical and acceptable to all involved. Most importantly, studying past mistakes will ensure better ones are made in future.

Works Cited (1) Kerry Ferris and Jill Stein. The Real World; An Introduction to Sociology. W.W. Norton & Companies, 2010. (2) Brent Ashabranner. Our Beckoning Borders: Illegal Immigration to America. New York: Cobblehill Books, 1996. (3) Roy Beck. The Case Against Immigration. New York: W.W. Norton, 1996. P.45 (4) Emma Lazarus, The New Collosus. Convergences P. 487 (5) http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/02/us/02immig.html (6) http://whitehouse.gov/homeland/ (7) http://www.cis.org/Polls-Surveys