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Against illegal immigrants receiving social services

Is it unethical and impractical to deny aliens the opportunity to access social services in a visiting country? This has been a controversial topic for discussion that has for long evoked mixed reactions. The optimists, geared by their value for humanity perceive that each and every human being despite their nationality has the right to access social services. They employ the discourse of human rights to justify their claims. On the other hand, the pessimists argue that illegal immigrants siphon away the benefits intended for citizens. Furthermore, their presence corrupts both the micro and macroeconomic policies within nations.

The framework of immigration as approached by my pessimist side that lobbies against illegal immigration is so consolidative on tax liability and burden. It argues that only citizens have the rights for social services since they bear the burden of taxation, so they are legally entitled for any consumption of public goods offered by the state. Redirecting the benefits to non-bearers is highly unjustifiable and unacceptable. Ironically, there exists a large number of Americans who have found the social welfare system inaccessible due to a number of factors, so how then do we have the privilege to watch over non Americans.

It is in the nature of humans to be perception driven and whenever they hear of free services offered in a particular locality, they squeeze in to sip of the benefits despite their lack of contribution. Basing my arguments with reference from the law of demand, whenever additional social services are required to accommodate the increasing number of non-citizens, the bearer is heavily burdened. This is unfair and very demotivating and might lead to some unscrupulous deals and unperceived crisis like tax evasion and avoidance. Currently, schools and hospitals are overwhelming with traffic making the possibilities of low-end services within our once admired public facilities. Accessibility of social services to illegal immigrants is offensive to the sacrifice made by responsible tax-paying citizens and this should not be condoned.

On the other hand, the human side of my perception has a different idea about illegal immigrants. It argues that denying such services to the aliens will eventually hurt everyone in the locality. On critical areas such as Medicare, denying the aliens access to hospitals might eventually lead to a health care crisis. In the case of an outbreak of a contagious disease, mitigating the spread will almost be impossible if less attention is given to the immigrants. Limiting undocumented immigrants access to health services weakens efforts to fight the spread of communicable diseases….conditions such as tuberculosis are not always easily detected as communicable diseases(Jeffrey, 2003). In addition, if welfare services are granted to immigrants, they will have the opportunity to make a contribution to the state either using their skills or talents and this will benefit the entire nation.

Illegal immigration harms the economic status of a nation while at the same time, denying any human the right to any form of help is in it inhumane. Possible reforms on immigration policies should be hastened to ensure that citizens are not burdened and human rights are protected and revered. ‘We have to demand responsibility from people living here illegally. They must be required to admit that they broke the law and they should be required to register, pay their taxes, pay a fine and above all learn English’ (President Obama, 2010)

Work cited

Jeffrey T. Kullgren, American Journal of Public Health paper titled “Restrictions on Undocumented Immigrants’ Access to Health Services: The Public Health Implications of Welfare Reform,” Harvard university press, 2003. Print.

Simon, Julian Lincoln. The economic consequences of immigration. 2nd ed. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1999. Print.

Edmonston, Barry, and Ronald Demos Lee. Local fiscal effects of illegal immigration report of a workshop. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 1996. Print.

Capaldi, Nicholas. Immigration: debating the issues. Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 1997. Print.

Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States, speech delivered to the American University School of International Service. Washington, DC, 2010.