Ethics Writing Assignment

Running head: IMMIGRATION 1

IMMIGRATION 4

Ethical/Social Responsibility; US Immigration

Mareo Kendrick

SOC120 Introduction to Ethics & Social Responsibility

Linda Atkinson

Dec 07, 2015

The United States is no stranger to immigration. America is a very diverse country and people from all over the world reside in America. Immigrants have settled in America throughout its history and over that time laws have been established to maintain and control access to the country. Immigration will be examined while applying the utilitarian ethical theory and the emotivism and egotism perspective. While the United States was built from immigration, government should regulate immigration laws because of its impact on homicide in the U.S., immigration marriage fraud, and its effect on health care and Education.

First, government should regulate immigration laws because its impact on homicide in the U.S. Supporting evidence: It is plausible that illegal immigrants may turn to crime due to them being economically disadvantaged. The Government Accountability office estimates “criminal aliens” were arrested, convicted and incarcerated for 25,064 homicides. If non-citizens committed them over seven years, the annual rate would be 14.2 per 100,000 non-citizens. If illegal aliens committed them over four years, the annual rate would be 58.0 per 100,000 illegal aliens. Either way you compute, those are high rates (Schnapp, 2015). Explanation: Applying the utilitarian ethical theory, the U.S. should be concerned with illegal aliens committing homicide as it is hard to confirm their identities. Socially, the ethical perspective of Emotivism would indicate, Homicide is a wrong against mankind. Illegal immigrants convicted of homicide in the U.S. may not be accurately identified, as no records of them are available. Emotivism my not have an objective analysis in terms of homicide, but it could be commonly agreed upon, that it creates and emotional opinions related on how one feels about the issue.

Additionally, immigration marriage fraud is a problem in the U.S. People commit to immigration marriage fraud for all types of reasons. If an immigrant visa is going to expire, they may try to convince an American citizen to marry them so that they could stay in country. This could be done through bribes, offering money, or deception. Having become aware of the prevalence of immigration marriage fraud, American lawmakers responded in 1986 by enacting 8 U.S.C. § 1325(c) to combat this practice. This statute, drafted in response to the growing concern over the prevalence of immigration marriage fraud, makes it a federal crime to enter into a marriage for the purpose of evading American immigration laws (Vigra, 2014). In a utilitarian mindset, immigration marriage fraud would impede the U.S economy as married Americans are entitled to different tax breaks and governmental benefits. If the egoism perspective was applied to the concept of immigration marriage fraud, the individual themselves would be committing the fraud for self-interest and not concerned about what is morally right. Next will be an examination of immigration laws and the effects on health care and education.

Finally, the most important reason Government should regulate immigration laws are due to its effect on health care and education. Undocumented immigrants are ineligible for many federal public benefit programs; laws require proof of lawful U.S. residence to receive state and local public benefits (Menachemi, 2014). Other than those protected by federal law such as Medicaid, and individuals applying for these programs must prove lawful U.S. residence before receiving services. If an immigrant is untruthful about their U.S. citizen and states that they are one, then this could increase health care costs. Also it could increase taxes as a way to pay for their care. Applying the Utilitarian ethical theory, to maximize the utility for Americans, it would be for the greater good to reduce health care costs for illegal immigrants.

In terms of education, Higher education for Immigrants can be quite costly. Immigrant students believed that when they got to the United States, they would became fluent in English, do well in their classes, and pass graduation exam (Herrera, 2014). However, they could not afford to take classes, as they had to enroll at the international student tuition rate which was a higher cost. Utilitarian ethics theory would dictate that the higher education costs for students from abroad is not much of a concern for the greater U.S population. Those who attend schools in the U.S from abroad are not actual U.S citizens and it could be quite costly as they acquire higher tuition costs. From an emotivism ethical perspective immigrant students could have emotional views on the subject as this directly relates to them and the costs they accrue.

In conclusion, The United States is no stranger to immigration. As previously stated, America is a very diverse country and people from all over the world reside in America. Applying the utilitarian ethical theory maximizes the best course of action for the greater good of the U.S population. Also, applying the emotivism and egotism perspective gives a perspective from ones emotional conception or moral justification. Indeed, while the United States was built from immigration, Government should regulate immigration laws.

References Herrera, J. (2014). Book Review: youth held at the border: immigration, education, and the politics of inclusion. In J. Herrera, Youth held at the border. : Immigration, education, and the politics of inclusion (pp. 227-231). Sage Publications, Inc.. Kalina M. Brabecka, M. B. (2011). Framing immigration to and deportation from the United States: Guatemalan and Salvadoran families make meaning of their experiences. Community, Work & Family 14(3), 275-296. Lampert, J. (2015). Democratic Inclusion and the Governance of Immigration. Social Theory & Practice, 51-76. Menachemi, N. (2014). Changes in Use of County Public Health Services Following Implementation of Alabama’s Immigration Law. Journal Of Health Care For The Poor And Underserved, 1844-1852. Schnapp, P. (2015). Identifying the effect of immigration on homicide rates in U.S. Cities: An instrumental variables approach. An Interdisciplinary & International Journal, 103-122. Vigra, M. (2014). MARRYING UP: THE UNSETTLED LAW OF IMMIGRATION MARRIAGE FRAUD AND THE NEED FOR UNIFORM STATUTORY GUIDELINES. St. John's Law Review , 1137-1162.